HB277 Alabama 2017 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Pebblin W. WarrenRepresentative

Democrat

Session

Regular Session 2017

Title

Child care facilities, church based, licensing required, Secs. 13A-6-29, 38-7-2, 38-7-3, 38-13-2, 38-13-3 am'd.

Summary

Creates the Child Care Safety Act to require licensing for faith-based child care facilities and strengthen background checks for staff and volunteers.

What This Bill Does

It expands the definition of day care centers to include preschools and ends blanket licensure exemptions for church or nonprofit religious school child care, requiring licensing by the Department of Human Resources (DHR) unless exemptions apply under specific conditions. It sets up requirements for exempt facilities, including pre-opening notices, annual inspections, record-keeping, posting notices, and parent affidavits, while clarifying that licensing cannot infringe on religious rights. It broadens criminal history background checks for employees, volunteers, licensees, and adoptive/foster care roles, including fingerprint requirements, cost coverage by DHR, and procedures for license-exempt facilities.

Who It Affects

• Church-based or religious nonprofit child care facilities: must obtain licensing from the Department of Human Resources (unless they meet exemption criteria), undergo annual fire/health inspections (for exempt facilities), keep required records, post notices, and ensure staff background checks.
• Parents/guardians and children in church-based child care: must receive information about staff qualifications, discipline policies, curriculum, religious instruction, and meals; and must sign affidavits regarding exemption status and notification to the department prior to enrollment.

Key Provisions

• Establishes the Child Care Safety Act and expands the definition of day care center to include preschools.
• Eliminates broad licensure exemptions for church-based facilities, replacing them with conditional exemptions that require licensing by DHR unless certain funding or subsidy conditions apply; exemptions require annual compliance steps and reporting.
• Requires exempt faith-based programs to comply with annual fire/health inspections, maintain records, provide immunization and staff information, and post notices; imposes duties on church/school representatives to file affidavits and notify parents prior to enrollment.
• Pre-opening notification: any new church/nonprofit religious school child care facility must notify DHR 30 days before operation and undergo a department inspection before starting.
• Annual inspections and possible referrals: exempt facilities are inspected annually and may be referred to fire/health departments or district attorneys if safety concerns arise.
• Licensing deadline: faith-based facilities integrated with churches or religious schools must be licensed by August 1, 2018 (with certain exemptions intact).
• Clarifies that licensing cannot infringe upon religious teaching or practices of a licensed faith-based facility.
• Strengthens criminal history background checks: requires two sets of fingerprints, background checks for applicants, employees, volunteers, foster/adoptive applicants, and certain other roles; costs may be covered by DHR; involves requiring consent and providing access to background check results; and applies to both licensed and license-exempt facilities under certain conditions.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Child Care