Children and Families Committee advances portions of child care modernization bill on parent access and classroom furnishings

The Minnesota House Children and Families Committee voted to refer House File 2,078 to the general register after adopting portions of a DE1 amendment that clarify parent access to enrolled children and loosen prescriptive requirements for classroom furnishings and equipment.

Representative West, chairing the committee, moved HF 2,078 and the committee divided the DE1 amendment so it could take up two discrete parts. The committee voted to adopt the amendment segments covering the child care center parent-access provision and the child care center requirements for furnishings, equipment and materials; the motion carried and the bill was referred to the general register as amended.

The language adopted requires child care centers to make age-appropriate materials available but allows certain art supplies and musical or rhythm instruments to be stored out of children’s immediate reach so long as they “must be made available at least once a day,” Representative West said during his presentation. He described the change as relief for providers who face both safety and enforcement burdens under more prescriptive lists of required classroom items.

The amendment also clarifies that “an enrolled child's parent or guardian must have access to the child at any time the child is in attendance at a childcare center unless a court order or other legal documentation restricts access,” language Representative West said comes from draft DHS regulatory modernization.

Representative Hicks raised concerns about situations where there is no formal court order but there is an active child-protection assessment, asking whether the bill’s phrase “court order or other legal documentation” would protect a child during a CPS assessment. Hicks said: “I just wanna make sure from the department that in a situation where there is not a custody court order… Should there be like a CPS assessment so that the county doesn't have care custody and control but there's an active assessment? Like would this still make sure that the counties there wouldn't be a concern about a parental kidnapping?”

Ari Didian, legislative director for the DHS Office of Inspector General, told the committee he had not had sufficient time to review the language with licensing staff and offered to follow up: “We haven't had a lot of time to review this language so I'm not sure if I could comment on, if it's workable or not… we can certainly follow-up and get more information on whether or not that language is workable.”

Nonpartisan committee staff explained the line added by the amendment comes from DHS’s draft regulation modernization. Ms. Mach told members the provision strengthens existing practice: under current rules, “parents of enrolled children may visit the center anytime during operations,” and the added clause explicitly recognizes exceptions where legal orders restrict access.

Committee chair Katiza Wooten (addressing committee procedure) and Representative West discussed whether to remove the language pending DHS clarification, but Ms. Mach’s explanation prompted supporters to leave the clause in. The committee did not adopt any of the withdrawn portions of the DE1 amendment; Representative West said he would withdraw the remaining parts.

Outcome and next steps: The committee approved referral of HF 2,078, as amended, to the general register. Members and DHS staff agreed to follow up on the custody- and assessment-related questions before the bill advances further, and sponsors said they intend to continue negotiating other pieces of the broader regulatory modernization outside the motion that moved forward today.

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