KRS 199.896: License requirement -- Application -- Fee -- Emergency action -- Use of

information -- Hearing -- Disposition of receipts -- Advertisement --

Unannounced inspections -- Orientation and training requirements --

Prohibition against use of corporal physical discipline -- Partial and full

exemption from regulation -- Criminal record check -- Probationary

employment status -- Alleged violation of an administrative regulation by a

child-care center, procedures -- Preliminary license -- Permissive action s --

Cabinet's powers during state of emergency.

(1) A person, association, or organization shall not conduct, operate, maintain, or

advertise any child -care center without obtaining a license as provided in KRS

199.892 to 199.896.

(2) The cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS

Chapter 13A relating to license fees and may, in the administrative regulations,

establish standards of care and service for a child -care center, criteria for the denial

of a license if criminal records indicate convictions that may impact the safety and

security of children in care, and procedures for enforcement of penalties which are

not in contravention of this section.

(3) Each initial application for a license shall be made to the cabinet an d shall be

accompanied by a fee that shall not exceed administrative costs of the program to

the cabinet and shall be renewable annually upon expiration and reapplication when

accompanied by a renewal fee that shall not exceed administrative costs of the

program to the cabinet. Regular licenses and renewals thereof shall expire one (1)

year from their effective date.

(4) A child -care center shall not be refused a license or have its license revoked for

failure to meet standards set by the secretary until af ter the expiration of a period

not to exceed six (6) months from the date of the first official notice that the

standards have not been met. If the cabinet has probable cause to believe that an

immediate threat to the public health, safety, or welfare exis ts, the cabinet may take

emergency action pursuant to KRS 13B.125. All administrative hearings conducted

under authority of KRS 199.892 to 199.896 shall be conducted in accordance with

KRS Chapter 13B.

(5) If, upon inspection or investigation, the inspecto r general finds that a child -care

center licensed under this section has violated the administrative regulations

promulgated in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A by the cabinet, the inspector

general shall issue a statement of deficiency to the center containing:

(a) A statement of fact;

(b) A statement of how an administrative regulation was violated; and

(c) The timeframe, negotiated with the child-care center, within which a violation

is to be corrected, except that a violation that poses an immediate thre at to the

health, safety, or welfare of children in the center shall be corrected in no

event later than five (5) working days from the date of the statement of

deficiency.

(6) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, in consultation with the Office of the

Inspector General, shall establish by administrative regulations promulgated in

accordance with KRS Chapter 13A an informal dispute resolution process through

which a child-care provider may dispute licensure deficiencies that have an adverse

effect on the child-care provider's license.

(7) A child -care center shall have the right to appeal to the Cabinet for Health and

Family Services under KRS Chapter 13B any action adverse to its license or the

assessment of a civil penalty issued by the inspector ge neral as the result of a

violation contained in a statement of deficiency within twenty (20) days of the

issuance of the action or assessment of the civil penalty. An appeal shall not act to

stay the correction of a violation.

(8) In assessing the civil penalty to be levied against a child -care center for a violation

contained in a statement of deficiency issued under this section, the inspector

general or the inspector general's designee shall take into consideration the

following factors:

(a) The gravity of the threat to the health, safety, or welfare of children posed by

the violation;

(b) The number and type of previous violations of the child-care center;

(c) The reasonable diligence exercised by the child -care center and effort s to

correct the violation; and

(d) The amount of assessment necessary to assure immediate and continued

compliance.

(9) Upon a child-care center's failure to take action to correct a violation contained in a

statement of deficiency, or at any time when th e operation of a child -care center

poses an immediate threat to the health, safety, or welfare of children in the center,

and the child-care center continues to operate after the cabinet has taken emergency

action to deny, suspend, or revoke its license, t he cabinet or the cabinet's designee

shall take at least one (1) of the following actions against the center:

(a) Institute proceedings to obtain an order compelling compliance with the

administrative regulations promulgated by the cabinet in accordance wi th

KRS Chapter 13A;

(b) Institute injunctive proceedings in Circuit Court to terminate the operation of

the center;

(c) Institute action to discontinue payment of child-care subsidies; or

(d) Suspend or revoke the license or impose other penalties provided by law.

(10) Upon request of any person, the cabinet shall provide information regarding the

denial, revocation, suspension, or violation of any type of child -care center license

of the operator. Identifying information regarding children and their famili es shall

remain confidential.

