PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 375 PRINTER'S NO. 3134
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, CURRY, SIPTROTH, PALLONE
AND BRENNAN, FEBRUARY 9, 2007
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, JANUARY 28, 2008
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
1 furnished in places of worship during religious services.
2 "Department." The Department of Public Welfare of the
3 Commonwealth.
4 "Early childhood development services." Services which are
5 intended to provide an environment which enhances the
6 educational, social, cultural, emotional and recreational
7 development of children from birth through eight years of age
8 but which are not intended to serve as a substitute for
9 compulsory academic programs.
10 Section 3. Annual comprehensive State plan for child day-care
11 and early childhood development services.
12 (a) Annual plan.--Through an annual State plan on child day-
13 care and early childhood development services, the department,
14 in coordination with the Department of Health and the Department
15 of Education, shall establish goals and objectives and review
16 and assess the State's child day-care and early childhood
17 development service delivery system, including State efforts to
18 assure the provision of accessible, available and affordable
19 quality child day-care and early childhood development services
20 to the general public. The plan shall be developed in relation
21 to Statewide and local needs and shall take into consideration
22 available demographic studies. It shall reflect the needs of
23 families in different social, economic and cultural
24 circumstances and the needs of children of different ages and
25 stages of development and of children with special needs.
26 (b) Submission.--No later than May 1 of each year, the
27 department shall submit to the Governor, the Chief Clerk of the
28 Senate and the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives a
29 State plan on child day-care and early childhood development
30 services for the ensuing year.
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1 (c) Common policies and practices.--In the development and
2 implementation of an annual State plan, the department shall
3 promote common policies and practices in programs to the fullest
4 extent possible and develop mechanisms for interagency
5 collaboration to create a coordinated State child day-care and
6 early childhood development services delivery system. This
7 subsection includes simplification and coordination of the
8 application process for families needing services.
9 (d) Public hearings.--To prepare the State plan, the
10 department shall hold at least four public hearings in different
11 geographic locations in this Commonwealth to seek input and
12 recommendations from parents, early childhood development
13 professionals, child day-care providers, child advocates,
14 educators, representatives of local government, health and human
15 service organizations, health care professionals, labor
16 organizations, businesses, school officials and other
17 individuals or agencies interested in issues affecting children
18 and families.
19 (e) Contents of plans.--The State plan shall include the
20 following information:
21 (1) A summary of recommendations submitted to the
22 department pursuant to Statewide public hearings and the
23 department's response to the recommendations.
24 (2) The amount of Federal, State and local funds
25 requested for child day-care and early childhood development
26 services and the allocation of these funds, by the type of
27 care and by administrative costs. Funding includes the Social
28 Services Block Grant Act (Public Law 97-35, 42 U.S.C. § 1397
29 et seq.); Titles I and VI of the Personal Responsibility and
30 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-
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1 193, 110 Stat. 2105); the Head Start Act (Public Law 97-35,
2 42 U.S.C. § 9831 et seq.); the act of December 19, 1990
3 (P.L.1372, No.212), known as the Early Intervention Services
4 System Act; and other pertinent State appropriations.
5 (3) A description of child day-care and early childhood
6 development programs in this Commonwealth. This paragraph
7 includes child day-care centers, group child day-care homes,
8 family child day-care homes, school-age child day-care
9 programs, child day care for teen parents, early intervention
10 programs and Head Start programs.
11 (4) The unduplicated number of children served and
12 assisted with Federal, State and local funds, by type of care
13 and age; funding source for the services; the average
14 duration of the child-care service; and the child capacity of
15 regulated providers.
16 (5) Income eligibility guidelines for federally funded
17 and State-funded child day-care and early childhood
18 development services, sliding fee scales and the extent to
19 which the income guidelines and fee scales are adjusted to
20 reflect the most recent available State income data.
21 (6) The State's practices regarding the monitoring of
22 child day-care and early childhood development programs to
23 ensure the health, safety and welfare of children. In
24 describing the monitoring system, the department shall
25 identify the extent of announced and unannounced inspections
26 of regulated providers, the level of compliance with State
27 standards and the staff-to-provider ratio to accomplish this
28 task. This paragraph includes recommendations on ways to
29 improve both the enforcement and monitoring of standards and
30 compliance with standards.
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1 (7) The department's coordination, identification or
2 arrangement of training for providers in specific program
3 areas that are designed to improve the quality of child day-
4 care and early childhood development services. The department
5 shall identify any Federal, State, local or private funding
6 allocated for training; the objectives of the training; the
7 way in which training will be accomplished; and an evaluation
8 of the previous year's training programs.
9 (8) An analysis of any recent demonstration projects
10 related to child day care or early childhood development
11 established by the department or the Department of Health or
12 the Department of Education, using Federal or State funds,
13 along with a summary of the cost of the projects and the
14 findings and recommendations of the department.
15 (9) A summary of any recent reports, data or surveys
16 concerning the compensation of child day-care and early
17 childhood development professionals, loan forgiveness
18 programs, the State's reimbursement rates and any changes in
19 rates recommended by the department.
20 (10) A summary of the most recent available demographic
21 information related to the need for child day-care and early
22 childhood development programs in this Commonwealth.
23 (11) Efforts by the private sector and State and local
24 government to encourage employer-sponsored child day-care
25 services and policies aimed at addressing the child day-care
26 needs of working parents.
27 (12) A description of the responsibilities and programs
28 of various State departments with respect to child day-care
29 and early childhood development services and how coordination
30 between agencies is addressed. The department shall describe
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1 its responsibilities and programs under various program
2 offices and related programs or services available through
3 the Department of Aging, the Department of Community and
4 Economic Development, the Department of Education, the
5 Department of Health or the Department of Labor and Industry.
6 (13) Standards and training for child day-care providers
7 who receive payment through Federal or State child day-care
8 or early childhood development programs. The standards and
9 training shall promote the health, safety and developmental
10 needs of children.
11 (14) Identification of gaps in child day-care and early
12 childhood development services, unmet needs, administrative
13 barriers that serve as obstacles to obtaining services and
14 recommendations on how the State can address these issues.
15 (15) Statutory and regulatory changes recommended by the
16 department to address the quality, affordability and
17 availability of child day-care and early childhood
18 development services.
19 Section 10. Effective date.
20 This act shall take effect in 60 days JULY 1, 2008. <--
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