The Legislature, through Senate Joint Resolution 117, required that the State Health Department conduct a study of the food service operations at licensed child and adult day care centers to determine if separate regulations for these establishments are advisable, and to report to you and the Legislature its recommendations.

A Committee was appointed to make this study, with representation from the staffs of the State Welfare Department and the State Health Department. It was determined that there are 484 licensed day care centers operating, and the Committee solicited input f-rom each of these operators by means of a questionnaire. Fifty-five percent of these responded and the Committee relied heavily upon their comments. From the information the Committee received, it appears that the application of State Restaurant Regulations poses no difficulty for day care center operators as a whole. Where problems exist, these are limited to one or two localities with local requirements that are more strict than the present State regulations.

The Committee recommends no change in application of State Restaurant Regulations governing food service activities with reference to day care centers. It feels that the local problems uncovered in its study can only be resolved if there is State-wide uniform application of existing restaurant regulations, without the application of local ordinances more stringent than the present State standards.

Attached are copies of the tabulated data and comments used in studies conducted by the Committee. Should you desire more elaboration or have questions please contact us.

Mack I. Shanholtz, J.D.
State Health Commissioner