(11) The cabinet shall provide, upon request, public information regarding the

inspections of and the plans of correction for the child -care center within the past

year. All information distributed by the cabinet under this subsection shall include a

statement indicating that the reports as provided under this subsection from the past

five (5) years are available from the child -care center upon the parent's, custodian's,

guardian's, or other interested person's request.

(12) All fees collected under the provisions of KRS 199.892 to 199.896 for license and

certification applications shall be paid into the State Treasury and credited to a

special fund for the purpose of administering KRS 199.892 to 199.896 including the

payment of expenses of and to the participants in child -care workshops. The funds

collected are hereby appropriated for the use of the cabinet. The balance of the

special fund shall lapse to the general fund at the end of each biennium.

(13) Any advertisement for ch ild-care services shall include the address of where the

service is being provided.

(14) All inspections of licensed and unlicensed child -care centers by the Cabinet for

Health and Family Services shall be unannounced.

(15) All employees and owners of a ch ild-care center who provide care to children shall

demonstrate within the first three (3) months of employment completion of at least

a total of six (6) hours of orientation in the following areas:

(a) Basic health, safety, and sanitation;

(b) Recognizing and reporting child abuse; and

(c) Developmentally appropriate child-care practice.

(16) All employees and owners of a child -care center who provide care to children shall

annually demonstrate to the department completion of at least six (6) hours of

training in child development. These hours shall include but are not limited to:

(a) One and one -half (1.5) hours one (1) time every five (5) years of continuing

education in the recognition and prevention of pediatric abusive head trauma,

as defined in KRS 620 .020. Training in recognizing pediatric abusive head

trauma may be designed in collaboration with organizations and agencies that

specialize in the prevention and recognition of pediatric head trauma approved

by the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services; and

(b) One (1) hour one (1) time every three (3) years of continuing education in the

recognition and prevention of pediatric ingestion or inhalation of controlled

substances.

The continuing education required under this subsection shall be included in the

current number of required continuing education hours.

(17) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall make available either through the

development or approval of a model training curriculum and training materials,

including vide o instructional materials, to cover the areas specified in subsection

(15) of this section. The cabinet shall develop or approve the model training

curriculum and training materials to cover the areas specified in subsection (15) of

this section.

(18) Child-care centers licensed pursuant to this section and family child -care homes

certified pursuant to KRS 199.8982 shall not use corporal physical discipline,

including the use of spanking, shaking, or paddling, as a means of punishment,

discipline, behavior modification, or for any other reason. For the purposes of this

section, "corporal physical discipline" means the deliberate infliction of physical

pain and does not include spontaneous physical contact that is intended to protect a

child from immediate danger.

(19) Child-care centers that provide instructional and educational programs for

preschool-aged children that operate for a maximum of twenty (20) hours per week

and that a child attends for no more than fifteen (15) hours per week shall:

(a) Notify the cabinet in writing that the center is operating;

(b) Meet all child -care center licensure requirements and administrative

regulations related to employee background checks;

(c) Meet all child -care center licensure requirements and administrative

regulations related to tuberculosis screenings; and

(d) Be exempt from all other child -care center licensure requirements and

administrative regulations.

(20) Child-care centers that prov ide instructional and educational programs for

preschool-aged children that operate for a maximum of twenty (20) hours per week

and that a child attends for no more than ten (10) hours per week shall be exempt

from all child-care licensure requirements and administrative regulations.

(21) Instructional programs for school -age children that offer, whether free or for a fee,

recreational, educational, sports training, or vacation programs that include but are

not limited to martial arts and dance programs to children under eighteen (18) years

of age, that a child attends outside the presence of his or her parent or legal

guardian, shall be exempt from all child -care licensure administrative regulations if

the following criteria are met:

(a) The program provide s primary instruction in a skill, talent, ability, expertise,

or proficiency;

(b) The program operates outside the time period when school is in session,

including before or after school hours, holidays, school breaks, teaching

planning days, or summer vacation;

(c) The program does not advertise or otherwise represent that the program is a

licensed child-care center or that the program offers child-care services;

(d) The program informs the parent or guardian:

1. That the program is not licensed by the cabinet; and

2. About the physical risks a child may face while participating in the

program; and

(e) The program conducts the following background checks for all program

employees and volunteers who work with children:

1. Check of the child abuse and neglect records maintained by the cabinet;

and

2. In-state criminal background information check from the Justice and

Public Safety Cabinet or Administrative Office of the Courts.

