AN ACT Relating to child care; amending RCW 74.12.340 and 74.15.020; adding new sections to Title 28A RCW; and creating new sections.

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

Sec. 1. Section 30, chapter 228, Laws of 1963 as amended by section 111, chapter 154, Laws of 1973 1st ex. sess. and RCW 74.12.340 are each amended to read as follows:

The department is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations governing the provision of ((~~day~~)) child care ((~~as a part of child welfare services~~)) when the secretary determines that a need exists for such ((~~day~~)) child care and that it is in the best interests of the child, the parents, or the custodial parent and in determining the need for such ((~~day~~)) child care priority shall be given to geographical areas having the greatest need for such care and to members of low income groups in the population((~~: PROVIDED, That where~~)). However, if the family is financially able to pay part or all of the costs of such care, fees shall be imposed and paid according to the financial ability of the family. The rules adopted under this section shall allow before and after school child care programs provided by school districts to qualify for payments and shall not apply licensure requirements to such programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The department of social and health services and the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall jointly develop minimum standards for school-operated child care for school-age children to assure the provision of quality, developmentally appropriate care in school-operated before-and-after school programs. These standards shall be presented to the state board of education for its review and adoption. The standards adopted by the state board of education shall be equivalent to those established for other types of child care providers.

(2) The department of social and health services and the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall develop and sign an interagency agreement specifying the process for enforcing rules governing school-operated child care programs for school-age children. The agreement shall provide that programs regulated under the agreement shall be eligible to receive subsidies for providing care to children eligible under department of social and health services child care subsidy programs.

(3) The rules and agreement shall be developed and agreed to by the department of social and health services and the office of the superintendent of public instruction by September 1, 1990.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The before-and-after school child care program is created within the office of the superintendent of public instruction.

(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction may grant funds, from moneys appropriated for this purpose, to selected school districts requesting assistance in providing before-and-after school child care for school-age children. These grants are intended only to provide start-up costs for school districts implementing programs that will ultimately be fully supported through fees and other local revenues.

(3) The superintendent may also provide technical assistance to school districts in developing and implementing before-and-after school child care programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) School districts may apply to the superintendent of public instruction for grants for before-and-after school child care programs provided under section 3 of this act. The grant requests may be for new programs or for expanding existing programs by adding new sites.

(2) These grants may be used for any of the following purposes in developing or implementing before-and-after school child care programs:

(a) Community needs assessments;

(b) Planning and design of district programs;

(d) Capital improvements including portables; and

(e) Staff costs of new positions for the first three months of employment only.

(3) The grants may not be used for costs incurred more than twenty-four months after the establishment of a before-and-after school program at a particular site.

(4) A grant may be used to support no more than seventy-five percent of the additional costs of a before-and-after school program during its initial twenty-four months of operation, after excluding costs that are supported through fee revenues. The school district may meet the local matching requirement under this subsection through contributions of in-kind services, materials, supplies, or use of physical facilities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules for the before-and-after school child care program established in section 3 of this act. The rules shall provide:

(1) Criteria for selection of school districts to receive before-and-after school child care grants based on local demand for services and, in particular, demand from low-income families;

(2) A requirement that school districts receive grants only if the district adopts a fee schedule based on the projected costs of services and submits an operating plan demonstrating that, after its initial twenty-four months of operation, the program is expected to be fully supported through fees and other local revenues; and

(3) A requirement that the district coordinate with other local child care providers in developing the district's program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. School districts receiving grants under sections 3 through 5 of this act may contract with other governmental or nongovernmental nonsectarian organizations to conduct before-and-after school child care programs.

Sec. 7. Section 2, chapter 172, Laws of 1967 as last amended by section 912, chapter 176, Laws of 1988 and RCW 74.15.020 are each amended to read as follows:

For the purpose of chapter 74.15 RCW and RCW 74.13.031, and unless otherwise clearly indicated by the context thereof, the following terms shall mean:

(1) "Department" means the state department of social and health services;

(2) "Secretary" means the secretary of social and health services;

(3) "Agency" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or facility which receives children, expectant mothers, or persons with developmental disabilities for control, care, or maintenance outside their own homes, or which places, arranges the placement of, or assists in the placement of children, expectant mothers, or persons with developmental disabilities for foster care or placement of children for adoption, and shall include the following irrespective of whether there is compensation to the agency or to the children, expectant mothers or persons with developmental disabilities for services rendered:

(a) "Group-care facility" means an agency, other than a foster-family home, which is maintained and operated for the care of a group of children on a twenty-four hour basis;

(b) "Child-placing agency" means an agency which places a child or children for temporary care, continued care, or for adoption;

(c) "Maternity service" means an agency which provides or arranges for care or services to expectant mothers, before or during confinement, or which provides care as needed to mothers and their infants after confinement;

(d) "Day-care center" means an agency which regularly provides care for a group of children for periods of less than twenty-four hours;

(e) "Foster-family home" means an agency which regularly provides care on a twenty-four hour basis to one or more children, expectant mothers, or persons with developmental disabilities in the family abode of the person or persons under whose direct care and supervision the child, expectant mother, or person with a developmental disability is placed;

(f) "Crisis residential center" means an agency which is a temporary protective residential facility operated to perform the duties specified in chapter 13.32A RCW, in the manner provided in RCW 74.13.032 through 74.13.036.

(4) "Agency" shall not include the following:

(a) Persons related by blood or marriage to the child, expectant mother, or persons with developmental disabilities in the following degrees: Parent, grandparent, brother, sister, stepparent, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, aunt, and/or first cousin;

(b) Persons who are legal guardians of the child, expectant mother, or persons with developmental disabilities;

(c) Persons who care for a neighbor's or friend's child or children, with or without compensation, where the person does not engage in such activity on a regular basis, or where parents on a mutually cooperative basis exchange care of one another's children, or persons who have the care of an exchange student in their own home;

(d) Nursery schools, preschools, or kindergartens which are engaged primarily in educational work with preschool children and in which no child is enrolled on a regular basis for more than four hours per day;

(e) Schools, including boarding schools, which 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 and also including any before-and-after school care program under sections 3 through 6 of this 1990 act;

(f) Seasonal camps of three months' or less duration engaged primarily in recreational or educational activities;

(g) Hospitals licensed pursuant to chapter 70.41 RCW when performing functions defined in chapter 70.41 RCW, nursing homes licensed under chapter 18.51 RCW and boarding homes licensed under chapter 18.20 RCW;

(h) Licensed physicians or lawyers;

(i) Facilities providing care to children for periods of less than twenty-four hours whose parents remain on the premises to participate in activities other than employment;

(j) Facilities approved and certified under chapter 71A.22 RCW;

(k) Any agency having been in operation in this state ten years prior to 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;

(l) Persons who have a child in their home for purposes of adoption, if the child was placed in such home by a licensed child-placing agency, an authorized public or tribal agency or court or if a preplacement report has been filed under chapter 26.33 RCW and the placement has been approved by the court;

(m) An agency 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;

(n) An agency located on a federal military reservation, except where the military authorities request that such agency be subject to the licensing requirements of this chapter.

(5) "Requirement" means any rule, regulation or standard of care to be maintained by an agency.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 3 through 6 of this act are each added to Title 28A RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If specific funding for sections 3 through 6 of this act, referencing this act by bill number, is not provided by June 30, 1991, in the supplemental omnibus appropriations act, sections 3 through 6 of this act shall be null and void.