PRINTER'S NO. 2560
No. 2061 Session of 1995
INTRODUCED BY BLAUM, MUNDY, BELARDI, GORDNER, DeWEESE, BUXTON,
THOMAS, VEON, JAROLIN, CAPPABIANCA, BELFANTI, HERMAN, STURLA,
TRELLO, LAUGHLIN, ITKIN, JOSEPHS, ROONEY, LaGROTTA,
YOUNGBLOOD, LEVDANSKY, MANDERINO, DeLUCA, SHANER, STABACK,
M. COHEN, EVANS, RAMOS, GEORGE AND BOSCOLA, OCTOBER 3, 1995
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGING AND YOUTH, OCTOBER 3, 1995
AN ACT
1 Providing for a comprehensive interagency plan for child day-
2 care services and early childhood development services and
3 for the powers and duties of the Department of Public
4 Welfare.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Short title.
8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Child Day-
9 Care and Early Childhood Development Act.
10 Section 2. Definitions.
11 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
12 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
13 context clearly indicates otherwise:
14 "Child day care." Care in lieu of parental care given for
15 part of the 24-hour day to children under 16 years of age, away
16 from their own homes. The term does not include child day care
17 furnished in places of worship during religious services.
1 "Department." The Department of Public Welfare of the
2 Commonwealth.
3 "Early childhood development services." Services which are
4 intended to provide an environment which enhances the
5 educational, social, cultural, emotional and recreational
6 development of children from birth through eight years of age
7 but which are not intended to serve as a substitute for
8 compulsory academic programs.
9 Section 3. Annual comprehensive State plan for child day-care
10 and early childhood development services.
11 (a) Annual plan.--Through an annual State plan on child day-
12 care and early childhood development services, the department,
13 in coordination with the Department of Health and the Department
14 of Education, shall establish goals and objectives and review
15 and assess the State's child day-care and early childhood
16 development service delivery system, including State efforts to
17 assure the provision of accessible, available and affordable
18 quality child day-care and early childhood development services
19 to the general public. The plan shall be developed in relation
20 to Statewide and local needs and shall take into consideration
21 available demographic studies. It shall reflect the needs of
22 families in different social, economic and cultural
23 circumstances and the needs of children of different ages and
24 stages of development and of children with special needs.
25 (b) Preliminary plan.--No later than May 1 of each year, the
26 department shall submit to the Aging and Youth Committee, the
27 Appropriations Committee, the Education Committee and the Public
28 Health and Welfare Committee of the Senate and the Aging and
29 Youth Committee, the Appropriations Committee, the Education
30 Committee and the Health and Human Services Committee of the
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1 House of Representatives a preliminary State plan on child day-
2 care and early childhood development services. A final State
3 plan shall be submitted by the first week of September of each
4 year.
5 (c) Common policies and practices.--In the development and
6 implementation of an annual State plan, the department shall
7 promote common policies and practices in programs to the fullest
8 extent possible and develop mechanisms for interagency
9 collaboration to create a coordinated State child day-care and
10 early childhood development delivery system. This subsection
11 includes simplification and coordination of the application
12 process for families needing services.
13 (d) Public hearings.--To prepare the preliminary State plan,
14 the department shall hold at least four public hearings in
15 different geographic locations in this Commonwealth to seek
16 input and recommendations from parents, early childhood
17 development professionals, child day-care providers, child
18 advocates, educators, representatives of local government,
19 health and human service organizations, health care
20 professionals, labor organizations, businesses, school officials
21 and other individuals or agencies interested in issues affecting
22 children and families.
23 (e) Contents of plans.--The preliminary and final State plan
24 shall include the following information:
25 (1) A summary of recommendations submitted to the
26 department pursuant to Statewide public hearings held in
27 preparation of the preliminary and final State plan and the
28 department's response to the recommendations.
29 (2) The amount of Federal, State and local funds
30 expended for child day-care and early childhood development
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1 services and the allocation of these funds, by the type of
2 care and by administrative costs. Funding includes the Social
3 Services Block Grant Act (Public Law 97-35, 42 U.S.C. § 1397
4 et seq.); Title IV of the Social Security Act (Public Law 74-
5 271, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.); the Child Care and Development
6 Block Grant Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-508, 42 U.S.C. § 9858
7 et seq.); the Head Start Act (Public Law 97-35, 42 U.S.C. §
8 9831 et seq.); the act of December 19, 1990 (P.L.1372,
9 No.212), known as the Early Intervention Services System Act;
10 and other pertinent State appropriations.
