Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 02, November 27, 2024
(1)
Licensing Requirement. Any person, group of persons or corporation who or which
receives children or arranges for care or placement of one or more children
unrelated to the operator must apply for a license or approval to operate a
child-care facility. Application for such license or approval to operate a
child care facility shall be made to the Department in the manner and on forms
prescribed by it.
(2) Legal Base.
The Department of Human Resources is given the authority under Alabama Statutes
to prescribe and publish Minimum Standards for Licensing and for approving
child-care facilities.
(3)
Definitions. For the purposes of this document, the following definitions
apply.
(a) Child. Any person under 19 years
of age, a person under the continuing jurisdiction of the juvenile court
pursuant to Section
12-15-32, or a person under 21
years of age in foster care as defined by the Department of Human
Resources.
(b) Department. The
Department of Human Resources of the State of Alabama.
(c) Related. Any of the following
relationships by blood, marriage, or adoption: parent, grandparent, brother,
sister, stepparent, stepbrother, stepsister, step grandparent, half brother,
half sister, uncle or aunt, and their spouses.
(d) Facility for Child Care of Child Care
Facility. A facility established by any person, group of persons, agency
association or organization, whether established for gain or otherwise, who or
which receives or arranges for care or placement of one or more children,
unrelated to the operator of the facility, apart from the parents, with or
without the transfer of the right of custody, in any facility as defined in
this chapter, established and maintained for the care of children.
(e) Child Care Institution or Institution for
Child Care. A child care facility where more than 10 children are received and
maintained for the purpose of providing them with care or training or both, or
transitional living program services, but does not include:
1. Any institution for child care which is
under the ownership or control, or both, of the State of Alabama, or which is
operated or certified or licensed by another agency or department of the state
of Alabama;
2. Any juvenile
detention home established and operated by the state of Alabama;
3. Any bona fide boarding school in which
children are primarily taught branches of education corresponding to those
taught in schools, grades 1 through 12, or taught in public elementary schools,
high schools or both elementary and high school.
(f) Maternity Center. A facility in which any
person, agency or corporation receives or cares for one or more minor pregnant
girls, except that the term does not include hospitals.
(g) Group Home. A child care facility where
at least seven but not more than 10 children are received and maintained for
the purpose of providing them with care or training or both, or transitional
living services.
(h) Shelter Care.
The temporary care of children in group homes, foster care or other non-penal
facilities.
(i) Abuse. Harm or
threatened harm to a child's health or welfare. Harm or threatened harm to a
child's health or welfare can occur through nonaccidental physical or mental
injury, sexual abuse or attempted sexual abuse or sexual exploitation or
attempted sexual exploitation. "Sexual abuse" includes the employment, use,
persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in, or
having a child assist any other person to engage in any sexually explicit
conduct or any simulation of the conduct for the purpose of producing any
visual depiction of the exploitation of children, or incest with children as
those acts are defined by Alabama law. "Sexual exploitation" includes allowing,
permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution and allowing,
permitting, encouraging or engaging in the obscene or pornographic
photographing, filming, or depicting of a child for commercial
purposes.
(j) Neglect. Negligent
treatment or maltreatment of a child, including the failure to provide adequate
food, medical treatment, supervision, clothing, or shelter.
(k) Child. A person under the age of 18
years.
Author: Linda S. Stephens