HB 500 Child care providers; criminal history background checks.

Chief patron: Filler-Corn

Summary as introduced:

Child care providers; criminal history background checks. Requires all applicants for licensure as a family day system, registration as a family day home, and approval as a family day home by a family day system, all child day centers that are exempt from licensure by the Department of Social Services, and all child day centers and family day homes that enter into a contract with the Department of Social Services or a local department of social services to provide child care services funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant, as well as all applicants for employment, employees, applicants to volunteer, and volunteers at such child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems, to undergo fingerprint-based national criminal history background checks beginning July 1, 2017. The bill also requires individuals currently employed by or serving as volunteers at a licensed child day center, family day home, or family day system, child day center exempt from licensure pursuant to § 63.2-1716, registered family day home, family day home approved by a family day system, or child day center or family day home that enters into a contract with the Department of Social Services or a local department of social services to provide child care services funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant to undergo a national background check to be completed by July 1, 2017. In addition, every (i) person who is licensed as a child day center, family day home, or family day system, registered as a family day home, or approved as a family day home by a family day system; (ii) agent of a person who is licensed as a child day center, family day home, or family day system, registered as a family day home, or approved as a family day home by a family day system or who will be involved in the day-to-day operations of the child day center, family day home, or family day system or who is or will be alone with, in control of, or supervising one or more children in a child day center, family day home, or family day system; and (iii) adult living in a licensed child day center or family day home, registered family day home, or family day home approved by a family day system, shall undergo a national background check to be completed by July 1, 2017.

01/14/16 House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #3
01/28/16 House: Impact statement from DPB (HB500)
02/03/16 House: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2017
02/09/16 House: Continued to 2017 in Health, Welfare and Institutions
12/01/16 House: Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions

HB 1019 Education improvement scholarships; modifies tax credit program, pre-kindergarten eligibility.

Chief patron: Massie

Summary as introduced:

Educational improvement scholarships tax credit program; pre-kindergarten eligibility. Modifies the educational improvement scholarships tax credit program by including as eligible scholarship recipients children enrolled in or attending nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs. The maximum annual scholarship that a child enrolled in or attending a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program will receive is the lesser of the child's actual educational expenses or the state share of the grant per child under the Virginia Preschool Initiative for the locality in which the child resides.

Under current law, tax credits are awarded to individuals and businesses making donations to nonprofit scholarship foundations using the donated funds to award scholarships to certain students in grades K through 12 attending nonpublic schools. Eligible scholarship recipients are students in grades K through 12 with a finalized individualized education program (IEP) in place or whose annual household income is not in excess of 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

The bill defines an eligible pre-kindergarten child as a child who is (i) a resident of Virginia, (ii) an at-risk four-year-old unserved by Head Start programs, and (iii) enrolled in or attending a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program. In addition, the family of the child (a) cannot have annual household income in excess of 300 percent of the current poverty guidelines or 400 percent of such guidelines if an IEP has been written and finalized for the child, (b) must be homeless as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 11302, or (c) must include parents or guardians of the child who are school dropouts.

The bill defines a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program as a preschool program designed for child development and kindergarten preparation (1) that complies with nonpublic school accreditation requirements administered by the Virginia Council for Private Education (VCPE) or (2) that is participating in Virginia Quality (a partnership between the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Office of Early Childhood Development of the Department of Social Services) with a current designation of at least Level 3 under such rating system. The bill includes several other curriculum and administrative requirements that must be met by a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program in order for children attending the program to be eligible to receive scholarships under the tax credit program. Under the bill, VCPE or the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation will certify nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs meeting such curriculum and administrative requirements.

02/01/16 House: Failed to report (defeated) in Finance (10-Y 12-N)
02/08/16 House: Reconsidered by Finance
02/08/16 House: Tabled in Finance
02/10/16 House: Continued to 2017 in Finance
12/01/16 House: Left in Finance

HB 1568 Child care providers; applicant criminal history background checks, penalty.

Chief patron: Orrock

Summary as passed House:

Child care providers; criminal history background check; penalty. Requires the following individuals to undergo a fingerprint-based national criminal history background check: (i) applicants for employment by, employees of, applicants to serve as volunteers with, and volunteers with any licensed family day system, child day center exempt from licensure pursuant to § 63.2-1716, registered family day home, or family day home approved by a family day system; (ii) applicants for licensure as a family day system, registration as a family day home, or approval as a family day home by a family day system, as well as their agents and any adult living in such family day home; and (iii) individuals who apply for or enter into a contract with the Department of Social Services under which a child day center, family day home, or child day program will provide child care services funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant, as well as the applicant's current or prospective employees and volunteers, agents, and any adult living in the child day center or family day home. The bill also mandates that all background checks required pursuant to §§ 63.2-1720.1 and 63.2-1721.1 be completed by September 30, 2017, or by the date specified on any federal waiver obtained by the Commonwealth, and every five years thereafter. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2018. The bill further provides that if any provision of the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 establishing a corresponding requirement is repealed prior to July 1, 2018, the provision of the bill establishing such requirement shall expire upon the date of such repeal. This bill is identical to SB 897.

02/16/17 House: Impact statement from DPB (HB1568ER)
02/16/17 House: Signed by Speaker
02/17/17 Senate: Signed by President
02/17/17 House: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/17/17
02/17/17 Governor: Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 24, 2017

HB 1690 Virginia Preschool Initiative; local matching funds.

Chief patron: Dudenhefer

Summary as introduced:
Virginia Preschool Initiative; local matching funds. Removes the requirement for local governing bodies to commit to providing the required matching funds in order to qualify for grants under the Virginia Preschool Initiative.

01/30/17 House: Reported from Education (21-Y 0-N)
01/30/17 House: Referred to Committee on Appropriations
01/30/17 House: Assigned App. sub: Elementary & Secondary Education
01/31/17 House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table
02/08/17 House: Left in Appropriations

HB 1837 Private certified preschool or nursery school programs; licensure exemptions.

Chief patron: Orrock

Summary as passed House:

Licensure exemptions; private preschool and nursery school programs. Modifies the licensure exemption requirements for certified preschool or nursery school programs operated by a private school that is accredited by an organization recognized by the Board of Education. The bill removes the list of accrediting associations from the licensure exemption language and provides a reference to the Code section that establishes the process for recognition of accrediting organizations by the Board of Education. The bill removes certain licensure exemption requirements that such preschool and nursery school programs must meet and modifies others, including (i) increasing the amount of time children may attend such programs per day from four hours to the maximum time allowed under the school's kindergarten program; and (ii) lowering the minimum age of children permitted to attend the programs from age four to age three. The bill also allows the Commissioner of Social Services to inspect such preschool and nursery school programs to ensure compliance with applicable requirements, either annually or in response to a complaint, and requires such schools to report all incidents involving serious injury to or death of a child attending the school.

02/22/17 Senate: Reading of substitute waived
02/22/17 Senate: Floor substitute printed 17105738D-S2 (Hanger)
02/22/17 Senate: Substitute by Senator Hanger agreed to 17105738D-S2
02/22/17 Senate: Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute HB1837S2
02/22/17 Senate: Passed Senate with substitute (40-Y 0-N)

HB 1873 Children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing; parent resource.

Chief patron: Pogge

Summary as introduced:
Children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing; parent resource; tools or assessments for educators; report. Requires the Division of Special Education and Student Services of the Department of Education to (i) select, with input from an advisory committee that it establishes, language development milestones and include such milestones in a resource for use by parents of a child from birth to age five who is identified as deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing to monitor and track their child's expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy; (ii) disseminate such resource to such parents; (iii) select existing tools or assessments for educators for use in assessing the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing; (iv) disseminate such tools or assessments to local educational agencies and provide materials and training on their use; and (v) annually produce a report, using existing data reported in compliance with the federally required state performance plan on students with disabilities, that compares the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing with the language and literacy development of their peers who are not deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing and make such report available to the public on its website. The bill is a recommendation of the Disability Commission.

01/10/17 House: Referred to Committee on Education
01/20/17 House: Assigned Education sub: Elementary and Secondary Education
01/27/17 House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table
01/30/17 House: Impact statement from DPB (HB1873)
02/07/17 House: Left in Education

HB 1963 Education improvement scholarships tax credit; pre-kindergarten eligibility.

Chief patron: Massie

Summary as introduced:

Educational Improvement Scholarships tax credit; pre-kindergarten eligibility. Expands the educational improvement scholarships tax credit program by including as eligible scholarship recipients children enrolled in or attending nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs. The maximum annual scholarship that a child enrolled in or attending a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program will receive is the lesser of the child's actual educational expenses or the state share of the grant per child under the Virginia Preschool Initiative for the locality in which the child resides.

Under current law, tax credits are awarded to individuals and businesses making donations to nonprofit scholarship foundations using the donated funds to award scholarships to certain students in grades K-12 attending nonpublic schools. Eligible scholarship recipients are students in grades K-12 with a finalized individualized education program (IEP) in place or whose annual household income is not in excess of 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

The bill defines an eligible pre-kindergarten child as a child who is (i) a resident of Virginia, (ii) an at-risk four-year-old unserved by Head Start programs, and (iii) enrolled in or attending a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program. In addition, the family of the child (a) cannot have annual household income in excess of 300 percent of the current poverty guidelines or 400 percent of such guidelines if an IEP has been written and finalized for the child, (b) must be homeless as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 11302, or (c) must include parents or guardians of the child who are school dropouts.

The bill defines a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program as a preschool program designed for child development and kindergarten preparation (1) that complies with nonpublic school accreditation requirements administered by the Virginia Council for Private Education (VCPE) or (2) that is participating in Virginia Quality (a partnership between the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Office of Early Childhood Development of the Department of Social Services) with a current designation of at least Level 3 under such rating system. The bill includes several other curriculum and administrative requirements that must be met by a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program in order for children attending the program to be eligible to receive scholarships under the tax credit program. Under the bill, VCPE or the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation will certify nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs meeting such curriculum and administrative requirements.

01/10/17 House: Referred to Committee on Finance
01/20/17 House: Assigned Finance sub: Subcommittee #2
01/24/17 House: Impact statement from DPB (HB1963)
01/25/17 House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 4-N)
02/01/17 House: Tabled in Finance

HB 2232 Child day programs; exemptions from licensure.

Chief patron: Toscano

Summary as introduced:
Child day programs; exemptions from licensure. Exempts from licensure any child day program that is offered by a local school division, staffed by local school division employees, and attended by children who are enrolled in public school within such school division. The bill provides that such programs shall be subject to safety and supervisory standards established by the local school board.

01/11/17 House: Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
01/17/17 House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #3
01/19/17 House: Impact statement from DPB (HB2232)
01/31/17 House: Subcommittee recommends striking from docket
02/07/17 House: Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions

HB 2259 Child day programs; certain programs exempted from licensure.

Chief patron: Filler-Corn

Summary as introduced:
Child day programs; exemptions from licensure. Removes certain programs from the list of child day programs exempt from licensure and clarifies that such programs are not considered child day programs and therefore are not subject to licensure. The bill also modifies the terms of child day programs that remain listed as exempt from licensure and requires that such programs (i) file with the Commissioner of Social Services (the Commissioner), prior to beginning operation of a child day program and annually thereafter, a statement indicating the intent to operate a child day program, identifying the Code provision relied upon for exemption from licensure, and certifying that the child day program has disclosed, in writing, to the parents or guardians of the children in the program the fact that it is exempt from licensure; (ii) report to the Commissioner all incidents involving serious injury or death to children attending the child day program; (iii) have a person trained and certified in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) present at the child day program; (iv) comply with background check requirements established by regulations of the Board of Social Services (the Board); (v) maintain daily attendance records; (vi) have an emergency preparedness plan in place; (vii) comply with all applicable laws and regulations governing transportation of children; and (viii) post in a visible location notice that the program is not licensed or inspected by the Department of Social Services and only certifies basic health and safety requirements. The bill modifies staffing ratios for religious-exempt child day centers and requires that such centers have a person trained and certified in first aid and CPR present whenever children are in attendance and comply with safe sleep practices for infants established by regulations of the Board. The bill directs (a) the Board to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and (b) the Commissioner to establish a process to inspect child day programs exempt from licensure and a process to gather and track aggregate data regarding child injuries and deaths that occur at such child day programs.

01/25/17 House: Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
01/26/17 House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #3
01/27/17 House: Impact statement from DPB (HB2259)
01/31/17 House: Subcommittee recommends striking from docket
02/07/17 House: Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions

HB 2407 Child day programs; exemption from licensure for certain martial arts programs.

Chief patron: Hugo

Summary as introduced:
Child day programs; exemption from licensure for certain martial arts programs. Exempts from the child day program licensure requirements any martial arts program operated any time during the months of June, July, and August if children under the age of five do not attend, the program operates between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., and the program does not serve food or administer medicine to program participants unless it is necessary for the well-being of the child.

01/19/17 House: Presented and ordered printed 17103617D
01/19/17 House: Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
01/23/17 House: Impact statement from DPB (HB2407)
02/07/17 House: Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions

HJ 652 Encouraging the Governor to recognize best practices.

Chief patron: Carr

Summary as introduced:
Encouraging the Governor to recognize best practices to reduce the negative consequences of adverse childhood experiences in developing policies of the Commonwealth. Encourages the Governor to recognize best practices to reduce the negative consequences of adverse childhood experiences in developing policies of the Commonwealth, take into account the principles of early childhood brain development, and, whenever possible, consider the concepts of toxic stress, early adversity, and nurturing relationships and the role of primary prevention, early intervention, and trauma-informed and resilience-building practices and policies as a means to achieving a lasting foundation for a more prosperous, healthier, and sustainable Commonwealth.

01/10/17 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101824D
01/10/17 House: Referred to Committee on Rules
01/31/17 House: Tabled in Rules (15-Y 0-N)

HJ 791 Early childhood education.

Chief patron: Greason

Summary as introduced:
Early childhood education. Recognizes the importance of early childhood brain development and the early childhood profession and recognizes and encourages, among other things, the ongoing efforts of the Virginia Department of Social Services, the Virginia Department of Education, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the Virginia Community College System, other public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth, and other entities that utilize public funds to administer, support, or study early education in the Commonwealth to collaborate to maximize all existing funding streams and develop and implement policies and programs to advance the school readiness of children in the Commonwealth from birth to age five and the school success of children by the critical milestone of third grade.

01/19/17 House: Presented and ordered printed 17103844D
01/19/17 House: Referred to Committee on Rules
01/31/17 House: Tabled in Rules

SB 419 Operation of a child welfare agency without a license; negligence resulting in death or injury.

Chief patron: Vogel

Summary as introduced:
Operation of a child welfare agency without a license; negligence resulting in death of or injury to a child; penalty. Provides that in any case in which a person operates or engages in the conduct of a child welfare agency without first obtaining a license, and a child under the care or supervision of such child welfare agency suffers death or serious bodily injury as a result of the child care provider's negligent operation of such child welfare agency, such person is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

01/27/16 Senate: Rereferred to Finance
01/29/16 Senate: Impact statement from VCSC (SB419S1)
02/04/16 Senate: Impact statement from DPB (SB419S1)
02/16/16 Senate: Continued to 2017 in Finance (14-Y 0-N)
12/02/16 Senate: Left in Finance

SB 601 Child care providers; criminal history background checks.

Chief patron: Wexton

Summary as passed Senate:

Child care providers; criminal history background checks. Requires all applicants for licensure as a family day system, registration as a family day home, and approval as a family day home by a family day system, all child day centers that are exempt from licensure by the Department of Social Services, and all child day centers and family day homes that enter into a contract with the Department of Social Services or a local department of social services to provide child care services funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant, as well as all applicants for employment, employees, applicants to volunteer, and volunteers at such child day centers, family day homes, and family day systems, to undergo fingerprint-based national criminal history background checks beginning July 1, 2017. The bill also requires individuals currently employed by or serving as volunteers at a licensed child day center, family day home, or family day system, child day center exempt from licensure pursuant to § 63.2-1716, registered family day home, family day home approved by a family day system, or child day center or family day home that enters into a contract with the Department of Social Services or a local department of social services to provide child care services funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant to undergo a national background check to be completed by September 30, 2017, or by the date specified on any federal waiver obtained by the Commonwealth. In addition, every (i) person who is licensed as a child day center, family day home, or family day system, registered as a family day home, or approved as a family day home by a family day system; (ii) agent of a person who is licensed as a child day center, family day home, or family day system, registered as a family day home, or approved as a family day home by a family day system or who will be involved in the day-to-day operations of the child day center, family day home, or family day system or who is or will be alone with, in control of, or supervising one or more children in a child day center, family day home, or family day system; and (iii) adult living in a licensed child day center or family day home, registered family day home, or family day home approved by a family day system, shall undergo a national background check to be completed by September 30, 2017, or by the date specified on any federal waiver obtained by the Commonwealth.

02/17/16 House: Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
02/17/16 House: Assigned HWI sub: Subcommittee #3
02/25/16 House: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2017
02/25/16 House: Continued to 2017 in Health, Welfare and Institutions
12/01/16 House: Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions

SB 897 Child care providers; criminal history background check; penalty.

Chief patron: Wexton

Summary as passed:

Child care providers; criminal history background check; penalty. Requires the following individuals to undergo a fingerprint-based national criminal history background check: (i) applicants for employment by, employees of, applicants to serve as volunteers with, and volunteers with any licensed family day system, child day center exempt from licensure pursuant to § 63.2-1716, registered family day home, or family day home approved by a family day system; (ii) applicants for licensure as a family day system, registration as a family day home, or approval as a family day home by a family day system, as well as their agents and any adult living in such family day home; and (iii) individuals who apply for or enter into a contract with the Department of Social Services under which a child day center, family day home, or child day program will provide child care services funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant, as well as the applicant's current or prospective employees and volunteers, agents, and any adult living in the child day center or family day home. The bill also mandates that all background checks required pursuant to §§ 63.2-1720.1 and 63.2-1721.1 be completed by September 30, 2017, or by the date specified on any federal waiver obtained by the Commonwealth, and every five years thereafter. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2018. The bill further provides that if any provision of the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 establishing a corresponding requirement is repealed prior to July 1, 2018, the provision of the bill establishing such requirement shall expire upon the date of such repeal. This bill is identical to HB 1568.

02/20/17 Senate: Enrolled
02/20/17 Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB897ER)
02/20/17 Senate: Impact statement from DPB (SB897ER)
02/21/17 House: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/21/17
02/21/17 Governor: Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017

SB 900 Budget Bill.

Chief patron: Norment, Hanger

Summary as introduced:
Budget Bill. Amends Chapter 780, 2016 Acts of Assembly.

02/09/17 Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
02/13/17 House: Placed on Calendar
02/13/17 House: Read first time
02/13/17 House: Referred to Committee on Appropriations
02/21/17 House: Left in Appropriations

SB 937 Office of the Children's Ombudsman.

Chief patron: Edwards

Summary as introduced:
Office of the Children's Ombudsman. Creates the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to provide ombudsman services, including investigation of complaints, advocacy, and information for children, parents, and citizens involved with child-serving agencies, defined in the bill. The bill also provides for the Office of the Governor to conduct a needs assessment with the Department of General Services to provide for office space needs of the Office of the Children's Ombudsman.

01/23/17 Senate: Committee substitute printed 17104618D-S1
01/23/17 Senate: Rereferred to Finance
01/25/17 Senate: Impact statement from DPB (SB937S1)
02/01/17 Senate: Committee amendments
02/01/17 Senate: Failed to report (defeated) in Finance (6-Y 9-N)

SB 983 Children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing; parent resource.

Chief patron: Favola

Summary as introduced:
Children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing; parent resource; tools or assessments for educators; report. Requires the Division of Special Education and Student Services of the Department of Education to (i) select, with input from an advisory committee that it establishes, language development milestones and include such milestones in a resource for use by parents of a child from birth to age five who is identified as deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing to monitor and track their child's expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy; (ii) disseminate such resource to such parents; (iii) select existing tools or assessments for educators for use in assessing the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing; (iv) disseminate such tools or assessments to local educational agencies and provide materials and training on their use; and (v) annually produce a report, using existing data reported in compliance with the federally required state performance plan on students with disabilities, that compares the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing with the language and literacy development of their peers who are not deaf, deaf-blind, or hard-of-hearing and make such report available to the public on its website. The bill is a recommendation of the Disability Commission.

01/03/17 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102216D
01/03/17 Senate: Referred to Committee on Education and Health
01/25/17 Senate: Assigned Education sub: Public Education
01/30/17 Senate: Impact statement from DPB (SB983)
02/02/17 Senate: Stricken at request of patron in Education and Health (15-Y 0-N)

SB 1072 Sex offenses prohibiting proximity to children; penalty.

Chief patron: Deeds

Summary as introduced:
Sex offenses prohibiting proximity to children; penalty. Includes in the list of certain sex offenses that prohibit a person from being within 100 feet or residing within 500 feet of a school or certain other property frequented by children or from working on school property any offense similar to such sex offenses under the laws of any foreign country or political subdivision thereof, any federally recognized Native American tribe or band, or the United States or any political subdivision thereof.

01/18/17 Senate: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 0-N)
01/18/17 Senate: Rereferred to Finance
01/20/17 Senate: Impact statement from VCSC (SB1072S1)
01/23/17 Senate: Impact statement from DPB (SB1072S1)
01/31/17 Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Finance (16-Y 0-N)

SB 1096 Virginia Property Owners' Association Act; home-based businesses, licensed child care provider.

Chief patron: Petersen

Summary as introduced:
Virginia Property Owners' Association Act; home-based businesses; licensed child care provider. Provides that a lot owner who is a licensed child care provider operating within his personal residence pursuant to state law and in compliance with local ordinances shall be considered an accessory residential use and may not be prohibited by a property owners' association unless specifically prohibited by the declaration.

01/06/17 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102204D
01/06/17 Senate: Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
01/16/17 Senate: Impact statement from DPB (SB1096)
02/08/17 Senate: Left in General Laws and Technology

SB 1239 Child day programs; exemptions from licensure, certification of preschool or nursery school program.

Chief patron: Hanger

Summary as passed Senate:

Child day programs; exemptions from licensure. Removes certain programs from the list of child day programs exempt from licensure and clarifies that such programs are not considered child day programs and therefore are not subject to licensure. The bill also modifies the terms of certain child day programs that remain listed as exempt from licensure and requires that such programs (i) file with the Commissioner of Social Services (the Commissioner), prior to beginning operation of a child day program and annually thereafter, a statement indicating the intent to operate a child day program, identifying the Code provision relied upon for exemption from licensure, and certifying that the child day program has disclosed to the parents of children in the program the fact that it is exempt from licensure; (ii) report to the Commissioner all incidents involving serious injury or death to children attending the child day program; (iii) have a person trained and certified in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) present at the child day program; (iv) comply with background check requirements established by regulations of the Board of Social Services (the Board); (v) maintain daily attendance records; (vi) have an emergency preparedness plan in place; (vii) comply with all applicable laws and regulations governing transportation of children; (viii) comply with certain safe sleep practices for infants; and (ix) post in a visible location notice that the program is not licensed by the Department of Social Services and only certifies basic health and safety requirements. The bill exempts from licensure any program offered by a local school division, operated for no more than four hours per day, staffed by local school division employees, and attended by school-age children who are enrolled in public school within such school division. The bill also modifies staffing ratios for religious-exempt child day centers. The bill directs (a) the Board to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and (b) the Commissioner to establish a process to inspect child day programs exempt from licensure and a process to gather and track aggregate data regarding child injuries and deaths that occur at such child day programs. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2018.

02/20/17 House: Passed by for the day
02/21/17 House: Passed by for the day
02/22/17 House: Read third time
02/22/17 House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute with amendment SB1239H1
02/22/17 House: Passed House with substitute with amendment (66-Y 34-N)

SB 1397 Child day programs; exemptions from licensure.

Chief patron: Deeds

Summary as introduced:
Child day programs; exemptions from licensure. Exempts from licensure any child day program that is offered by a local school division, staffed by local school division employees, and attended by children who are enrolled in public school within such school division. The bill provides that such programs shall be subject to safety and supervisory standards established by the local school board.

01/11/17 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102587D
01/11/17 Senate: Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services
01/19/17 Senate: Impact statement from DPB (SB1397)
01/27/17 Senate: Stricken at request of Patron in Rehabilitation and Social Services (14-Y 0-N)

SB 1427 Education improvement scholarships tax credit; pre-kindergarten eligibility.

Chief patron: Stanley

Summary as introduced:
Educational Improvement Scholarships tax credit; pre-kindergarten eligibility. Expands the educational improvement scholarships tax credit program by including as eligible scholarship recipients children enrolled in or attending nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs. The maximum annual scholarship that a child enrolled in or attending a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program will receive is the lesser of the child's actual educational expenses or the state share of the grant per child under the Virginia Preschool Initiative for the locality in which the child resides.

Under current law, tax credits are awarded to individuals and businesses making donations to nonprofit scholarship foundations using the donated funds to award scholarships to certain students in grades K-12 attending nonpublic schools. Eligible scholarship recipients are students in grades K-12 with a finalized individualized education program (IEP) in place or whose annual household income is not in excess of 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

The bill defines an eligible pre-kindergarten child as a child who is (i) a resident of Virginia, (ii) an at-risk four-year-old unserved by Head Start programs, and (iii) enrolled in or attending a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program. In addition, the family of the child (a) cannot have annual household income in excess of 300 percent of the current poverty guidelines or 400 percent of such guidelines if an IEP has been written and finalized for the child, (b) must be homeless as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 11302, or (c) must include parents or guardians of the child who are school dropouts.

The bill defines a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program as a preschool program designed for child development and kindergarten preparation (1) that complies with nonpublic school accreditation requirements administered by the Virginia Council for Private Education (VCPE) or (2) that is participating in Virginia Quality (a partnership between the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Office of Early Childhood Development of the Department of Social Services) with a current designation of at least Level 3 under such rating system. The bill includes several other curriculum and administrative requirements that must be met by a nonpublic pre-kindergarten program in order for children attending the program to be eligible to receive scholarships under the tax credit program. Under the bill, VCPE or the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation will certify nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs meeting such curriculum and administrative requirements.

02/06/17 House: Read first time
02/06/17 House: Referred to Committee on Finance
02/07/17 House: Assigned Finance sub: Subcommittee #2
02/08/17 House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 4-N)
02/13/17 House: Failed to report (defeated) in Finance (10-Y 12-N)

SJ 263 Encouraging the Governor and all agencies of the Commonwealth to recognize best practices.

Chief patron: Hanger, Howell

Summary as introduced:
Encouraging the Governor and all agencies of the Commonwealth to recognize best practices to reduce the negative consequences of adverse childhood experiences in developing policies of the Commonwealth. Encourages the Governor and all agencies of the Commonwealth to recognize best practices to reduce the negative consequences of adverse childhood experiences in developing policies of the Commonwealth, take into account the principles of early childhood brain development, and, whenever possible, consider the concepts of toxic stress, early adversity, and nurturing relationships and the role of primary prevention, early intervention, and trauma-informed and resilience-building practices and policies as a means to achieving a lasting foundation for a more prosperous, healthier, and sustainable Commonwealth.

01/04/17 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102839D
01/04/17 Senate: Referred to Committee on Rules
02/02/17 Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Rules

Counts: HB: 10 HJ: 2 SB: 11 SJ: 1