11 (3) A description of child day-care and early childhood
12 development programs in this Commonwealth. This paragraph
13 includes child day-care centers, group child day-care homes,
14 family child day-care homes, school-age child day-care
15 programs, child day care for teen parents, early intervention
16 programs and Head Start programs.
17 (4) The unduplicated number of children served and
18 assisted with Federal, State and local funds, by type of care
19 and age; funding source for the services; the average
20 duration of the child-care service; and the child capacity of
21 regulated providers.
22 (5) Income eligibility guidelines for federally funded
23 and State-funded child day-care and early childhood
24 development services, sliding fee scales and the extent to
25 which the income guidelines and fee scales are adjusted to
26 reflect the most recent available State income data.
27 (6) The State's practices regarding the monitoring of
28 child day-care and early childhood development programs to
29 ensure the health, safety and welfare of children. In
30 describing the monitoring system, the department shall
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1 identify the extent of announced and unannounced inspections
2 of regulated providers, the level of compliance with State
3 standards and the staff-to-provider ratio to accomplish this
4 task. This paragraph includes recommendations on ways to
5 improve both the enforcement and monitoring of standards and
6 compliance with standards.
7 (7) The department's coordination, identification or
8 arrangement of training for providers in specific program
9 areas that are designed to improve the quality of child day-
10 care and early childhood development services. The department
11 shall identify any Federal, State, local or private funding
12 allocated for training; the objectives of the training; the
13 way in which training will be accomplished; and an evaluation
14 of the previous year's training programs.
15 (8) An analysis of any recent demonstration projects
16 related to child day care or early childhood development
17 established by the department or the Department of Health or
18 the Department of Education, using Federal or State funds,
19 along with a summary of the cost of the projects and the
20 findings and recommendations of the department.
21 (9) A summary of any recent reports, data or surveys
22 concerning the compensation of child day-care and early
23 childhood development professionals, loan forgiveness
24 programs, the State's reimbursement rates and any changes in
25 rates recommended by the department.
26 (10) A summary of the most recent available demographic
27 information related to the need for child day-care and early
28 childhood development programs in this Commonwealth.
29 (11) Efforts by the private sector and State and local
30 government to encourage employer-sponsored child day-care
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1 services and policies aimed at addressing the child day-care
2 needs of working parents.
3 (12) A description of the responsibilities and programs
4 of various State departments with respect to child day-care
5 and early childhood development services and how coordination
6 between agencies is addressed. The department shall describe
7 its responsibilities and programs under various program
8 offices and related programs or services available through
9 the Department of Aging, the Department of Commerce, the
10 Department of Community Affairs, the Department of Education,
11 the Department of Health or the Department of Labor and
12 Industry.
13 (13) Standards and training for child day-care providers
14 who receive payment through Federal or State child day-care
15 or early childhood development programs. The standards and
16 training shall promote the health, safety and developmental
17 needs of children.
18 (14) Identification of gaps in child day-care and early
19 childhood development services, unmet needs, administrative
20 barriers that serve as obstacles to obtaining services and
21 recommendations on how the State can address these issues.
22 (15) Statutory and regulatory changes recommended by the
23 department to address the quality, affordability and
24 availability of child day-care and early childhood
25 development services.
26 Section 4. Contracting with providers of child day-care
27 services.
28 (a) Delivery system.--The department, in its administration
29 of Federal and State dollars allocated for subsidized child day-
30 care services, shall establish a child day-care delivery system
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1 that is designed to meet the needs of eligible children and
2 families. The department, in the development of a child day-care
3 service delivery system and in its policies and procedures,
4 shall support, to the fullest extent possible, a stable, diverse
5 source of child day-care providers from which parents can choose
6 quality child day care that is affordable and accessible.
7 (b) Contracts.--The department and any entity with whom the
8 department contracts to administer public funds for child day
9 care has the right to enter into contracts with child day-care
10 providers for a specific number of slots and shall not require
11 competitive bidding for the child day-care contracts if any of
12 the following conditions exist:
13 (1) The provider primarily serves low-income families.
14 (2) The facility is located in the low-income community
15 where the children and their families reside or work.
16 (3) Transportation from the community to alternative
17 child day-care facilities would impose hardships on parents.
18 (4) The providers meet special needs of parents and
19 children. This paragraph includes children with developmental
20 disabilities and foreign language speaking populations.
21 (5) The loss of service will have an adverse impact on
22 parents in need of child day care in that community.
23 Section 5. Effective date.
24 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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