PRINTER'S NO. 409
No. 365 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY GRUPPO, BLAUM, BAKER, SANTONI, BUNT, COY,
B. SMITH, GODSHALL, SATHER, DENT, GANNON, HERMAN, ITKIN,
DeLUCA, ALLEN, CIVERA, E. Z. TAYLOR, ARMSTRONG, BELARDI,
HALUSKA, GEIST, KENNEY, CAPPABIANCA, ROONEY, STAIRS, TRICH,
TRELLO, COLAFELLA, LAUGHLIN, THOMAS, SCRIMENTI, GEORGE,
MANDERINO, SCHULER, OLASZ, BUXTON, C. WILLIAMS, COLAIZZO,
STURLA, FAIRCHILD, ADOLPH, SAYLOR, EGOLF, STEELMAN, PLATTS,
CORPORA, McCALL, L. I. COHEN, J. TAYLOR, DALEY, MILLER,
SHANER, BROWN, MAITLAND, RAMOS, JAMES, PETRARCA AND
D. W. SNYDER, FEBRUARY 10, 1997
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGING AND YOUTH, FEBRUARY 10, 1997
AN ACT
1 Providing for the creation of a Statewide Child Day-Care
2 Resource and Referral System in this Commonwealth; and
3 imposing additional responsibilities upon the State Data
4 Center and the Department of Public 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 Resource and Referral Law.
10 Section 2. Legislative findings.
11 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
12 (1) The demand for high quality, affordable, accessible
13 child day care has increased dramatically in the last decade
14 in correlation with a dramatic increase in the labor force
15 participation rate of parents with young children.
1 (2) Approximately 200,000 children are currently in care
2 through a variety of child day-care programs in this
3 Commonwealth.
4 (3) A comprehensive, coordinated effort is needed to
5 ensure that accurate, up-to-date child day-care information
6 is readily available and easy to access.
7 (4) Local child day-care resource and referral services
8 are beneficial to:
9 (i) working parents of all economic means by
10 enabling them to make informed choices in selecting and
11 purchasing the child day care that best meets their
12 family's unique needs;
13 (ii) existing and prospective child day-care
14 providers in their efforts to develop and maintain safe,
15 high-quality child day-care services;
16 (iii) businesses by providing a comprehensive
17 resource for them to use in responding to child day-care
18 needs of their employees; and
19 (iv) the community-at-large by contributing directly
20 to the health, safety and well-being of this
21 Commonwealth's children and their families.
22 Section 3. Definitions.
23 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
24 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
25 context clearly indicates otherwise:
26 "Child day care." Care in lieu of parental care, given for
27 part of the 24-hour day to children under 16 years of age, away
28 from their own homes. The term does not include child day care
29 furnished in places of worship during religious services.
30 "Child day-care resource and referral agency." A public or
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1 private nonprofit entity that performs functions related to
2 child day-care resource and referral services. The term includes
3 an association or a corporation.
4 "Child day-care resource and referral services." The term
5 includes, but is not limited to, the following:
6 (1) The provision of updated information to the parents,
7 employers and individuals in a community regarding the
8 availability, cost and quality of child day-care services in
9 a defined geographic area.
10 (2) Assistance to parents so they can make informed
11 decisions regarding appropriate, affordable child day-care
12 services for their children.
13 (3) Information to employers on programs designed to
14 meet the child day-care needs of employees.
15 (4) Provision of start-up information to potential child
16 day-care providers to increase the supply of providers.
17 Section 4. Provision of child day-care resource and referral
18 services.
19 The department shall arrange for the availability of child
20 day-care resource and referral services across this Commonwealth
21 through contractual agreements with public or private entities
22 that can fulfill the responsibilities of a child day-care
23 resource and referral agency.
24 Section 5. Establishment of central child day-care data base.
25 The department shall provide for the establishment and
26 maintenance of a central child day-care data base. The
27 department shall compile all information from child day-care
28 resource and referral agencies with which it has a contractual
29 agreement under section 4 and establish comprehensive, accurate
30 and up-to-date reference base on child day care in this
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1 Commonwealth shall be created. In accordance with the Executive
2 Order 1988-8 and any subsequent orders issued pursuant thereto,
3 the central child day-care data base shall be created by
4 utilizing applied demographic analyses, creation of statistical
5 maps and graphics and census geographic reference maps, as well
6 as any other resources the department may have available. The
7 department shall determine the nature and scope of all
8 centralized child day-care data to be maintained pursuant to
9 this act. Child day-care resource and referral agencies under
10 contract with the department shall be provided at least annually
11 and at no charge with information developed regarding child day
12 care in their specific geographic areas. Each child day-care
13 resource and referral agency under contract with the department
14 shall maintain a comprehensive data base on child day-care
15 supply and demand in the geographic area served by the agency.
