Committee adopts amendments to allow modest family‑childcare capacity increases and exclude caregivers’ own children from capacity counts; bill laid over

The House Committee on Children, Youth and Families adopted amendments to House File 655 that raise the licensed capacity ceiling for some family‑childcare providers and exempt a provider’s own children (up to two) from the licensed capacity count. The committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill after public testimony and a lengthy member discussion about safety, ratios and oversight.

Sponsor Representative Zalesnikar (bill author) said family‑childcare providers have declined sharply across the state and the change would give experienced providers flexibility to serve more children — particularly school‑age children who need before‑ and after‑school care and summer coverage. “This bill is all about is to allow some of those opportunities for the older age child within the family childcare provider,” she said.

Nut graf: Supporters and witnesses framed the change as a pragmatic response to a widespread capacity shortage that affects parents needing nonstandard hours; critics and several members urged careful guardrails to protect safety, clarify ratio impacts and prevent fraud.

Cindy Cunningham, a family‑child‑care provider and policy advocate, told the committee providers often open businesses with their own children present and currently receive no offset for the income they forgo by counting their own children in capacity. She described a potential $1,200‑per‑month income loss for providers who cannot count their own children differently and urged the committee to recognize the operational reality of family providers.

Members pressed for clarity about age bands and ratios; staff confirmed preschoolers are generally defined as ages 2 (24 months) up to 5, and school age is 5 up to 11. The sponsor emphasized that infant and toddler limits would not change: infant/toddler combined counts remain restricted and the additional slots would primarily affect preschool and school‑age cohorts. In response to a member question about prior CCAP fraud investigations, the sponsor and other members said licensing and accountability systems are in place and that the bill does not change licensing oversight; some members requested additional details on monitoring.

The committee adopted the A1 amendment (as orally amended to clarify the number of excluded caregiver children) and laid House File 655 over for possible inclusion. The sponsor said she will continue working with DHS on public‑safety and implementation questions and to report back to the committee.