Alabama Administrative Code › Title 660 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES › Chapter 660-5-37 - LICENSING: MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR RESIDENTIAL CHILD-CARE FACILITIES › Section 660-5-37-.01 - Legal Authority

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 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