AN ACT
1-1 relating to the establishment of child-care training center pilot
1-2 programs for certain recipients of public assistance.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is amended
1-5 by adding Section 302.003 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 302.003. CHILD-CARE TRAINING CENTER PILOT PROGRAMS.
1-7 (a) The commission shall establish four pilot programs in which
1-8 the division shall certify day-care facilities licensed under
1-9 Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, as training centers that offer
1-10 training and certification for recipients of public assistance in
1-11 basic skills, child care, child-care vendor entrepreneurial
1-12 training, and early childhood education. The commission shall
1-13 determine the pilot sites, with at least one site in an urban area
1-14 and at least one site in a rural area.
1-15 (b) The commission shall cooperate with the Department of
1-16 Protective and Regulatory Services in the adoption of rules under
1-17 this section. The commission may not adopt a rule under this
1-18 section that conflicts with a rule of the Department of Protective
1-19 and Regulatory Services.
1-20 (c) The commission shall award a contract to a child-care
1-21 facility to act as a training center based on:
1-22 (1) the level of training of the facility's staff; and
1-23 (2) the history of the facility in delivering
1-24 high-quality care.
2-1 (d) The child-care subsidy for a person who participates in
2-2 training through a pilot program and who qualifies for a subsidy
2-3 for the person's child shall be paid directly to the facility. The
2-4 facility may not count such a person in the facility's
2-5 child-to-staff ratio.
2-6 (e) A person who is a recipient of financial assistance
2-7 under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, may qualify to participate
2-8 in training through a pilot program by applying to the commission
2-9 and:
2-10 (1) providing proof of possession of a high school
2-11 diploma or the equivalent or enrollment in a program leading to a
2-12 high school diploma or the equivalent;
2-13 (2) demonstrating possession of general skills and
2-14 competence, as determined by commission rule; and
2-15 (3) demonstrating, to the satisfaction of the
2-16 commission, a long-term commitment to the early childhood care
2-17 profession.
2-18 (f) Funding for a person who participates in training
2-19 through a pilot program shall be provided through a work supplement
2-20 program for 12 months. The commission may provide additional
2-21 funding for the person to participate in training through the pilot
2-22 program for an additional 12 months.
2-23 (g) The commission may also provide funding for a person who
2-24 participates in training through a pilot program to:
2-25 (1) complete the person's Child Development Associate
2-26 national credential, Certified Child-Care Professional Credential,
2-27 or other child-care certification, as determined by the commission;
3-1 (2) participate in ongoing interactive training; and
3-2 (3) provide start-up grants and loans to establish the
3-3 person's own child-care business.
3-4 (h) A facility that provides training through a pilot
3-5 program shall maintain a mentor relationship with each person who
3-6 participates in training through the program at the facility. A
3-7 person who participates in training at a facility may be required
3-8 to participate in additional training programs after the date the
3-9 person completes the pilot program.
3-10 (i) The child of a person who participates in training
3-11 through a pilot program is entitled to the same discounted rate for
3-12 child-care services at the facility in which the person is
3-13 participating in training that the facility offers to the
3-14 facility's employees. The child-care subsidy provided for the
3-15 person's child shall be paid to the facility in which the person is
3-16 participating in training at the rate that the facility offers to
3-17 the facility's employees. The money saved by the commission under
3-18 this subsection may be used by the commission to administer the
3-19 pilot program established under this section.
3-20 (j) The commission shall adopt rules that establish
3-21 eligibility criteria for a facility to participate in a pilot
3-22 program and provide requirements for implementation of the pilot
3-23 program.
3-24 (k) The commission shall report not later than January 31,
3-25 1999, to the presiding officer of each house of the 76th
3-26 Legislature, Regular Session, regarding the results of the pilot
3-27 programs created under this section. The report must include
4-1 recommendations to the legislature regarding the development of a
4-2 statewide child-care training program for recipients of public
4-3 assistance.
4-4 (l) In this section, "work supplement program" means a
4-5 program under which the state reserves all or part of the amounts
4-6 that would be payable as benefits to welfare recipients and uses
4-7 those amounts to provide and subsidize jobs for the recipients.
4-8 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-9 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 213 passed the Senate on
March 19, 1997, by a viva-voce vote; and that the Senate concurred
in House amendments on May 18, 1997, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 213 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 16, 1997, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor