Child daycare facilities.

Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the licensure and regulation of child daycare facilities, as defined. Existing regulations impose various requirements on outdoor activity space for child daycare facilities, including, among others, that there be at least 75 square feet per child of outdoor activity space based on the total licensed capacity. A willful or repeated violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would require the department to revise its regulations to permit children with exceptional needs, as defined, to use outdoor play spaces simultaneously with nondisabled children without first seeking a specified regulatory waiver and to specify any health and safety requirements that are required to be met when that simultaneous play occurs. The bill would authorize the department to implement those provisions by means of an all-county letter or similar instruction on or before January 1, 2024.