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S1318.................................................by HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHILDREN'S THERAPEUTIC OUTDOOR PROGRAMS - Amends and adds to existing law
to specify inclusion of children's therapeutic outdoor programs within the
child care licensing laws.
01/22 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/23 Rpt prt - to Health/Wel
01/31 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/01 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/04 3rd rdg - PASSED - 33-0-2
AYES -- Andreason, Boatright, Branch(Bartlett), Brandt, Bunderson,
Burtenshaw, Cameron, Darrington, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure, Geddes,
Goedde, Hawkins, Hill, Ipsen, Keough, King-Barrutia, Little, Lodge,
Marley, Noh, Richardson, Risch, Sandy, Schroeder, Sims, Sorensen,
Stegner, Stennett, Thorne(Thorne), Wheeler, Williams
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Davis, Ingram
Floor Sponsors - Darrington & King-Barrutia
Title apvd - to House
02/05 House intro - 1st rdg - to Health/Wel
02/27 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/28 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/06 3rd rdg - PASSED - 60-0-10
AYES -- Aikele, Barraclough, Barrett, Bedke, Bell, Bieter, Black,
Block, Boe, Bolz, Bradford, Bruneel, Callister, Campbell, Clark,
Collins, Crow, Cuddy, Deal, Denney, Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(13),
Gagner, Gould, Hadley, Hammond, Henbest, Hornbeck, Jaquet, Jones,
Kellogg(Duncan), Kendell, Kunz, Lake, Langford, Loertscher, Mader,
Martinez, McKague, Meyer, Montgomery, Mortensen, Moyle, Pearce,
Pischner, Pomeroy, Raybould, Ridinger, Roberts, Robison, Schaefer,
Sellman, Shepherd, Smith(33), Smylie, Stevenson, Stone, Tilman,
Wheeler
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Ellis, Field(20), Harwood, Higgins, Sali,
Smith(23), Trail, Wood, Young, Mr. Speaker
Floor Sponsors - Jaquet & Eskridge
Title apvd - to Senate
03/07 To enrol
03/08 Rpt enrol - Pres signed
03/11 Sp signed
03/12 To Governor
03/22 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 219
Effective: 07/01/02
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1318
BY HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO THE CHILD CARE LICENSING REFORM ACT; AMENDING SECTION 39-1202,
3 IDAHO CODE, TO FURTHER DEFINE TERMS; AMENDING SECTION 39-1204, IDAHO CODE,
4 TO REQUIRE DISCLOSURE REPORTS FROM CHILDREN'S AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONS;
5 AMENDING SECTION 39-1205, IDAHO CODE, TO REQUIRE EVALUATION OF DISCLOSURE
6 REPORTS FOR CHILDREN'S THERAPEUTIC OUTDOOR PROGRAMS; AMENDING CHAPTER 12,
7 TITLE 39, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 39-1208, IDAHO
8 CODE, TO SPECIFY STANDARDS FOR CHILDREN'S THERAPEUTIC OUTDOOR PROGRAMS;
9 AND AMENDING SECTIONS 39-1213, 39-1214, 39-1216, 39-1217, 39-1219,
10 39-1220, 39-1221 AND 39-1222, IDAHO CODE, TO SPECIFY INCLUSION OF
11 CHILDREN'S THERAPEUTIC OUTDOOR PROGRAMS WITHIN REQUIREMENTS OF THE CHAP-
12 TER.
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
14 SECTION 1. That Section 39-1202, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
15 amended to read as follows:
16 39-1202. DEFINITIONS. For the purposes of this chapter:
17 (1) "Board" means the Idaho board of health and welfare.
18 (2) "Child care" means that care, control, supervision or maintenance of
19 children for twenty-four (24) hours a day which is provided as an alternative
20 to parental care.
21 (3) "Child" means an individual less than eighteen (18) years of age who
22 is not enrolled in an institution of higher education.
23 (4) "Children's agency" means a person who operates a business for the
24 placement of children in foster homes or for adoption in a permanent home and
25 who does not provide child care as part of that business. Children's agency
26 does not include a licensed attorney or physician assisting or providing natu-
27 ral and adoptive parents with legal services or medical services necessary to
28 initiate and complete adoptive placements.
29 (5) "Children's camp" means a program of child care at a location away
30 from the child's home which is primarily recreational and includes the over-
31 night accommodation of the child and is not intended to provide treatment,
32 therapy or rehabilitation for the child.
33 (6) "Children's institution" means a person who operates a residential
34 facility for children not related to that person if that person is an individ-
35 ual, for the purpose of providing child care. Children's institutions include,
36 but are not limited to, foster homes, maternity homes, juvenile detention cen-
37 ters and other residential facilities referenced in the juvenile justice
38 reform act children's therapeutic outdoor programs, or any facilities provid-
39 ing treatment, therapy or rehabilitation for children. Children's institutions
40 do not include: (a) facilities which provide only day care as defined in chap-
41 ter 11, title 39, Idaho Code; (b) facilities and agencies including hospitals,
42 skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and intermediate
43 care facilities for the mentally retarded licensed pursuant to chapter 13,
2
1 title 39, Idaho Code; (c) day schools; (d) individuals acting in an advisory
2 capacity, counseling a child in a religious context, and providing no child
3 care associated with the advice; (e) the occasional or irregular care of a
4 neighbor's, relative's or friend's child or children by a person not ordinar-
5 ily engaged in child care.
6 (7) "Children's residential care facility" means a children's institu-
7 tion, excluding:
8 (a) Foster homes;
9 (b) Residential schools;
10 (c) Children's camps.
11 No facility expressly excluded from the definition of a children's insti-
12 tution is included within the definition of a children's residential care
13 facility.
14 (8) "Children's therapeutic outdoor program" is a program which is
15 designed to provide behavioral, substance abuse, or mental health services to
16 minors in an outdoor setting. This does not include children's camps, church
17 camps, or other outdoor programs primarily designed to be educational or rec-
18 reational, such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H or sports camps.
19 (9) "Continued care" means the ongoing placement of an individual in a
20 foster home, children's residential care facility, or transitional living
21 placement who reaches the age of eighteen (18) years but is less than twenty-
22 one (21) years of age.
23 (910) "Day school" means a public, private, parochial or secular facility
24 offering an educational program in which the children leave the facility each
25 day at the conclusion of the academic, vocational or school supervised activi-
26 ties.
27 (101) "Department" means the state department of health and welfare.
28 (112) "Director" means the director of the department of health and wel-
29 fare.
30 (123) "Foster care" means child care by a person not related to the child,
31 in lieu of parental care, in a foster home.
32 (134) "Foster home" means a home which accepts, for any period of time,
33 with or without compensation, one (1) or more children who are not related to
34 the foster parent as members of the household for the purpose of providing
35 substitute parental care.
36 (145) "Group care" means foster care of a number of children for whom
37 child care in a family setting is not available or appropriate, in a dormitory
38 or cottage type setting, characterized by activities and discipline of a more
39 regimented and less formal nature than found in a family setting.
40 (156) "Juvenile detention" is as defined in section 20-502(6), Idaho Code,
41 of the juvenile corrections act.
42 (167) "Juvenile detention center" means a facility established pursuant to
43 sections 20-517 and 20-518, Idaho Code.
44 (178) "Person" includes any individual, group of individuals, association,
45 partnership, limited liability company or corporation.
46 (189) "Placement" means finding a suitable licensed foster home or suit-
47 able adoptive home for a child and completing the arrangements for a child to
48 be accepted into and adjusted to such home.
49 (1920) "Representative" means an employee of the state department of
50 health and welfare.
51 (201) "Residential facility" means any facility where child care is pro-
52 vided, as defined in this section, and which provides day and night accommoda-
53 tion.
