Criteria and Procedures for Establishing State-Sponsored Child Care Services for State Employees

Agencies interested in providing work-site child care services for their employees should contact the Human Resource Management program in the Department of Management Services for assistance in assessing child care needs and conducting a feasibility study to determine if a state-sponsored center would be a viable option for meeting employee child care needs.

Sponsoring Agency Plan

Agencies requesting the establishment of work-site child care centers must submit a written plan to the Department of Management Services for approval. The plan should contain the results of the feasibility study showing the following:

• Population & Need
  • Concentration of state employees in the target area (total number of employees within a 2 - 3 mile radius of proposed center location)
  • Number & ages of preschoolers in the target area (total preschoolers identified by employee needs assessment)
  • Number of employees indicating they would use the center (Chapter 60L-38, F.A.C., requires 25% utilization rate from employees surveyed)
• Space
  • Description of proposed space to be used for the center
    • location
    • square footage (a rough drawing of facility)
    • suitability of the space for the purpose of child care
• Cost
  • Estimated start-up cost for construction/renovation of space and source of funds
  • Estimated cost to appropriately furnish the center (appliances, permanent fixtures, furnishings and equipment)
  • Estimated annual cost to maintain the center (how much the sponsoring agency will be spending to pay for the space, utilities, building and playground maintenance, to replace state-owned equipment and other state subsidy costs.)
• Community Impact (duplication of existing services/competition with private sector)
  • Number of existing child care centers in target area (should include only full-day programs serving the general public -- not the centers that are restricted to a specific population such as college students or a certain company's employees, etc.)
  • Licensed capacity of existing centers in target area (this can be obtained from the local child care licensing entity -- such as county health unit, Children and Families District headquarters, or a local licensing board)
  • Vacancy rate (current enrollment or number of vacant slots) in existing centers (a telephone survey of local child care centers can provide this information)

Criteria for Plan Approval

The Department of Management Services will respond to each agency's request by outlining its findings based on established criteria and, if the plan is approved, recommend a step-by-step procedure for establishing a child care center. The department will also provide technical assistance and consultative services to assist the agency with the following:

• Design of the Center
• Start-up and operation
• Selection of a service provider

The following criteria will be used by the department in reviewing and approving agency requests for the establishment of state-sponsored child care centers:

• Concentration of state employees - A population density of at least 4 employees with preschool children for each projected child care slot. The number of child care slots needed for a good business venture is at least 100; therefore, a population density of 400 employees with preschoolers is necessary. A full-time equivalency utilization rate of 60 children is needed for financial "breakeven". Approximately 80 children are needed on a regular basis in order for the provider to earn a profit. State agencies are allowed to enter into consortium arrangements with other public sector employers in areas where the state has an insufficient number of employees to justify a center.
• Employee utilization of the center - Of the 400 employees with preschoolers identified in the target population, 100 of them (25%) should indicate they would use the proposed center.
• Space requirements - Adequate and appropriate space for child care purposes should be identified. The proposed space will need to conform to state physical facility standards described in the Department of Children and Families' child care standards (Chapter 65C-22, F.A.C.)
• Community Impact - Community-provided child care services should be either not available or inadequate to serve the needs of the proposed employee population.
• Special Situations - In extremely isolated areas of the state where prisons or hospital are located, the criteria and procedure for establishing a work-site center may be different. Each situations is handled on an individual basis through the sponsoring agency headquarters.