Current Status Introducing Body:House Bill Number:4037 Primary Sponsor:Wofford Committee Number:27 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Day care centers Residing Body:House Current Committee:Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Computer Document Number:436/11257AC.93 Introduced Date:19930414 Last History Body:House Last History Date:19930414 Last History Type:Introduced, read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Wofford Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN Leg Involved
____ ______ ____________ ______________________________ ___ ____________
4037 House 19930414 Introduced, read first time, 27
referred to Committee
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976 BY ADDING SECTION 20-7-2915 SO AS TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES TO ISSUE A REGISTRATION STATEMENT FOR A RELIGIOUS DAY CARE CENTER WHEN REQUIREMENTS ARE MET AND TO REQUIRE THE CENTER OPERATOR TO DISPLAY THE REGISTRATION AND USE ITS REGISTRATION NUMBER IN ADVERTISEMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-2700, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS UNDER DAY CARE LICENSING, SO AS TO REVISE THE DEFINITIONS OF "CHILD DAY CARE FACILITIES" AND "GROUP DAY CARE HOME" AND TO ADD DEFINITIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-2760, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO APPEALS FROM DENIAL OF A LICENSE FOR CHILD AND DAY CARE CENTERS AND GROUP DAY CARE HOMES , SO AS TO MAKE THE APPEAL TO CIRCUIT COURT RATHER THAN FAMILY COURT; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-2780, RELATING TO LICENSES OF CHILD DAY CARE CENTERS, AND GROUP DAY CARE HOMES, SO AS TO REQUIRE THAT THE LICENSE NUMBER BE STATED IN ADVERTISEMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-2860, RELATING TO FAMILY DAY CARE HOME REGISTRATIONS, SO AS TO REQUIRE THE REGISTRATION NUMBER BE STATED IN ADVERTISEMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-2880, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO APPEALS FROM DENIALS OF A LICENSE FOR FAMILY DAY CARE HOMES, SO AS TO MAKE THE APPEAL TO CIRCUIT COURT RATHER THAN FAMILY COURT; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-2900 AND 20-7-2910, RELATING TO CERTAIN CHURCH OR RELIGIOUS DAY CARE CENTERS AND OTHER DAY CARE CENTERS, SO AS TO REQUIRE THEM TO COMPLY WITH INSPECTION PROCEDURE AND WITH REGULATIONS FOR CHILD-STAFF RATIOS AND EMPLOYEE TRAINING PLANS; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-2920, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO INJUNCTIONS AGAINST CHILD DAY CARE CENTERS AND GROUP DAY CARE HOMES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT AN INJUNCTION MAY BE SOUGHT IN CIRCUIT COURT RATHER THAN IN FAMILY COURT; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-2940, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO APPEALS FROM SUSPENSION OF A REGISTRATION, SO AS TO MAKE THE APPEAL TO THE CIRCUIT COURT RATHER THAN FAMILY COURT; AND TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-3030, RELATING TO DECLARATORY ORDERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES CONCERNING CONSTRUCTION OR RENOVATIONS OF A FACILITY, SO AS TO DELETE THE PROVISION PROHIBITING AN APPEAL OF SUCH ORDER.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 20-7-2915. A statement or registration must be issued when the religious day care operator satisfactorily completes the procedures prescribed by this subarticle. The current statement must be displayed in a prominent place in the facility at all times and the registration number must be stated in all advertisements by the religious day care center."
SECTION 2. Section 20-7-2700 b. of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"b. `Child day care facilities' means any a facility which provides care, supervision, or guidance for any a minor child who is not related by blood, marriage, or adoption to the owner or operator of such a the facility whether or not the facility is operated for profit and whether or not the facility makes a charge for services offered by it. This definition includes, but is not limited to, day nurseries, nursery schools, day care centers, group day care homes, and family day care homes. The term does not include:
(1) any an educational facility, whether private or public, which operates solely for educational purposes in grades one or above;
(2) four and five-year-old kindergarten programs operated by public school systems;
(3) four and five-year-old kindergartens or nursery schools or other daytime programs, with or without stated educational purposes, operating no more than four hours a day and receiving children younger than lawful school age;
(4) kindergartens or nursery schools or other daytime programs operated as part of a private school and receiving children younger than lawful school age for four hours a day or less, with or without stated educational purposes;
(5) facilities operated for more than four hours a day in connection with a shopping center or service or other similar facility, where the same children are cared for less than four hours a day and not on a regular basis as defined in this subarticle while parents or custodians of the children are occupied on the premises or are in the immediate vicinity and immediately available; provided, however, that such facilities meet local fire and sanitation requirements;
(6) (4) summer resident or day camps for children operated for three weeks or less;
(7) (5) Bible schools normally conducted during vacation periods;
(8) (6) facilities for the mentally retarded provided for in Article 3 5 of Chapter 21 20 of Title 44;
(9) (7) facilities for the mentally ill as provided for in S 44-17-10 of the 1976 Code;
(10) (8) child day care centers and group day care homes owned and operated by a local church congregation or an established religious denomination or a religious college or university which does not receive state or federal financial assistance for day care services; provided, however, that such these facilities must comply with the provisions of Sections 20-7-2900 through 20-7-2970 and provided, further, that they may voluntarily elect to become licensed according to the process as set forth in Sections 20-7-2700 through 20-7-2780 and Sections 20-7-2980 through 20-7-3090."
