BILL REQ. #:  S-0770.1 

Read first time 01/20/11.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to conducting attendance and financial audits of child care providers receiving working connections child care subsidies; amending RCW 43.215.135; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that approximately two hundred thirty-one million dollars in general fund state dollars will be spent in the working connections child care program during the 2011-2013 biennium. Maintaining integrity in this program is of the utmost importance in ensuring that finite state resources are being used in an appropriate manner. The legislature further finds that thirty-two percent of overpayments made in public assistance programs during fiscal year 2009 were in the working connections child care program requiring extensive state employee resources to recoup these overpayments. The legislature believes that a number of overpayments can be avoided in the future with the use of a regularly scheduled audit program for a certain percentage of the working connections child care providers.

Sec. 2   RCW 43.215.135 and 2010 c 273 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall establish and implement policies in the working connections child care program to promote stability and quality of care for children from low-income households. Policies for the expenditure of funds constituting the working connections child care program must be consistent with the outcome measures defined in RCW 74.08A.410 and the standards established in this section intended to promote continuity of care for children.
     (2) Beginning in fiscal year 2011, for families with children enrolled in an early childhood education and assistance program, a head start program, or an early head start program, authorizations for the working connections child care subsidy shall be effective for twelve months unless a change in circumstances necessitates reauthorization sooner than twelve months.
     (3) The department, in consultation with the department of social and health services, shall report to the legislature by September 1, 2011, with:
     (a) An analysis of the impact of the twelve-month authorization period on the stability of child care, program costs, and administrative savings; and
     (b) Recommendations for expanding the application of the twelve-month authorization period to additional populations of children in care.
     (4) Within existing resources, the department, with the assistance of the department of social and health services, shall annually conduct an audit of the attendance and financial records of thirty percent of the licensed and certified child care providers and fifty percent of the in-home and relative child care providers receiving a working connections child care subsidy. The providers to be audited must be selected on a random basis. The first audit period must conclude no later than December 1, 2011. The department shall annually report to the appropriate committees of the legislature the results of the audits conducted during the reporting period.