H-1182

AN ACT Relating to child care services for homeless families including families that are homeless due to domestic violence; adding new sections to chapter 74.15 RCW; creating a new section; making an appropriation; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that specialized child care services and early childhood education services are needed to meet the needs of homeless children younger than school age to improve their physical, social, medical, and emotional state. These services will prevent later educational and social failures and resulting societal costs. Continuity in child care arrangements is vital for children who are experiencing constant disruption in their living arrangements.

The legislature further finds that homeless parents, in order to achieve independence, need an appropriate place to provide care for their children while they seek or maintain employment, attend treatment, or seek permanent housing.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 74.15 RCW to read as follows:

For the purposes of section 3 of this act:

(1) "Homeless" means:

(a) An individual or family that lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; or

(b) An individual or family that has primary nighttime residence that is:

(i) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations, including, but not limited to, welfare hotels, domestic violence shelters, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill;

(ii) An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or

(iii) A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodations for human beings.

"Homeless" does not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an act of the congress or a state law.

(2) "Domestic violence" has the same definition as in RCW 10.99.020 or 26.50.010.

(3) "Specialized child care" means all-day care that is developmentally appropriate child care for homeless children provided by specialized child care centers or by purchase of existing slots in community child care centers or family day care homes. Such care may include low staff-to-child ratios, counseling, parent support services, health care, transportation, specially trained staff, and appropriate curricula.

(4) "Respite child care" means drop-in, custodial child care for children where specialized child care is not practical, such as in communities with small shelter populations or for families housed in hotels or motels under "voucher" programs as provided in chapter 74.50 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 74.15 RCW to read as follow:

(1) The department shall, within the funds appropriated for this purpose, contract with eligible providers for specialized child care and respite care for children of homeless parents. The total allocation to providers within a county shall be:

(a) No less than twenty-five thousand dollars per fiscal year in any county that had at least one hundred children under the age of five served in emergency shelters the preceding year as reported by the department of community development; or

(b) No more than ten thousand dollars per fiscal year in any county that had less than one hundred children under the age of five served in emergency shelters the preceding year as reported by the department of community development.

Providers shall demonstrate that licensed child care facilities are available to provide specialized child care for children under the age of six. Respite child care providers shall demonstrate that respite child care is available for children under the age of six. Child care services provided by shelters are subject to department of community development rules on applicant eligibility criteria.

(2) Providers of respite child care shall submit to background checks provided for in chapter 43.43 RCW.

(3) Local funds used for child care services for the homeless that are supplemented by funds provided under this section shall continue to be used for services for homeless children.

(4) The department shall require child care and respite care providers under this section to coordinate with early childhood education programs funded through the department of community development.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The sum of two million six hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund to the department of social and health services for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, to carry out the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and this act shall take effect July 1, 1991.