SB 422

Under current law, a person must obtain a license from the Department of

Children and Families in order to, for compensation, provide care and supervision

for four or more children under the age of seven for less than 24 hours a day. Under

current DCF rules, DCF regulates a child care center that provides care and

supervision for four to eight children as a “family child care center” and one that

provides care and supervision for nine or more children as a “group child care center.”

The rules specify, among other things, the required ratio of providers to children in

each type of child care center.

This bill requires DCF to establish a category of licensed child care centers that

provide care and supervision for four to 12 children (“large family child care

centers”). The bill requires DCF to regulate a large family child care center in the

same way that it regulates smaller family child care centers with two exceptions: 1)

DCF must require that, for a group of nine to 12 children, two employees must

provide care and supervision to the children at all times, and 2) DCF's regulation of

large family child care centers may differ from those of smaller family child care

centers to the extent necessary to safely accommodate a larger group of children. The

bill prohibits a large family child care center from providing care and supervision for

more than eight children at one time who are two years of age younger. Under the

current DCF rule for family child care centers, that limit is four children at one time

who are two years of age or younger.