Florida Statutes
Part VI - School Readiness Program (Ss. 1002.81-1002.995)
1002.895 - Market rate schedule.

(1) The department shall establish procedures for the adoption of a market rate schedule. The schedule must include, at a minimum, county-by-county rates:
(a) The market rate, including the minimum and the maximum rates for child care providers that hold a Gold Seal Quality Care designation under s. 1002.945 and adhere to its accrediting association’s teacher-to-child ratios and group size requirements.
(b) The market rate for child care providers that do not hold a Gold Seal Quality Care designation.

(2) The market rate schedule must differentiate rates by provider type, including, but not limited to:
(a) Child care providers that hold a Gold Seal Quality Care designation under s. 1002.945 and adhere to their accrediting association’s teacher-to-child ratios and group size requirements.
(b) Child care providers licensed under s. 402.305, faith-based child care providers exempt from licensure under s. 402.316 that do not hold a Gold Seal Quality Care designation, and large family child care homes licensed under s. 402.3131 that do not hold a Gold Seal Quality Care designation.
(c) Public or nonpublic schools exempt from licensure under s. 402.3025.
(d) Family day care homes licensed or registered under s. 402.313.
(e) Large family child care homes licensed under s. 402.3131.

(3) The market rate schedule must differentiate rates by the type of child care services provided for children with special needs or risk categories, infants, toddlers, 2-year-old children, 3-year-old children, 4-year-old children, 5-year-old children, and school-age children.
(4) The market rate schedule must differentiate rates between full-time and part-time child care services and consider discounted rates for child care services for multiple children in a single family.
(5) The market rate schedule must be based exclusively on the prices charged for child care services.
(6) The department shall establish procedures to annually collect data regarding the cost of care to include, but not be limited to:
(a) Data from the Department of Economic Opportunity’s Bureau of Workforce Statistics and Economic Research on the average salary for child care personnel to include, at a minimum, child care instructors and child care directors.
(b) Data from child care providers as part of data collected under s. 1002.92(4) to include, at a minimum, the average annual cost of materials and curriculum, the average annual cost of food and maintenance costs, and the average annual cost of any regulatory fees or operational costs per child.

(7) The department shall provide all applicable data collected in this section to the Early Learning Programs Estimating Conference established pursuant to s. 216.136(8).
(8) The department may contract with one or more qualified entities to administer this section and provide support and technical assistance for child care providers.
(9) The department may adopt rules for establishing procedures for the collection of child care providers’ market rate, the calculation of the prevailing market rate by program care level and provider type in a predetermined geographic market, and the publication of the market rate schedule.
History.—s. 17, ch. 2013-252; s. 55, ch. 2021-10; s. 25, ch. 2022-154.