COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 349
(By Senators Palumbo, Browning, McCabe, Foster, Laird, Wells,
Stollings and D. Facemire)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 19, 2010.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §49-2B-3 and §49-2B-8 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to requiring licensed
or registered child care centers to have an annually updated
written plan for evacuation in the event of an emergency;
providing for plan requirements; providing for plan distribution
and availability requirements; and making the evacuation plan
a point of investigation before a new license is received.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §49-2B-3 and §49-2B-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2B. DUTIES OF SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES 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 secretary:
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) Hospitals or other medical facilities which are primarily
used for temporary residential care of children for treatment,
convalescence or testing;
(5) Persons providing family day care solely for children
related to them; or
(6) 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 secretary 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.
(g) Any informal family child care home or relative family child care home may voluntarily register and obtain a certificate of
registration from the department.
(h) Any child care service that is licensed or receives a
certificate of registration shall have a written plan for evacuation
in the event of fire, natural disaster or other threatening situation
that may pose a health or safety hazard to the children in the child
care service.
(1) The plan shall include, but not be limited to:
(A) A designated relocation site and evacuation;
(B) Procedures for notifying parents of the relocation and
ensuring family reunification;
(C) Procedures to address the needs of individual children
including children with special needs;
(D) Instructions relating to the training of staff or the
reassignment of staff duties, as appropriate;
(E) Coordination with local emergency management officials; and
(F) A program to ensure that appropriate staff are familiar with
the components of the plan.
(2) A child care service shall update the evacuation plan by
December 31, of each year. If a child care service fails to update
the plan, no action shall be taken against the child care service's
license or registration until notice is provided and the child care
service is given thirty days after the receipt of notice to provide
an updated plan.
(3) A child care service shall retain an updated copy of the
plan for evacuation and shall provide notice of the plan and notification that a copy of the plan will be provided upon request
to any parent, custodian or guardian of each child at the time of the
child's enrollment in the child care service and when the plan is
updated.
(4) All child care centers and family child care facilities
shall provide the plan and each updated copy of the plan to the
Director of the Office of Emergency Services in the county where the
center or facility is located.
§49-2B-8. Application for license or approval.
(a) Any person or corporation or any governmental agency
intending to act as a child welfare agency shall apply for a license,
approval or registration certificate to operate child care facilities
regulated by this article. Applications for licensure, approval or
registration shall be made separately for each child care facility
to be licensed, approved, certified or registered.
(b) The secretary shall prescribe forms and reasonable
application procedures including, but not limited to, fingerprinting
of applicants and other persons responsible for the care of children
for submission to the State Police and, if necessary, to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation for criminal history record checks.
(c) Before issuing a license, or approval, the secretary shall
investigate the facility, program and persons responsible for the
care of children. The investigation shall include, but not be
limited to, review of resource need, reputation, character and
purposes of applicants, a check of personnel criminal records, if
any, and personnel medical records, the financial records of applicants,
review of the facilities emergency evacuation plan and
consideration of the proposed plan for child care from intake to
discharge.
(d) Before a home registration is granted, the secretary shall
make inquiry as to the facility, program and persons responsible for
the care of children. The inquiry shall include self-certification
by the prospective home of compliance with standards including, but
not limited to:
(1) Physical and mental health of persons present in the home
while children are in care;
(2) Criminal and child abuse or neglect history of persons
present in the home while children are in care;
(3) Discipline;
(4) Fire and environmental safety;
(5) Equipment and program for the children in care;
(6) Health, sanitation and nutrition.
(e) Further inquiry and investigation may be made as the
secretary may direct.
(f) The secretary shall make a decision on each application
within sixty days of its receipt and shall provide to unsuccessful
applicants written reasons for the decision.