PRINTER'S NO. 375
No. 324 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY BIANCUCCI, FABRIZIO, KOTIK, DERMODY, ROEBUCK, BELFANTI, CALTAGIRONE, DONATUCCI, FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GEORGE, GERGELY, GIBBONS, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HARHAI, HENNESSEY, JOSEPHS, KING, MELIO, MUNDY, M. O'BRIEN, PETRARCA, PRESTON, REICHLEY, SANTONI, SOLOBAY, STABACK, STURLA, WALKO, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD, YUDICHAK AND CURRY, FEBRUARY 9, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH, FEBRUARY 9, 2007
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 State Plan 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) Submission.--No later than May 1 of each year, the 26 department shall submit to the Governor, the Chief Clerk of the 27 Senate and the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives a 28 State plan on child day-care and early childhood development 29 services for the ensuing year. 30 (c) Common policies and practices.--In the development and 20070H0324B0375 - 2 -
1 implementation of an annual State plan, the department shall 2 promote common policies and practices in programs to the fullest 3 extent possible and develop mechanisms for interagency 4 collaboration to create a coordinated State child day-care and 5 early childhood development services delivery system. This 6 subsection includes simplification and coordination of the 7 application process for families needing services. 8 (d) Public hearings.--To prepare the State plan, the 9 department shall hold at least four public hearings in different 10 geographic locations in this Commonwealth to seek input and 11 recommendations from parents, early childhood development 12 professionals, child day-care providers, child advocates, 13 educators, representatives of local government, health and human 14 service organizations, health care professionals, labor 15 organizations, businesses, school officials and other 16 individuals or agencies interested in issues affecting children 17 and families. 18 (e) Contents of plans.--The State plan shall include the 19 following information: 20 (1) A summary of recommendations submitted to the 21 department pursuant to Statewide public hearings and the 22 department's response to the recommendations. 23 (2) The amount of Federal, State and local funds 24 requested for child day-care and early childhood development 25 services and the allocation of these funds, by the type of 26 care and by administrative costs. Funding includes the Social 27 Services Block Grant Act (Public Law 97-35, 42 U.S.C. § 1397 28 et seq.); Titles I and VI of the Personal Responsibility and 29 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104- 30 193, 110 Stat. 2105); the Head Start Act (Public Law 97-35, 20070H0324B0375 - 3 -
1 42 U.S.C. § 9831 et seq.); the act of December 19, 1990 2 (P.L.1372, No.212), known as the Early Intervention Services 3 System Act; and other pertinent State appropriations. 4 (3) A description of child day-care and early childhood 5 development programs in this Commonwealth. This paragraph 6 includes child day-care centers, group child day-care homes, 7 family child day-care homes, school-age child day-care 8 programs, child day care for teen parents, early intervention 9 programs and Head Start programs. 10 (4) The unduplicated number of children served and 11 assisted with Federal, State and local funds, by type of care 12 and age; funding source for the services; the average 13 duration of the child-care service; and the child capacity of 14 regulated providers. 15 (5) Income eligibility guidelines for federally funded 16 and State-funded child day-care and early childhood 17 development services, sliding fee scales and the extent to 18 which the income guidelines and fee scales are adjusted to 19 reflect the most recent available State income data. 20 (6) The State's practices regarding the monitoring of 21 child day-care and early childhood development programs to 22 ensure the health, safety and welfare of children. In 23 describing the monitoring system, the department shall 24 identify the extent of announced and unannounced inspections 25 of regulated providers, the level of compliance with State 26 standards and the staff-to-provider ratio to accomplish this 27 task. This paragraph includes recommendations on ways to 28 improve both the enforcement and monitoring of standards and 29 compliance with standards. 30 (7) The department's coordination, identification or 20070H0324B0375 - 4 -
1 arrangement of training for providers in specific program 2 areas that are designed to improve the quality of child day- 3 care and early childhood development services. The department 4 shall identify any Federal, State, local or private funding 5 allocated for training; the objectives of the training; the 6 way in which training will be accomplished; and an evaluation 7 of the previous year's training programs. 8 (8) An analysis of any recent demonstration projects 9 related to child day care or early childhood development 10 established by the department or the Department of Health or 11 the Department of Education, using Federal or State funds, 12 along with a summary of the cost of the projects and the 13 findings and recommendations of the department. 14 (9) A summary of any recent reports, data or surveys 15 concerning the compensation of child day-care and early 16 childhood development professionals, loan forgiveness 17 programs, the State's reimbursement rates and any changes in 18 rates recommended by the department. 19 (10) A summary of the most recent available demographic 20 information related to the need for child day-care and early 21 childhood development programs in this Commonwealth. 22 (11) Efforts by the private sector and State and local 23 government to encourage employer-sponsored child day-care 24 services and policies aimed at addressing the child day-care 25 needs of working parents. 26 (12) A description of the responsibilities and programs 27 of various State departments with respect to child day-care 28 and early childhood development services and how coordination 29 between agencies is addressed. The department shall describe 30 its responsibilities and programs under various program 20070H0324B0375 - 5 -
1 offices and related programs or services available through 2 the Department of Aging, the Department of Community and 3 Economic Development, the Department of Education, the 4 Department of Health or the Department of Labor and Industry. 5 (13) Standards and training for child day-care providers 6 who receive payment through Federal or State child day-care 7 or early childhood development programs. The standards and 8 training shall promote the health, safety and developmental 9 needs of children. 10 (14) Identification of gaps in child day-care and early 11 childhood development services, unmet needs, administrative 12 barriers that serve as obstacles to obtaining services and 13 recommendations on how the State can address these issues. 14 (15) Statutory and regulatory changes recommended by the 15 department to address the quality, affordability and 16 availability of child day-care and early childhood 17 development services. 18 Section 10. Effective date. 19 This act shall take effect in 60 days. L15L23VDL/20070H0324B0375 - 6 -