5237-S2.E AMH DENT BROD 131

E2SSB 5237 - H AMD TO CYF COMM AMD (H-1378.1/21) 634

By Representative Dent

NOT ADOPTED 04/08/2021

On page 29, after line 20 of the striking amendment, insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 315. REGULATORY RELIEF TASK FORCE. (1) The department of children, youth, and families shall convene a task force with child care providers and their representatives, facilitated by a neutral third party, to develop recommendations for providing regulatory relief and making the licensing process more affordable for child care providers. At a minimum, the task force must evaluate:

(a) Reviewing the child care licensing fee structure;

(b) Suspending, delaying, or waiving certain licensing requirements for at least one year;

(c) Reevaluating staff-to-child required ratios and the minimum indoor space requirements for licensing; and

(d) Removing, revising, or waiving licensing requirements related to the early achievers program.

(2) The task force must report recommendations agreed upon by the majority of task force members to the governor and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the legislature by December 1, 2021 and in accordance with RCW 43.01.036. The report must include the policy rationale, implementation plan, timeline, and recommended statutory changes required to implement the recommendations. The report must also include a minority report for recommendations provided by members that were not agreed upon.

(3) Task force participants must represent geographically diverse areas of the state and there must be a process to allow providers not able to participate to send feedback to the facilitator for consideration. Task force membership must include at least one representative from each of the following:

(a) The department of children, youth, and families;

(b) Licensed family home providers;

(c) Family, friend, and neighbor caregivers;

(d) Child care centers;

(e) The statewide child care resource and referral network; and

(f) A statewide association for representing the interests of

child care centers.

(4) Members of the task force shall be reimbursed for travel

expenses in accordance with chapter 43.03 RCW. Child care providers

serving as members of the task force must be reimbursed for the cost

of hiring a substitute for times the provider is away from the child

care business for official task for travel and meetings.

(5) Staff support for the task force must be provided by the

department of children, youth, and families.

(6) This section expires January 1, 2022.

Sec. 316. RCW 43.216.655 and 2019 c 369 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The education data center established in RCW 43.41.400 must collect longitudinal, student-level data on all children attending an early childhood education and assistance program. Upon completion of an electronic time and attendance record system, the education data center must collect longitudinal, student-level data on all children attending a working connections child care program. Data collected should capture at a minimum the following characteristics:

(a) Daily program attendance;

(b) Identification of classroom and teacher;

(c) Early achievers program quality level rating;

(d) Program hours;

(e) Program duration;

(f) Developmental results from the Washington kindergarten inventory of developing skills in RCW 28A.655.080; and

(g) To the extent data is available, the distinct ethnic categories within racial subgroups of children and providers that align with categories recognized by the education data center.

(2) The department shall provide early learning providers student-level data collected pursuant to this section that are specific to the early learning provider's program. Upon completion of an electronic time and attendance record system identified in subsection (1) of this section, the department shall provide child care providers student-level data that are specific to the child care provider's program.

(3) The department shall review available research and best practices literature on cultural competency in early learning settings. The department shall review the K-12 components for cultural competency developed by the professional educator standards board and identify components appropriate for early learning professional development.

(4)(a) The Washington state institute for public policy shall conduct a longitudinal analysis examining relationships between the early achievers program quality ratings levels and outcomes for children participating in subsidized early care and education programs.

(b) The institute shall submit the first report to the appropriate committees of the legislature and the early learning advisory council by December 31, 2019. The institute shall submit subsequent reports annually to the appropriate committees of the legislature and the early learning advisory council by December 31st, with the final report due December 31, 2022. The final report shall include a cost-benefit analysis.

(5) By December 31, 2021, and subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the Washington state institute for public policy shall update the outcome evaluation of the early childhood education and assistance program required by chapter 16, Laws of 2013 and report to the governor and the legislature on the outcomes of program participants. The evaluation must include the demographics of program participants including race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The evaluation must examine short and long-term impacts on program participants, including high school graduation rates for up to two cohorts. When conducting the evaluation, the institute must consider, to the extent that data is available, the education levels and demographics, including race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, of early childhood education and assistance program staff and the effects of full-day programming and half-day programming on outcomes.

(6)(a) The Washington state institute for public policy shall conduct a study comparing child care licensing regulations nationwide. In conducting the study, the institute shall review and compare the structure of child care licensing regulations and outcomes in other states, including, but not limited to:

(i) Child care costs;

(ii) Availability of child care;

(iii) Regulations on child care providers; and

(iv) Safety and health outcomes for children in child care settings, to the extent possible.

(b) The institute shall submit a report on its findings to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 31, 2021.

(c) Subsection (6) of this section will expire June 30, 2022."

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