Florida Statute 402.302 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research

The 2024 Florida Statutes

Title XXIX
PUBLIC HEALTH

Chapter 402
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

View Entire Chapter

F.S. 402.302

402.302 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:

(1) “Child care” means the care, protection, and supervision of a child, for a period of less than 24 hours a day on a regular basis, which supplements parental care, enrichment, and health supervision for the child, in accordance with his or her individual needs, and for which a payment, fee, or grant is made for care.

(2) “Child care facility” includes any child care center or child care arrangement which provides child care for more than five children unrelated to the operator and which receives a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The following are not included:

(a) Public schools and nonpublic schools and their integral programs, except as provided in s. 402.3025;

(b) Summer camps having children in full-time residence;

(d) Bible schools normally conducted during vacation periods; and

(e) Operators of transient establishments, as defined in chapter 509, which provide child care services solely for the guests of their establishment or resort, provided that all child care personnel of the establishment are screened according to the level 2 screening requirements of chapter 435.

(3) “Child care personnel” means all owners, operators, employees, and volunteers working in a child care facility. The term does not include persons who work in a child care facility after hours when children are not present or parents of children in a child care facility. For purposes of screening, the term includes any member, over the age of 12 years, of a child care facility operator’s family, or person, over the age of 12 years, residing with a child care facility operator if the child care facility is located in or adjacent to the home of the operator or if the family member of, or person residing with, the child care facility operator has any direct contact with the children in the facility during its hours of operation. Members of the operator’s family or persons residing with the operator who are between the ages of 12 years and 18 years are not required to be fingerprinted but must be screened for delinquency records. For purposes of screening, the term also includes persons who work in child care programs that provide care for children 15 hours or more each week in public or nonpublic schools, family day care homes, membership organizations under s. 402.301, or programs otherwise exempted under s. 402.316. The term does not include public or nonpublic school personnel who are providing care during regular school hours, or after hours for activities related to a school’s program for grades kindergarten through 12. A volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for less than 10 hours per month is not included in the term “personnel” for the purposes of screening and training if a person who meets the screening requirement of s. 402.305(2) is always present and has the volunteer in his or her line of sight. Students who observe and participate in a child care facility as a part of their required coursework are not considered child care personnel, provided such observation and participation are on an intermittent basis and a person who meets the screening requirement of s. 402.305(2) is always present and has the student in his or her line of sight.

(4) “Child welfare provider” means a licensed child-caring or child-placing agency.

(5) “Department” means the Department of Children and Families.

(6) “Drop-in child care” means child care provided occasionally in a child care facility in a shopping mall or business establishment where a child is in care for no more than a 4-hour period and the parent remains on the premises of the shopping mall or business establishment at all times. Drop-in child care arrangements shall meet all requirements for a child care facility unless specifically exempted.

(7) “Evening child care” means child care provided during the evening hours and may encompass the hours of 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. to accommodate parents who work evenings and late-night shifts.

(8) “Family day care home” means an occupied residence in which child care is regularly provided for children from at least two unrelated families and which receives a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or not operated for profit. Household children under 13 years of age, when on the premises of the family day care home or on a field trip with children enrolled in child care, shall be included in the overall capacity of the licensed home. A family day care home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following groups of children, which shall include household children under 13 years of age:

(a) A maximum of four children from birth to 12 months of age.

(b) A maximum of three children from birth to 12 months of age, and other children, for a maximum total of six children.

(d) A maximum of 10 children if no more than 5 are preschool age and, of those 5, no more than 2 are under 12 months of age.

(9) “Household children” means children who are related by blood, marriage, or legal adoption to, or who are the legal wards of, the family day care home operator, the large family child care home operator, or an adult household member who permanently or temporarily resides in the home. Supervision of the operator’s household children shall be left to the discretion of the operator unless those children receive subsidized child care through the school readiness program pursuant to s. 1002.92 to be in the home.

(10) “Indoor recreational facility” means an indoor commercial facility which is established for the primary purpose of entertaining children in a planned fitness environment through equipment, games, and activities in conjunction with food service and which provides child care for a particular child no more than 4 hours on any one day. An indoor recreational facility must be licensed as a child care facility under s. 402.305, but is exempt from the minimum outdoor-square-footage-per-child requirement specified in that section, if the indoor recreational facility has, at a minimum, 3,000 square feet of usable indoor floor space.

(11) “Large family child care home” means an occupied residence in which child care is regularly provided for children from at least two unrelated families, which receives a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or not operated for profit, and which has at least two full-time child care personnel on the premises during the hours of operation. One of the two full-time child care personnel must be the owner or occupant of the residence. A large family child care home must first have operated as a licensed family day care home for 2 years, with an operator who has had a child development associate credential or its equivalent for 1 year, before seeking licensure as a large family child care home. Household children under 13 years of age, when on the premises of the large family child care home or on a field trip with children enrolled in child care, shall be included in the overall capacity of the licensed home. A large family child care home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following groups of children, which shall include household children under 13 years of age:

(a) A maximum of 8 children from birth to 24 months of age.

(b) A maximum of 12 children, with no more than 4 children under 24 months of age.

(12) “Local licensing agency” means any agency or individual designated by the county to license child care facilities.

(13) “Operator” means any onsite person ultimately responsible for the overall operation of a child care facility, whether or not he or she is the owner or administrator of such facility.

(14) “Owner” means the person who is licensed to operate the child care facility.

(15) “Screening” means the act of assessing the background of child care personnel, in accordance with state and federal law, and volunteers and includes, but is not limited to:

(a) Employment history checks, including documented attempts to contact each employer that employed the applicant within the preceding 5 years and documentation of the findings.

