HF4382

Purpose

Modernize and codify Minnesota’s rules for licensed child care centers and licensed family child care. The bill aims to improve how centers operate, supervise staff, protect children’s health and safety, and standardize records, notifications, transportation, nutrition, and parent access. It creates a new licensing framework (in Chapter 142H) and updates related laws and rules.

Scope and Applicability

• Applies to licensed child care centers and licensed family child care programs.
• Requires every center or family child care program to be licensed and in compliance with the new chapter and related statutes.
• Allows the Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) to grant variances under defined conditions.

Main Provisions and Goals

• Licensing modernization: Establishes a comprehensive, codified set of rules for how centers operate, what they must provide, and how they are overseen.
• Program options: Centers must offer one or more of these program types—day programs, drop-in care, night care (overnight), sick child care, or a combination of these.
• Policies and procedures: Centers must create and enforce policies on administration, health, safety, cleaning/disinfecting, medication, allergy management, emergency procedures, transportation, field trips, and behavior guidance.
• Parent access and record keeping: Strengthened requirements for parent access to records, incident reporting, and routine documentation.
• Health, safety, and nutrition: Mandatory health policies, safe sleep practices, nutrition standards, and infection prevention control.
• Transportation and field trips: Safety procedures for transporting children and during field trips.

Staffing, Roles, and Qualifications

• Director: Centers must have a director who is on-site during operation, with specific age, education, and experience requirements. The director may also serve as a teacher in a classroom as needed.
• Teachers: Requirements include age, education, and specific teacher qualifications such as postsecondary credits, training hours, and credentials (including Montessori options).
• Assistant teachers: Must meet defined education and experience thresholds and work under a supervisor.
• Aides and Volunteers: Aides work under supervision and can assist with specific tasks (e.g., supervising sleeping children). Volunteers must meet the relevant staff position requirements and complete required training; unsupervised volunteers must be tracked and trained.
• Substitutes: Substitutes must meet the relevant staff requirements or be designated as unqualified substitutes with partial supervision. A formal tracking log for unqualified substitute hours is required.
• On-site presence: The director (or designee) must be on-site during operation; the designee can be someone 18+ not meeting director qualifications but capable of performing responsibilities.

Training and Professional Development

• Orientation: All staff must complete orientation before direct contact with children; new hires after a date (July 1, 2027) must finish licensing basics within 90 days of first direct contact.
• Orientation content: Includes abusive head trauma, medication policy, allergy prevention, behavior guidance, child passenger safety, the program plan, cleaning/disinfecting procedures, emergency policies, health policies, and more.
• Child care basics: A defined basics training developed by the commissioner, which can count toward in-service requirements.
• Child development and learning: Staff must complete at least two hours of development training within 90 days of first contact and every two years thereafter.
• Exemptions: Individuals with certain early childhood degrees or Montessori credentials may be exempt from some development-training requirements.
• Pediatric first aid and CPR: Staff must complete pediatric first aid and CPR (including infant/child techniques) with ongoing re-certification every two years. If not yet trained, staff may work with continuous on-site supervision until trained.
• Training documentation: Centers must maintain proof of all trainings on-site.

Health, Safety, and Compliance Details

• Health consultants and health care providers: Defined roles for health-related guidance and medical oversight.
• Direct contact vs. non-direct contact: Clear definitions to determine who must be supervised and trained.
• Cleanliness and disinfecting: Policies must specify cleaning and disinfection routines.
• Risk and safety planning: Centers must establish risk reduction and emergency preparedness plans, including measures to reduce sudden infant death risk.

Notable Timelines and Operational Details

• Night care defined with specific hours (overnight).
• Arrival and departure times: Centers cannot designate more than 25% of licensed hours as arrival/departure times.
• Variances: The department can grant variances to requirements under defined sections.
• Repeals and codification: The bill repeals numerous existing sections and transitions toward the new chapter structure (142H) while referencing related statutes and rules.

Implementation Outlook

• Establishes a phased implementation with specific dates for training requirements (notably post-July 1, 2027) and on-going licensing updates.
• Requires DCYF oversight, inspections, and enforcement under the new framework.

Summary of What This Bill Seeks to Change

• Replaces fragmented or outdated licensing rules with a modern, unified set of standards for licensed child care centers and licensed family child care.
• Expands and clarifies staffing expectations (director, teachers, assistants, aides, substitutes, and volunteers) and ties them to concrete qualifications and supervision requirements.
• Strengthens staff training, including mandatory orientation, child development coursework, pediatric first aid, and CPR readiness.
• Tightens health, safety, and emergency readiness (policies, procedures, and documentation).
• Standardizes program options, parent access, recordkeeping, and daily operations to improve reliability and accountability.
• Builds in mechanisms for variances to adapt to unusual situations, while maintaining child safety.

Relevant changes are designed to raise minimum standards, improve supervision and training, and modernize how child care facilities are run and monitored under the DCYF.

Relevant Terms - licensed child care center - family child care - Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) - license / license holder - program staff - director - teacher - assistant teacher - aide - volunteer - substitute - direct contact - drop-in child care program - night care - sick child care - program policies and procedures - health policies - cleaning, sanitizing, disinfecting - medication administration - allergy prevention and response - emergency and accident policies - transportation and field trips - child development and learning - pediatric first aid - pediatric CPR - on-site presence - variance - arrival and departure times - recordkeeping - parent access - Montessori credentials (as applicable) - Montessori International / American Montessori Society (as applicable)