16 Section 6. Resource and referral services offered.
17 The department shall arrange for child day-care resource and
18 referral services across this Commonwealth through contracts
19 with child day-care resource and referral agencies, which shall
20 provide, at a minimum, the following services:
21 (1) Identification of all State-approved child day-care
22 providers in their specific geographic area and a profile of
23 each provider to indicate the types of services they provide
24 and the costs of such services.
25 (2) Maintenance of a regularly updated resource file
26 that demonstrates supply and demand of services.
27 (3) Maintenance of a resource and referral service for
28 child day-care users and assistance, if requested, in
29 evaluating child day-care needs and appropriateness of types
30 of child day care.
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1 (4) Establishment of a public education program to
2 inform consumers and provide referral counseling about child
3 day-care options, including information on types of child day
4 care, availability, cost and standards, through such means as
5 printed materials, telephone contacts, education sessions or
6 workshops and resource libraries.
7 (5) Provision of information and technical assistance to
8 providers and prospective providers, as requested. Types of
9 information to be made available shall include, but not be
10 limited to, information regarding career opportunities in the
11 field, continuing education, training opportunities,
12 accreditation programs, regulatory requirements, food
13 programs and demographic information to determine the
14 existence of markets for services and to help stimulate the
15 supply of child day-care services needed in the area.
16 (6) Serve as a resource to employers who are trying to
17 meet the child day-care needs of their employees.
18 (7) Collection and maintenance of data, as may be useful
19 in State and local planning efforts, on the number and usage
20 of different child day-care providers, the type, availability
21 and cost of child day care in a particular geographic area
22 and demographic information to determine whether the supply
23 meets the demand for child day-care services in a given area.
24 (8) Provision of information to low-income parents about
25 subsidized child day-care services receiving Federal and
26 State funding and referral to a local entity responsible for
27 administering the subsidized child day-care funds. The child
28 day-care resource and referral agency shall also provide to
29 parents receiving public assistance information about child
30 day-care services that may be available through the county
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1 assistance office pursuant to Title IV of the Social Security
2 Act (Public Law 74-271, 42 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.). The child
3 day-care resource and referral agency shall avoid duplicating
4 services and shall develop procedures to streamline services
5 for low-income parents needing child day-care services.
6 Section 7. Standard operating procedures.
7 Local management agencies, as providers of child day-care
8 resource and referral services shall:
9 (1) Conduct business during hours convenient to working
10 parents, including some evening and weekend hours, if deemed
11 necessary.
12 (2) Have the authority to establish a reasonable range
13 of fees for services, with the approval of the department.
14 (3) Advertise their services. All recipients of services
15 shall be informed of applicable fees prior to the provision
16 of such services, as designated in this act.
17 (4) Tailor services provided for in this act to the
18 geographically defined area in which they are located.
19 (5) Seek opportunities to provide educational and
20 consumer awareness programs.
21 (6) Utilize, to the maximum extent, the most cost-
22 effective means of providing child day-care resource and
23 referral services in accordance with this act, including, but
24 not limited to, public-private partnerships, where deemed
25 appropriate, and contractual arrangements with existing
26 providers of resource and referral services.
27 (7) Maintain confidentiality of records. Information
28 contained in the records shall not be publicly disclosed in
29 such a manner so as to identify individuals. Certain
30 nonidentifying information may, however, be collected in
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1 aggregate form for the purposes of data collection.
2 (8) Report to the department on a regular basis
3 information regarding:
4 (i) The number of parents and children served.
5 (ii) The extent of assistance given to providers,
6 parents, businesses and others.
7 (iii) Fees charged for resource and referral
8 services provided for in this act.
9 (iv) The impact of the resource and referral
10 services on quality and availability of child day care in
11 their particular geographically defined area.
12 (v) Any recommendations that may contribute to the
13 improvement of the provision of child day-care resource
14 and referral services.
15 Section 8. Annual report.
16 The department shall submit an annual report to the General
17 Assembly which shall reflect the information collected by the
18 child day-care resource and referral agencies designated by the
19 department. The report shall describe how the child day-care
20 resource and referral agencies further the department's goal to
21 improve the quality, availability and affordability of child
22 day-care services. This report shall also include any
23 recommendations of the department for improvements to the
24 Statewide resource and referral system, as well as the
25 availability of private, corporate and government funding for
26 resource and referral services.
27 Section 9. Regulations.
28 The department shall, in the manner provided by law,
29 promulgate the rules and regulations necessary to establish
30 child day-care resource and referral services to be offered in
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1 accordance with this act.
2 Section 10. Resource and referral services implementation.
3 The department shall establish a three-year implementation
4 schedule for phasing in child day-care resource and referral
5 services throughout this Commonwealth.
6 Section 11. Effective date.
7 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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