By: Ellis, et al. S.B. No. 213
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the establishment of a child-care training center pilot
1-2 program 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 PROGRAM.
1-7 (a) The commission shall establish a pilot program in which the
1-8 division shall certify day-care facilities licensed under Chapter
1-9 42, Human Resources Code, in a county having a population of more
1-10 than 2.8 million as training centers that offer training and
1-11 certification for recipients of public assistance in basic skills,
1-12 child care, child-care vendor entrepreneurial training, and early
1-13 childhood education.
1-14 (b) The commission shall cooperate with the Department of
1-15 Protective and Regulatory Services in the adoption of rules under
1-16 this section. The commission may not adopt a rule under this
1-17 section that conflicts with a rule of the Department of Protective
1-18 and Regulatory Services.
1-19 (c) The commission shall award a contract to a child-care
1-20 facility to act as a training center based on:
1-21 (1) the level of training of the facility's staff; and
1-22 (2) the history of the facility in delivering
1-23 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;
2-12 (2) demonstrating possession of general skills and
2-13 competence, as determined by commission rule; and
2-14 (3) demonstrating, to the satisfaction of the
2-15 commission, a long-term commitment to the early childhood care
2-16 profession.
2-17 (f) Funding for a person who participates in training
2-18 through a pilot program shall be provided through a work supplement
2-19 program for 12 months. The commission may provide additional
2-20 funding for the person to participate in training through the pilot
2-21 program for an additional 12 months.
2-22 (g) The commission may also provide funding for a person who
2-23 participates in training through a pilot program to:
2-24 (1) complete the person's Child Development Associate
2-25 national credential or other child-care certification, as
3-1 determined by the commission;
3-2 (2) participate in ongoing interactive training; and
3-3 (3) provide start-up grants and loans to establish the
3-4 person's own child-care business.
3-5 (h) A facility that provides training through a pilot
3-6 program shall maintain a mentor relationship with each person who
3-7 participates in training through the program at the facility. A
3-8 person who participates in training at a facility may be required
3-9 to participate in additional training programs after the date the
3-10 person completes the pilot program.
3-11 (i) The child of a person who participates in training
3-12 through a pilot program is entitled to the same discounted rate for
3-13 child-care services at the facility in which the person is
3-14 participating in training that the facility offers to the
3-15 facility's employees. The child-care subsidy provided for the
3-16 person's child shall be paid to the facility in which the person is
3-17 participating in training at the rate that the facility offers to
3-18 the facility's employees. The money saved by the commission under
3-19 this subsection may be used by the commission to administer the
3-20 pilot program established under this section.
3-21 (j) The commission shall adopt rules that establish
3-22 eligibility criteria for a facility to participate in a pilot
3-23 program and provide requirements for implementation of the pilot
3-24 program.
3-25 (k) The commission shall report not later than January 31,
4-1 1999, to the presiding officer of each house of the 76th
4-2 Legislature, Regular Session, regarding the results of the pilot
4-3 programs created under this section. The report must include
4-4 recommendations to the legislature regarding the development of a
4-5 statewide child-care training program for recipients of public
4-6 assistance.
4-7 (l) In this section, "work supplement program" means a
4-8 program under which the state reserves all or part of the amounts
4-9 that would be payable as benefits to welfare recipients and uses
4-10 those amounts to provide and subsidize jobs for the recipients.
4-11 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-12 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
4-17 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
4-18 Amend SB 213 as follows:
4-19 (1) On page 1, lines 7-13, strike subsection (a) and
4-20 substitute the following:
4-21 (a) The commission shall establish four pilot programs in which
4-22 the division shall certify day-care facilities licensed under
4-23 Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, as training centers that offer
4-24 training and certification for recipients of public assistance in
4-25 basic skills, child care, child-care vendor entrepreneurial
5-1 training, and early childhood education. The commission shall
5-2 determine the pilot sites, with at least one site in an urban area
5-3 and at least one site in a rural area.
5-4 (2) On page 2, line 11, amend as follows:
5-5 diploma or the equivalent, or enrollment in a program leading to a
5-6 high school diploma or the equivalent;
5-7 Yarbrough