S.F. No. 2 serves as the Child Care Omnibus Bill.

Section 1 (245A.04, subdivision 4) precludes the commissioner of human services from issuing a correction order or negative action for a licensing violation found during an inspection but not discussed during an exit interview. This portion of the section is based on S.F. No. 978 (Kiffmeyer).

This section also stipulates that the presence of a family child care provider’s spouse in the residence does not constitute a violation, unless the spouse is an employee of the child care center or provides a sufficient amount of child care services to exceed the threshold for being subject to the statutory training requirements.

Section 2 (245A.04, subdivision 18) directs the commissioner of human services to consult with relevant child care stakeholders to develop, publicly post, and distribute a plain-language handbook for family child care providers to understand the application and licensing process, and all applicable rules and statutes.

This section is based on a portion of S.F. No. 2 (Housley).

Section 3 (245A.06, subdivision 10) requires a county licensor to seek clarification from the Department of Human Services in writing if a child care provider disputes the interpretation of a licensing requirement, before the licensor may issue a correction order to the child care provider based on the disputed interpretation.

This section is based on S.F. No. 886 (Weber).

Section 4 (245A.065) expands the child care fix-it ticket violations to include violations that can be corrected immediately.

This section is based on S.F. No. 669 (Abeler).

Section 5 (245A.14, subdivision 4) authorizes the commissioner of human services to grant a special family day care license to individuals that provide child care services out of a portion of a commercial or other building that meets certain building code standards.

This section is based on S.F. No. 2343 (Housley).

Section 6 (245A.14, subdivision 16) permits child care centers to provide drinking water in bottles to children, so long as the bottles are washed, rinsed, and sanitized daily after use and stored in a clean and dry manner.

This section is based on S.F. No. 1919 (Simonson).

Section 7 (245A.50, subdivision 1) requires child care providers who relocate within the state to continue to satisfy their annual, ongoing training requirements, but relocating providers are not required to complete initial training requirements that the provider completed prior to licensure. If the provider relocates to a new county, the county may not require the relocating provider to complete orientation or training required for new providers.

This section is based on S.F. No. 980 (Kiffmeyer).

Section 8 (245A.50, subdivision 2) removes the annual requirement for family child care providers to complete two hours of child development and learning and behavior guidance training and replaces that requirement with completion of an annual refresher training course, which will include those topics.

This section is based on S.F. No. 789 (Goggin).

Sections 9, 10, 11, and 12 (245A.50, subdivisions 3, 4, 5, and 6) clarify the statutory requirements that family child care providers must repeat first aid training, CPR training, sudden unexpected infant death, and abusive head trauma training every two years, prior to the date that the provider’s annual license expires. The same clarification is made for the statutory requirements that family child care providers must repeat child passenger restraint systems training every five years.

The bill also requires that providers serving or transporting children eight years old and younger to have received the child passenger restraint systems training.

These sections are based on S.F. No. 979 (Kiffmeyer).

Section 13 (245A.50, subdivision 7) reduces the number of ongoing training hours for family child care providers to ten hours and establishes that the annual refresher course shall count toward that hours requirement.

This section is based on S.F. No. 789 (Goggin).

Section 14 (245A.50, subdivision 9) clarifies the statutory requirement that family child care providers must repeat the full supervising for safety training every five years, prior to the date that the provider’s annual license expires, and replaces the requirement to complete an annual two-hour supervising for safety course with completion of an annual refresher course, which will include this topic.

This section is based on S.F. No. 979 (Kiffmeyer) and S.F. No. 789 (Goggin).

Section 15 (245A.50, subdivision 12) replaces certain ongoing training requirements for family child care providers with an annual course of up to two hours that refreshes child care provider training on active supervision, child development and behavior guidance, and any training required by the child care development block grant, beginning January 1, 2020. The course must be available to complete online or through self-study.

This section is based on S.F. No. 789 (Goggin).

Section 16 (245A.50, subdivision 13) exempts relatives of children in child care programs from having to complete child care training requirements in order to care for or have contact with the related child at the child care site. Relatives that are designated caregivers, helpers, or substitutes for the child care program must complete the training requirements.

This section is based on S.F. No. 882 (Koran).

Section 17 (245A.50, subdivision 14) exempts substitute caregivers from completing child care training requirements when providing care during an emergency situation.

This section is based on S.F. No. 882 (Koran).

Section 18 (245A.51, subdivision 3) eliminates the requirement for a licensed child care provider to provide a physical or electronic copy of its emergency preparedness plan to a child’s parent or legal guardian upon enrollment.

This section is based on S.F. No. 982 (Kiffmeyer).