(22) Directors and employees of child -care centers in a position that involves

supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor, or direct contact with a minor, shall

submit to a criminal record check in accordance with KRS 199.8965.

(23) A director or employee of a child -care center may be employed on a probationary

status pending receipt of the criminal background check. Application for the

criminal record of a probationary employee shall be made no later than the date

probationary employment begins.

(24) In determining whether to issue a plan of correction, directed plan of correction, o r

suspension or revocation of a child -care center license in response to any alleged

violation of an administrative regulation by a child -care center, in addition to any

other required considerations under this section the cabinet shall consider the

following factors:

(a) If the child -care center self -reported the incident in question and if the child -

care center had a history of self-reporting incidents;

(b) If the incident was the result of the child-care center failing in any way related

to policy, training, enforcement, or supervision;

(c) If the incident was the result of an independent act or failure to follow

administrative regulations or center policy on the part of a child -care center

applicant for licensure, a child-care center director, or any staff person;

(d) Actions taken by the child -care center in addition to those required by

administrative regulation, including but not limited to installing cameras,

providing extra training for staff, implementing facility improvements,

enacting safety polic ies stricter than those required by administrative

regulation, and improving staff-to-child ratios; and

(e) If the child-care center appropriately responded to the violation by holding the

party responsible accountable for the violation and correcting or i nitiating

correction of any condition that contributed to the violation.

(25) A violation of a directed plan of correction shall not result in a suspension or

revocation of a child -care center's license unless the violation is solely determined

by the cabinet to be serious enough to justify the suspension or revocation.

(26) A child -care center shall be permitted to provide requested documentation to the

cabinet up to five (5) business days following a request when any routine review or

audit related to an alleged violation of administrative regulation occurs.

(27) (a) A child-care center that has been granted a preliminary license with a six (6)

month probationary period by the cabinet shall receive a minimum of two (2)

weekly support contacts a week by the cabinet or the cabinet's designee, with

at least one (1) contact being in person for each week of a six (6) month

probationary period in order to assist the center owner, supervisors, and staff

in understanding, implementing, and practicing administrative regulations

properly.

(b) During the six (6) month probationary period, the cabinet shall not issue a

violation against a child -care center unless the cabinet determines that a

violation was knowingly committed after the cabinet had provided clear

instructions, or the violation created an immediate threat to the health, safety,

or welfare of the children in the child-care center.

(28) The cabinet may allow but shall not require the inspector general, the inspector

general's designee, or other cabinet representative to:

(a) Take emergency action in accordance with subsection (4) of this section by

issuing an emergency order that suspends a child-care center's license;

(b) Revoke a child -care center's license if an emergency order has been issued

and the:

1. Child-care center has not requested a hearing within the timeframes

required in subsection (7) of this section; or

2. Condition that resulted in the emergency order is not corrected within

thirty (30) calendar days of service of an emergency order;

(c) Revoke a child-care center's license if:

1. A representative of the child -care center interferes with a cabinet or

other agency representative's ability to perform an official duty;

2. A cabinet representative, a representative from another agency with

regulatory authority, or a parent is denied access during operating hours

to a child, the child-care center, or child-care center staff;

3. The child-care center is discontinued or disqualified from participation

in Kentucky's child -care subsidy program or another governmental

assistance program as a result of fraud, abuse, or criminal conviction

related to the center;

4. The child -care cente r fails to meet a condition of, or violates a

requirement of, a directed plan of correction;

5. The child-care center applicant or licensee knowingly misrepresents or

submits false information on a form required by the cabinet;

6. The child-care center is the subject of more than two (2) directed plans

of correction during a three (3) year period; or

7. The child -care center has failed to comply with required payment

provisions; and

(d) Suspend a child-care center's license if:

1. A violation of an administ rative regulation is found to pose an

immediate threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the children in

care, as permitted in subsection (4) of this section; or

2. The child -care center fails to comply with the approved plan of

correction.

(29) The ca binet shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS

Chapter 13A to identify emergency care providers who provide essential child -care

services during an identified state of emergency.