Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children   

 Georgia Child Care Laws
 

49-5-1.
The short title of this article shall be the 'Children and Youth Act

49-5-2.
The purpose of this article is to promote, safeguard, and protect the well-being and general welfare of children and youth of this state through a comprehensive and coordinated program of public child welfare and youth services, providing for:
(1) Social services and facilities for children and youths who require care, control, protection, treatment, or rehabilitation and for the parents of such children;
(2) Setting of standards for social services and facilities for children and youths;
(3) Cooperation with public and voluntary agencies, organizations, and citizen groups in the development and coordination of programs and activities in behalf of children and youth; and
(4) Promotion of community conditions and resources that help parents to discharge their responsibilities for the care, development, and well-being of their children.
It is the further purpose of this article to provide for a qualified group of citizens and leading professionals who will identify and study the problems of youth, recommend and effect possible solutions, and work actively for state and local action to prevent children and youths from becoming inmates of our prisons, patients in our mental hospitals, and persons dependent upon public assistance programs.

49-5-3.
As used in this article, the term:
(1) 'Child-caring institution' means any institution, society, agency, or facility, whether incorporated or not, which either primarily or incidentally provides full-time care for children under 17 years of age outside of their own homes, subject to such exceptions as may be provided in rules and regulations of the board.
(2) 'Child-placing agency' means any institution, society, agency, or facility, whether incorporated or not, which places children in foster homes for temporary care or for adoption.
(3) 'Child welfare and youth services' means duties and functions authorized or required by this article to be provided by the department with respect to:
(A) Establishment and enforcement of standards for social services and facilities for children and youths which supplement or substitute for parental care and supervision for the purpose of preventing or remedying or assisting in the solution of problems which may result in neglect, abuse, exploitation, or delinquency of children and youths;
(B) Protecting and caring for deprived children and youths;
(C) Protecting and promoting the welfare of children of working mothers;
(D) Providing social services to children and youths and their parents and care for children and youths born out of wedlock and their mothers;
(E) Promotion of coordination and cooperation among organizations, agencies, and citizen groups in community planning, organization, development, and implementation of such services; and
(F) Otherwise protecting and promoting the welfare of children and youths, including the strengthening of their homes where possible or, where needed, the provision of adequate care of children and youths away from their homes in foster family homes or day-care or other child care facilities.
(4) 'Day-care center' means any place operated by a person, society, agency, corporation, institution, or group wherein are received for pay for group care for fewer than 24 hours per day without transfer of legal custody 19 or more children under 18 years of age.
(5) 'Deprived child or youth' means any person so adjudged under Chapter 11 of Title 15.
(6) Reserved.
(7) Reserved.
(8) 'Family day-care home' means a private residence operated by any person who receives therein for pay for supervision and care fewer than 24 hours per day, without transfer of legal custody, three but not more than six children under 18 years of age who are not related to such person and whose parents or guardians are not residents in the same private residence.
(9) 'Group-care facility' means a place providing care for groups of children and youths, other than a foster family home.
(9.1) 'Group day-care home' means any place operated by any person or group wherein are received for pay not less than seven nor more than 18 children under 18 years of age for care and supervision for less than 24 hours per day.
(10) 'Homemaker service' means a service provided by a woman selected for her skills in the care of children and home management and placed in a home to help maintain and preserve the family life during the absence or incapacity of the mother.
(11) 'In loco parentis' means a quasi-parental relationship inferred from and implied by the fact that a child or youth has been taken into a family and treated like any other member thereof, unless an express contract exists to the contrary.
(12) 'Legal custody' means a legal status created by court order embodying the following rights and responsibilities:
(A) The right to have the physical possession of the child or youth;
(B) The right and the duty to protect, train, and discipline him;
(C) The responsibility to provide him with food, clothing, shelter, education, and ordinary medical care; and
(D) The right to determine where and with whom he shall live,
provided that these rights and responsibilities shall be exercised subject to the powers, rights, duties, and responsibilities of the guardian of the person of the child or youth and subject to any residual parental rights and responsibilities.
(13) 'Maintenance' means all general expenses for care such as board; shelter; clothing; medical, dental, and hospital care; transportation; and other necessary or incidental expenses.
(14) 'Maternity home' means any place in which any person, society, agency, corporation, or facility receives, treats, or cares for, within any six-month period, more than one pregnant woman whose child is to be born out of wedlock, either before, during, or within two weeks after childbirth. This definition shall not include women who receive maternity care in the home of a relative or in general or special hospitals, licensed according to law, in which maternity treatment and care is part of the medical services performed and the care of children is only brief and incidental.
(15) 'Probation' means a legal status created by court order following adjudication in a delinquency case, whereby a child or youth is permitted to remain in the community, subject to supervision by the court or an agency designated by the court and subject to being returned to court at any time during the period of probation.
(16) 'Protective supervision' means a legal status created by court order following adjudication in a deprivation case, whereby a child´s place of abode is not changed but assistance directed at correcting the deprivation is provided through the court or an agency designated by the court.
(17) 'Shelter' or 'shelter care' means temporary care in a nonsecurity or open type of facility.

49-5-4.
It shall be the duty of all other state departments, agencies, officers, and employees to assure the most effective coordination and use of state resources, personnel, and facilities for the benefit of children and youths and to assist the Department of Human Resources in effectuating the purposes of this article by making available to the department, upon request of the board or the commissioner and to the extent permissible by law, the services, resources, personnel, and facilities of their respective departments and agencies.