SECTION 3. Section 20-7-2700 f. of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"f. `Group day care home' means any a facility, generally within a dwelling unit residence occupied by the operator, which regularly provides child day care for at least seven but not more than twelve children, unattended by a parent or a legal guardian, including those children living in the home and children received for day care who are related to the resident caregiver. Provided, however that However, an occupied residence in which child day care is regularly provided only for a child or children related to the resident caregiver, or only for the child or children of one unrelated family, or only for a combination of such children is not a group day care home."
SECTION 4. Section 20-7-2700 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding at the end:
(aa) `Summer resident or day camps for children' means a periodic camp offered during the summer, normally of a duration not exceeding three weeks, but the term does not include camps where a child may be enrolled on a continuous basis throughout the summer.
(bb) `Infant' means a child age twelve months or younger.
(cc) `Toddler' means a child over age twelve months but not over thirty months.
(dd) `Preschool age' means age thirty months through five years of age."
SECTION 5. Section 20-7-2760(d) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 368 of 1990, is further amended to read:
"(d) The decision of the department is final unless appealed by a party to the hearing to the family circuit court having jurisdiction for the county in which the facility is located for review within thirty days after the receipt by the party of the notice of the decision. The review must be conducted in accordance with the standards of review provided for in Section 1-23-380. The court may enter judgment upon the pleadings and a certified transcript of the record which must include the evidence upon which the findings and decisions appealed are based."
SECTION 6. Section 20-7-2780 a. of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"a. Each child day care center or group day care home shall maintain its current license displayed in a prominent place at all times and must state its license number in all advertisements."
SECTION 7. Section 20-7-2860 a. of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"a. A statement of registration shall must be issued when the family day care operator satisfactorily completes the procedures prescribed by this subarticle. The current statement shall must be displayed in a prominent place in the facility at all times and the registration number must be listed in advertisements of the family day care center."
SECTION 8. Section 20-7-2880(c) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 368 of 1990, is further amended to read:
"(c) The decision of the department is final unless appealed by a party to the hearing to the family circuit court having jurisdiction for the county in which the facility is located for review within thirty days after the receipt by the party of the notice of the decision. The review must be conducted in accordance with the standards of review provided for in Section 1-23-380.
The court may enter judgment upon the pleadings and a certified transcript of the record which must include the evidence upon which the findings and decisions appealed are based."
SECTION 9. Section 20-7-2900 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2900. No local church congregation or established religious denomination or religious college or university which does not receive state or federal financial assistance for day care services may operate a child day care center or group day care home unless it complies with the requirements for registration, inspection, investigations under Section 20-7-2730(b) and (d), and the regulations for health and fire safety as set forth in Sections 20-7-2910 through 20-7-2970 20-7-2975 and the regulations for mandatory child-staff ratios and employee training plans under Section 20-7-2980(b)."
SECTION 10. Section 20-7-2910 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2910. It shall be is the responsibility of the child day care operator to notify the department of the fact of its operation and existence and to request inspection of the facility. It shall be is the responsibility of the department to request that the local health and fire safety agencies conduct an inspection of the facility at least annually and more often if necessary to insure compliance with health and fire safety regulations. If there be are no local health and safety agencies to conduct the inspection, then the appropriate state agency will shall conduct the inspection. The department shall register any such the day care facility upon notification from health and fire safety agencies that the day care facility is in compliance with such these regulations.
The applicable regulations applied shall must be the same health and fire safety regulations and the regulations mandatory child-staff ratios and employee training plans under Sections 20-7-2980 and 20-7-2990 and investigations under Section 20-7-2730(b) and (d) that are applied to other facilities regulated under this subarticle as set forth in the December 28, 1976 regulations as filed with the Secretary of State by the department for child day care centers and group day care homes."
SECTION 11. Section 20-7-2920 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 368 of 1990, is further amended to read:
"Section 20-7-2920. The department may seek an injunction against the continuing operation of a child day care center or group day care home in the family circuit court having jurisdiction over the county in which the facility is located when:
(1) the facility is operating without having requested the appropriate inspections;
(2) there is a violation of the health and fire safety regulations as set forth by Sections 20-7-2910 through 20-7-2970 which threaten serious harm to children in the facility;
(3) an operator repeatedly has violated the health and fire safety regulations."
SECTION 12. Section 20-7-2940 b. of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 368 of 1990, is further amended to read:
"b. Upon appeal, the decision of the department is final unless appealed by a party to the hearing to the family circuit court having jurisdiction for the county in which the facility is located for review within thirty days after the receipt by the party of the notice of the decision. The review must be conducted in the family circuit court in accordance with the standards of review provided for in Section 1-23-380. The court may enter judgment upon the pleadings and a certified transcript of the record which must include the evidence upon which the findings and decisions appealed are based."
SECTION 13. Section 20-7-3030 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 20-7-3030. The department shall have power to may issue a declaratory order to any an applicant regarding approval of drawings and specifications related to construction or renovations proposed by a facility. Such The order shall specifically state each factor to be considered and shall clearly indicate the department's probable approval or disapproval of each factor. No appeal of a declaratory order shall be permitted. No facet of a facility constructed in compliance with a declaratory order of the department shall may serve as a basis for a refusal by the department to license or approve a facility."
SECTION 14. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.