H-1738.5

SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1758


State of Washington	65th Legislature	2017 Regular Session

By House Early Learning & Human Services (originally sponsored by Representatives Senn, Ryu, Kraft, Springer, Kagi, Farrell, Pollet, Griffey, Caldier, and Jinkins)

READ FIRST TIME 02/17/17.

AN ACT Relating to supporting the business of child care; adding new sections to chapter 43.215 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that early learning is a critical part of every child's education, and the quality of early education impacts long-term performance. Since 2011, Washington has suffered from a net decline of about one thousand five hundred licensed providers. This accounts for a twenty-one percent decline in the overall supply of child care. Washington ranks third in the nation for least affordable child care for an infant in family child care, and sixth in the nation for least affordable child care for an infant in a child care center. The annualized cost of an infant in a child care center is greater than fifty percent of the state median income for mothers.

The legislature also finds that there is a critical need to increase the capacity of the child care system to meet the state's mandate to provide early childhood education and assistance program services to the more than seven thousand additional eligible children by the 2020-21 school year.

The legislature also finds that child care workers in the state have been at or near the minimum wage for decades despite efforts to increase standards, credentialing, and support. Washington's wages for child care providers are in the third percentile of occupations ranked by annual earnings in 2015 and nearly forty percent of child care providers are on public assistance themselves.

(2) The legislature intends to create incentives to support early learning providers with the goal of making the business of child care sustainable, rewarding, and mutually beneficial for providers, children, parents, and the state.

(1) The department shall contract with a nonprofit entity that provides quality improvement services to participants in the early achievers program to develop, in consultation with the community and technical college system, a community-based training module for licensed child care providers. The training module must train providers specifically in managing and sustaining a child care business.

(2) The training module must be offered to providers as a pilot program in at least four communities: An urban community, a rural community, a community with a high number of monolingual Spanish speaking licensed child care providers, and a community with a high number of monolingual Somali speaking licensed child care providers. The department must select the communities where the training modules will be offered.

(3) Training must be provided by state-approved trainers listed in the managed education registry information tool and associated in the managed education registry information tool with the identified agency. The department must offer reimbursement for training taken from state-approved trainers. Professionals who work in department licensed or certified child care facilities and have confirmed or verified their employment record may access reimbursement within available funds through their managed education registry information tool professional record.

(4) As part of the review of the state early childhood certificates under the pilot program created in this section, the business of child care training and new child care and development fund requirements must be conducted to ensure there is not duplication of services. The department, the state board for community and technical colleges, and the nonprofit entity with whom the department is contracting must work together in conducting the review. The review must provide recommendations for how the business of child care training should be delivered in the future.

(5) Upon completion of the first cohort of providers receiving training under the pilot program in the four communities, but no later than July 1, 2019, the training module must be made available statewide for all licensed child care providers.

(6) The training module must be functionally translated into languages other than English, particularly for licensed child care providers who speak Spanish and Somali.

(7) At the next update of the state comprehensive plan for workforce training and education, the department must assist the workforce training and education coordinating board with assessing the need for early learning providers to receive support and training in the managing and running of a child care business. As part of its duties of planning, coordinating, evaluating, and monitoring statewide workforce training, the workforce board shall ensure that local workforce development councils have plans that emphasize business training for early learning providers. Local workforce development councils may, where appropriate, utilize training modules created under this section and under section 3 of this act.

(1) Upon completion of the pilot program created in section 2 of this act, the department must collaborate with the state board for community and technical colleges to align all or parts of the training module created in section 2 of this act with course outcomes identified in one or more early childhood education classes that may be offered by the community and technical colleges. The department and the state board for community and technical colleges must consult with the nonprofit entity in integrating training module content in early childhood education curriculum. This section does not create any new requirements for receiving a certification in a program.

(2) The state board must work with community and technical college early childhood education programs to incorporate outcomes related to managing and sustaining a child care business into its early childhood education curriculum by fall quarter of the 2020 academic year. This course will be an elective and not a required course.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The child care workforce and business development work group is created. The purpose of the work group is to address improving the stability of the early learning workforce and sustaining and expanding access to high quality care throughout the state.

(2) The department of early learning shall convene and provide staff support for the work group. The work group shall consist of no more than twenty-two members. The department of early learning shall consult with advocates and stakeholders of the early learning workforce when selecting members to serve on the work group. The work group must choose its cochairs from its membership. Membership of the work group must be comprised of representatives from the following organizations and entities:

(m) No more than seven child care providers consisting of any combination of the following: A representative of a private child care center, a representative of a nonprofit child care center, a teacher, a director, an early childhood education and assistance program provider, a head start provider, a military child care provider, and a tribal care provider;

(3) The work group must develop recommendations for the legislature and the early childhood education industry that will address the issues of poverty wages, high turnover, and the loss of highly qualified members of the early learning workforce. Recommendations must address, but not be limited to, the following:

(4) The work group must submit an interim progress report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by June 30, 2018. The work group must submit a final report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2018. The final report must contain recommendations and a plan for the implementation of the work group's recommendations.