49-5-5.
(a) The board shall perform duties required of it by this article and shall, in addition thereto, be responsible for adoption of all policies and promulgation of all rules and regulations not in conflict with this article that may be necessary and appropriate to the administration of the department, to the accomplishment of the purposes of this article, and to the performance of the duties and functions of the department as set forth in this article.
(b) The board shall establish rules and regulations for the government, operation, and maintenance of all training schools, facilities, and institutions now or hereafter under the jurisdiction and control of the department, bearing in mind at all times that the purpose for existence and operation of such schools, facilities, and institutions and all activities carried on therein shall be to carry out the rehabilitative program provided for by this article and to restore and build up the self-respect and self-reliance of children and youths lodged therein so as to qualify and equip them for good citizenship and honorable employment.

49-5-6.
(a) The department shall conform to federal standards for a merit system of personnel administration in the respects necessary for receiving federal grants and the board is authorized and empowered to effect such changes as may, from time to time, be necessary in order to comply with such standards.
(b) The department is authorized to employ, on a full or part-time basis, such medical, psychiatric, social work, supervisory, institutional, and other professional personnel and such clerical and other employees as may be necessary to discharge the duties of the department under this chapter. The department is also authorized to contract for such professional services as may be necessary.
(c) Superintendents of training schools and other facilities and institutions now or hereafter under the jurisdiction and control of the department shall be employed and dismissed for cause by the board on the recommendation of the commissioner. Professional personnel and other employees of such training schools, facilities, and institutions shall be employed and dismissed for cause by the commissioner on the recommendation of the superintendent. All other professional personnel and all other employees of the department under this article shall be employed and dismissed for cause by the commissioner in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be promulgated by the board in regard thereto. Employees of the department under this article shall in all instances be employed and dismissed in accordance with rules and regulations of the State Merit System of Personnel Administration.
(d) All personnel of the Division of Family and Children Services are authorized to be members of the Employees´ Retirement System of Georgia, Chapter 2 of Title 47. All rights, credits, and funds in that retirement system which are possessed by state personnel transferred by provisions of this article to the division, or otherwise had by persons at the time of employment with the division, are continued and preserved, it being the intention of the General Assembly that such persons shall not lose any rights, credits, or funds to which they may be entitled prior to becoming employees of the division.

49-5-7.
(a) The department is designated the exclusive state agency:
(1) For development and administration of a comprehensive state plan and program providing public child welfare and youth services provided for in Title IV, Part B, of the federal Social Security Act;
(2) For administering, supervising, and discharging all duties required by any other act of Congress and any amendments thereto that may now or hereafter allot federal funds for public child welfare and youth services coming within the scope of this article;
(3) For administering and supervising local administration of public child welfare and youth services provided for in this article; and
(4) For receiving and expending on behalf of the state all funds which now or hereafter may become available or allotted to this state by virtue of any appropriation or act of Congress or regulation of the federal government, its agencies, and instrumentalities or be appropriated by the General Assembly for public child welfare and youth services to be administered by the department as provided for in this article. The department is authorized to use so much of funds as may be appropriated by the General Assembly for the purpose of matching federal grants for public child welfare and youth services provided for in this article as may be necessary to secure such grants, derive full advantage to the state of benefits contemplated under the terms of such grants, and comply with the terms of such grants.
(b) County or district departments are designated the local public agencies to administer locally the state plan and program for public child welfare and youth services to be developed in accordance with paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this Code section and other public child welfare and youth services provided for in this article and shall administer them in accordance with rules and regulations to be established by the board. The department shall aid, assist, supervise, coordinate, and direct the administering of such public child welfare and youth services by county or district departments and enforce the rules and regulations of the board in regard thereto.
(c) The cost of all child welfare benefits and services and the cost of administration thereof, authorized by this article, shall be met from such funds as shall be made available therefor from federal and state appropriations. No county shall hereafter be required to participate in the cost of any child welfare benefit or service or in the cost of administration thereof. For the purpose of this subsection, 'cost of administration' means salaries and traveling expenses of the county or district director and other employees of the staff of the county or district department engaged in the performance of child welfare and youth services provided for under this article.
(d) Public child welfare and youth services similar to those to be provided by the department under this article and pursuant to Title IV, Part B, of the federal Social Security Act shall, by cooperative agreement or contract by and between the Department of Human Resources and county or district departments of family and children services be made available to recipients of and persons who have been or are likely to become recipients of assistance under the temporary assistance for needy families program provided for in Article 5 of Chapter 4 of this title and related federal laws, to include foster home care and other child care referred to in Section 408 of Title IV of the federal Social Security Act. The department is designated the 'state public welfare agency' referred to in Sections 408(a) and (f) and 421 of Title IV of the federal Social Security Act.
(e) The commissioner shall, in developing and administering the state plans and programs referred to in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) and in subsection (d) of this Code section, provide by cooperative agreement and contract where necessary for coordination of such plans and programs with a view toward providing welfare and related services on a comprehensive basis that will best promote the welfare of children and youths and their families and best effectuate and coordinate effective implementation and administration of both such plans and programs at the local level of administration.
(f) Nothing in this article is intended to conflict with any federal law or result in loss of eligibility of the department or any other department of state government to any federal funds. In case such a conflict or loss of federal funds should occur by virtue of enactment of any portion of this article, then such portion of this article in conflict with such federal law or otherwise causing loss of such funds is declared to be of no effect and void. The board is authorized and empowered in such event to take such action as may be necessary and to effect such changes within the department as may be necessary to prevent loss of such funds to the department or any other department of state government affected and to secure to the same the full benefit of the federal laws.

