S-629                 _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 5026

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Senators Kreidler, Smith, Stratton, Rinehart, Wojahn and Sutherland

Prefiled with Secretary of the Senate 1/5/89.  Read first time 1/9/89 and referred to Committee on  Children & Family Services.

AN ACT Relating to child care; amending section 1, chapter 329, Laws of 1987 (uncodified); amending section 2, chapter 329, Laws of 1987 (uncodified); and making an appropriation.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 1, chapter 329, Laws of 1987 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:

          The ((secretary of social and health services shall appoint a)) office of the child care resources coordinator ((who)) operating under the authority of the department of social and health services shall ((within appropriated funds)):

          (1) Actively seek public or private moneys and administer funding of available grants to local governments, private industry, and community-based nonprofit corporations for the purpose of:

          (a) Creating and operating child care information and referral systems; and

          (b) Creating and conducting a business outreach program to assess and fulfill the child care needs of businesses and families.

          (2) Create a state-wide child care referral data bank and provide information to local information and referral systems about all licensed child care providers in the state.  The data bank shall include information about the existence of providers by locality and the status of the providers' licenses, including whether the license has been issued, denied, revoked, or suspended or whether a letter of intent to deny, suspend, or revoke has been issued by the department of social and health services.  The licensing division of the department shall make such information readily available to the child care resource coordinator.

          (3) Coordinate the provision of training and technical assistance to child care providers.

          (4) Collect, develop, and disseminate information to assist employers and to foster a public-private partnership to increase and improve available child care.

          (5) Collect and assemble information regarding the availability of insurance and of federal and other child-care funding to assist the department, industry, and other providers in offering child care related services.

          (6) ((Recommend statutory and administrative changes to the legislature and the department of trade and economic development to encourage employer-provided assistance for child care, recommendations for state economic development programs which encourage employer participation in child care)) (a) With the involvement of community child care advocates, the child care resources coordinator shall work to create county or multicounty child care resource and referral systems.  All groups with an interest in child care, including employers and parents, shall be represented on the resource and referral organization's board.

(b) Local resource and referral organizations shall carry out needs assessments, resource development, provider training, technical assistance, resource and referral, and parent information and training.

(c) The local child care resource and referral systems shall be organized into a state-wide network.  The child care resources coordinator shall provide staff support and technical assistance to these organizations.

(7)(a) State grants shall be awarded by the department of social and health services to the child care resource and referral systems to provide the services outlined in subsection (6)(b) of this section.

(b) The local resource and referral systems shall compile data about child care needs and availability at the local level for future planning and development.

        Sec. 2.  Section 2, chapter 329, Laws of 1987 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:

          Section 1 of this act  shall expire June 30, ((1989)) 1991, unless extended by law for an additional fixed period of time.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     There is appropriated from the general fund to the department of social and health services for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, the sum of forty-five thousand five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for start-up operating grants for the local child care resource and referral systems.