In a previous blog post, titled What’s New? Overview of Kentucky Legislative Changes Regarding Child-care Centers, we provided an overview of House Bill 6 (“HB 6”) and House Joint Resolution 50 (“HJR 50”), two measures from Kentucky’s 2026 legislative session affecting child-care provisions. The goal of this post is to take a closer look at one of HB 6’s most significant changes for licensed child-care centers: the addition of new factors the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (the “Cabinet”) must consider when determining how to respond to an alleged regulatory violation.
What is KRS 199.896?
Kentucky Revised Statute 199.896 (“KRS 199.896”) governs the licensing and regulation of child-care centers in Kentucky. Among other requirements, the statute establishes procedures for obtaining and maintaining a child-care license, inspections, statements of deficiency, plans of correction, administrative appeals, civil penalties, and certain enforcement actions available to the Cabinet.
Previously, KRS 199.896(8) identified factors the Cabinet must consider when assessing civil penalties against child-care centers, providing discretion to the inspector general or the inspector general’s designee. However, this statute did not provide a framework for determining whether to issue a plan of correction (“POC”), directed plan of correction (“DPOC”), suspension, or revocation in response to an alleged regulatory violation. Instead, the Cabinet relied on broad administrative discretion under 922 Kentucky Administrative Regulations 2:090 (“922 KAR 2:090”). HB 6 amended KRS 199.896 by adding new subsections, KRS 199.896(24) through (28) to provide guidance in determining whether to issue these administrative actions.
Factors the Cabinet Will Consider Before Issuing Administrative Actions
A violation of child-care regulations does not always tell the whole story. The circumstances surrounding an incident may differ significantly from one child-care center to another. Recognizing those differences, HB 6 added subsection (24) to KRS 199.896, which requires the Cabinet to consider several factors when determining whether an alleged regulatory violation warrants a POC, DPOC, suspension, or revocation of a child-care center’s license.
Under KRS 199.896(24), the Cabinet must consider more than the alleged violation. It shall also review the circumstances that led to it and the child-care center’s response. For example, the Cabinet must consider whether the center self-reported the incident and has a history of self-reporting incidents. It must also consider whether the incident resulted from deficiencies in the center’s policies, training, enforcement, or supervision, or instead, from an individual applicant, director, or staff member independently failing to follow an administrative regulation or existing center policy.
The Cabinet must also consider steps a center has taken beyond what regulations require. The statute identifies measures such as installing cameras, providing additional staff training, making facility improvements, adopting safety policies that exceed regulatory requirements, and improving staff-to-child ratios. Finally, the Cabinet must consider how the child-care center responded after the violation, including whether it held the responsible individual accountable and corrected, or began correcting, any conditions that contributed to the incident.
Taken together, these factors require the Cabinet to consider the broader circumstances surrounding an alleged violation when determining the appropriate regulatory response. For child-care centers, this means that practices such as consistent self-reporting, proactive safety measures, staff training, and prompt corrective action may be relevant to how the Cabinet evaluates an incident after an alleged violation occurs.
A DPOC Violation Does Not Automatically Require License Suspension or Revocation
HB 6 also addresses what happens when a child-care center violates a DPOC. Under KRS 199.896(25), such a violation cannot result in suspension or revocation of the center’s license unless the Cabinet determines that the violation itself is serious enough to justify that action. In other words, failure to comply with a DPOC does not, by itself, mandate the most severe licensing consequences. The Cabinet must determine that the violation is sufficiently serious to justify suspension or revocation.
Child-Care Centers Have Time to Provide Requested Documentation
KRS 199.896(26) provides child-care centers with up to five (5) business days to provide documentation requested by the Cabinet when a routine review or audit concerning an alleged regulatory violation occurs. This provision gives centers a defined period to locate, review, and provide responsive records rather than necessarily producing all requested documentation at the time of the Cabinet’s request.
Additional Support for Centers Operating Under Preliminary Licenses
KRS 199.896(27) creates additional requirements for child-care centers operating under a preliminary license with a six (6) month probationary period. During that period, the Cabinet or its designee must provide at least two (2) support contacts each week, including at least one in-person contact, to assist the center in understanding and implementing applicable regulations.
The statute also limits when the Cabinet may issue violations during the probationary period. A violation may be issued only when the Cabinet determines that the center knowingly committed the violation after receiving clear instructions or when the violation created an immediate threat to the health, safety, or welfare of children in the center.
When May the Cabinet Suspend or Revoke a License?
KRS 199.896(28) identifies circumstances in which the Cabinet may authorize emergency action, suspension, or revocation of a child-care center’s license. These circumstances include violations posing an immediate threat to children’s health, safety, or welfare, interference with regulatory officials, knowingly providing false information, repeated directed plans of correction, and failure to comply with an approved plan of correction.
Importantly, subsection (28) should be read together with other provisions of KRS 199.896 that may affect when suspension or revocation is appropriate. For example, although subsection (28) identifies violation of a directed plan of correction as a circumstance in which revocation may be authorized, subsection (25) provides that a directed-plan violation cannot result in suspension or revocation unless the Cabinet determines that the violation is serious enough to justify that consequence.
What Does This Mean for Child-Care Centers?
Collectively, these amendments provide additional statutory guidance for both child-care centers and the Cabinet when addressing alleged violations and potential licensing actions. For providers, the changes make the circumstances surrounding an alleged violation, the center’s response, and the documentation supporting that response particularly important. Maintaining records of staff training, internal policies, corrective actions, self-reported incidents, and other proactive measures may help establish facts the Cabinet is now expressly required to consider under KRS 199.896(24).
Child-care centers receiving a statement of deficiencies, POC, DPOC, or notice concerning potential licensing action should carefully review both the alleged violations and the procedures applicable to the Cabinet’s response.
If you have questions about how HB 6 may affect your child-care license, Strause Law Group is happy to assist.
