Brief Description: Regarding child care at institutions of higher education.

Sponsors: By House Committee on Higher Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Roberts, Hasegawa, Ormsby, Jarrett, Sells, Williams, Appleton, McIntire, Goodman, Green and Quall).

House Committee on Higher Education
House Committee on Appropriations
Senate Committee on Higher Education

Background:

The Institutional Child Care Grant program was established in 1999 to promote high-quality, accessible, and affordable child care for students attending the state's public colleges and universities. Grants were made available, on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher education requiring the college or university administration and the student government association at each receiving institution to match the grant amount received from the state. The Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) was tasked with administering the grants to the public and four-year institutions. The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) administers the program for community and technical colleges.

All of the public baccalaureate institutions have received funds since the program began in 1999. The HECB awarded grants totaling $165,000 during the 2007-09 biennium, which represents $150,000 in 07-09 biennial funding and $15,000 of carry over from the 2005-07 biennium. Four of the six public colleges and universities submitted proposals and received the following allocations to be used over the course of two years:

• Washington State University, $61,033;
• University of Washington, $11,794;
• Western Washington University, $68,794; and
• The Evergreen State College, $23,094.

Each institution used the grants in various ways, but in general funds were used to maintain affordability, add capacity by hiring additional staff and/or providing training to current staff, as well as expanding program availability to different populations or during different hours.

Nineteen of the 34 community and technical colleges have been awarded funds through the program. The SBCTC awarded grants totaling $100,000 during the 2007-09 biennium. Grants ranging from $11,000 to $30,000 were awarded to the community colleges of Bellevue, Edmonds, Green River, Skagit Valley, and South Seattle.

During the 2006-07 academic year, the student government associations at the public baccalaureate institutions contributed over $2 million dollars to support child care programs on their campuses. Wait lists for child care programs at the public, four-year institutions ranged from 58 students at Central Washington University to over 700 at the University of Washington.

Summary:

The HECB and the SBCTC must award child care grants on a competitive or matching basis. Separate sections of law are created for the HECB and the SBCTC in order to clarify the powers and duties granted to each agency.

The HECB administers the program for the four-year institutions and is required to proportionally distribute funds based on the financial support for child care received by the student government associations. A student government association at a two- or four-year institution may solicit funds from private organizations and through targeted fund raising campaigns, as part of its financial support for child care programs.

The SBCTC administers the program for the two year institutions. The SBCTC must establish granting guidelines consistent with the Legislature's desired outcome of creating more cooperative preschool programs and models that can be replicated at other institutions.

The HECB and SBCTC must each submit a report to the Legislature on child care at their respective institutions by December 2008 and every two years thereafter. The report must include an update on the status of program design and implementation, the number of students using the program, the identifiable unmet need, and the amount contributed by each university or college administration and student government association for the purposes of child care.

Votes on Final Passage:

House   96   0
Senate   47   0   (Senate amended)
House   93   0   (House concurred)

Effective: June 12, 2008