49-5-8.
(a) The Department of Human Resources is authorized and empowered, through its own programs and the programs of county or district departments of family and children services, to establish, maintain, extend, and improve throughout the state, within the limits of funds appropriated therefor, programs that will provide:
(1) Preventive services as follows:
(A) Collecting and disseminating information about the problems of children and youths and providing consultative assistance to groups, public and private, interested in developing programs and services for the prevention, control, and treatment of dependency, deprivation, and delinquency among the children of this state; and
(B) Research and demonstration projects designed to add to the store of information about the social and emotional problems of children and youths and improve the methods for dealing with these problems;
(2) Child welfare services as follows:
(A) Casework services for children and youths and for mothers bearing children out of wedlock, whether living in their own homes or elsewhere, to help overcome problems that result in dependency, deprivation, or delinquency;
(B) Protective services that will investigate complaints of deprivation, abuse, or abandonment of children and youths by parents, guardians, custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis and, on the basis of the findings of such investigation, offer social services to such parents, guardians, custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis in relation to the problem or bring the situation to the attention of a law enforcement agency, an appropriate court, or another community agency;
(C) Supervising and providing required services and care involved in the interstate placement of children;
(D) Homemaker service, or payment of the cost of such service, when needed due to the absence or incapacity of the mother;
(E) Boarding care, or payment of maintenance costs, in foster family homes or in group-care facilities for children and youths who cannot be adequately cared for in their own homes;
(F) Boarding care or payment of maintenance costs for mothers bearing children out of wedlock prior to, during, and for a reasonable period after childbirth; and
(G) Day-care services for the care and protection of children whose parents are absent from the home or unable for other reasons to provide parental supervision;
(3) Services to courts, upon their request, as follows:
(A) Accepting for casework services and care all children and youths whose legal custody is vested in the department by the court;
(B) Providing shelter or custodial care for children prior to examination and study or pending court hearing;
(C) Making social studies and reports to the court with respect to children and youths as to whom petitions have been filed; and
(D) Providing casework services and care or payment of maintenance costs for children and youths who have run away from their home communities within this state, or from their home communities in this state to another state, or from their home communities in another state to this state; paying the costs of returning such runaway children and youths to their home communities; and providing such services, care, or costs for runaway children and youths as may be required under Chapter 3 of Title 39;
(4) Regional group-care facilities for the purpose of:
(A) Providing local authorities an alternative to placing any child in a common jail;
(B) Shelter care prior to examination and study or pending a hearing before juvenile court;
(C) Detention prior to examination and study or pending a hearing before juvenile court; and
(D) Study and diagnosis pending determination of treatment or a hearing before juvenile court;
(5) Facilities designed to afford specialized and diversified programs, such as forestry camps, ranches, and group residences, for the care, treatment, and training of children and youths of different ages and different emotional, mental, and physical conditions;
(6) Regulation of child-placing and child-caring agencies by:
(A) Setting standards for and providing consultation and making recommendations concerning establishment and incorporation of all such agencies; and
(B) Licensing and inspecting regularly all such agencies to ensure their adherence to established standards as prescribed by the department;
(7) Adoption services, as follows:
(A) Supervising the work of all child-placing agencies;
(B) Providing services to parents desiring to surrender children for adoption as provided for in adoption statutes;
(C) Providing care or payment of maintenance costs for mothers bearing children out of wedlock and children being considered for adoption;
(D) Inquiring into the character and reputation of persons making application for the adoption of children;
(E) Placing children for adoption;
(F) Providing financial assistance after the consummation of a legal adoption to families adopting children who would otherwise remain in foster care at state expense. Financial assistance may only be granted for hard-to-place children with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities or with other problems for whom it is difficult to find a permanent home. Financial assistance may not exceed 100 percent of the amount paid for boarding such child and for special services such as medical care not available through insurance or public facilities. Such supplements shall only be available to families who could not provide for the child adequately without continued financial assistance. The department may review the supplements paid at any time but shall review them at least annually to determine the need for continued assistance;
(G) Providing payment to a licensed child-placing agency which places a child with special needs who is under the jurisdiction of the department for adoption. Payment may not exceed $5,000.00 for each such adoption arranged by an agency. The board shall define the special needs child. One-half of such payment shall be made at the time of placement and the remaining amount shall be paid when the adoption is finalized. If the adoption disrupts prior to finalization, the state shall be reimbursed by the child-placing agency in an amount calculated on a prorated basis based on length of time the child was in the home and the services provided; and
(H) Providing payment to an agency which recruits, educates, or trains potential adoptive or foster parents for preparation in anticipation of adopting or fostering a special needs child. The board shall define the special needs child and set the payment amount by rule and regulation. Upon appropriate documentation of these preplacement services in a timely manner, payments as set by the board shall be made upon enrollment of each potential adoptive or foster parent for such services;
(8) Staff development and recruitment programs through in-service training and educational scholarships for personnel as may be necessary to assure efficient and effective administration of the services and care for children and youths authorized in this article. The department is authorized to disburse state funds to match federal funds in order to provide qualified employees with graduate or postgraduate educational scholarships in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the board pursuant to Article VIII, Section VII, Paragraph I of the Constitution of Georgia; and
(9) Miscellaneous services, such as providing all medical, hospital, psychiatric, surgical, or dental services or payment of the costs of such services as may be considered appropriate and necessary by competent medical authority to those children subject to the supervision and control of the department without securing prior consent of parents or legal guardians.
(b) The department is authorized to perform such other duties as may be required under related statutes.
(c)(1) As used in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the term 'state' means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or any territory or possession of or territory or possession administered by the United States.
(2) The Department of Human Resources is authorized to enter into interstate compacts, on behalf of this state, with other states to provide for the reciprocal provision of adoption assistance services.
(3) The purpose of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection is to comply with the requirements of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-272) and Part E of Title IV of the Social Security Act and to assure that recipients of adoption assistance in Georgia who change their residences to other states receive adoption assistance services, other than adoption assistance payments, from their new states of residence.

