HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1582

BYRepresentatives Cole, Peery, Ebersole, Prentice, Todd, Jones, Scott, Leonard, Valle, Rasmussen, P. King, Pruitt, Jacobsen, Appelwick, Anderson, Winsley, R. Fisher, Wang, Wineberry, R. King, Belcher, Rust, H. Myers, Crane, Phillips and Brekke

Establishing a before and after school child care pilot program.

House Committe on Education

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (14)

      Signed by Representatives Peery, Chair; G. Fisher, Vice Chair; Betrozoff, Ranking Republican Member; Brumsickle, Cole, Dorn, Jones, P. King, Phillips, Pruitt, Rasmussen, Valle, Walker and K. Wilson.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  (4)

      Signed by Representatives Fuhrman, Holland, Horn and Rayburn.

House Staff:Susan Patrick (786-7111)

Rereferred House Committee on Appropriations

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. (23)

      Signed by Representatives Locke, Chair; Grant, Vice Chair; H. Sommers, Vice Chair; Silver, Ranking Republican Member; Belcher, Bowman, Braddock, Brekke, Bristow, Dorn, Hine, May, McLean, Nealey, Padden, Peery, Rust, Sayan, Spanel, Sprenkle, Valle, Wang and Wineberry.

House Staff:      Janet Peterson (786-7136)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS MARCH 4, 1989

BACKGROUND:

Numerous sources have reported on the difficulty faced by parents in finding safe and reliable child care.  This problem is even more difficult for the low- income family that has a limited amount to be spent on this type of service.

Currently, most school district before- and after-school child care programs are not licensed as child care providers through the Department of Social and Health Services.  As a result, low-income parents who are eligible for state subsidies for child care cannot use these subsidies for the school district programs.

SUMMARY:

It is the intent of the Legislature to assist families in achieving financial independence.  One element in achieving this goal is to provide poverty level families with safe before and after school child care.  Therefore, the Legislature creates the safe care school child care pilot program.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction may grant funds to selected school districts to fund before and after-school child care programs for elementary school students living at or below the poverty level.  An eligible district is defined as a district in which 25 percent of the students in the district live at or below the poverty level.  The program must be provided to these children at no charge to their family.  Eligible districts shall submit an application including:  a description of the program, the number of locations to be served, anticipated number of participants, the policy on inclusion of families above the poverty level and if a sliding fee scale will be used, whether transportation and breakfasts will be provided, and whether the program will operate during school holidays.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction may adopt rules to implement the safe care program.  The superintendent shall report to the education committees of the legislature no later than January 1, 1991, on the types of programs that were provided through these grants.  The report shall include information on monthly participation rates of poverty and non-poverty level students, analysis of the costs of transportation, student staff ratio, participation on school holidays, ages of participating students and a recommendation on whether the program should continue.

CHANGES PROPOSED BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS:  The substitute bill deletes provisions for child care grants to school districts distributed through the Superintendent of Public Instruction.  Instead, the bill enables child care subsidies provided through the Department of Social and Health Services to be used for school district before- and after-school child care programs.  These subsidies are provided for children from low-income families, but their use would not be limited to school districts with high concentrations of low-income children.  School district programs would not need to be licensed through the Department of Social and Health Services in order to be eligible for these child care payments.

The substitute bill also deletes the report from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction on school district child care programs.

Fiscal Note:      Requested February 6, 1989.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    (Education) Representative Grace Cole; Vikke Pierson, Childcare Works for Washington; Lonnie Johns-Brown, National Organization for Women; Mike Von Rodgers, YMCA of Olympia; Karen Keiser, Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO; and Marie Reeves, Washington Association for the Education of Young Children.

(Appropriations) Selina Chow, City of Seattle and Child Care Works for Washington; Pat Thibideau, Washington Women United; Representative June Leonard.

House Committee - Testified Against:      (Education) None Presented.

(Appropriations) None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    (Education) The need of low income families to find safe care for their children is a real need in our society.  This type of program is currently operating in 11 schools in the Olympia School District.  The program would provide cost free care for families living at or below the poverty level.  In Olympia, the YMCA has tried to provide this care by providing scholarships for low income families. This is an efficient and cost effective method of providing safe care for our children.

(Appropriations) Children need supervision before and after school, and many parents cannot afford to pay for such care.  Often, discipline problems can be related to lack of adult contact and supervision.  The bill is also good for parents' employers.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      (Education) None Presented.

(Appropriations) None Presented.