237A.1 - DEFINITIONS.
237A.1 DEFINITIONS.
As used in this chapter unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Administrator" means the administrator of the division of
the department designated by the director to administer this chapter.
2. "Child" means either of the following:
a. A person twelve years of age or younger.
b. A person thirteen years of age or older but younger than
nineteen years of age who has a developmental disability as defined
under the federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of
Rights Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-402, as codified in 42 U.S.C. §
15002(8).
3. "Child care" means the care, supervision, and guidance of
a child by a person other than the child's parent, guardian, or
custodian for periods of less than twenty-four hours per day per
child on a regular basis, but does not include care, supervision, and
guidance of a child by any of the following:
a. An instructional program for children who are attending
prekindergarten as defined by the state board of education under
section 256.11 or a higher grade level and are at least four years of
age administered by any of the following:
(1) A public or nonpublic school system accredited by the
department of education or the state board of regents.
(2) A nonpublic school system which is not accredited by the
department of education or the state board of regents.
b. A program provided under section 279.49 or 280.3A.
c. Any of the following church-related programs:
(1) An instructional program.
(2) A youth program other than a preschool, before or after
school child care program, or other child care program.
(3) A program providing care to children on church premises while
the children's parents are attending church-related or
church-sponsored activities on the church premises.
d. Short-term classes of less than two weeks' duration held
between school terms or during a break within a school term.
e. A child care center for sick children operated as part of
a pediatrics unit in a hospital licensed by the department of
inspections and appeals pursuant to chapter 135B.
f. A program operated not more than one day per week by
volunteers which meets all of the following conditions:
(1) Not more than eleven children are served per volunteer.
(2) The program operates for less than four hours during any
twenty-four-hour period.
(3) The program is provided at no cost to the children's parent,
guardian, or custodian.
g. A program administered by a political subdivision of the
state which is primarily for recreational or social purposes and is
limited to children who are five years of age or older and attending
school.
h. An after school program continuously offered throughout
the school year calendar to children who are at least five years of
age and are enrolled in school, and attend the program intermittently
or a summer-only program for such children. The program must be
provided through a nominal membership fee or at no cost.
i. A special activity program which meets less than four
hours per day for the sole purpose of the special activity. Special
activity programs include but are not limited to music or dance
classes, organized athletic or sports programs, recreational classes,
scouting programs, and hobby or craft clubs or classes.
j. A nationally accredited camp.
k. A structured program for the purpose of providing
therapeutic, rehabilitative, or supervisory services to children
under any of the following:
(1) A purchase of service or managed care contract with the
department.
(2) A contract approved by a governance board of a
decategorization of child welfare and juvenile justice funding
project created under section 232.188.
(3) An arrangement approved by a juvenile court order.
l. Care provided on-site to children of parents residing in
an emergency, homeless, or domestic violence shelter.
m. A child care facility providing respite care to a licensed
foster family home for a period of twenty-four hours or more to a
child who is placed with that licensed foster family home.
n. A program offered to a child whose parent, guardian, or
custodian is engaged solely in a recreational or social activity,
remains immediately available and accessible on the physical premises
on which the child's care is provided, and does not engage in
employment while the care is provided.
4. "Child care center" or "center" means a facility
providing child care or preschool services for seven or more
children, except when the facility is registered as a child
development home.
5. "Child care facility" or "facility" means a child care
center, preschool, or a registered child development home.
6. "Child care home" means a person or program providing
child care to five or fewer children at any one time that is not
registered to provide child care under this chapter, as authorized
under section 237A.3.
7. "Child development home" means a person or program
registered under section 237A.3A that may provide child care to six
or more children at any one time.
8. "Department" means the department of human services.
9. "Director" means the director of human services.
10. "Infant" means a child who is less than twenty-four
months of age.
11. "Involvement with child care" means licensed or
registered under this chapter, employed in a child care facility,
residing in a child care facility, receiving public funding for
providing child care, or providing child care as a child care home
provider, or residing in a child care home.
12. "Licensed center" means a center issued a full or
provisional license by the department under the provisions of this
chapter or a center for which a license is being processed.
13. "Poverty level" means the poverty level defined by the
most recently revised poverty income guidelines published by the
United States department of health and human services.
14. "Preschool" means a child care facility which provides to
children ages three through five, for periods of time not exceeding
three hours per day, programs designed to help the children to
develop intellectual skills, social skills, and motor skills, and to
extend their interest and understanding of the world about them.
15. "School" means kindergarten or a higher grade level.
16. "State child care advisory council" means the state child
care advisory council established pursuant to sections 237A.21 and
237A.22. Section History: Early Form
[C75, 77, 79, 81, § 237A.1; 82 Acts, ch 1213, § 1--3] Section History: Recent Form
83 Acts, ch 96, § 157, 159; 87 Acts, ch 115, § 34; 88 Acts, ch
1097, § 1; 89 Acts, ch 206, § 3; 90 Acts, ch 1005, § 1--3; 91 Acts,
ch 151, § 1; 92 Acts, ch 1083, § 1; 92 Acts, ch 1109, § 1; 93 Acts,
ch 54, §4; 93 Acts, ch 76, §8, 9; 94 Acts, ch 1129, §1; 94 Acts, ch
1175, §1; 97 Acts, ch 151, § 1; 99 Acts, ch 192, §1; 2000 Acts, ch
1067, §14; 2001 Acts, ch 105, §3, 4; 2002 Acts, ch 1142, §3--8, 31;
2003 Acts, ch 81, §1; 2005 Acts, ch 95, §4
Referred to in § 135.119, 237.1, 237.3, 237A.2, 237A.13, 237A.26,
422.12C, 692A.101