(b) A search of the criminal history records, sexual predator and sexual offender registry, and child abuse and neglect registry of any state in which the applicant resided during the preceding 5 years.

An applicant must submit a full set of fingerprints to the department or to a vendor, entity, or agency authorized by s. 943.053(13). The department, vendor, entity, or agency shall forward the fingerprints to the Department of Law Enforcement for state processing, and the Department of Law Enforcement shall forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for national processing. Fingerprint submission must comply with s. 435.12.

(16) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Children and Families.

(17) “Substantial compliance” means that level of adherence which is sufficient to safeguard the health, safety, and well-being of all children under care. Substantial compliance is greater than minimal adherence but not to the level of absolute adherence. Where a violation or variation is identified as the type which impacts, or can be reasonably expected within 90 days to impact, the health, safety, or well-being of a child, there is no substantial compliance.

(18) “Weekend child care” means child care provided between the hours of 6 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday.

History.—s. 2, ch. 74-113; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 6, 7, ch. 83-248; s. 2, ch. 84-551; s. 23, ch. 85-54; s. 22, ch. 87-238; s. 2, ch. 88-391; s. 1, ch. 90-35; s. 34, ch. 90-306; s. 7, ch. 91-300; ss. 1, 2, ch. 93-115; s. 1, ch. 94-257; s. 1059, ch. 95-148; s. 57, ch. 95-228; s. 75, ch. 96-175; s. 1, ch. 97-63; s. 1, ch. 98-165; s. 8, ch. 99-304; s. 16, ch. 2000-253; s. 989, ch. 2002-387; s. 57, ch. 2004-267; s. 2, ch. 2006-91; s. 22, ch. 2010-114; s. 1, ch. 2010-158; s. 2, ch. 2011-75; s. 23, ch. 2013-252; s. 143, ch. 2014-19; s. 6, ch. 2015-79; s. 10, ch. 2016-238.

F.S. 402.302 on Google Scholar

F.S. 402.302 on Casetext

Amendments to 402.302

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 402.302

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 402.302.

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 402.302

Total Results: 20

LIFERSON BREVIL v. STATE OF FLORIDA

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2021-08-11T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: 2 child care facility as defined in s. 402.302 . . . . A person who violates this paragraph

Mid Florida Community Services, Inc. v. Department of Children and Families

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2019-10-30T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: or not operated for profit.” § 402.302(2), Fla. Stat. Section 402.302(2)(a) excludes from that … to an exemption from licensure under sections 402.302(2) and 402.3025(1), Florida Statutes (2017), we… of Volusia County for purposes of section 402.302(2), Florida Statutes for the following reasons…licensure as childcare facilities under section 402.302(2). The agency’s final order granted most

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases-Report 2018-12.

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2019-05-30T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 272 So. 3d 243

Snippet: a substance. Child care facility. § 402.302, Fla. Stat. "Child care facility&

E.J. v. Department of Children & Families

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2017-05-31T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 219 So. 3d 946, 2017 WL 2348595, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 7807

Snippet: prospective child care personnel, as defined in s. 402.302(3), and such a person is disqualified from employment

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases-Report 2016-09

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2017-04-27T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 216 So. 3d 497

Snippet: of the defendant. Child care facility. § 402.302, Fla. Stat. “Child care facility” means

Genuinely Loving Childcare, LLC v. Bre Mariner Conway Crossings, LLC

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2017-01-13T00:00:00-08:00

Citation: 209 So. 3d 622, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 298

Snippet: exempt from the outdoor play space requirement. §§ 402.302(6), 402.305(5), (6)(b), (14), Fla. Stat. (2013)

Genuinely Loving Childcare v. Bre Mariner

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2017-01-08T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: 2 outdoor play space requirement. §§ 402.302(6), 402.305(5), (6)(b), (14), Fla. Stat. (2013

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases - Report No. 2015-03 – Corrected Opinion

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2016-05-19T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: of the defendant. Child care facility. § 402.302, Fla. Stat. “Child care facility” means any

All Saints Early Learning & Community Care Center, Inc. v. Department of Children & Families

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2014-08-28T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 145 So. 3d 974, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 13389, 2014 WL 4242806

Snippet: 402.3012, and the definitions set out in section 402.302, clearly establish that a licensed child care facility…children entrusted to the facility. However, section 402.302(3), Florida Statutes, defines “child care personnel

Davis Family Day Care Home v. Department of Children & Family Services

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2013-07-17T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 117 So. 3d 464, 2013 WL 3724769, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 11248

Snippet: day care home by DCF in 2007. See generally §§ 402.302(8), .308(1), .313, Fla. Stat. (2007). It has been…operate as a large family child care home. See §§ 402.302(11), .308(1), .3131, Fla. Stat. (2010). One of …licensed family day care home for 2 years.” §§ 402.302(9), .3131(1). On March 23, 2011, DCF notified the

State v. Foster

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2013-05-31T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 114 So. 3d 422, 2013 WL 2359077, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 8587

Snippet: feet of a school or child care facility. See § 402.302, Fla. Stat. (2010). Commendably, Foster concedes

Joachin v. State

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2012-03-28T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 83 So. 3d 997, 2012 WL 1020037, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 4861

Snippet: of a child care facility, as defined in section 402.302, Florida Statutes. See Cox v. State, 764 So.2d …and whether or not operated for profit.” See § 402.302(2), Fla. Stat. (2010). Accordingly, we reverse

Thomas v. State

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2011-04-14T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 61 So. 3d 1157, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 5351, 2011 WL 1414685

Snippet: comprising a child care facility as defined in s. 402.302 or a public or private elementary, middle, or secondary

Smith v. State

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2007-01-23T23:53:00-08:00

Citation: 949 So. 2d 253