MPM C.S.H.B. 2357 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2357 By: Coleman Human Services 3/14/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current state law does not require licensed child-care providers to develop and implement child development activities. This allows disparities in the quality among various early child-care programs. The educational and developmental experience of preschool-aged children profoundly influences school readiness and learning. Developmentally appropriate early childhood education programs that meet professional standards can provide positive outcomes for all Texas children. C.S.H.B. 2357 requires the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services to adopt rules to impose standards for child development activities provided by a licensed day-care center. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services in SECTION 1 (Section 42.0422, Human Resources Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2357 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (PRS) to adopt rules relating to child development activities provided by a licensed day-care center. The bill specifies that the rules require the operator of a licensed day-care center to: _develop and implement a written plan for the provision of age and developmentally appropriate, nonsexist activities that are designed to stimulate the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of each group of children served and that are based on the sociocultural background of the children served; _annually review and update the plan and ensure that the plan is easily accessible to the parents of the children served by the center; _provide opportunities for parental involvement in developing and updating the plan; _provide appropriate child-development activity materials and activity tools for use by the children; and _develop and with parental consent administer assessment tools designed to inform a parent of the developmental progress of a child. C.S.H.B. 2357 authorizes PRS to make models of appropriate child development activity plans available to licensed day-care centers, and to develop the models through collaboration with other agencies and resources. The bill requires PRS to encourage and assist in the development and dissemination of child development resources and local models of child development activity plans for use by licensed day-care centers, to collaborate with other agencies and organizations to address gaps in child development services, and to provide information to operators of licensed day-care centers regarding sources of models of appropriate child development activities. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2357 differs from the original by applying the bill to day-care centers, rather than child-care facilities. The substitute also modifies the original by conforming to Texas Legislative Council format.