H-4173              _______________________________________________

                                          SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 2366

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By House Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Spanel, Peery, Walker, Brekke, Leonard, Pruitt, Prentice, Rasmussen, R. Meyers, P. King, Rector, Winsley and May)

Read first time 1/31/90.

AN ACT Relating to parents as first teachers; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     Parents are the first teachers of their children.  Society relies on parents for the development of language and social skills necessary for a successful school experience.  In reality, people often know more about a new car when they purchase it than they do about the growth and development of a new baby when they bring him or her home.  It is essential that the information and support necessary to assure that new parents can provide a sound educational foundation be provided. The purpose of the parent as first teacher program is to provide such a foundation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     (1) The department of community development shall administer a state-supported parents as first teacher pilot program.  The parents as first teacher pilot program shall fund five pilot projects for up to thirty-six months.  Two projects shall be located in urban areas, two projects shall be located in rural areas, and one project shall provide training for non-English speaking parents.

          (2) The pilot projects shall provide:

          (a) Developmental screening for infants through thirty-six months of age;

          (b) Parent education on child growth and development for first-time parents on children from birth to age three; and

          (c) Resource material on home learning activities, private group educational guidance, individual and group learning experiences for parent and child, and other activities that enable the parent to improve learning in the home.

          (3) The pilot projects shall be awarded on a competitive application basis to governmental or nongovernmental nonprofit, nonsectarian agencies or organizations to provide the services outlined in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

          (4) The pilot project shall require that the applicant agencies or organizations provide matching funds of twenty-five percent of the grant requested.  No more than five percent of the matching funds may be in-kind contributions.

          (5) A first-time parent is an individual who is the biological or adoptive parent of a child under the age of three and has never had a parental relationship with a child under the age of three and has no special training or knowledge about the growth and development of a child under the age of three.

          (6) This section shall expire January 1, 1994.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     Governmental or nongovernmental nonprofit nonsectarian agencies or organizations applying for money for a parent as first teacher pilot project shall submit an application that includes, but is not limited to, the following information:

          (1) The number of children from ages birth to three in their service area;

          (2) The methods by which the agency or organization will identify or contact first-time parents with children from ages birth to three;

          (3) The method of providing developmental information and activities to parents;

          (4) The training and experience of the staff to be used in providing developmental information, activities, and evaluations; and

          (5) The identity of other agencies or organizations within the service area that have agreed to assist in the development and implementation of the program.  This may include services from family support centers and the high priority infant tracking program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     The department of community development shall:

          (1) By September 1, 1990, establish rules for the award of the grant money to selected agencies or organizations for the implementation of the projects; and

          (2) Evaluate the projects and report to the education committees of the house of representatives and senate on the effectiveness of the program, numbers of families and children served, range of services provided, and the ability of the project to use existing resources within the community to assist in identification of families, instruction, and screening or referral. The report shall be submitted no later than December 15, 1991.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     If specific funding for this act, referencing this act by bill number, is not provided by June 30, 1991, in the supplemental omnibus appropriations act, this act shall be null and void.