Monday, July 15, 2019

IMPORTANT changes for 4 or less Child Care Providers


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.