S-4244.1

SENATE BILL 6598


State of Washington	64th Legislature	2016 Regular Session

By Senators Rivers, Billig, Litzow, and McAuliffe

Read first time 01/28/16. Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that children with the greatest needs benefit significantly from child care programs that promote stability, quality, and continuity of care. The legislature recognizes that empirical evidence supports the conclusion that high quality child care programs consistently yield more positive outcomes for children, with the strongest positive impacts on the most vulnerable children. The legislature finds that the child care and development block grant act of 2014 allows the department of early learning to provide working connections child care to children in need of, or receiving, protective services. The legislature further understands that beginning July 1, 2016, authorizations for the working connections child care subsidy will be effective for twelve months. The legislature intends to allow certain populations of vulnerable children to be eligible for the working connections child care subsidy for a minimum of twelve months.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The department of early learning shall adopt rules, in accordance with Public Law 113-186, Sec. 10(4)(C)(ii), as it existed on January 1, 2016. The rules shall provide for the following and such other matters the department deems necessary for the proper implementation of this section:

(1) A requirement that a child is eligible for working connections child care if the child has received child protective services child care or child welfare services child care within the prior six months and the response the department of social and health services initiated pursuant to chapter 74.13, 74.15, or 26.44 RCW has concluded;

(2) A definition of protective services that would only apply for the purposes of working connections child care eligibility and would not require the department of social and health services or the department of early learning to automatically consider these children to be in official child protective services as used in chapters 74.13 and 26.44 RCW. These children shall not be identified as needing a response by the department of social and health services in accordance with chapter 74.13, 74.15, or 26.44 RCW, or intervention by the department of early learning, except in cases where that is appropriate for reasons other than the inclusion of the child in the new category of vulnerable child for purposes of working connections child care eligibility; and

(3) A requirement that the department of social and health service's involvement with the family referred for working connections child care ends for purposes of child protective services at the time that the response of the department of social and health services initiated pursuant to chapter 74.13, 74.15, or 26.44 RCW has concluded.