54 (212) "Residential school" means a residential facility for children
55 which:
3
1 (a) Provides a planned, scheduled, regular, academic or vocational school
2 program for students in the elementary, middle or secondary grades as
3 defined in section 33-1001, Idaho Code; and
4 (b) Provides services substantially comparable to those provided in non-
5 residential public schools where the primary purpose is the education and
6 academic pursuits of the students; and
7 (c) Does not seek, receive or enroll students for treatment of such spe-
8 cial needs as substance abuse, mental illness, emotional disturbance,
9 developmental disability or mental retardation; and
10 (d) Is not:
11 (i) A college or university; or
12 (ii) A children's camp as defined in this section; or
13 (iii) A public or private day school in which the children leave the
14 facility each day at the conclusion of the academic, vocational and
15 school supervised activities.
16 (223) "Transitional living" means living arrangements and aftercare ser-
17 vices for children, or as continued care, to gain experience living on their
18 own in a supportive and supervised environment prior to emancipation.
19 SECTION 2. That Section 39-1204, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
20 amended to read as follows:
21 39-1204. FORM FOR DISCLOSURE REPORT. (1) The department shall design a
22 form for the initial disclosure report which shall contain only the following
23 information:
24 (a) The name, address and telephone number(s) for each residential facil-
25 ity children's agency or children's institution.
26 (b) The name(s), address and telephone number(s) of the individual(s) in
27 charge at each residential facility children's agency or children's insti-
28 tution.
29 (c) The number of children that can be accommodated for child care at
30 each residential facility operated by the children's institution and a
31 description of such accommodations.
32 (d) Whether and how the children's institution seeks, receives or enrolls
33 students for treatment of special needs such as substance abuse, mental
34 illness, emotional disturbance, developmental disability, mental retarda-
35 tion, or students who have been identified by the judicial system as
36 requiring treatment, therapy, rehabilitation or supervision.
37 (e) A complete description of the child care services to be provided at
38 each residential facility operated by the children's institution.
39 (f) Whether and how the children's institution expects to receive pay-
40 ment, including payment from health insurance carriers, for identified
41 treatment needs such as substance abuse, mental illness, emotional distur-
42 bance, developmental disability, or mental retardation.
43 (g) Whether and how the children's institution represents to the payor of
44 the child care services provided by the children's institution that such
45 payment may qualify for health insurance reimbursement by the payor's car-
46 rier or may qualify for tax benefits relating to medical services.
47 (h) A description of the educational programs provided at each residen-
48 tial facility children's institution and their accreditation status.
49 (2) The department shall design a form for the annual update disclosure
50 report which shall reference the information provided in the initial disclo-
51 sure report and shall request identification of any changes in the information
52 provided on the initial report or the previous annual update disclosure
53 report.
4
1 SECTION 3. That Section 39-1205, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
2 amended to read as follows:
3 39-1205. EVALUATION OF DISCLOSURE REPORTS. The department shall review
4 all initial and annual update disclosure reports and shall categorize each
5 children's institution, based on the type of care provided, into one (1) of
6 the following categories:
7 (1) Foster homes;
8 (2) Residential schools;
9 (3) Children's camps; or
10 (4) Children's therapeutic outdoor program; or
11 (5) Each children's institution not otherwise categorized in subsections
12 (1) through (34) of this section, except any day school, shall be designated
13 as a "children's residential care facility."
14 SECTION 4. That Chapter 12, Title 39, Idaho Code, be, and the same is
15 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-
16 ignated as Section 39-1208, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:
17 39-1208. STANDARDS FOR CHILDREN'S THERAPEUTIC OUTDOOR PROGRAMS. The board
18 shall have the power and it shall be its duty to promulgate appropriate rules
19 necessary to implement and enforce the following standards for licensing a
20 children's therapeutic outdoor program:
21 (1) Assure the organizational stability of the program, which may require
22 incorporation under the laws of Idaho.
23 (2) Require from the policymaking authority of the program the promulga-
24 tion of a statement setting forth the program's purposes and objectives and
25 describing the character and extent of the services which it offers and main-
26 tains, and the geographical area to be served.