49-5-12.
(a) 'Child welfare agency' means any child-caring institution, child-placing agency, maternity home, family day-care home, group day-care home, or day-care center.
(b)(1) Day-care centers operated as part of a local church ministry or a religious nonprofit school or a nonprofit religious charitable organization shall notify the department annually and be commissioned in lieu of being licensed. Commissioned day-care centers shall operate in accordance with the same procedures, standards, rules, and regulations which are established by the board for the operation of licensed day-care centers. Any day-care center operated as part of a local church ministry or a religious nonprofit school or a nonprofit religious charitable organization may voluntarily elect to apply for a license as provided for in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) All child welfare agencies, as defined in subsection (a) of this Code section, shall be licensed or commissioned annually by the department in accordance with procedures, standards, rules, and regulations to be established by the board; provided, however, that the department may require persons who operate family day-care homes to register with the department. The board shall develop and publish standards for licensing or commissioning of child welfare agencies. A license issued to a child-placing agency shall be deemed approval of all foster family homes approved, supervised, and used by the licensed child-placing agency as a part of its work, subject to this article and rules and regulations of the board.
(3) The department shall have the responsibility to review existing day-care regulations to determine which regulations are necessary to safeguard and protect the well-being and general welfare of children and youth, which regulations could more appropriately be issued as guidelines for quality day care, and which regulations unnecessarily restrict the delivery of day-care services. A list of proposed rule changes shall be submitted to the Board of Human Resources no later than November 1, 1982. Copies of the proposed changes shall be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the chairmen of the Senate Youth, Aging, and Human Ecology Committee and the House Health and Ecology Committee.
(4) No later than December 31, 1982, the department shall publish and make available to day-care centers and interested persons a list of guidelines for quality child care.
(5) After a family day-care home, group day-care home, or day-care center has been licensed, commissioned, or registered by the department as provided in this article, the facility shall not be required to have a permit to operate a food service establishment as required in Code Section 26-2-371, provided that standards for food service have been incorporated in the regulations for licensing, commissioning, or registering such agencies.
(6) The department shall not be authorized to prescribe, question, or regulate the specific content of educational curriculum taught or specify what play and program materials a group day-care home or day-care center shall use.
(7) Persons who operate group day-care homes and day-care centers shall be required to post in a conspicuous place next to any telephone in a group day-care home or day-care center the telephone numbers of the nearest or applicable providers of emergency medical, police, and fire services.
(7.1) Persons who operate day-care centers, group day-care homes, or family day-care homes shall post signs prohibiting smoking to carry out the purposes of paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of Code Section 16-12-2.
(8) Group day-care homes and day-care centers shall provide a minimum of 35 square feet of usable space consisting of indoor play areas, rest areas, and dining facilities for each child present in the facility. Day-care centers will be allowed to designate in writing to the department two one-hour periods daily during which 25 square feet of usable space per child for children aged three years and older may be provided. Notwithstanding the limitation to 18 children prescribed by paragraph (9.1) of Code Section 49-5-3, group day-care homes will be allowed to designate in writing to the department two one-hour periods daily during which 25 square feet of usable space per child for children aged three years and older may be provided. Notwithstanding the limitation to six children prescribed by paragraph (8) of Code Section 49-5-3, a family day-care home operator may care for two additional children three years and older for two designated one-hour periods daily. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, all other applicable rules and regulations shall apply.
(c) The department shall assist applicants or licensees or persons holding commissions in meeting standards of the department and, if a licensee or person holding a commission is, for any reason, denied renewal of a license or commission or if a license or commission is revoked or if any applicant for a license or commission cannot meet department standards, the department shall assist in planning the placement of children, if any, in the custody of such child welfare agency in some other licensed or commissioned child welfare agency or assist in returning them to their own homes or in making any other plans or provisions as may be necessary and advisable to meet the particular needs of the children involved.
(d) Application for a license or commission shall be made to the department upon forms furnished by the department. Upon receipt of an application for a license or commission and upon presentation by the applicant of evidence that the child welfare agency meets the standards prescribed by the department, the department shall issue such child welfare agency a license or commission for a one-year period.
(e) If the department finds that any child welfare agency applicant does not meet standards prescribed by the department but is attempting to meet such standards, the department may, in its discretion, issue a temporary license or commission to such child welfare agency, but such temporary license or commission shall not be issued for more than a one-year period. Upon presentation of satisfactory evidence that such agency is making progress toward meeting prescribed standards of the department, the department may, in its discretion, reissue such temporary license or commission for one additional period not to exceed one year. As an alternative to a temporary license or commission, the department, in its discretion, may issue a restricted license or commission which states the restrictions on its face.
(f) The department shall refuse a license or commission upon a showing of:
(1) Noncompliance with the Rules and Regulations for Day Care Centers, Family Day Care Homes, or Group Day Care Homes as adopted by the Board of Human Resources which are designated in writing to the facilities as being related to children´s health and safety;
(2) Flagrant and continued operation of an unlicensed or uncommissioned facility in contravention of the law; or
(3) Prior license or commission denial or revocation within one year of application.
(g) All licensed or commissioned child welfare agencies shall prominently display the license or commission issued to such agency by the department at some point near the entrance of the premises of such agency that is open to view by the public.
(h) The department´s action revoking or refusing to renew or issue a license or commission required by this Code section shall be preceded by notice and opportunity for a hearing and shall constitute a contested case within the meaning of Chapter 13 of Title 50, the 'Georgia Administrative Procedure Act,' except that only 30 days´ notice in writing from the commissioner´s designee shall be required prior to license or commission revocation and except that hearings held relating to such action by the department may be closed to the public if the hearing officer determines that an open hearing would be detrimental to the physical or mental health of any child who will testify at that hearing.
(i) Child-caring institutions and child-placing agencies, when licensed in accordance with this Code section, may receive needy or dependent children from their parents, guardians, custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis for special, temporary, or continued care. Parents, guardians, custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis to such children may sign releases or agreements giving to such institutions or agencies custody and control over such children during the period of care.
(j) Child-placing agencies, in placing children in foster family homes, shall safeguard the welfare of such children by thoroughly investigating each such home and the character and reputation of the persons residing therein and shall adequately supervise each home during the period of care. All children placed in foster family homes shall, as far as is practicable, be placed with persons of the same religious faith as the children themselves or the children´s parents.
(k) It shall be the duty of the department to inspect at regular intervals all licensed or commissioned child welfare agencies within the state, including all foster family homes used by such child-placing agencies. The department shall have right of entrance, privilege of inspection, and right of access to all children under the care and control of the licensee or commissionee.
(l) If any flagrant abuses, derelictions, or deficiencies are made known to the department or its duly authorized agents during their inspection of any child welfare agency or if, at any time, such are reported to the department, the department shall immediately investigate such matters and take such action as conditions may require.
(m) If abuses, derelictions, or deficiencies are found in the operation and management of any child welfare agency, they shall be brought immediately to the attention of the management of such agency; and if correctable, but not corrected within a reasonable time, the department shall revoke the license or commission of such agency in the manner prescribed in this Code section.
(n) The department may require periodic reports from child welfare agencies in such forms and at such times as the department may prescribe.
(o) Child welfare agencies and other facilities and institutions wherein children and youths are detained which are operated by any department or agency of state, county, or municipal government shall not be subject to licensure under this Code section, but the department may, through its authorized agents, make periodic inspections of such agencies, facilities, and institutions. Reports of such inspections shall be made privately to the proper authorities in charge of such agencies, facilities, or institutions. The department shall cooperate with such authorities in the development of standards that will adequately protect the health and well-being of all children and youths detained in such agencies, facilities, and institutions or provided care by them. The department may recommend changes in programs and policies and if, within a reasonable time, the standards established by the department and the recommendations of the department are not met, it shall be the duty of the commissioner to make public in the community in which such agency, facility, or institution is located the report of the above-mentioned inspection and the changes recommended by the department. If any serious abuses, derelictions, or deficiencies are found and are not corrected within a reasonable time, the commissioner shall report them in writing to the Governor.
(p) Any child welfare agency that shall operate without a license or commission issued by the department shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50.00 nor more than $200.00 for each such offense. Each day of operation without a license or commission shall constitute a separate offense.
(q) No person, official, agency, hospital, maternity home, or institution, public or private, in this state shall receive or accept a child under 17 years of age for placement or adoption or place such a child, either temporarily or permanently, in a home other than the home of the child´s relatives without having been licensed or commissioned by the department. Notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 49-5-12.1, violation of this subsection shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $100.00 nor exceeding $500.00 for each offense. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to prohibit a properly licensed attorney at law from providing necessary legal services and counsel to parties engaged in or contemplating adoption proceedings. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to prohibit an individual seeking to:
(1) Adopt a child or children from receiving or accepting a child or children in the individual´s home in anticipation of filing a petition for adoption under Chapter 8 of Title 19; or
(2) Have that individual´s child or children placed for adoption from placing that individual´s child or children in the home of an individual who is not related to the child or children in anticipation of the individual´s initiation of adoption proceedings pursuant to Chapter 8 of Title 19.
(r) The department may, without regard to the availability of other remedies, including administrative remedies, seek an injunction against the continued operation of a child welfare agency without a license or commission or the continued operation of a child welfare agency in willful violation of this article or of any regulation of the department or in violation of any order of the board.
(s) The term 'licensed day-care center' shall include a commissioned day-care center and any references in this Code to a licensed day-care center, including criminal, administrative, and civil provisions applicable to licensed day-care centers, shall include and apply to commissioned day-care centers unless otherwise provided in this Code section.

