READ FIRST TIME 03/01/13.   

     AN ACT Relating to expanding and streamlining early learning services and programs; amending RCW 28A.150.220, 43.215.100, and 43.215.430; reenacting and amending RCW 43.215.010, 43.215.020, and 43.215.135; adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     The legislature finds that the first five years of a child's life establish the foundation for educational success. The legislature also finds that children who have high quality early learning opportunities from birth through age five are more likely to succeed throughout their K-12 education and beyond. The legislature further finds that the benefits of high quality early learning experiences are particularly significant for low-income parents and children, and provide an opportunity to narrow the opportunity gap in Washington's K-12 educational system. The legislature understands that early supports for high-risk parents of young children through home visiting services show a high return on investment due to significantly improved chances of better education, health, and life outcomes for children. The legislature further recognizes that, when parents work or go to school, high quality and full-day early learning opportunities should be available and accessible for their children. In order to improve education outcomes, particularly for low-income children, the legislature is committed to expanding high quality early learning opportunities and integrating currently disparate funding streams for all birth-to-five early learning services including, working connections child care and the early childhood education and assistance program, into a single high quality continuum of learning that provides essential services to low-income families and prepares all enrolled children for success in school. The legislature therefore intends to establish the early start program to provide a continuum of high quality and accountable early learning opportunities for Washington's parents and children.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.150.220 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 27 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In order for students to have the opportunity to develop the basic education knowledge and skills under RCW 28A.150.210, school districts must provide instruction of sufficient quantity and quality and give students the opportunity to complete graduation requirements that are intended to prepare them for postsecondary education, gainful employment, and citizenship. The program established under this section shall be the minimum instructional program of basic education offered by school districts.
     (2) Each school district shall make available to students the following minimum instructional offering each school year:
     (a) For students enrolled in grades one through twelve, at least a district-wide annual average of one thousand hours, which shall be increased to at least one thousand eighty instructional hours for students enrolled in each of grades seven through twelve and at least one thousand instructional hours for students in each of grades one through six according to an implementation schedule adopted by the legislature, but not before the 2014-15 school year; and
     (b) For students enrolled in kindergarten, at least four hundred fifty instructional hours, which shall be increased to at least one thousand instructional hours according to the implementation schedule under RCW 28A.150.315.
     (3) The instructional program of basic education provided by each school district shall include:
     (a) Instruction in the essential academic learning requirements under RCW 28A.655.070;
     (b) Instruction that provides students the opportunity to complete twenty-four credits for high school graduation, subject to a phased-in implementation of the twenty-four credits as established by the legislature. Course distribution requirements may be established by the state board of education under RCW 28A.230.090;
     (c) If the essential academic learning requirements include a requirement of languages other than English, the requirement may be met by students receiving instruction in one or more American Indian languages;
     (d) Supplemental instruction and services for underachieving students through the learning assistance program under RCW 28A.165.005 through 28A.165.065;
     (e) Supplemental instruction and services for eligible and enrolled students whose primary language is other than English through the transitional bilingual instruction program under RCW 28A.180.010 through 28A.180.080;
     (f) The opportunity for an appropriate education at public expense as defined by RCW 28A.155.020 for all eligible students with disabilities as defined in RCW 28A.155.020; and
     (g) Programs for highly capable students under RCW 28A.185.010 through 28A.185.030.
     (4) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require individual students to attend school for any particular number of hours per day or to take any particular courses.
     (5) Each school district's kindergarten through twelfth grade basic educational program shall be accessible to all students who are five years of age, as provided by RCW 28A.225.160, and less than twenty-one years of age and shall consist of a minimum of one hundred eighty school days per school year in such grades as are conducted by a school district, and one hundred eighty half-days of instruction, or equivalent, in kindergarten, to be increased to a minimum of one hundred eighty school days per school year according to the implementation schedule under RCW 28A.150.315. However, schools administering the Washington kindergarten inventory of developing skills may use up to three school days at the beginning of the school year to meet with parents and families as required in the parent involvement component of the inventory. In addition, effective May 1, 1979, a school district may schedule the last five school days of the one hundred and eighty day school year for noninstructional purposes in the case of students who are graduating from high school, including, but not limited to, the observance of graduation and early release from school upon the request of a student, and all such students may be claimed as a full-time equivalent student to the extent they could otherwise have been so claimed for the purposes of RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260.
     (6) Nothing in this section precludes a school district from enriching the instructional program of basic education, such as offering additional instruction or providing additional services, programs, or activities that the school district determines to be appropriate for the education of the school district's students.
     (7) The state board of education shall adopt rules to implement and ensure compliance with the program requirements imposed by this section, RCW 28A.150.250 and 28A.150.260, and such related supplemental program approval requirements as the state board may establish.

Sec. 3   RCW 43.215.010 and 2011 c 295 s 3 and 2011 c 78 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Agency" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or facility that provides child care and early learning services outside a child's own home and includes the following irrespective of whether there is compensation to the agency:
     (a) "Child day care center" means an agency that regularly provides ((child day care)) early childhood education and early learning services for a group of children for periods of less than twenty-four hours;
     (b) "Early learning" includes but is not limited to programs and services for child care; state, federal, private, and nonprofit preschool; child care subsidies; child care resource and referral; parental education and support; and training and professional development for early learning professionals;
     (c) "Family day care provider" means a child ((day)) care provider who regularly provides ((child day care)) early childhood education and early learning services for not more than twelve children in the provider's home in the family living quarters;
     (d) "Nongovernmental private-public partnership" means an entity registered as a nonprofit corporation in Washington state with a primary focus on early learning, school readiness, and parental support, and an ability to raise a minimum of five million dollars in contributions;
     (e) "Service provider" means the entity that operates a community facility.
     (2) "Agency" does not include the following:
     (a) Persons related to the child in the following ways:
     (i) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and including first cousins, nephews or nieces, and persons of preceding generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great;
     (ii) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;
     (iii) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance with state law; or
     (iv) Spouses of any persons named in (a)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this subsection (2)(((a))), even after the marriage is terminated;
     (b) Persons who are legal guardians of the child;
     (c) Persons who care for a neighbor's or friend's child or children, with or without compensation, where the person providing care for periods of less than twenty-four hours does not conduct such activity on an ongoing, regularly scheduled basis for the purpose of engaging in business, which includes, but is not limited to, advertising such care;
     (d) Parents on a mutually cooperative basis exchange care of one another's children;
     (e) Nursery schools ((or kindergartens)) that are engaged primarily in ((educational work)) early childhood education with preschool children and in which no child is enrolled on a regular basis for more than four hours per day;
     (f) Schools, including boarding schools, that are engaged primarily in education, operate on a definite school year schedule, follow a stated academic curriculum, accept only school-age children, and do not accept custody of children;
     (g) Seasonal camps of three months' or less duration engaged primarily in recreational or educational activities;
     (h) Facilities providing child care for periods of less than twenty-four hours when a parent or legal guardian of the child remains on the premises of the facility for the purpose of participating in:
     (i) Activities other than employment; or
     (ii) Employment of up to two hours per day when the facility is operated by a nonprofit entity that also operates a licensed child care program at the same facility in another location or at another facility;
     (i) ((Any agency having been in operation in this state ten years before June 8, 1967, and not seeking or accepting moneys or assistance from any state or federal agency, and is supported in part by an endowment or trust fund;
     (j) An agency)) A program operated by any unit of local, state, or federal government or an agency, located within the boundaries of a federally recognized Indian reservation, licensed by the Indian tribe;
     (((k) An agency)) (j) A program located on a federal military reservation, except where the military authorities request that such agency be subject to the licensing requirements of this chapter;
     (((l) An agency)) (k) A program that offers early learning and support services, such as parent education, and does not provide child care services on a regular basis.
     (3) "Applicant" means a person who requests or seeks employment in an agency.
     (4) "Conviction information" means criminal history record information relating to an incident which has led to a conviction or other disposition adverse to the applicant.
     (5) "Department" means the department of early learning.
     (6) "Director" means the director of the department.
     (7) "Early achievers" means a program that improves the quality of early learning programs and supports and rewards providers for their participation.
     (8) "Early start" means an integrated high quality continuum of early learning programs for children birth-to-five years of age. Components of early start include, but are not limited to, the following:
     (a) Home visiting and parent education and support programs;
     (b) The early achievers program described in RCW 43.215.100;
     (c) Integrated full-day and part-day high quality early learning programs; and
     (d) High quality preschool for children whose family income is at or below one hundred ten percent of the federal poverty level.
     (9) "Employer" means a person or business that engages the services of one or more people, especially for wages or salary to work in an agency.
     (((8))) (10) "Enforcement action" means denial, suspension, revocation, modification, or nonrenewal of a license pursuant to RCW 43.215.300(1) or assessment of civil monetary penalties pursuant to RCW 43.215.300(3).
     (((9))) (11) "Negative action" means a court order, court judgment, or an adverse action taken by an agency, in any state, federal, tribal, or foreign jurisdiction, which results in a finding against the applicant reasonably related to the individual's character, suitability, and competence to care for or have unsupervised access to children in child care. This may include, but is not limited to:
     (a) A decision issued by an administrative law judge;
     (b) A final determination, decision, or finding made by an agency following an investigation;
     (c) An adverse agency action, including termination, revocation, or denial of a license or certification, or if pending adverse agency action, the voluntary surrender of a license, certification, or contract in lieu of the adverse action;
     (d) A revocation, denial, or restriction placed on any professional license; or
     (e) A final decision of a disciplinary board.
     (((10))) (12) "Nonconviction information" means arrest, founded allegations of child abuse, or neglect pursuant to chapter 26.44 RCW, or other negative action adverse to the applicant.
     (((11))) (13) "Probationary license" means a license issued as a disciplinary measure to an agency that has previously been issued a full license but is out of compliance with licensing standards.
     (((12))) (14) "Requirement" means any rule, regulation, or standard of care to be maintained by an agency.
     (15) "Washington state preschool program" means an education program for children three-to-five years of age who have not yet entered kindergarten, such as the early childhood education and assistance program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1)(a) The chairs of the early learning committees of the legislature shall convene a technical working group to:
     (i) Review federal and state early education funding streams;
     (ii) Develop technical options for aligning eligibility requirements for child care and Washington state preschool;
     (iii) Develop recommendations for an effective and responsive eligibility system;
     (iv) Develop technical options for system designs that blend and braid disparate federal and state funding streams into a single program, including the option of applying for waivers from existing federal requirements; and
     (v) Present findings and options in a report to the early learning committees of both houses of the legislature by December 1, 2013.
     (b) At a minimum, the technical working group must be composed of financial and policy staff from the department of social and health services and the department of early learning.
     (2) The technical working group shall provide monthly progress reports to the staff of the legislative early learning committees and the relevant legislative fiscal committees. The legislative staff shall share the progress reports with the chairs of the legislative committees. The chairs of the committees may provide additional guidance to the working group through legislative staff depending on the information that is shared with the chairs.
     (3) This section expires December 31, 2013.