27 (3) Require a statement of solvency sufficient to maintain programs and
28 personnel necessary to achieve its purposes and objectives and to maintain its
29 services.
30 (4) Assure such recordkeeping and reporting as may be deemed necessary to
31 the program's services and to the department's licensing responsibility.
32 (5) Assure the safety and physical care of children for whom the program
33 assumes or accepts responsibility.
34 (6) Establish the legal status of each child accepted for care and the
35 legal authority and responsibility of the program for the child.
36 (7) Require a statement of intake policy which shall set forth criteria
37 for accepting children for care or service in relation to the program's pur-
38 poses and physical demands.
39 (8) The department shall obtain a criminal history check on the owners,
40 operators and employees of all children's therapeutic outdoor programs. The
41 criminal history check shall be fingerprint based and include the following:
42 (a) Statewide criminal identification bureau;
43 (b) Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) criminal history;
44 (c) National crime information center; and
45 (d) Statewide child abuse register.
46 SECTION 5. That Section 39-1213, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
47 amended to read as follows:
48 39-1213. LICENSING AUTHORITY. (a) The board of health and welfare is
49 hereby authorized and directed to establish procedures for licensing foster
50 homes, children's agencies, children's therapeutic outdoor programs and
5
1 children's residential care facilities which are maintained and operated in
2 conformity with the rules and standards authorized herein. Such procedures
3 shall include the manner and form for making application for license, investi-
4 gation upon application and notice of decision.
5 (b) It is recognized that children's agencies may have their own proce-
6 dure for approval of foster homes affiliated with their program. Any foster
7 home which has been approved by a licensed children's agency shall be exempt
8 from the licensing provisions of this chapter, provided that the standards for
9 approval by such agency are no less restrictive than rules and standards
10 established by the board of health and welfare, and provided further that such
11 children's agency is maintained and operated in conformity with rules and
12 standards of the board of health and welfare. The board of health and welfare
13 may promulgate rules necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
14 (c) The board of health and welfare is hereby authorized to establish
15 rules allowing for continued care for appropriate individuals eighteen (18) to
16 twenty-one (21) years of age who have been receiving services by, through, or
17 with the authorization of the department of health and welfare or the depart-
18 ment of juvenile corrections prior to their eighteenth birthday.
19 SECTION 6. That Section 39-1214, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
20 amended to read as follows:
21 39-1214. ELIGIBILITY FOR LICENSE. Any foster home, children's agency,
22 children's therapeutic outdoor program or children's residential care facility
23 which applies for a license in the manner and form prescribed by the board of
24 health and welfare and is found upon investigation by the department to be
25 established in conformity with the rules and standards established by the
26 department under the authority conferred herein shall be licensed for a period
27 of one (1) year.
28 SECTION 7. That Section 39-1216, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
29 amended to read as follows:
30 39-1216. PROVISIONAL LICENSE. Upon initial investigation, should an
31 applicant for a license be unable to meet a standard because of conditions
32 that are unlikely to endure beyond six (6) months from the date of such inves-
33 tigation, the department may, if in its judgment the health and safety of any
34 child is not thereby endangered, issue a provisional license for a period not
35 to exceed six (6) months. No more than one (1) provisional license shall be
36 issued to the same foster home, children's agency, children's therapeutic out-
37 door program or children's residential care facility in any twelve (12) month
38 period.
39 SECTION 8. That Section 39-1217, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
40 amended to read as follows:
41 39-1217. VISITATION. For the purpose of determining whether every
42 licensed foster home, licensed children's agency, licensed children's thera-
43 peutic outdoor program and licensed children's residential care facility con-
44 sistently maintains conformity with the standards established under the
45 authority conferred herein, the department, through an authorized representa-
46 tive, shall visit each such home and facility as often as it deems necessary
47 or desirable, but in any event at intervals not to exceed twelve (12) months.
