Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2164 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 2164
2	2
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4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to staff-to-child ratios and group sizes in licensed
7	7	day-care centers and reporting certain information related to child
8	8	safety.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
11	11	is amended by adding Section 42.0412 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 42.0412. COLLECTION OF LICENSED DAY-CARE CENTER DATA.
13	13	(a) In this section, "group of children" means the number of
14	14	children assigned to a specific caregiver or group of caregivers,
15	15	occupying an individual classroom or well-defined physical space
16	16	within a larger room at a day-care center.
17	17	(b) During each monitoring inspection of a licensed
18	18	day-care center the department conducts between March 1, 2018, and
19	19	May 31, 2018, the department, using existing resources, shall
20	20	collect the following data for each group of children 4 years of age
21	21	and younger in the day-care center:
22	22	(1) the ages of the children in the group;
23	23	(2) the number of children in the group; and
24	24	(3) the number of caregivers supervising the children
25	25	in the group.
26	26	(c) Not later than June 30, 2018, the department shall make
27	27	the data collected under Subsection (b) available to community
28	28	agencies and institutions of higher education on request.
29	29	(d) The department shall collect the following information
30	30	for each licensed day-care center that the department has collected
31	31	data on under subsection (b) and on request shall provide the
32	32	information to community agencies and institutions of higher
33	33	education:
34	34	(1) the licensed day-care center's program capacity;
35	35	(2) the number of confirmed serious injuries and
36	36	fatalities for children 4 years of age and younger that occurred at
37	37	the day-care center between September 1, 2017, and August 31, 2018,
38	38	aggregated by the age of the injured or deceased child;
39	39	(3) the number of investigations the department
40	40	conducted at the day-care center between September 1, 2017, and
41	41	August 31, 2018, that were assigned the highest priority or
42	42	second-highest priority, aggregated by the age of the affected
43	43	child; and
44	44	(4) the number of violations that the department found
45	45	at the day-care center between September 1, 2017, and August 31,
46	46	2018, that were assigned the highest priority or second-highest
47	47	priority, aggregated by the age of the child involved in the
48	48	violation.
49	49	(e) The department, using existing resources, shall provide
50	50	an annual report to the legislature that includes:
51	51	(1) the number of confirmed serious injuries and
52	52	fatalities for children 4 years of age and younger that occurred at
53	53	each licensed day-care center, aggregated by the age of the injured
54	54	or deceased child;
55	55	(2) the number of investigations conducted by the
56	56	department at each licensed day-care center that were assigned the
57	57	highest priority or second-highest priority, aggregated by the age
58	58	of the affected child;
59	59	(3) the number of violations the department found at
60	60	each licensed day-care center, aggregated by the age of the child
61	61	involved in the violation; and
62	62	(4) the investigation priority the department
63	63	assigned to an initial intake report for an incident that resulted
64	64	in a serious injury to a child or a child fatality.
65	65	(f) This subsection and Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d)
66	66	expire on September 1, 2019.
67	67	SECTION 2. Section 42.042, Human Resources Code, is amended
68	68	by adding Subsection (m-1) to read as follows:
69	69	(m-1) Not later than January 1, 2019, the executive
70	70	commissioner shall use the data collected under Section 42.0412 to
71	71	determine whether to modify the standards related to staff-to-child
72	72	ratios and group sizes. In determining whether to modify the
73	73	standards, the executive commissioner shall compare licensed
74	74	day-care centers meeting staff-to-child ratios and group size
75	75	requirements with licensed day-care centers that have fewer
76	76	children per caregiver. The executive commissioner shall recommend
77	77	appropriate adjustments to any ratio standard by age for which the
78	78	data shows that licensed day-care centers meeting the state's
79	79	minimum standards have a rate that is 10 percent or higher than
80	80	those with fewer children per caregiver of:
81	81	(1) confirm serious injuries;
82	82	(2) confirmed child fatalities; and
83	83	(3) initial intake reports that are assigned the
84	84	highest priority or the second-highest priority.
85	85	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
86	86	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
87	87	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
88	88	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
89	89	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.