Tuesday, May 29, 2007
To County Associations, Presidents, and County Leaders,
The bill to lower the license fee for family child care providers has been signed by the Governor.
We spoke with Senator Robling and confirmed which bill and engrossment went to Governor Pawlenty for his review. The Governor signed the bill May 25, 2007. As you can see by the language below (in contrast to the language you had seen earlier on this bill) the background study fees are back in the language. In the final days of the legislative session, after Governor Pawlenty vetoed the first Omnibus Health and Human Services Finance bill that had a meager amount of money for DHS to conduct the background checks effective January 1, 2008, the House and Senate committees trimmed millions out of the bill. Governor Pawlenty line itemed vetoed even more in the bill presented to him on May 24, 2007.
Read below to see the actual language of what was achieved by this bill that started with language drafted by Senator Claire Robling at the request of the Scott County Licensed Family Child Care Providers for all providers in the state. Deloris Friske was the representative of the Scott County Licensed Family Child Care Association who worked with Senator Robling throughout the legislative session on the many language and committee changes. Senator Robling shared with Deloris on Sunday, May 27th that if there is surplus money when the next session begins in 2008, we can go back to request the background checks and run it as a stand-alone bill. Optimistically, it could be passed in a very short time, maybe being a couple of months behind the date the new license fee cap becomes effective for those counties who were beyond the $50.00 for a one-year license and $100.00 for a two-year license. The effective date, as noted in the actual language below, is January 1, 2008.
What can you do if your county still has the $100 fee for background checks?
- Go back to your County Commissioners and request that they review their decision to charge the background check fee.
- Request that background check fees be a standard amount per background check submitted with the cap at $100 per licensed home. For example, $15.00 has been stated many times as an “average” cost to do a background check. If you had 3 checks done, the cost would be $45.00. The bill does say actual cost but we are aware that actual costs vary significantly from one provider to the next. A provider who maintains the same address for years with the same people in her/his household can be completed at a much lower cost than a background check on a provider who has lived in several different counties or states.
DHS has a $25.00 fee written into some of their documents.
Find out what an actual background check costs in your county. - Counties can waive the background fees in case of a)financial hardship
b) if the county has a shortage of providers in the county’s area c) for new providers d) for providers who have attained at least 16 hours of training before seeing initial licensure.
Counties can also allow providers to pay the applicant fees (license fee and background study fee) on an installment basis for up to one year.
Thanks for all the support of the Agencies, Organizations, Groups and for the Family Child Care Association’s across the state as well as their individual members who contacted their legislators throughout the session on this and any child care related bills.
We have included the actual language of the bill following this legislative update for your convenience.
Scott County Licensed Family Child Care Association
Kelly Elsenpeter, President
Deloris Friske, Secretary
Beth Mork, Family Child Care Advocate
H.F. No. 1078, 3rd Engrossment - 85th Legislative Session (2007-2008) Posted on May 23, 2007
116.32 Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 245A.10, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
116.33 Subd. 2. County fees for background studies and licensing inspections. (a) For
116.34 purposes of family and group family child care licensing under this chapter, a county 116.35 agency may charge a fee to an applicant or license holder to recover the actual cost of 117.1 background studies, but in any case not to exceed $100 annually. A county agency may 117.2 also charge a license fee to an applicant or license holder to recover the actual cost of
117.3 licensing inspections, but in any case not to exceed $150 annually $50 for a one-year
117.4 license or $100 for a two-year license.
117.5 (b) A county agency may charge a fee to a legal nonlicensed child care provider or
117.6 applicant for authorization to recover the actual cost of background studies completed 117.7 under section 119B.125, but in any case not to exceed $100 annually.
117.8 (c) Counties may elect to reduce or waive the fees in paragraph (a) or (b):
117.9 (1) in cases of financial hardship;
117.10 (2) if the county has a shortage of providers in the county's area;
117.11 (3) for new providers; or
117.12 (4) for providers who have attained at least 16 hours of training before seeking
117.13 initial licensure.
117.14 (d) Counties may allow providers to pay the applicant fees in paragraph (a) or (b) on 117.15 an installment basis for up to one year. If the provider is receiving child care assistance 117.16 payments from the state, the provider may have the fees under paragraph (a) or (b) 117.17 deducted from the child care assistance payments for up to one year and the state shall 117.18 reimburse the county for the county fees collected in this manner.117.19EFFECTIVE
DATE.This section is effective January 1, 2008.
