Missouri
House Bill 397 (HB 397) was signed by the Governor on Thursday, July 11, 2019.
HB 397 limits the number of children allowed to be cared for in an exempt from
licensure family home to no more than six children regardless of relationship.
Effective
August 28, 2019, registered child care providers currently providing care to more
than six (6) children in their home must take action to decrease the number of
children in care to less than six children, with no more than three children
under the age of two. As a
reminder, any children living in the home, under the age of 5 years old, must
be counted in the total number of 6 children in care, regardless of
relationship to the provider.
If a
provider wishes to become a licensed child care provider in order to care for
more than six (6) children, information on licensing can be obtained by going
to http://health.mo.gov/safety/childcare/index.php
or contacting the Bureau of Child Care Licensing at 573-751-2450.
Providers
formerly registered as Four or Less (FOL) will now be registered as Six or
Fewer (SOF) providers, with this change. Current registered providers will
receive a new Agreement for Services (for SOF) that will need to be signed and
returned in order to remain compliant with their current registration period.
With the
new law, any person found to be operating illegally as a child care provider
shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor for the first offense and shall be
assessed a fine not to exceed seven hundred fifty ($750) dollars; and for
subsequent offenses, shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor and shall be
assessed a fine of up to two thousand dollars ($2,000) per day, not to exceed a
total of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars.
If you have
any questions or concerns regarding this information, please contact the Child
Care Provider Relations Unit at (573) 526-3011.
