Family daycare homes: filtered water.

Under existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, the State Department of Social Services licenses and regulates various types of child care facilities, including, but not limited to, family daycare homes. Existing law authorizes a small family daycare home to provide care for up to 8 children, and a large family daycare home to provide care for up to 14 children, as specified. Existing law makes a willful or repeated violation of the act a misdemeanor, and also authorizes the department to levy civil penalties against a family daycare home for failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations, as specified. Existing law requires a family daycare home to comply with specified safety requirements, including, but not limited to, requiring the facility to contain a fire extinguisher or smoke detector device, or both, as specified, that meet standards established by the State Fire Marshal, and a carbon monoxide detector. This bill would require a licensed family daycare home to only serve water to children in the care of the family daycare home or use water in food preparation for children in the care of the family daycare home that has been filtered with a point-of-use water filtration device certified to meet specified standards for water safety, as specified. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2026, the department to adopt regulations to implement the above requirements, including requiring the family daycare home to maintain records and receipts demonstrating that the water filtration device has been maintained, and its filters replaced, as specified, and requiring the department to take specified action if a family daycare home does not comply with the regulations. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature that includes specified information related to compliance with the regulations and test results from family daycare homes with lead in drinking water above specified levels. The bill would authorize funds from a specified grant program to be used to provide lead-removing water filters to family daycare homes. Because a violation of this requirement by a family daycare home would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.