89R16345 MM-D
By: Menéndez S.B. No. 2469
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of certain day-care centers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.0441, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 42.0441. INSPECTION RESULTS FOR CERTAIN
NONRESIDENTIAL CHILD-CARE FACILITIES; OPPORTUNITY TO CURE. (a)
Immediately after completing a monitoring inspection of a licensed
day-care center, licensed group day-care home, or registered family
home under Section 42.044, the authorized representative of the
commission [department] shall review the results of the monitoring
inspection with a representative of the facility and give the
facility an opportunity to respond to the inspection results.
(b) The authorized representative of the commission shall
provide a day-care center, group day-care home, or family home an
opportunity to immediately cure a violation of a minimum standard
that does not pose a risk to a child's safety. If the center or home
immediately cures the violation, the authorized representative may
not include the violation in the inspection results or report.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 42.04426 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.04426. REGISTRY OF DAY-CARE VIOLATIONS; VIOLATION
NOTICE, APPEAL, AND JUDICIAL REVIEW. (a) The commission shall
establish a registry of day-care violations. If the commission
determines an employee of a day-care center, group day-care home,
or family home is responsible for a violation, the commission shall
record in the registry:
(1) the employee's name, address, and social security
number;
(2) the name and address of the center or home where
the violation occurred;
(3) the date the violation occurred; and
(4) a description of the violation.
(b) The commission shall give written notice of the
commission's determination of a violation occurring at a day-care
center, group day-care home, or family home to any employee of the
center or home who is responsible for the violation.
(c) The notice must include:
(1) a brief summary of the commission's determination;
(2) a statement of the employee's right to a hearing on
the commission's determination; and
(3) a statement notifying the employee that if the
employee fails to timely respond to the notice, the commission's
determination of the employee's responsibility for the violation
will be recorded in the commission's registry of day-care
violations.
(d) Not later than the 30th day after the date the notice is
received, the employee notified may accept the commission's
determination or may submit a written request to the commission for
a hearing on that determination.
(e) If the employee notified of the violation accepts the
commission's determination or fails to timely respond to the
notice, the commission shall add the determination to the
commission's registry of day-care violations.
(f) If the employee requests a hearing, the commission
shall:
(1) set a date for a hearing;
(2) give written notice of the hearing date to the
employee; and
(3) designate an administrative law judge to conduct
the hearing.
(g) The administrative law judge shall make findings of fact
and conclusions of law and shall promptly issue a decision
regarding the occurrence of the violation.
(h) The administrative law judge shall give notice of the
decision to the employee allegedly responsible for the violation.
The notice must include:
(1) separate statements of the findings of fact and
conclusions of law;
(2) a statement of the employee's right to judicial
review of the decision; and
(3) a statement that the violation will be recorded in
the commission's registry of day-care violations if:
(A) the employee does not request judicial review
of the decision; or
(B) the decision is sustained by the court.
(i) Not later than the 30th day after the date the employee
receives notice of the administrative law judge's decision, the
employee may file a petition for judicial review contesting the
decision. If the employee does not request judicial review of the
decision, the commission shall record the violation in the
commission's registry of day-care violations.
(j) Judicial review of the decision:
(1) is instituted by filing a petition as provided by
Subchapter G, Chapter 2001, Government Code; and
(2) is under the substantial evidence rule.
(k) If the court sustains the administrative law judge's
decision on the occurrence of the violation, the commission shall
record the violation in the commission's registry of day-care
violations.
(l) The commission shall make the commission's registry of
day-care violations available to a day-care center, group day-care
home, or family home.
SECTION 3. Section 42.0704, Human Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) The enforcement policy must include a process to appeal
a commission determination of a violation of this chapter or a
commission rule by a day-care center, group day-care home, or
family home. The center or home may request a hearing before an
administrative law judge of the State Office of Administrative
Hearings on the issue of whether the center or home committed the
violation. If the administrative law judge finds no violation
occurred:
(1) the administrative law judge shall order the
commission to remove the violation from the center's or home's
record; and
(2) the commission shall remove the violation from the
record not later than the 10th business day after the date the order
is issued.
SECTION 4. (a) The Health and Human Services Commission
shall study the violations the commission found at each licensed
day-care center, licensed group day-care home, or registered family
home during the preceding ten years to determine the ten licensing
standards most frequently violated. The commission shall:
(1) determine whether the violations pose a risk to
the health or safety of children at a center or home; and
(2) provide educational materials to centers and homes
regarding:
(A) the importance of following the identified
licensing standards; and
(B) ways to cure and prevent the identified
violations.
(b) The Health and Human Services Commission may form a work
group consisting of commission employees, child-care providers,
community stakeholders, child-care workers, and parents of
children attending a day-care center or family home to perform the
study required by Subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The Health and Human Services Commission shall complete
the study required by Subsection (a) of this section and submit a
report on the study results to the legislature not later than
September 1, 2026.
(d) This section expires September 1, 2027.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.