Senate Bill No. 615
(By Senators Bowman and Jenkins)
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[Introduced March 21, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §49-2B-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing an exception to the
day care facility licensure requirements for summer academic
enrichment and cultural arts development camps.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §49-2B-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2B. DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN SERVICES FOR CHILD
WELFARE.
§49-2B-3. Licensure, certification, approval and registration
requirements.
(a) Any person, corporation or child welfare agency, other
than a state agency, which operates a residential child care
facility, a child-placing agency or a day care center shall obtain
a license from the Department.
(b) Any residential child care facility, day care center or
any child-placing agency operated by the state shall obtain
approval of its operations from the Commissioner:
Provided, That
this requirement does not apply to any juvenile detention facility
or juvenile correctional facility operated by or under contract
with the Division of Juvenile Services, created pursuant to section
two, article five-e of this chapter, for the secure housing or
holding of juveniles committed to its custody. The facilities and
placing agencies shall maintain the same standards of care
applicable to licensed facilities, centers or placing agencies of
the same category.
(c) Any family day care facility which operates in this state,
including family day care facilities approved by the Department for
receipt of funding, shall obtain a statement of certification from
the Department.
(d) Every family day care home which operates in this state,
including family day care homes approved by the Department for
receipt of funding, shall obtain a certificate of registration from
the Department.
(e) This section does not apply to:
(1) A kindergarten, preschool or school education program
which is operated by a public school or which is accredited by the
State Department of Education, or any other kindergarten, preschool
or school programs which operate with sessions not exceeding four hours per day for any child;
(2) An individual or facility which offers occasional care of
children for brief periods while parents are shopping, engaging in
recreational activities, attending religious services or engaging
in other business or personal affairs;
(3) Summer recreation camps operated for children attending
sessions for periods not exceeding thirty days;
(4) Summer academic enrichment and cultural arts development
camps operated for children where two hours of instruction is
provided on a daily basis, the instruction is in arithmetic and
language arts, and the camp maintains a ratio of no more than
twenty-eight children per adult staff member;
(4) (5) Hospitals or other medical facilities which are
primarily used for temporary residential care of children for
treatment, convalescence or testing;
(5) (6) Persons providing family day care solely for children
related to them; or
(6) (7) Any juvenile detention facility or juvenile
correctional facility operated by or under contract with the
Division of Juvenile Services, created pursuant to section two,
article five-e of this chapter, for the secure housing or holding
of juveniles committed to its custody.
(f) The Commissioner is hereby authorized to issue an
emergency rule relating to conducting a survey of existing facilities in this state in which children reside on a temporary
basis in order to ascertain whether they should be subject to
licensing under this article or applicable licensing provisions
relating to behavioral health treatment providers.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide an exception to
the day care facility licensure requirements for summer academic
enrichment and cultural arts development camps which meet certain
criteria.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.