BILL REQ. #: H-1876.1
State of Washington | 60th Legislature | 2007 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/13/07.
AN ACT Relating to consultation services for early learning and child care programs; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds there is compelling
evidence demonstrating that infants and young children who experience
high-quality early care and learning environments exhibit more school
readiness skills upon entering the school, including better language
skills, more advanced cognitive development, and greater abilities to
regulate their behavior. These outcomes are inextricably linked to a
child's overall success in school and beyond. The legislature also
finds that an increasing number of children in early childhood settings
are presenting with significant behavioral and socioemotional health
concerns. When caregivers lack adequate support or training to
identify and appropriately respond to such behaviors, the result is
often that these children are expelled, and thus they experience little
or no stability or continuity in their early care and learning
experiences. The legislature further finds that behavioral and
socioemotional health are critical components of a child's readiness
for school, and when not adequately addressed, these issues can create
the potential of significant and lifelong negative consequences. The
legislature finds that providing consultation services to early care
and learning settings can provide information, education, and support
for caregivers and parents to enable them to work more effectively with
children presenting challenging or concerning behaviors. The
legislature intends to promote the integration of consultation services
into early care and learning settings as a means of ensuring school
readiness for more children.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 (1) The growing skills for kids pilot
program is established. The pilot program shall be administered by the
department of early learning and shall promote the integration into
early care and learning settings of research-based and promising
practices for responding to infants and young children with challenging
or concerning behaviors. The integration of research-based and
promising practices shall be done using a collaborative approach to
supporting children and their families.
(2) The pilot program shall consist of at least two communities
selected by the department of early learning on the basis of need as
determined by:
(a) The relative availability or unavailability of comparable
consultation services locally; and
(b) The risk factors present in the community, including but not
limited to elevated rates of expulsion from early care and learning
programs and the prevalence in the community of poverty, homelessness,
uninsured families or children, child abuse or neglect, parental mental
illness or chemical dependency, adolescent parents, or violence.
(3) Funding shall be contracted to a local child care resource and
referral network, public health department, or other community-based
agency with knowledge or expertise in infant and child development and
early care and learning programs. Contracted agencies shall be
responsible for:
(a) Coordinating with the community to develop a program model
consistent with the legislative intent in section 1 of this act and the
description of program structure in subsection (4) of this section;
(b) Hiring consultants with training and expertise including:
(i) Knowledge of infant and early childhood behavioral development
and health, child care, family support, and early intervention systems;
(ii) Knowledge and experience related to specialized topics of
concern to staff members and issues of relevance to the communities and
families receiving consultation services; and
(iii) Understanding of diverse populations;
(c) Supervising the work of consultants;
(d) Responding to requests for consultation services from early
care and learning providers, including licensed family home providers;
(e) Maintaining information required for evaluation of program
outcomes;
(f) Managing funds;
(g) Promoting equitable access to consultation services for early
care and learning providers in the community; and
(h) Reporting to the department of early learning, which shall
brief the appropriate committees of the legislature.
(4) The pilot program shall provide a structure for consultants to:
(a) Consult with caregivers on-site or with case management teams
around addressing specific needs related to an individual child or
family;
(b) Observe children in early care and learning settings to assess
functioning relationships with peers and caregivers and the
appropriateness of the setting and program for meeting the child's
needs;
(c) Meet with parents on-site or at home to exchange information
and offer developmental guidance and referrals, including but not
limited to referrals to clinical and other services for families and
children;
(d) Provide support and guidance to child care staff through
structured opportunities for training, team building, communication,
and problem solving that is person-centered and strengths-based; and
(e) Coordinate with specialists in public health, infant and
toddler early intervention, children's behavioral and emotional health,
and others with knowledge and expertise in the care and well-being of
young children.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 This act may be known and cited as the
growing skills for kids act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4 Sections 1 through 3 of this act expire July
1, 2011.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 If specific funding for the purposes of this
act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by
June 30, 2007, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and
void.