Sec. 5   RCW 43.215.020 and 2010 c 233 s 1, 2010 c 232 s 2, and 2010 c 231 s 6 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department of early learning is created as an executive branch agency. The department is vested with all powers and duties transferred to it under this chapter and such other powers and duties as may be authorized by law.
     (2) The primary duties of the department are to implement state early learning policy and to coordinate, consolidate, and integrate child care and early learning programs in order to administer programs and funding as efficiently as possible. The department's duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
     (a) To support both public and private sectors toward a comprehensive and collaborative system of early learning that serves parents, children, and providers and to encourage best practices in child care and early learning programs;
     (b) To make early learning resources available to parents and caregivers;
     (c) To carry out activities, including providing clear and easily accessible information about quality and improving the quality of early learning opportunities for young children, in cooperation with the nongovernmental private-public partnership;
     (d) To administer child care and early learning programs;
     (e) To apply data already collected comparing the following factors and make biennial recommendations to the legislature regarding working connections subsidy and state-funded preschool rates and compensation models that would attract and retain high quality early learning professionals:
     (i) State-funded early learning subsidy rates and market rates of licensed early learning homes and centers;
     (ii) Compensation of early learning educators in licensed centers and homes and early learning teachers at state higher education institutions;
     (iii) State-funded preschool program compensation rates and Washington state head start program compensation rates; and
     (iv) State-funded preschool program compensation to compensation in similar comprehensive programs in other states.
     (f) To serve as the state lead agency for Part C of the federal individuals with disabilities education act (IDEA);
     (((f))) (g) To standardize internal financial audits, oversight visits, performance benchmarks, and licensing criteria, so that programs can function in an integrated fashion;
     (((g))) (h) To support the implementation of the nongovernmental private-public partnership and cooperate with that partnership in pursuing its goals including providing data and support necessary for the successful work of the partnership;
     (((h))) (i) To work cooperatively and in coordination with the early learning council;
     (((i))) (j) To collaborate with the K-12 school system at the state and local levels to ensure appropriate connections and smooth transitions between early learning and K-12 programs;
     (((j))) (k) To develop and adopt rules for administration of the program of early learning established in RCW 43.215.141;
     (((k))) (l) To develop a comprehensive birth-to-three plan to provide education and support through a continuum of options including, but not limited to, services such as: Home visiting; quality incentives for infant and toddler child care subsidies; quality improvements for family home and center-based child care programs serving infants and toddlers; professional development; early literacy programs; and informal supports for family, friend, and neighbor caregivers; and
     (((l))) (m) Upon the development of an early learning information system, to make available to parents timely inspection and licensing action information and provider comments through the internet and other means.
     (3) When additional funds are appropriated for the specific purpose of home visiting and parent and caregiver support, the department must reserve at least eighty percent for home visiting services to be deposited into the home visiting services account and up to twenty percent of the new funds for other parent or caregiver support.
     (4) Home visiting services must include programs that serve families involved in the child welfare system.
     (5) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the legislature shall fund the expansion in the Washington state preschool program pursuant to RCW 43.215.142 in fiscal year 2014.
     (6) The department's programs shall be designed in a way that respects and preserves the ability of parents and legal guardians to direct the education, development, and upbringing of their children, and that recognizes and honors cultural and linguistic diversity. The department shall include parents and legal guardians in the development of policies and program decisions affecting their children.

