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House Bill 376 |
House Author: Strama et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
Senate Sponsor: Zaffirini |
House Bill 376 amends the Government Code and Education Code to establish the Texas Rising Star Program as a voluntary, quality-based child-care rating system of child-care providers participating in the Texas Workforce Commission's (TWC) subsidized child-care program. The bill requires the TWC to adopt rules to administer the Texas Rising Star Program and establishes provisions regarding the availability and use of money by local workforce development boards to hire necessary employees for the program. The bill establishes new reimbursement rates for Texas Rising Star Program providers based on a provider's star rating and expands the required uses of certain federal child-care development funds dedicated to quality improvement activities. The bill sets out provisions relating to the information provided by each board with regard to child-care quality indicators, local parenting classes, and certain local designated vendors and requires certain child-care providers to post a certification or accreditation considered to be a quality child-care indicator at the entrance of the provider's facility. The bill requires each local workforce development board to provide certain technical assistance to Texas Rising Star Program providers and to providers seeking certification under the program. The bill establishes the Texas Rising Star Program review work group, consisting of members appointed by the executive director of the TWC, to propose revisions to the TWC's rules on the Texas Rising Star Program. The bill sets out the composition, duties, and reporting requirements of the work group, specifies the matters the work group is required to consider, and requires the TWC, not later than September 1, 2014, to propose rules that incorporate the proposed revisions submitted by the work group.