49-5-12.1.
(a) Unless otherwise provided in subsection (r) of Code Section 49-5-12, any person who violates the provisions of Code Section 49-5-12 or who hinders, obstructs, or otherwise interferes with any representative of the department in the discharge of that person´s official duties in making inspections as provided in Code Section 49-5-12 or in investigating complaints as provided in Code Section 49-5-12 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b)(1) Any person who:
(A) Violates any licensing or registration provision of this chapter or any rule, regulation, or order issued under this chapter or any term, condition, or limitation of any license or registration certificate under this chapter thereby subjecting a child in care to injury or a life-threatening situation; or
(B) Commits any violation for which a license or registration certificate may be revoked under rules or regulations issued pursuant to this chapter
may be subject to a civil penalty, to be imposed by the department, not to exceed $500.00. If any violation is a continuing one, each day of such violation shall constitute a separate violation for the purpose of computing the applicable civil penalty.
(2) Whenever the department proposes to subject a person to the imposition of a civil penalty under this subsection, it shall notify such person in writing:
(A) Setting forth the date, facts, and nature of each act or omission with which the person is charged;
(B) Specifically identifying the particular provision or provisions of the Code section, rule, regulation, order, license, or registration certificate involved in the violation; and
(C) Advising of each penalty which the department proposes to impose and its amount.
Such written notice shall be sent by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery by the department to the last known address of such person. The person so notified shall be granted an opportunity to show in writing, within such reasonable period as the department shall by rule or regulation prescribe, why such penalty should not be imposed. The notice shall also advise such person that, upon failure to pay the civil penalty subsequently determined by the department, if any, the penalty may be collected by civil action. Any person upon whom a civil penalty is imposed may appeal such action pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the 'Georgia Administrative Procedure Act.'
(3) A civil penalty finally determined under this Code section may be collected by civil action in the event that such penalty is not paid as required. On the request of the department, the Attorney General is authorized to institute a civil action to collect a penalty imposed pursuant to this subsection. The Attorney General shall have the exclusive power to compromise, mitigate, or remit such civil penalties as are referred to the Attorney General for collection.
(4) All moneys collected from civil penalties shall be paid to the state for deposit in the general fund.