Section 19 (245A.60) creates and funds a new Office of the Ombudsperson for Child Care Providers. It directs the governor to appoint an ombudsperson for child care providers to serve a two-year term and carry out duties to support and inform child care providers with all areas of concern related to the provision of child care services, including licensing and regulatory compliance correction orders and appeals, service improvement, and application assistance. The ombudsperson is authorized to hire staff, to access data necessary for discharging the duties of the office, and to receive copies of all provider correction orders, penalty assessments, and complaint investigations on a quarterly basis. The ombudsperson must operate independently of the Department of Human Services and must have experience providing child care, interpretation of laws and regulations, investigations, record keeping, report writing, public speaking, and management. A person is not eligible to serve as ombudsperson while holding public office and cannot have been previously employed by the Department of Human Services or as a county licensor. The commissioner of human services must provide the ombudsperson with office space, supplies, and other support, and must post provide child care providers with the contact information for the ombudsperson.

This section is based on S.F. No. 1452 (Howe).

Section 20 directs the commissioner of human services to develop an annual refresher course for family child care providers to cover certain subjects, and to propose legislative changes to eliminate duplicative training requirements.

This section is based on S.F. 789 (Goggin).

Section 21 directs the commissioner of human services to permit family child care providers to use substitute caregivers for a cumulative total of 720 hours in a 12-month period, without the substitute completing the statutory training requirements.

This section is based on S.F. 1034 (Relph).

Section 22 establishes a 16-member task force intended to increase the number of family child care providers and improve the quality of family child care services throughout the state, to be comprised of legislators, child care providers, family child care associations, child care licensors, and business associations. The task force will meet monthly beginning August 1, 2019, and must develop a proposal for a child care provider licensing structure based on a differential monitoring framework, identify licensing requirements that have led to the closure of family child care programs, recommend business development and technical assistance resources to promote provider recruitment and retainment, identify alternative family child care provider business models, identify and recommend family child care regulatory reforms that improve licensing efficiencies, and review Parent Aware participation to identify obstacles, improvements, or alternatives to the Parent Aware program.  The task force’s report is due by March 1, 2020.  

This section is based on S.F. No. 2296 (Housley).

Section 23 instructs the commissioner of human services to review the rules and statutes relating to child care provider licensing and background study requirements and propose legislation to eliminate unnecessary and duplicative record keeping or documentation requirements. The commissioner is also directed to create a process for child care providers to electronically submit information requested by the Department of Human Services for these purposes.

This section is based on S.F. No. 1035 (Relph).

Section 24 appropriates $75,000 in fiscal year 2020 to the commissioner of human services for the Family Child Care Task Force under Section 22.

This section is based on S.F. No. 2296 (Housley).

Section 25 appropriates $114,000 in fiscal year 2020 and $120,000 in fiscal year 2021 to the commissioner of human services for the Ombudsperson for Child Care Providers.

This section is based on S.F. No. 1452 (Howe).

Section 26 appropriates $649,000 onetime in fiscal year 2020 to the commissioner of employment and economic development for grants to communities to increase the supply of child care providers. Sixty percent of the grants must be awarded to communities outside the metro area, and recipients are required to obtain a 50-percent match of either cash or in-kind contributions. The grants must be used to implement projects to reduce the child care shortage in the state, which includes starting or expanding businesses, provider training, facility modification, or required licensing improvements. Communities that have a demonstrated shortage of child care are given priority. All grant recipients must report on the results of their grant awards within one year of receipt.

This section is based on S.F. No. 2 (Housley). 

Section 27 appropriates $140,000 onetime in fiscal year 2020 to the commissioner of employment and economic development for a competitive grant to a nonprofit organization to operate a business training program for child care providers that will help expand access to child care services in underserved areas of the state. The commissioner must report the outcomes and recommendations for replication of this training initiative throughout the state, by December 15, 2021.

This section is based on S.F. No. 1051 (Wiklund).

Section 28 appropriates $2,000,000 onetime in fiscal year 2020 to the commissioner of employment and economic development for a grant to the Minnesota Initiative Foundations. The foundations must use grant funds to help rural communities develop an action plan to sustain and increase their supply of child care, including by engaging the private sector, to provide locally based business and operations training for rural child care business owners, and to recruit and train child care providers to participate in the Parent Aware certification program.

This section is based on S.F. No. 537 (Nelson).

Section 29 instructs the Revisor of Statutes to consult with nonpartisan legislative staff and the Department of Human Services to recodify the rules governing day care facility licensing as statutes.

This section is based on S.F. No. 1030 (Kiffmeyer).

Section 30 instructs the Revisor of Statutes to consult with nonpartisan legislative staff and the Department of Human Services to recodify the rules governing child care facility licensing as statutes.

This section is based on S.F. No. 1030 (Kiffmeyer).

Section 31 instructs the Revisor of Statutes to consult with nonpartisan legislative staff and the Department of Human Services to prepare legislation for the 2020 session that recodifies Minnesota Statutes, chapter 245A, and repeals and enacts as statutes the rules governing day care licensing.

This section is based on S.F. No. 2 (Housley).