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Amend CSHB 2048 by adding the following appropriately
numbered SECTION to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS
accordingly:
SECTION __. (a) Section 531.0312, Government Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) Each local workforce development board, the Texas Head
Start State Collaboration Office, and each school district shall
provide the Texas Information and Referral Network with information
regarding eligibility for and availability of child-care and
education services for inclusion in the statewide information and
referral network. The local workforce development boards, Texas
Head Start State Collaboration Office, and school districts shall
provide the information in a form determined by the executive
commissioner. In this subsection, "child-care and education
services" has the meaning assigned by Section 531.03131.
(b) Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 531.03131 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.03131. ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO CHILD-CARE AND
EDUCATION SERVICES REFERRAL INFORMATION. (a) In this section,
"child-care and education services" means:
(1) subsidized child-care services administered by
the Texas Workforce Commission and local workforce development
boards and funded wholly or partly by federal child-care
development funds;
(2) child-care and education services provided by a
Head Start or Early Head Start program provider;
(3) child-care and education services provided by a
school district through a prekindergarten or after-school program;
and
(4) any other government-funded child-care and
education services, other than education and services provided by a
school district as part of the general program of public and
secondary education, designed to educate or provide care for
children under the age of 13 in middle- or low-income families.
(b) In addition to providing health and human services
information, the Texas Information and Referral Network Internet
site established under Section 531.0313 shall provide information
to the public regarding child-care and education services provided
by public or private entities throughout the state. The Internet
site will serve as a single point of access through which a person
may be directed on how or where to apply for all child-care and
education services available in the person's community.
(c) The Internet site must:
(1) be geographically indexed and designed to inform
an individual about the child-care and education services provided
in the area where the person lives;
(2) contain prescreening questions to determine a
person's or family's probable eligibility for child-care and
education services; and
(3) be designed in a manner that allows staff of the
Texas Information and Referral Network to:
(A) provide an applicant with the telephone
number, physical address, and electronic mail address of the
nearest Head Start or Early Head Start office or center and local
workforce development center and the appropriate school district;
and
(B) send an electronic mail message to each
appropriate entity described by Paragraph (A) containing the name
of and contact information for each applicant and a description of
the services the applicant is applying for.
(d) On receipt of an electronic mail message from the Texas
Information and Referral Network under Subsection (c)(3)(B), each
entity shall contact the applicant to verify information regarding
the applicant's eligibility for available child-care and education
services and, on certifying eligibility, shall match the applicant
with entities providing those services in the applicant's
community, including local workforce development boards, local
child-care providers, or a Head Start or Early Head Start program
provider.
(e) The child-care resource and referral network under
Chapter 310, Labor Code, and each entity providing child-care and
education services in this state, including local workforce
development boards, the Texas Education Agency, school districts,
Head Start and Early Head Start program providers, municipalities,
counties, and other political subdivisions of this state, shall
cooperate with the Texas Information and Referral Network as
necessary in the administration of this section.
(f) Not later than the last day of the month following each
calendar quarter, the commission shall file with the legislature a
report regarding the use of the Internet site in the provision and
delivery of child-care and education services during the reporting
period. The report must include:
(1) the number of referrals made to Head Start or Early
Head Start offices or centers;
(2) the number of referrals made to local workforce
development centers; and
(3) the number of referrals made to each school
district.
(c) If before implementing any provision of this section a
state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.