Bill Text: IA SF2235 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to standards for and certification and inspection of children's residential facilities. (Formerly SSB 3154.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-03-07 - Subcommittee, L. Miller, Fry, and Winckler. H.J. 427. [SF2235 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-SF2235-Introduced.html

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Senate File 2235 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

                                 (SUCCESSOR TO SSB
                                     3154)

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to standards and licensure for certain
  2    children's centers.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 237B.1, subsection 3, Code 2016, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    3.  In establishing the initial and subsequent standards,
  1  4 the department of human services shall review other
  1  5 certification and licensing standards applicable to the
  1  6 centers. The standards established by the department shall
  1  7 be broad facility standards for the protection of children's
  1  8 safety. The department shall also apply criminal and abuse
  1  9 registry background check requirements for the persons who own,
  1 10 operate, staff, participate in, or otherwise have contact with
  1 11 the children receiving services from a children's center. The
  1 12 background check requirements shall be substantially equivalent
  1 13 to those applied under chapter 237 for a child foster care
  1 14 facility provider. The Except as provided in section 237B.2,
  1 15 the department of human services shall not establish program
  1 16 standards or other requirements under this section involving
  1 17 program development or oversight of the programs provided to
  1 18 the children served by children's centers.
  1 19    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  237B.2  School, academy, or training
  1 20 institute.
  1 21    1.  A children's center that includes in the official
  1 22 name of the center the word "school", "academy", or the term
  1 23 "training institute" or a similar word or term and charges for
  1 24 the educational services the center provides to children who
  1 25 are under the age of eighteen; operates a facility for housing,
  1 26 boarding, or providing residential services for children under
  1 27 the age of eighteen; or provides counseling, behavioral, or
  1 28 therapeutic services to children under the age of eighteen,
  1 29 shall respectively meet the following applicable requirements:
  1 30    a.  (1)  Include in any promotional, advertising, and
  1 31 marketing materials regarding the center available in print,
  1 32 broadcast, or via the internet or by any other means the
  1 33 following information:
  1 34    (a)  Whether the center meets the accreditation requirements
  1 35 of section 256.11 and all other accreditation standards adopted
  2  1 by rule by the state board of education.
  2  2    (b)  The fee the center charges for each of the services
  2  3 the center offers or provides to children under the age of
  2  4 eighteen.
  2  5    (2)  Submit annually to the department of education a true
  2  6 statement of the center's financial condition and the refund
  2  7 policy of the center.
  2  8    b.  Be licensed as a child foster care facility under chapter
  2  9 237.  Notwithstanding section 237.7, the administrator, as
  2 10 defined in section 237.1, shall cause unannounced inspections
  2 11 of the center to be conducted at least quarterly by the
  2 12 department of inspections and appeals.
  2 13    c.  Be licensed under chapter 235 or under this chapter
  2 14 by the department of human services to provide child welfare
  2 15 services such as behavioral, counseling, or therapeutic
  2 16 services to children in the center.
  2 17    2.  The state board of education, the department of
  2 18 inspections and appeals, and the department of human services
  2 19 may each adopt rules relating to its responsibilities to
  2 20 administer this section, to establish appropriate professional
  2 21 standards for centers and for the persons who provide
  2 22 instructional, residential, and health=related services
  2 23 to children residing at centers, and to establish monetary
  2 24 penalties for violations of this section and a procedure for
  2 25 the collection of the penalties.
  2 26                           EXPLANATION
  2 27 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 28 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 29    This bill provides for the licensure and regulation of
  2 30 certain children's centers.
  2 31    Currently, Code section 237B.1 allows the department of
  2 32 human services to establish broad facility standards for
  2 33 the protection of children's safety for children served
  2 34 by children's centers, but prohibits the department from
  2 35 establishing program development or oversight standards.
  3  1 Children's centers are defined as a privately funded facility
  3  2 designed to serve seven or more children at any one time who
  3  3 are not under the custody or authority of the department of
  3  4 human services, juvenile court, or another governmental agency,
  3  5 and that offers child care, respite care, family support
  3  6 services, medical equipment therapeutic day programming,
  3  7 educational enrichment, or housing.
  3  8    As an exception to that prohibition on establishing specific
  3  9 program standards, the bill provides that a children's center,
  3 10 which includes in the official name of the center the word
  3 11 "school", "academy", or the term "training institute" or a
  3 12 similar word or term and charges for the educational services
  3 13 the center provides to children who are under the age of
  3 14 18; operates a facility for housing, boarding, or providing
  3 15 residential services for children under the age of 18; or
  3 16 provides counseling, behavioral, or therapeutic services to
  3 17 children under the age of 18, must respectively meet the
  3 18 following applicable requirements:
  3 19 1.  Include in any promotional, advertising, and marketing
  3 20 materials regarding the center available in print, broadcast,
  3 21 or via the internet information regarding whether it meets the
  3 22 state's educational accreditation standards and the fees it
  3 23 charges for its services; and submit annually to the department
  3 24 of education a true statement of the center's financial
  3 25 condition and the refund policy of the center.
  3 26 2. Be licensed as a child foster care facility and subject to
  3 27 unannounced inspections by the department of inspections and
  3 28 appeals at least quarterly.
  3 29 3.  Be licensed by the department of human services to provide
  3 30 child welfare services such as behavioral, counseling, or
  3 31 therapeutic services to children in the center.
  3 32    The state board of education, the department of inspections
  3 33 and appeals, and the department of human services may each
  3 34 adopt rules relating to its responsibilities to administer the
  3 35 Code section, to establish appropriate professional standards
  4  1 for centers and for the persons who provide instructional,
  4  2 residential, and health=related services to children residing
  4  3 at centers, and to establish monetary penalties for violations
  4  4 of the Code section and a procedure for collection of the
  4  5 penalties.
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