The 2014 Legislature adjourned
its 60-day legislative session on time on March 13. Here are the early learning
highlights:
Supplemental budget
- 4 percent
base subsidy rate increases for both family home and center child care
providers in both 2014 and 2015.
- Funding to
pilot tiered reimbursement for Early Achievers participants (higher subsidy rates for child care programs that demonstrate higher quality levels).
- Funding to
maintain DEL’s Medicaid Treatment Child Care program while the state works to
seek additional long-term revenue sources for it.
- An
additional $50,000 for Reach Out and Read, a key DEL partner in improving early
literacy.
- Authorization
to use unspent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding to support
certain vulnerable families with home visiting services through the Home Visiting Services Account.
- Funding to
the Department of Health to work with DEL and the Office of Superintendent of Public
Instruction to implement Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthiest Next Generation Initiative.
- Direction to
DEL to provide up to 20 percent of Working Connections Child Care slots as
contracts rather than vouchers. Language allows DEL to “braid” Working Connections and ECEAP funding to support a full-day experience for
participating children. DEL is required to report on the number of children served
through these contracted slots.
- Direction to
the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and DEL to create a plan to
triage child care subsidy overpayment cases to prioritize cases with large overpayments and likelihood of fraudulent activity.
Policy bills
Here is the final status of some
key early learning policy bills from 2014:
House Bill
2191, Concerning compliance with inspections of
child care facilities
Gov. Inslee signed this bill into
law on March 12. HB 2191 requires DEL to consult with city or county
enforcement officials prior to requiring alterations of licensed spaces within
a family child care home due to inconsistencies in established building codes.
It also specifies that unless there is imminent danger, DEL may not modify,
suspend or revoke a license while waiting for the consultation or written
verification from the county or city. It goes into effect on June 12.
House Bill
2519, Concerning early education for children
involved in the child welfare system
Awaiting Gov. Inslee’s signature.
HB 2519 seeks to extend quality early learning opportunities to children in the
child welfare system by directing Family Assessment Response (FAR) workers to
determine the need for child care, preschool or home visiting services during
assessments for child safety and well-being. The bill will allow FAR workers to
make child care referrals for non-school age children to licensed child care
programs that have attained a level 3, 4 or 5 in our state’s Early Achievers
program. FAR rolled out in January 2014 in certain areas of the state and seeks
to provide a differential response system for families with accepted reports of
child abuse and neglect who have a low to moderate risk of further
maltreatment.
HB 2519 also directs DEL and DSHS
to develop recommendations on how to partner to ensure children involved in the
child welfare system have access to early learning services and developmentally
appropriate child care services. Report is due to Gov. Inslee and appropriate
legislative committees by Dec. 31, 2014.
HB 2519 also states that children
receiving child protective services or FAR services should receive priority for
ECEAP enrollment.
Senate Bill
6093, Allowing valid portable background check clearance cards issued by the Department
of Early Learning to be used by certain educational employees and their
contractors for purposes of their background check requirements
Awaiting Gov. Inslee’s signature.
SB 6093 creates system efficiencies by allowing licensed child care employees
working in school district and educational service district settings to only
have to secure a DEL background check. Currently, these employees are required
to undergo both OSPI and DEL background checks.
The Early Start Act passed the
House on Feb. 18, but did not pass the Senate. Two components of the bill are
included in the supplemental budget (funding for a tiered reimbursement pilot
and a direction to contract out up to 20 percent of Working Connections Child
Care slots).
Among other things, HB 2377 would have required child
care providers accepting state subsidies to join Early Achievers. The bill generated
a great deal of dialogue about the importance of both access and quality, and raised
awareness of Early Achievers as our state’s quality framework. We can expect these issues to arise in
subsequent legislative sessions.
This bill passed the House, but
did not pass the Senate. It would have required DEL to convene a child fatality
review committee if a child fatality occurred in a licensed child care program
or ECEAP program.
