READ FIRST TIME 03/01/13.   

     AN ACT Relating to child care reform; adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The standards and guidelines described in this section are intended for the guidance of the department and the department of social and health services. They are not intended to, do not, and may not be relied upon to create a right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party in litigation with the state.
     (2) When providing services to parents applying for or receiving working connections child care benefits, the department must provide training to departmental employees on professionalism.
     (3) When providing services to parents applying for or receiving working connections child care benefits, the department of social and health services has the following responsibilities:
     (a) To return all calls from parents receiving working connections child care benefits within two business days of receiving the call;
     (b) To develop a process by which parents receiving working connections child care benefits can submit required forms and information electronically by June 30, 2015;
     (c) To notify providers and parents ten days before the loss of working connections child care benefits; and
     (d) To provide parents with a document that explains in detail and in easily understood language what services they are eligible for, how they can appeal an adverse decision, and the parents' responsibilities in obtaining and maintaining eligibility for working connections child care.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1)(a) A legislative task force on child care improvements for the future is established with members as provided in this subsection.
     (i) The president of the senate shall appoint two members from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate.
     (ii) The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint two members from each of the two largest caucuses in the house of representatives.
     (iii) The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint fifteen members representing the following interests:
     (A) The department of early learning;
     (B) The department of social and health services;
     (C) The early learning advisory committee;
     (D) Thrive by five;
     (E) Private pay child care consumers;
     (F) Child care consumers receiving a subsidy;
     (G) Family child care providers;
     (H) Child care center providers;
     (I) Exempt child care providers;
     (J) The collective bargaining unit representing child care providers;
     (K) School-age child care providers;
     (L) Child care aware;
     (M) The Washington state association of head start and the early childhood education and assistance program;
     (N) The early learning action alliance; and
     (O) Puget Sound educational service district.
     (b) The task force shall choose its cochairs from among its legislative leadership. The members of the majority party in each house shall convene the first meeting.
     (2) The task force shall address the following issues:
     (a) The creation of a tiered reimbursement model that works for both consumers and providers and provides incentives for quality child care across communities;
     (b) The development of recommendations and an implementation plan for expansion of the program referred to in RCW 43.215.400 to include a mixed delivery system that integrates community-based early learning providers, including but not limited to family child care, child care centers, schools, and educational services districts. Recommendations shall include:
     (i) Areas of alignment and conflicts in restrictions and eligibility requirements associated with early learning funding and services;
     (ii) A funding plan that blends and maximizes existing resources and identifies new revenue and other funding sources; and
     (iii) Incentives for integrating child care and preschool programming to better serve working families;
     (c) The development of recommendations for market rate reimbursement to allow access to high quality child care; and
     (d) The development of recommendations for a further graduation of the copay scale to eliminate the cliff that occurs at subsidy cut off.
     (3) Staff support for the task force must be provided by the senate committee services and the house of representatives office of program research.
     (4) The task force shall report its findings and recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature no later than December 31, 2013.
     (5) This section expires July 1, 2014.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   (1) The legislature finds that the Aclara group report on the eligibility requirements for working connections child care which came from the pedagogy of lean management and focused on identifying and eliminating nonvalue added work should be followed. The legislature further finds that, following some of the recommendations in the report, would result in simplifying and streamlining the child care system to improve access and customer service without decreasing the program's integrity.
     (2) By December 1, 2013, the department and the department of social and health services shall accomplish the following:
     (a) Eliminate the current custody/visitation policy and design a subsidy system that is flexible and accounts for small fluctuations in family circumstances;
     (b) Create broad authorization categories so that relatively minor changes in parents' work schedule does not require changes in authorization;
     (c) Establish rules to specify that parents who receive working connections child care benefits and participate in one hundred ten hours or more of approved work or related activities are eligible for full-time child care services; and
     (d) Clarify and simplify the requirement to count child support as income.