Senate Bill S8241

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8241

SPONSOR: TEDISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to the initial
period of licensure or certification and required training for child
care providers; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating
thereto

 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:

To provide administrative relief to child day care programs by increas-
ing the initial licensing or registration period and by streamlining
training requirements.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Sections 1 and 2 would amend provisions in Social Services Law (SSL)
section 390(2) to increase the period that child day care programs may
receive an initial license or registration from the Office of Children
              

and Family Services (OCFS), respectively, from up to two years to up to
four years.

Sections 3 and 4, respectively, would repeal the existing training
requirements for child day care providers contained in SSL section
390-a(3) and replace these provisions with a new requirement that child
day care providers complete training as required by OCFS regulations and
federal law.

Section 5 would provide for an immediate effective date for sections one
and two, and an effective date of 180 days for sections three and four.
This section would also authorize OCFS to promulgate regulations related
to this legislation on or before the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Many child care programs in New York State are run by small businesses.
This bill seeks to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on these
entities by increasing the initial licensing or registration period for
child day care programs and eliminating duplicative training require-
ments for child day care providers.

This proposal would eliminate the requirement for a shorter initial
licensing or registration period for child day care programs without
impacting OCFS' ability to take enforcement action when warranted
against a program. These changes would benefit new child day care
programs by allowing staff to focus on operations and care provided to
children during this start up time, rather than paperwork or actions
needed for renewal of their license or registration. It would also
bolster child safety by reducing the amount of time child day care regu-
latory oversight staff spend processing renewal applications, thereby
enabling them to increase their presence in the field.

Additionally, this proposal eliminates duplicative training requirements
for child care providers. The existing statutory training provisions
detailed in SSL section 390-a(3) are not consistent with the new federal
requirements under the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).
To comply with the CCDBG training provisions, OCFS adopted emergency
regulations to require that child day care providers complete training
on the federally mandated topics. However, the federally required topics
are substantially similar but not the same as the required state train-
ing topics listed in SSL section 390-a(3). Under the existing paradigm,
child day care providers must take both the training required by statute
and the similar trainings required by federal law and conforming state
regulations. The bill would streamline the training requirements for
child day care providers by eliminating the training requirements
currently listed in statute and providing that the required training is
what is enumerated in OCFS regulations and federal law. This proposal
will also provide OCFS with flexibility to establish new training
requirements, when appropriate, in response to changing federal require-
ments, current trends and emerging patterns of child day care
violations.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This bill is a new proposal.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

This proposal is not expected to have a measurable fiscal impact.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Sections one and two are effective immediately; sections three and four
are effective in 180 days