48 SECTION 9. That Section 39-1219, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
6
1 amended to read as follows:
2 39-1219. APPEAL FROM DECISION OF DIRECTOR. If an applicant or licensee
3 feels aggrieved by a decision rendered as a result of a hearing, as provided
4 in section 39-1218, Idaho Code, appeal may be taken to the district court of
5 the county in which the group or foster home, facility, program or agency is
6 located, in the manner and form as provided in section 39-1212, Idaho Code,
7 provided, however, the filing of notice of appeal shall not, unless otherwise
8 ordered, stay the proceedings of the director.
9 SECTION 10. That Section 39-1220, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
10 amended to read as follows:
11 39-1220. OPERATING WITHOUT LICENSE MISDEMEANOR. Any person or persons who
12 operate a foster home, children's agency, children's therapeutic outdoor pro-
13 gram or children's residential care facility, within this state, without first
14 obtaining a license as provided in this chapter shall be guilty of a misde-
15 meanor. However, in the event of an initial citation for violation of the pro-
16 visions of this section, if a person makes the application required within
17 thirty (30) days, the complaint shall be dismissed. The penalty for violation
18 of the provisions of this section shall be three hundred dollars ($300) for
19 each day of a continuing violation, which penalty shall accrue from thirty
20 (30) days following the initial notice of violation in the event of a finding
21 of violation.
22 SECTION 11. That Section 39-1221, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
23 amended to read as follows:
24 39-1221. REMOVAL OF CHILDREN. Any child or children receiving child care
25 in a children's residential care facility or children's therapeutic outdoor
26 program found to be operating without a license may be removed from such home,
27 agency or institution upon order of the magistrate court of the county in
28 which the child is receiving care and returned to the child's own home, or
29 placed in the custody of the department if the child's custodial parent is not
30 available. The prosecuting attorneys of the several counties shall represent
31 the department at all stages of the proceedings before the magistrate court.
32 The magistrate court shall retain jurisdiction relative to child custody pur-
33 suant to the provisions of this section. In the event that the prosecuting
34 attorney in the county where the alleged violation occurred fails or refuses
35 to act within sixty (60) days of notification of the violation, the attorney
36 general is authorized to prosecute violations under this chapter.
37 SECTION 12. That Section 39-1222, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
38 amended to read as follows:
39 39-1222. ACTION AGAINST UNLICENSED FOSTER HOME, CHILDREN'S AGENCY,
40 CHILDREN'S THERAPEUTIC OUTDOOR PROGRAM OR CHILDREN'S RESIDENTIAL CARE FACIL-
41 ITY. Notwithstanding the existence or pursuit of any other remedy, the depart-
42 ment shall, upon showing good cause to the prosecuting attorney who shall rep-
43 resent the department in the proceeding, maintain an action in the name of the
44 state for injunction or other process against a person as defined herein who
45 shall hereafter operate or maintain any foster home, children's agency,
46 children's therapeutic outdoor program or children's residential care facility
47 without first having secured a license pursuant to the provisions of this
48 chapter. Upon a finding that the safety of children at a foster home,
7
1 children's agency, children's therapeutic outdoor program or children's resi-
2 dential care facility is endangered, the department has the authority to imme-
3 diately revoke a license.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS#: 11499C#: 1
The present statute states it is the policy of the state to ensure
that children of parents seeking alternative twenty-four (24) hour
long term care for their children shall receive adequate substitute
parental care and protection. The proposed change would allow for
the implementation of health, safety and well being standards for
children in therapeutic outdoor programs. Children placed in
therapeutic outdoor programs are often vulnerable as a result of
their isolation and exposure to extreme conditions.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no new general fund request for personnel or operating
expenses. Oversight of these programs would be absorbed into the
current operational expenses of the Child Care Licensing unit since
many of these programs operate in conjunction with other residential
care programs currently being licensed. Oversight for current and
anticipated new programs would be for travel costs estimated to be
less than $2,000 per year.
CONTACT
Name: Jim Puett
Agency: Health and Welfare
Phone: 334-5700
Statement of Purpose/Fiscal Impact S 1318
REVISED REVISED REVISED