AN ACT Relating to supporting the business of child care; adding new sections to chapter 43.215 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28C.18 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

(2) The legislature intends to create incentives to support early learning providers with the goal of making the business of child care sustainable, rewarding, and mutually beneficial for providers, children, parents, and the state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department shall contract with a nonprofit entity that provides quality improvement services to participants in the early achievers program to develop, in consultation with the community and technical college system, a community-based training module for licensed child care providers. The training module must train providers specifically in managing and sustaining a child care business.

(2) The training module must include direct participant coaching, provided by the nonprofit entity, to ensure that early childhood education and assistance program performance standards are implemented with fidelity.

(3) The training module must be offered to providers as a pilot program in at least four communities: An urban community, a rural community, a community with a high number of mono-lingual Spanish speaking licensed child care providers, and a community with a high number of mono-lingual Somali speaking licensed child care providers. The department must select the communities where the training modules will be offered.

(4) Training must be provided by state-approved trainers listed in the managed education registry information tool and associated in the managed education registry information tool with the identified agency. The department must offer reimbursement for training taken from state-approved trainers. Professionals who work in department licensed or certified child care facilities and have confirmed or verified their employment record may access reimbursement within available funds through their managed education registry information tool professional record.

(5) As part of the review of the state early childhood certificates under the pilot program created in this section, business of child care training and new child care and development fund requirements must be conducted to ensure there is not duplication of services. The department, the state board for community and technical colleges, and the nonprofit entity with whom the department is contracting must work together in conducting the review. The review must provide recommendations for how the business of child care training should be delivered in the future.

(6) Upon completion of the first cohort of providers receiving training under the pilot program in the four communities, but no later than July 1, 2019, the training module must be made available statewide for all licensed child care providers.

(7) The training module must be functionally translated into languages other than English, particularly for licensed child care providers who speak Spanish and Somali.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department shall contract with a nonprofit entity that provides quality improvement services to participants in the early achievers program to develop, implement, and modify as necessary a community-based training module that supports licensed child care providers who have been rated in early achievers and who are specifically interested in serving children in the early childhood education and assistance program.

(2) The module must prepare trainees to administer all aspects of the early childhood education and assistance program for eligible children in their licensed program.

(3) By school year 2020-2021, the module must be offered statewide with the goal of training enough child care providers to serve all children eligible for the early childhood education and assistance program.

(4) The module must include a pilot program for shared services in at least one community to support high-quality program implementation, including comprehensive services and sound business practices. Shared services include, but are not limited to, workforce and professional development, comprehensive series, back-office functions, and community resources and referrals.

(5) The community-based training module must be functionally translated into languages other than English, particularly for licensed child care providers who speak Spanish and Somali.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Upon completion of the pilot program created in section 2 of this act, the department must collaborate with the state board for community and technical colleges to align all or parts of the training module created in section 2 of this act with course outcomes identified in one or more early childhood education classes that may be offered by the community and technical colleges. The department and the state board for community and technical colleges must consult with the nonprofit entity in integrating training module content in early childhood education curriculum. This section does not create any new requirements for receiving a certification in a program.

(2) The state board must work with community and technical college early childhood education programs to incorporate outcomes related to managing and sustaining a child care business by fall quarter of the 2020 academic year.

(2) The department of early learning shall convene and provide staff support for the work group. The work group shall consist of no more than twenty-seven members. The department of early learning shall consult with advocates and stakeholders of the early learning workforce when selecting members to serve on the work group. The work group must choose its cochairs from its membership. Membership of the work group must be comprised of representatives from the following organizations and entities:

(a) The early childhood education and assistance program;

(b) A military child care provider;

(c) A family child care provider;

(d) A for-profit child care center;

(e) The private school sector;

(f) The statewide child care resource and referral network;

(g) The economic opportunity institute;

(h) The department;

(i) The workforce training and education coordinating board;

(j) The economic development councils;

(k) An early childhood education degree program from an institution of higher education;

(l) Small businesses;

(m) An economist;

(n) The head start program;

(o) A tribal care provider;

(p) A nonprofit child care center;

(q) A child care classroom teacher;

(r) The K-12 sector;

(s) A union representing child care workers;

(t) A statewide organization that is part of a public-private partnership that engages in advocating and investing in early learning;

(u) The office of the superintendent of public instruction;

(v) The workforce development councils;

(w) A coalition of organizations representing nonprofits, professional associations, businesses, and industries in early learning;

(x) The state board for community and technical colleges;

(y) Parents;

(z) The department of labor and industries; and

(aa) An organization that provides cultural responsive services for early childhood education and awareness in East African communities.

(3) The work group must develop recommendations for the legislature and the early childhood education industry that will address the issues of poverty wages, high turnover, and the loss of highly qualified members of the early learning workforce. Recommendations must address, but not be limited to, the following:

(a) The career and wage ladder;

(b) Tax incentives;

(c) Facility acquisition;

(d) Streamlining regulations;

(e) Public reimbursement rates;

(f) Private rates;

(g) Public investment;

(h) Maintaining and increasing racial and ethnic equity and diversity in the workforce; and

(i) Cultural competency and multilingualism as forms of qualification.

(4) The work group must submit an interim progress report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2017. The work group must submit a final report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by June 30, 2018. The final report must contain recommendations and a plan for the implementation of the work group's recommendations.

(5) This section expires June 30, 2019.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6.  A new section is added to chapter 28C.18 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The legislature also recognizes that there is a high demand for quality child care throughout the state and that the child care industry is growing both in the need for more child care providers and the higher standards required of providers.

(2) At the next update of the state comprehensive plan for workforce training and education, the board shall specifically assess the need for early learning providers to receive support and training in the managing and running of a child care business. As part of its duties of planning, coordinating, evaluating, and monitoring statewide workforce training, the board shall ensure that local workforce development councils have plans that emphasize business training for early learning providers. Local workforce development councils may, where appropriate, utilize existing training modules created under sections 2, 3, and 4 of this act.

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