88R4697 MM-F
 
  By: Blanco S.B. No. 1844
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Workforce Commission
  and local workforce development boards regarding the provision of
  child care.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 2308.256(a), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  A board is composed as follows:
               (1)  representatives of the private sector, who:
                     (A)  constitute a majority of the membership of
  the board; and
                     (B)  are owners of business concerns, chief
  executives or chief operating officers of nongovernmental
  employers, or other private sector executives who have substantial
  management or policy responsibilities;
               (2)  representatives of organized labor and
  community-based organizations, who constitute not less than 15
  percent of the membership of the board; [and]
               (3)  representatives of the child-care workforce, who
  constitute not less than 25 percent of the membership of the board
  and who have:
                     (A)  at least five years of experience working in
  child-care, early childhood, or out-of-school programs, including
  organizations providing care and education services to children
  from birth until age 12 and organizations supporting quality or
  credentialing for the care and education of children from birth
  until age 12; or
                     (B)  expertise in child care or early childhood
  education; and
               (4)  representatives of each of the following:
                     (A)  educational agencies, including community
  colleges and secondary and postsecondary practitioners
  representing vocational education, that are representative of all
  educational agencies in the service delivery area;
                     (B)  vocational rehabilitation agencies;
                     (C)  public assistance agencies;
                     (D)  economic development agencies;
                     (E)  the public employment service;
                     (F)  local literacy councils; and
                     (G)  adult basic and continuing education
  organizations.
         SECTION 2.  Section 2308.3171, Government Code, is amended
  by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
  follows:
         (c)  Each board shall post in a prominent place on the
  board's Internet website home page and at any physical location
  where the board provides services:
               (1)  a list of local designated vendors that are
  child-care providers and have a quality child-care indicator listed
  in Subsection (a)(1), (2), (3), or (4); [and]
               (2)  a list of local parenting classes;
               (3)  information for parents regarding finding quality
  child-care providers;
               (4)  information regarding the value of quality child
  care and the Texas Rising Star Program;
               (5)  information for parents regarding:
                     (A)  eligibility for child-care assistance,
  including subsidized child-care services and other child-care
  scholarships;
                     (B)  the application process for child-care
  assistance; and
                     (C)  determining the status of a financial
  assistance application;
               (6)  information for child-care providers regarding:
                     (A)  the process for accepting children whose
  parents receive child-care assistance; and
                     (B)  the Texas Rising Star Program certification
  process; and
               (7)  contact information, including a telephone number
  and an e-mail address, where a provider may receive assistance with
  questions or bring a grievance.
         (c-1)  Each local workforce development board shall make the
  following information available to the public on a quarterly basis:
               (1)  data regarding child-care waitlists, including
  the number of children in the board's workforce development area
  who are:
                     (A)  on a waitlist, disaggregated by age and zip
  code based on the child's home address;
                     (B)  taken off a waitlist and enrolled with a
  child-care provider under the subsidized child-care program; and
                     (C)  added to a waitlist during the quarter;
               (2)  the number of children in the board's workforce
  development area receiving subsidized child care, disaggregated by
  zip code based on the child's home address;
               (3)  data regarding child-care providers, including
  the number of providers in the board's workforce development area
  who during the quarter:
                     (A)  improved the provider's Texas Rising Star
  Program rating level;
                     (B)  had the provider's Texas Rising Star Program
  rating level decrease; and
                     (C)  received quality dollars from the board; and
               (4)  data regarding the outcomes related to quality
  dollars provided by the board to child-care providers in the
  board's workforce development area.
         SECTION 3.  Section 302.0042(d), Labor Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  In this section, "quality child care provider" means a
  child care provider that:
               (1)  participates in the commission's Texas Rising Star
  Program as a three-star or four-star provider; or
               (2)  is accredited by the National Early Childhood
  Program Accreditation Commission or the National Association for
  the Education of Young Children, or holds any other accreditation
  the commission determines meets the quality standards of the Texas
  Rising Star Program.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
  amended by adding Section 302.00434 to read as follows:
         Sec. 302.00434.  SUBSIDIZED CHILD-CARE PROGRAM; RULE CHANGE
  POLICY.  The commission shall develop appropriate written training
  and a reasonable timeline for implementing each change the
  commission makes to rules regarding the subsidized child-care
  program.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
  amended by adding Section 302.0063 to read as follows:
         Sec. 302.0063.  CHILD CARE PERFORMANCE TARGETS.  (a) The
  commission shall structure performance targets for child-care
  services to allow local workforce development boards to address the
  needs in the workforce development area identified by the board
  through a community needs assessment.
         (b)  The commission may establish alternative performance
  targets that are set by different metrics including:
               (1)  the total number of children served by child-care
  providers in the board's workforce development area;
               (2)  the number of children served by Texas Rising Star
  Program providers in the board's workforce development area with a
  three-star or four-star rating;
               (3)  the number of infants and toddlers served by
  child-care providers in the board's workforce development area;
               (4)  the number of children served by child-care
  providers in the board's workforce development area if the area is
  located in:
                     (A)  an area where the number of children younger
  than six years of age who have working parents is at least three
  times greater than the capacity of licensed child-care providers in
  the area; or
                     (B)  an area determined by the commission to be
  underserved with respect to child-care providers; and
               (5)  the number of children served by providers in the
  board's workforce development area who provide care during
  non-traditional hours.
         (c)  The commission by rule shall:
               (1)  define the approval process for the alternative
  performance targets described by Subsection (b);
               (2)  develop the components of and procedures for
  administering a community needs assessment in local workforce
  development areas; and
               (3)  determine the allocation of funds to meet
  alternative performance targets.
         SECTION 6.  Section 2308.256(g), Government Code, is
  repealed.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.