49-5-60.
As used in this article, the term:
(1) 'Center' means a day-care center, group day-care home, family day-care home, or child-caring institution which is required to be licensed or registered under Article 1 of this chapter.
(2) 'Conviction' means a finding or verdict of guilty or a plea of guilty regardless of whether an appeal of the conviction has been sought.
(3) 'Crime' means any felony; a violation of Code Section 16-5-23, relating to simple battery, when the victim is a minor; a violation of Code Section 16-12-1, relating to contributing to the delinquency of a minor; a violation of Chapter 6 of Title 16, relating to sexual offenses, excluding the offenses of bigamy or marrying a bigamist; a violation of Code Section 16-4-1, relating to criminal attempt when the crime attempted is any of the crimes specified by this paragraph; or any other offenses committed in another jurisdiction which, if committed in this state, would be one of the enumerated crimes listed in this paragraph.
(4) 'Criminal record' means:
(A) Conviction of a crime;
(B) Arrest, charge, and sentencing for a crime where:
(i) A plea of nolo contendere was entered to the charge;
(ii) First offender treatment without adjudication of guilt pursuant to the charge was granted; provided, however, that this division shall not apply to a violation of Chapter 13 of Title 16, relating to controlled substances, or any other offense committed in another jurisdiction which, if it were committed in this state, would be a violation of Chapter 13 of Title 16 if such violation or offense constituted only simple possession; or
(iii) Adjudication or sentence was otherwise withheld or not entered on the charge; provided, however, that this division shall not apply to a violation of Chapter 13 of Title 16, relating to controlled substances, or any other offense committed in another jurisdiction which, if it were committed in this state, would be a violation of Chapter 13 of Title 16 if such violation or offense constituted only simple possession; or
(C) Arrest and being charged for a crime if the charge is pending, unless the time for prosecuting such crime has expired pursuant to Chapter 3 of Title 17.
(5) 'Director' means the chief administrative or executive officer of a facility.
(5.1) 'Emergency temporary employee' means an employee other than a director whose duties involve personal contact between that person and any child being cared for at the facility and who is hired on an expedited basis to avoid noncompliance with staffing standards for centers required by law, rule, or regulation.
(6) 'Employee' means any person, other than a director, employed by a center to perform at any of the center´s facilities any duties which involve personal contact between that person and any child being cared for at the facility and also includes any adult person who resides at the facility or who, with or without compensation, performs duties for the center which involve personal contact between that person and any child being cared for by the center.
(7) 'Employment history' means a record of where a person has worked for the past ten years.
(8) 'Facility' means a center´s real property at which children are received for care.
(9) 'Fingerprint records check determination' means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by the department based upon a records check comparison of GCIC information with fingerprints and other information in a records check application.
(10) 'Foster care home' means a private home used by a child-placing agency which has been approved by the child-placing agency to provide 24 hour care, lodging, supervision, and maintenance for no more than six children who are unrelated to the foster parent or parents.
(11) 'Foster parent or parents' means the person or persons who provide care, lodging, supervision, and maintenance in a foster care home used by a child-placing agency.
(12) 'GCIC' means the Georgia Crime Information Center established under Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 35.
(13) 'GCIC information' means criminal history record information as defined in Code Section 35-3-30.
(14) 'License' means the document issued by the department to authorize the center to which it is issued to operate a facility under this chapter.
(14.1) 'National fingerprint records check determination' means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by the department in accordance with applicable law based upon a report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation after a search of bureau records and fingerprints.
(15) 'Preliminary records check application' means an application for a preliminary records check determination on forms provided by the department.
(16) 'Preliminary records check determination' means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by the department based only upon a comparison of GCIC information with other than fingerprint information regarding the person upon whom the records check is being performed.
(17) 'Records check application' means two sets of classifiable fingerprints, a records search fee to be established by the department by rule and regulation, payable in such form as the department may direct to cover the cost of a fingerprint records check under this article, and an affidavit by the applicant disclosing the nature and date of any arrest, charge, or conviction of the applicant for the violation of any law, except for motor vehicle parking violations, whether or not the violation occurred in this state, and such additional information as the department may require.
(18) 'Satisfactory determination' means a written determination that a person for whom a records check was performed was found to have no criminal record.
(18.1) 'State fingerprint records check determination' means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by the department in accordance with applicable law based upon a records check comparison of GCIC information with fingerprints and other information in a records check application.
(19) 'Unsatisfactory determination' means a written determination that a person for whom a records check was performed has a criminal record.

49-5-61.
On and after July 1, 1985, an applicant for a new license shall have a separate license for each new facility in this state owned or operated by that applicant and shall have a separate director for each such facility.

49-5-62.
Accompanying any application for a new license for a facility, the applicant shall furnish to the department a records check application for the director and a satisfactory preliminary records check for each employee of such facility. In lieu of such records check applications, the applicant may submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, that within the immediately preceding 12 months the director received satisfactory state and national fingerprint records check determinations and each employee received a satisfactory preliminary records check determination, or that any employee other than the director whose preliminary records check revealed a criminal record of any kind has either subsequently received satisfactory state and national fingerprint records check determinations or has had the unsatisfactory determination reversed in accordance with Code Section 49-5-73. The department may either perform preliminary records checks under agreement with GCIC or contract with GCIC and appropriate law enforcement agencies which have access to GCIC information to have those agencies perform for the department a preliminary records check for each preliminary records check application submitted thereto by the department. Either the department or the appropriate law enforcement agencies may charge reasonable fees for performing preliminary records checks.

