BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to child care for school-age children; adding new sections to chapter 74.13 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.335 RCW; and making appropriations.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The legislature finds that there has been a dramatic increase in participation of women in the work force that has made the availability of quality, affordable child care a critical concern for the state and its citizens. An unacceptably high number of children ages five to fourteen have no adult supervision when school is not in session and their parents are at work. These "latchkey" children are at increased risk of lower academic achievement, emotional and social adjustment problems, and substance abuse. Children age eleven to fourteen are particularly at risk for making destructive choices about alcohol and drugs, tobacco, sexual activity, gang involvement, and their overall role in society. The lack of affordable before-and-after-school child care programs also represents a lost opportunity for school-aged children to gain academically, develop social skills, and increase their self-reliance.

(2) It is the policy of the state of Washington to encourage and support efforts by local communities to develop affordable, quality before-and-after-school child care programs by:

(a) Raising awareness of the benefits children and their parents can realize through participation in before-and-after-school child care programs;

(b) Providing technical assistance to local communities in their efforts to develop before-and-after-school child care programs through state agencies and child care resource and referral programs; and

(c) Providing financial support, to the extent of available federal and state funds, for before-and-after-school child care through subsidies for low-income families and direct assistance for start-up and expansion of before-and-after-school child care programs to reduce inequities among populations or communities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.335 RCW to read as follows:

After the effective date of this section, in reviewing and approving projects for school construction and modernization under its priority system, the state board of education shall allocate priority points to districts that have implemented or made a commitment to implement before-and-after-school child care programs in projects for which funding is requested.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 74.13 RCW to read as follows:

The child care coordinating committee, established pursuant to RCW 74.13.090, shall administer grant funds for before-and-after-school child care programs for school-aged children. A school district or community-based organization may receive a grant under this section only if the district or organization has adopted a fee schedule based on the projected costs of services and has submitted to the child care coordinating committee an operating plan demonstrating that, after its initial twenty-four months of operation, the program is expected to be fully supported through fees, other local revenues and child care subsidy payments made by the department of social and health services or other agencies on behalf of the children of low-income families using the program. The grants may be used for establishing new programs or for expanding existing programs, but may not be used for costs incurred more than twenty-four months after the establishment of a before-and-after-school program at a particular site. No grant may support more than seventy-five percent of a district's or organization's program costs during the initial twenty-four months. The grants may be used for community needs assessments, planning and design of programs, equipment and supplies, capital improvements including portables, and initial operating expenses, for the first six months of operation. School districts or community-based organizations shall be selected to receive grants based on documented demand for expansion of child care services, and, in particular, demand from low-income families.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The sum of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1997, from the general fund to the department of social and health services solely for start-up grants for before-and-after-school child care programs for school-aged children as provided for in section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The sum of one million one hundred dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1997, from the general fund to the department of social and health services for child care subsidies for six hundred fifty school-aged children from low‑income families who are not recipients of aid to families with dependent children.