AN ACT
1-1 relating to the administration of federal and state-funded
1-2 child-care programs and to training for local workforce development
1-3 boards.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 302.043, Labor Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) The division shall provide management and board
1-8 development training for all members of local workforce development
1-9 boards that includes information regarding client eligibility
1-10 determination, early childhood education, vendor management, the
1-11 importance of high-quality workforces, and the complexity of
1-12 managing multiple state and federal child-care funding sources and
1-13 that [to the economic prosperity of their communities and]
1-14 encourages board members to be advocates in their communities for
1-15 effective and efficient workforce development programs and for the
1-16 improvement of child-care quality. If a member of a local
1-17 workforce development board does not receive training under this
1-18 section before the 91st day after the date on which the member
1-19 begins service on the board, the person is ineligible to continue
1-20 serving on the board unless the training required under this
1-21 subsection was requested by the member but not provided by the
1-22 division.
1-23 SECTION 2. Section 302.043, Labor Code, is amended by adding
2-1 Subsection (c) to read as follows:
2-2 (c) The division shall ensure that a local workforce
2-3 development board receives training under Subsection (a) before the
2-4 board begins to manage the delivery of child-care services.
2-5 SECTION 3. Section 44.061, Human Resources Code, is amended
2-6 to read as follows:
2-7 Sec. 44.061. STATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The State
2-8 Advisory Committee on Child-Care Programs is appointed by the Texas
2-9 Workforce Commission [Board of Human Services] on the
2-10 recommendation of the executive director of the Texas Workforce
2-11 Commission [Commissioner of Human Services].
2-12 (b) The committee shall consist of 20 members, not including
2-13 ex officio members, who serve two-year terms.
2-14 (c) The Texas Workforce Commission [Board of Human Services]
2-15 shall appoint the advisory committee to provide for balanced
2-16 representation of:
2-17 (1) parents, guardians, or custodians of children who
2-18 use child-care programs;
2-19 (2) child-care advocacy groups;
2-20 (3) operators and providers of child-care programs and
2-21 services representing rural and urban communities;
2-22 (4) for profit and nonprofit providers of child-care
2-23 services representing rural and urban communities;
2-24 (5) experts in early childhood development and
2-25 education;
3-1 (6) experts in child health and nutrition;
3-2 (7) other child-care professionals;
3-3 (8) the general public; and
3-4 (9) ex officio representatives from each state agency
3-5 that has an interest or role in state child-care programs.
3-6 (d) The Texas Workforce Commission [Department of Human
3-7 Services] shall provide to the committee staff support and other
3-8 support necessary to operate the committee.
3-9 (e) A member of the committee is not entitled to
3-10 compensation but is entitled to reimbursement of the travel
3-11 expenses incurred by the member while conducting the business of
3-12 the board, as provided by the General Appropriations Act [Section
3-13 22.009 applies to the committee].
3-14 (f) The committee shall advise and assist [the Texas
3-15 Department of Human Services and] the Texas Workforce Commission in
3-16 developing coordinated state policies for the use of federal and
3-17 state funds in child-care programs, including policies relating to
3-18 the:
3-19 (1) review of any state plan required for the use of
3-20 federal or state funds;
3-21 (2) development of a coordinated and comprehensive
3-22 training program for child-care providers;
3-23 (3) establishment of guidelines providing technical
3-24 assistance to child-care providers, including loans, grants, or
3-25 training;
4-1 (4) development of a quality improvement program for
4-2 federal and state funded child-care services;
4-3 (5) review of public access to current child-care
4-4 services, with special emphasis placed on special needs populations
4-5 and localities of the state with limited child-care programs;
4-6 (6) development of consumer education programs related
4-7 to the access and selection of child-care services;
4-8 (7) review of appropriations to child-care programs;
4-9 (8) review of expenditures of child-care programs; and
4-10 (9) review of state efforts to maximize access to
4-11 federal child-care funding.
4-12 (g) The committee shall review child-care policies and
4-13 programs for compliance with applicable guidelines and shall advise
4-14 the Texas Workforce Commission [Board of Human Services, the
4-15 commission, and the Texas Department of Human Services] on the
4-16 results of the review.
4-17 (h) The Texas Workforce Commission [Department of Human
4-18 Services], with assistance from the committee, shall hold biennial
4-19 public hearings on state and federal child-care programs to elicit
4-20 public response and recommendations regarding the quality,
4-21 accessibility, and affordability of child-care services. The
4-22 hearings must be held in at least three separate geographical
4-23 regions of the state and may be held in conjunction with other
4-24 public hearings on child-care held by the Texas Workforce
4-25 Commission [Department of Human Services].
5-1 (i) The committee shall annually report its findings and
5-2 recommendations to the Texas Workforce Commission [Board of Human
5-3 Services].
5-4 (j) The Texas Workforce Commission shall adopt rules to
5-5 implement this section.
5-6 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-7 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-11 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. 1490 passed the Senate on
April 18, 1997, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1490 passed the House on
May 7, 1997, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor