Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 2 of chapter 28A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "homes", in line 17, the second time it appears, the following words:- ; large family day care homes.

SECTION 2. Section 4 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "homes", in line 8, the following words:- and large family day care homes.

SECTION 3. Said section 4 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "homes", in lines 13 and 36, each time it appears, the following words:- , large family day care homes.

SECTION 4. Section 9 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of "Group care facility" the following definition:-

"Large family day care home", a private residence which, on a regular basis, receives for temporary custody and care during part or all of the day, children under seven years of age or children under sixteen years of age if such children have special needs, and receives for temporary custody and care for a limited number of hours, children of school age in accordance with regulations promulgated by the office; provided, however, that the number of children under the age of sixteen in a large family day care home shall not exceed ten, including participating children living in the residence. A large family day care home shall have at least one approved assistant when the total number of children participating in such day care exceeds six. Large family day care home shall not mean a private residence used for an informal cooperative arrangement among neighbors or relatives, or the occasional care of children with or without compensation therefor.

SECTION 5. Said section 9 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "home", in line 96, the following words:- except as provided under large family day care home.

SECTION 6. Section 10 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "home", in lines 6, 16, 21, 49 and 63, in each instance, the following words:- or large family day care home.

SECTION 7. Said section 10 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "homes", in line 35, the following words:- or large family day care homes.

SECTION 8. Paragraph (c) of said section 10 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the second sentence the following sentence:- Such regulations as they relate to standards and requirements for licensure and approval of large family day care homes shall include, but not be limited to, appropriate standards for one or more approved assistants as provided in section nine, additional floor space, staff/child ratios for multiple age and size groupings, including limitations on the number of infants in care at one time, the hours of school age care, the number and age of school age children cared for, a prerequisite that a provider have at least three years of experience in licensed family child care and requirements for completion of at least five hours of specialized training prior to licensure as a large family day care provider and at least ten hours of training each subsequent year.

SECTION 9. Said section 10 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "home", in line 49, the following words:- , large family day care home.

SECTION 10. Said section 10 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "homes", in line 51, the following words:- , large family day care homes.

SECTION 10A. Said chapter 28A is hereby further amended by inserting after section 10A the following section:-

Section 10B. The office for children shall make an unannounced monitoring inspection of all large family day care homes within six months of the issuances of licenses therefor and shall, annually, make at least one such unannounced monitoring inspection thereafter.

SECTION 11. Section 11 of said chapter 28A, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "home", in line 2, the following words:- , large family day care home.

SECTION 12. Said section 11 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "home", in line 5, the following words:- or large family day care home.

SECTION 13. Section 12 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "homes", in line 6, the following words:- or large family day care homes.

SECTION 14. Section 14 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "care", in line 5, the second time it appears, the following words:- , large family day care.

SECTION 15. Said section 14 of said chapter 28A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "home", in line 8, the following words:- , large family day care home.

SECTION 16. The office for children shall promulgate regulations relative to the licensing of large family day care homes not later than twelve months after the effective date of this act and shall file copies of such proposed regulations with the committee on human services and elder affairs not later than sixty days before said regulations are adopted. Said office is hereby authorized and directed to establish a pilot program to evaluate the advisability of exempting large family day care homes with eight or fewer children, at least two of whom are school age and in care for a limited number of hours, from certain provisions of large family day care regulations. Said office is hereby authorized to issue provisional licenses to large family day care homes participating in the pilot program. Said office is hereby directed to design the pilot program, in consultation with representatives of the family day care and school age child care community, parents of children in family day care and a representative of the academic community with expertise in early care and education policies and issues. Said office is further directed to engage the assistance of academics with expertise in early care and education and program evaluation in the evaluation of said pilot program. Said office shall report the results of the pilot program along with drafts of any proposed legislation to the legislature's joint committee on human services and elderly affairs on or before September thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-six.