49-5-63.
After being furnished the required records check application under Code Section 49-5-62, the department shall notify in writing the license applicant as to each person for whom an application was received regarding whether the department´s determination as to that person´s state fingerprint records check was satisfactory or unsatisfactory. If the preliminary records check determination was satisfactory as to each employee of an applicant´s facility and the state fingerprint records check was satisfactory as to the director, that applicant may be issued a license for that facility if the applicant otherwise qualifies for a license under Article 1 of this chapter. If the state or national fingerprint records check determination was unsatisfactory as to the director of an applicant´s facility, the applicant shall designate another director for that facility after receiving notification of the determination and proceed under Code Section 49-5-62 and this Code section to obtain state and national fingerprint records checks for that newly designated director. If the preliminary records check for any employee other than the director revealed a criminal record of any kind, such employee shall not be allowed to work in the center until he or she either has obtained satisfactory state and national fingerprint records check determinations or has had the unsatisfactory determination reversed in accordance with Code Section 49-5-73. If the determination was unsatisfactory as to any employee of an applicant´s facility, the applicant shall, after receiving notification of that determination, take such steps as are necessary so that such person is no longer an employee. Any employee other than the director who receives a satisfactory preliminary records check shall not be required to obtain a fingerprint records check unless such an employee has been designated as a director or as permitted by the provisions of subsection (c) of Code Section 49-5-69.

49-5-64.
The department shall transmit to GCIC both sets of fingerprints and the records search fee from each fingerprint records check application. Upon receipt thereof, GCIC shall promptly transmit one set of fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a search of bureau records and an appropriate report and shall retain the other set and promptly conduct a search of its records and records to which it has access. Within ten days after receiving fingerprints acceptable to GCIC, the application, and fee, GCIC shall notify the department in writing of any derogatory finding, including but not limited to any criminal record, of the state fingerprint records check or if there is no such finding. After a search of Federal Bureau of Investigation records and fingerprints and upon receipt of the bureau´s report, the department shall make a national fingerprint records determination.

49-5-65.
After receiving a Federal Bureau of Investigation report regarding a national fingerprint records check under Code Section 49-5-64, the department shall make a determination based thereon and notify in writing the license applicant as to whether that records check was satisfactory or unsatisfactory. If the national fingerprint records check determination was unsatisfactory as to the director of an applicant´s facility, after receiving notification of that determination, that applicant shall designate another director for such facility for which director the applicant has not received or made an unsatisfactory preliminary or fingerprint records check determination and proceed under the requirements of Code Sections 49-5-62 through 49-5-64 and this Code section to obtain state and national fingerprint records check determinations for the newly designated director. The director may begin working upon the receipt of a satisfactory state fingerprint records check determination pending the receipt of the national fingerprint records check determination from the department. The department may revoke the license of that facility if the facility fails to comply with the requirements of this Code section and Code Section 49-5-63 to receive satisfactory state and national fingerprint determinations on the director or to comply with Code Section 49-5-63 regarding employees other than the director.

49-5-65.1.
No facility operated as a day-care center, family day-care home, group-care facility, group day-care home, or similar facility or any operator of such a facility shall employ any person who has been convicted of or who has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to any offense specified in Code Section 16-12-1.1 or allow any such person to reside at or be domiciled at such facility in violation of Code Section 16-12-1.1. The department shall either deny the issuance of or revoke the license, commission, or registration of any such facility violating the provisions of this Code section. The powers and duties set forth in this Code section are cumulative and not intended to limit the powers and duties set forth throughout this article.

49-5-66.
Each center shall be required to obtain a separate license and shall have a separate director for each center.

49-5-67.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, an individual who resides in a family day-care home, as defined by Code Section 49-5-3, shall not be required to provide fingerprints for routine fingerprints records checks if the operator of the family day-care home provides the department with an affidavit stating that such individual is not present in the home at the same time as the children who are received for pay for supervision and care. However, all persons residing in a family day-care home are required to obtain satisfactory preliminary records checks and submit them to the department.
(b) As an exception to the requirements set out in this article for employees of centers, a center may hire emergency temporary employees in order to avoid noncompliance with staffing requirements for centers required by law, rule, or regulation. An emergency temporary employee may start working immediately after requesting a preliminary records check from a local law enforcement agency and may work up to five working days without the results of the preliminary records check if the director of the center maintains an affidavit with supporting documents in the employee´s personnel file stating that the emergency temporary employee applied for a preliminary records check with a local law enforcement agency before the employee began work and the date that the preliminary records check was received from the local law enforcement agency. The employee´s personnel file shall be available to the department for inspection. At the end of the five-day work period or upon receipt of the results of the preliminary records check, whichever occurs first, emergency temporary employees become subject to all other requirements of this article.

