Child-care operators who repeatedly violate state regulations or run illegal day cares could be fined or imprisoned for up to five years if a bill filed this week by a Columbia legislator becomes law.
The proposal by Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, also would subject in-home day cares to unannounced regulatory inspections for the first time.
Further, the bill would change the composition and authority of a controversial panel that must approve changes in child-care laws.
“What we hope to do is protect children and give parents greater peace of mind ... when they drop off their children,” Lourie said Tuesday.
The child-care industry and the Legislature have a history of blunting or killing tough controls.
Veteran Lexington County day-care owner Margie Nation said she supports penalizing repeat violators and operators who endanger children.
“I think there will be a lot of resistance to it,” said the owner of Kids Care, a licensed in-home facility. “But it is reasonable for the law to have some teeth.”
Yet Nation said inspections of registered, in-home facilities are not realistic because the state lacks enough regulators.
The major provisions of Lourie’s bill would:
• Impose administrative fines of up to $1,000 by the S.C. Department of Social Services if regulators decide a child has been abused, neglected or was in imminent danger. DSS oversees the state’s 3,700 authorized child-care facilities.
Violations that pose potential threats or involve overcrowding or lack of supervision could carry up to a $500 fine.
• Permit police to file felony charges against operators who repeatedly run unregistered or unlicensed child-care facilities. The offense is a misdemeanor now.
Regulators are limited to referring such cases to police or to seeking a court order that shutters illegal operations.
• Inspect in-home child cares once every three years. Regulators may inspect now only when a complaint is filed.
• Strip the State Advisory Committee on the Regulation of Childcare Facilities of its regulatory role. Critics say the panel sometimes softens or blocks reforms.