Senate Bill No. 610
(By Senators Helmick, McCabe, Bowman, Edgell,
Facemire, Fanning, Green, Prezioso, Unger,
Wells, White, Boley, Facemyer, Guills and Sypolt)
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[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported February 18, 2010]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §49-2B-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the licensure, certification,
approval and registration requirements of child care
facilities, child-placing agencies and day care centers;
extending the statutory exemption to certain out-of-school
time programs that already meet established health and safety
requirements; and requiring registration of certain out-of-
school time programs.
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 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 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.
(7) Any out-of-school time program that has been awarded a
grant by the West Virginia Department of Education to provide out-
of-school time programs to kindergarten through twelfth grade
students when the program is monitored by the West Virginia Department of Education; or
(8) Any out-of-school time program serving children six years
of age or older and meets all of the following requirements, or is
an out-of-school time program that is affiliated and in good
standing with a national Congressionally chartered organization and
meets all of the following requirements:
(i) the program is located in a facility that meets all fire
and health codes;
(ii) the program performs background checks on all volunteers
and staff;
(iii) the program's primary source of funding is not from fees
for service; and,
(iv) the program has a formalized monitoring system in place.
(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) All facilities or programs that provide out-of-school time
care shall register with the department upon commencement of operations and on an annual basis thereafter. The department shall
obtain information such as the name of the facility or program, the
description of the services provided and any other information
relevant to the determination by the department as to whether the
facility or program meets the criteria for exemption under this
section.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to extend the statutory
exemption to any out-of-school time programs that already meet
established health and safety requirements. The bill further
establishes a registry requirement for out-of-school time programs
for the purpose of determining whether such programs qualify for an
exemption.
Strike-through indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
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