Sec. 6   RCW 43.215.100 and 2007 c 394 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department, in collaboration with community and statewide partners, shall implement a voluntary quality rating and improvement system, called the early achievers program, that is applicable to licensed or certified child care centers and homes and early education programs.
     (2) The purpose of the ((voluntary quality rating and improvement system)) early achievers program is: (a) To give parents clear and easily accessible information about the quality of child care and early education programs, support improvement in early learning programs throughout the state, increase the readiness of children for school, and close the disparity in access to quality care; and (b) to establish a common set of expectations and standards that define, measure, and improve the quality of early learning settings.
     (3) Participation in the early achievers program is voluntary for licensed or certified child care centers and homes.
     (4) By fiscal year 2015, Washington state preschool programs receiving state funds must enroll in the early achievers program and maintain a minimum score level.
     (5) Before final implementation of the ((voluntary quality rating and improvement system)) early achievers program, the department shall report on program progress, as defined within the race to the top federal grant award, and expenditures to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature. Nothing in this section changes the department's responsibility to collectively bargain over mandatory subjects.

Sec. 7   RCW 43.215.430 and 1994 c 166 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     The department shall review applications from public or private nonsectarian organizations for state funding of early childhood education and assistance programs ((and award funds as determined by department rules and based on)). The department shall consider local community needs ((and)), demonstrated capacity ((to provide services)), and the need to support a mixed delivery system of early learning that includes alternative models for delivery including licensed centers and licensed family child care providers when reviewing applications.

Sec. 8   RCW 43.215.545 and 2006 c 265 s 204 are each amended to read as follows:
     The department of early learning shall:
     (1) Work in conjunction with the statewide child care resource and referral network as well as local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and community child care advocates to create local child care resource and referral organizations. These organizations may carry out needs assessments, resource development, provider training, technical assistance, and parent information and training;
     (2) Actively seek public and private money for distribution as grants to the statewide child care resource and referral network and to existing or potential local child care resource and referral organizations;
     (3) Adopt rules regarding the application for and distribution of grants to local child care resource and referral organizations. The rules shall, at a minimum, require an applicant to submit a plan for achieving the following objectives:
     (a) Provide parents with information about child care resources, including location of services and subsidies;
     (b) Carry out child care provider recruitment and training programs, including training under RCW 74.25.040;
     (c) Offer support services, such as parent and provider seminars, toy-lending libraries, and substitute banks;
     (d) Provide information for businesses regarding child care supply and demand;
     (e) Advocate for increased public and private sector resources devoted to child care;
     (f) Provide technical assistance to employers regarding employee child care services; and
     (g) Serve recipients of temporary assistance for needy families and working parents with incomes at or below household incomes of ((one)) two hundred ((seventy-five)) percent of the federal poverty line;
     (4) Provide staff support and technical assistance to the statewide child care resource and referral network and local child care resource and referral organizations;
     (5) Maintain a statewide child care licensing data bank and work with department licensors to provide information to local child care resource and referral organizations about licensed child care providers in the state;
     (6) Through the statewide child care resource and referral network and local resource and referral organizations, compile data about local child care needs and availability for future planning and development;
     (7) Coordinate with the statewide child care resource and referral network and local child care resource and referral organizations for the provision of training and technical assistance to child care providers; ((and))
     (8) Collect and assemble information regarding the availability of insurance and of federal and other child care funding to assist state and local agencies, businesses, and other child care providers in offering child care services;
     (9) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, beginning September 1, 2013, increase the base rate for all child care providers by ten percent;
     (10) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, provide tiered subsidy rate enhancements to child care providers if the provider meets the following requirements:
     (a) The provider enrolls in quality rating and improvement system levels 2, 3, 4, or 5;
     (b) The provider is actively participating in the early achievers program;
     (c) The provider continues to advance towards level 5 of the early achievers program; and
     (d) The provider must complete level 2 within thirty months or the reimbursement rate returns the level 1 rate; and
     (11) Require exempt providers to participate in continuing education, if adequate funding is available.

Sec. 9   RCW 43.215.135 and 2012 c 253 s 5 and 2012 c 251 s 1 are each reenacted and 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 2013, 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. The twelve-month certification applies only if the enrollments in the child care subsidy or working connections child care program are capped.
     (3) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, beginning September 1, 2013, working connections child care providers shall receive a five percent increase in the subsidy rate for enrolling in level 2 in the early achievers programs. Providers must complete level 2 and advance to level 3 within thirty months in order to maintain this increase.