(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.