CHAPTER 237B
CHILDREN'S CENTERS — FACILITY STANDARDS

  237B.1  Children’s centers.
  1.  For the purposes of this section, unless the context requires otherwise, “children’s center” means a privately funded facility designed to serve seven or more children at any one time who are not under the custody or authority of the department of human services, juvenile court, or another governmental agency, and that offers one or more of the following services:
  a.  Child care.
  b.  Child care for children with a chronic illness.
  c.  Respite care.
  d.  Family support services.
  e.  Medical equipment.
  f.  Therapeutic day programming.
  g.  Educational enrichment.
  h.  Housing.
  2.  The department of human services shall consult with the department of inspections and appeals, department of education, Iowa department of public health, state fire marshal, and community-based providers of services to children in establishing certification or licensing standards for children’s centers.
  3.  In establishing the initial and subsequent standards, the department of human services shall review other certification and licensing standards applicable to the centers. The standards established by the department shall be broad facility standards for the protection of children’s safety. The department shall also apply criminal and abuse registry background check requirements for the persons who own, operate, staff, participate in, or otherwise have contact with the children receiving services from a children’s center. The background check requirements shall be substantially equivalent to those applied under chapter 237 for a child foster care facility provider. The department of human services shall not establish program standards or other requirements under this section involving program development or oversight of the programs provided to the children served by children’s centers.
99 Acts, ch 189, §1; 99 Acts, ch 192, §33; 2009 Acts, ch 182, §131