By: Davis of Harris (Senate Sponsor - Garcia) H.B. No. 2903
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2015;
May 12, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
and Human Services; May 22, 2015, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 3; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE VOTE
YeaNayAbsentPNV
SchwertnerX
KolkhorstX
CampbellX
EstesX
PerryX
RodrÃguezX
TaylorofCollinX
UrestiX
ZaffiriniX
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to training requirements for certain child-care workers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.0421, Human Resources Code, as
amended by S.B. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session,
2015, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding
Subsections (a-1), (a-2), and (j) to read as follows:
(a) The minimum training standards prescribed by the
executive commissioner under Section 42.042(p) for an employee,
director, or operator of a day-care center, group day-care home, or
registered family home must include:
(1) 48 [24] hours of initial training [that must be
completed not later than the 90th day after the employee's first day
of employment] for an employee of a day-care center who has no
previous training or less than two years of employment experience
in a regulated child-care facility, subject to the following
requirements:
(A) the employee must complete the initial
training not later than the first anniversary of the employee's
first day of employment;
(B) the employee must complete at least 32 hours
of the initial training not later than the 90th day after the
employee's first day of employment; and
(C) the employee must complete at least 16 [,
eight] hours of the initial training [which must be completed]
before the employee is given responsibility for a group of
children;
(2) 24 hours of annual training for each employee of a
day-care center or group day-care home who has completed the
initial training required by Subdivision (1), excluding the
director, which must include at least:
(A) six hours of training in one or more of the
following areas:
(i) [(A)] child growth and development;
(ii) [(B)] guidance and discipline; and
(iii) [(C)] age-appropriate curriculum;
and
(B) six hours of training in
[(D)] teacher-child interaction; and
(3) 30 hours of annual training for each director of a
day-care center or group day-care home, or operator of a registered
family home, which must include at least six hours of training in
one or more of the following areas:
(A) child growth and development;
(B) guidance and discipline;
(C) age-appropriate curriculum; and
(D) teacher-child interaction.
(a-1) The minimum training standards prescribed under
Subsection (a) do not apply to an employee of a day-care center that
is accredited by a national organization or that is recognized by
the Texas Rising Star provider certification program as a four-star
provider.
(a-2) Thirty hours of the initial training required under
Subsection (a)(1), and the 12 hours of annual training required
under Subsections (a)(2)(A) and (B) must be provided by a person who
meets at least one of the qualifications listed under Subsection
(f)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (7).
(f) The training required by this section must be
appropriately targeted and relevant to the age of the children who
will receive care from the individual receiving training and must
be provided by a person who:
(1) is a training provider registered with the Texas
Early Childhood Professional Development System's Texas Trainer
Registry that is maintained by the Texas Head Start State
Collaboration Office;
(2) is an instructor at a public or private secondary
school, an institution of higher education, as defined by Section
61.003, Education Code, or a private college or university
accredited by a recognized accrediting agency who teaches early
childhood development or another relevant course, as determined by
rules adopted by the commissioner of education and the commissioner
of higher education;
(3) is an employee of a state agency with relevant
expertise;
(4) is a physician, psychologist, licensed
professional counselor, social worker, or registered nurse;
(5) holds a generally recognized credential [or
possesses documented knowledge] relevant to the training the person
will provide;
(6) is a registered family home care provider or
director of a day-care center or group day-care home in good
standing with the department, if applicable, and who:
(A) has demonstrated core knowledge in child
development and caregiving; and
(B) is only providing training at the home or
center in which the provider or director and the person receiving
training are employed; or
(7) has at least two years of experience working in
child development, a child development program, early childhood
education, a childhood education program, or a Head Start or Early
Head Start program and:
(A) has been awarded a Child Development
Associate (CDA) credential; or
(B) holds at least an associate's degree in child
development, early childhood education, or a related field.
(j) The training required by this section may be provided in
person or online.
SECTION 2. Section 42.0421(a), Human Resources Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to an employee who is initially
employed by a day-care center on or after the effective date of this
Act. An employee who is initially employed by a day-care center
before that date is subject to the law in effect immediately before
the effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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