49-5-68.
(a) If the director of a facility which has been issued a license ceases to be the director of that facility, the licensee shall thereupon designate a new director. After such change, the licensee of that facility shall notify the department of such change and of any additional information the department may require regarding the newly designated director of that facility. Such information shall include but not be limited to any information the licensee may have regarding preliminary or any fingerprint records check determinations regarding that director. After receiving a change of director notification, the department shall make a written determination from the information furnished with such notification and the department´s own records as to whether satisfactory or unsatisfactory preliminary or state and national fingerprint records check determinations have ever been made for the newly designated director. If the department determines that such director within 12 months prior thereto has had satisfactory state and national fingerprint records check determinations, such determinations shall be deemed to be satisfactory state and national fingerprint records check determinations as to that director. The license of that facility shall not be adversely affected by that change in director, and the licensee shall be so notified.
(b) If the department determines under subsection (a) of this Code section that there has ever been an unsatisfactory preliminary or state or national fingerprint records check determination of the newly designated director which has not been legally reversed, the center and that director shall be so notified. The license for that director´s facility shall be indefinitely suspended or revoked unless the center designates another director for whom it has not received or made an unsatisfactory preliminary or state or national fingerprint records check determination and proceeds pursuant to the provisions of this Code section relating to a change of director.
(c) If the department determines under subsection (a) of this Code section that there have been no state and national fingerprint records check determinations regarding the newly designated director within the immediately preceding 12 months, the department shall so notify the center. The center shall furnish to the department the fingerprint records check application of the newly designated director after the date the notification is sent by the department or the license of that facility shall be indefinitely suspended or revoked. If that fingerprint records check application is so received, unless the department has within the immediately preceding 12 months made a satisfactory state fingerprint records check determination regarding the newly designated director, the department shall perform a state fingerprint records check determination of the newly designated director; and the applicant and that director shall be so notified. If that determination is unsatisfactory, the provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section regarding procedures after notification shall apply. If that determination is satisfactory, the department shall perform a national fingerprint records check determination for that director as provided in Code Sections 49-5-64 and 49-5-65. The director may begin working upon the receipt of a satisfactory state fingerprint records check determination pending the receipt of the national fingerprint records check determination from the department. If that determination is satisfactory, the center and director for whom the determination was made shall be so notified after the department makes its determination, and the license for the facility at which that person is the newly designated director shall not be adversely affected by that change of director. If that determination is unsatisfactory, the provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section shall apply.

49-5-69.
(a) Before a person may become an employee other than a director of any center after that center has received a license, that center shall require that person to obtain a satisfactory preliminary records check. The center shall maintain documentation in the employee´s personnel file, which is available to the department upon request, which reflects that a satisfactory preliminary criminal records check was received before the employee began working with children. If the preliminary records check for any potential employee other than the director reveals a criminal record of any kind, such potential employee shall not be allowed to begin working until either such potential employee has obtained satisfactory state and national fingerprint records check determinations or has had the unsatisfactory preliminary or fingerprint records check determination reversed in accordance with Code Section 49-5-73. If either the preliminary or state or national fingerprint records determination is unsatisfactory, the center shall, after receiving notification of the determination, take such steps as are necessary so that such person is no longer an employee. Any potential employee other than the director who receives a satisfactory preliminary records check determination shall not be required to obtain a fingerprint records check determination except as permitted in accordance with subsection (c) of this Code section.
(b) A license is subject to suspension or revocation and the department may refuse to issue a license if a director or employee does not undergo the records and fingerprint checks applicable to that director or employee and receive satisfactory determinations.
(c) After the issuance of a license, the department may require a fingerprint records check on any director or employee to confirm identification for records search purposes, when the department has reason to believe the employee has a criminal record that renders the employee ineligible to have contact with children in the center, or during the course of a child abuse investigation involving the director or employee.
(d) No center may hire any person as an employee after July 1, 1999, unless there is on file in the center an employment history and a satisfactory preliminary records check or, if the preliminary records check determination revealed a criminal record of any kind as to such person, either satisfactory state and satisfactory national records check determinations for that person or proof that an unsatisfactory determination has been reversed in accordance with Code Section 49-5-73.
(e) A director of a facility having an employee whom that director knows or should reasonably know to have a criminal record that renders the employee ineligible to have contact with children in the center shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

49-5-70.
(a) GCIC and law enforcement agencies which have access to GCIC information shall cooperate with the department in performing preliminary and fingerprint records checks required under this chapter and shall provide such information so required for such records checks notwithstanding any other law to the contrary and may charge reasonable fees therefor.
(b) Any person who knowingly and under false pretenses requests, obtains, or attempts to obtain GCIC information otherwise authorized to be obtained pursuant to this chapter, or who knowingly communicates or attempts to communicate such information obtained pursuant to this article to any person or entity except in accordance with this article, or who knowingly uses or attempts to use such information obtained pursuant to this article for any purpose other than as authorized by this article shall be fined not more than $5,000.00, imprisoned for not more than two years, or both.

49-5-71.
(a) Neither GCIC, the department, any law enforcement agency, nor the employees of any such entities shall be responsible for the accuracy of information nor have any liability for defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence, or any other claim in connection with any dissemination of information or determination based thereon pursuant to this article.
(b) A center or a child-placing agency, its director, and its employees shall have no liability for defamation, invasion of privacy, or any other claim based upon good faith action thereby pursuant to the requirements of this article.

49-5-73.
A determination by the department regarding preliminary or fingerprint records checks under this article, or any action by the department revoking, suspending, or refusing to grant or renew a license based upon such determination, shall constitute a contested case for purposes of Chapter 13 of Title 50, the 'Georgia Administrative Procedure Act,' except that any hearing required to be held pursuant thereto may be held reasonably expeditiously after such determination or action by the department. It is expressly provided that upon motion from any party, the hearing officer may, in his discretion, consider matters in mitigation of any conviction, provided the hearing officer examines the circumstances of the case and makes an independent finding that no physical harm was done to a victim and also examines the character and employment history since the conviction and determines that there is no propensity for cruel behavior or behavior involving moral turpitude on the part of the person making a motion for an exception to sanctions normally imposed. If the hearing officer deems a hearing to be appropriate, he will also notify at least 30 days prior to such hearing the office of the prosecuting attorney who initiated the prosecution of the case in question in order to allow the prosecutor to object to a possible determination that the conviction would not be a bar for the grant or continuation of a license or employment as contemplated within this title. If objections are made, the hearing officer will take such objections into consideration in considering the case.