House File 383 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY PETERSEN, BERRY, MASCHER,
MERTZ, T. TAYLOR, HEDDENS,
KRESSIG, SWAIM, COHOON,
ZIRKELBACH, GASKILL, LYKAM,
WHITEAD, BUKTA, OLDSON, D. OLSON,
SMITH, JACOBY, HUNTER, WINCKLER,
STECKMAN, KUHN, LENSING, R. OLSON,
KEARNS, FORD, BEARD, GAYMAN,
and REICHERT
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the state child care advisory council.
2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 217.2, unnumbered paragraph 3, Code
1 2 2009, is amended to read as follows:
1 3 All members of the council shall be electors of the state
1 4 of Iowa. No more than four members shall belong to the same
1 5 political party and no more than two members shall, at the
1 6 time of appointment, reside in the same congressional
1 7 district. At least one member of the council shall be a
1 8 member of a county board of supervisors at the time of
1 9 appointment to the council. At least one of the members shall
1 10 also be a member of the state child care advisory council
1 11 selected from nominees submitted by the advisory council.
1 12 Vacancies occurring during a term of office shall be filled in
1 13 the same manner as the original appointment for the balance of
1 14 the unexpired term subject to confirmation by the senate.
1 15 Sec. 2. Section 237A.21, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2009,
1 16 are amended to read as follows:
1 17 1. a. A state child care advisory council is established
1 18 consisting of not more than thirty=five voting members from
1 19 urban and rural areas across the state. The membership shall
1 20 include, but is not limited to, all of the following persons
1 21 or representatives with an interest in child care: a licensed
1 22 center provider, a registered child development home provider
1 23 from a county with a population of less than twenty=two
1 24 thousand, an unregistered a family, friend, and neighbor child
1 25 care home provider, a parent of a child in child care, staff
1 26 members of appropriate governmental agencies, and other
1 27 members as deemed necessary by the director. The voting
1 28 members are eligible for reimbursement of their actual and
1 29 necessary expenses while engaged in performance of their
1 30 official duties.
1 31 b. For the purposes of this subsection, "family, friend,
1 32 and neighbor child care" means child care, usually provided
1 33 without cost and on a voluntary basis, by a family member, a
1 34 friend, or a neighbor whose reason for providing that care is
1 35 a strong existing personal relationship with a parent,
2 1 guardian, or custodian and the parent's, guardian's, or
2 2 custodian's child or children.
2 3 2. Members Except as otherwise provided, the voting
2 4 members shall be appointed by the director from a list of
2 5 names submitted by a nominating committee to consist of one
2 6 member of the state council established pursuant to this
2 7 section, one member of the department's child care staff,
2 8 three consumers of child care, and one member of a
2 9 professional child care organization. Two names shall be
2 10 submitted for each appointment. Members The voting members
2 11 shall be appointed for terms of three years but no a voting
2 12 member shall not be appointed to more than two consecutive
2 13 terms. The state council shall develop its own operational
2 14 policies which are subject to departmental approval.
2 15 Sec. 3. Section 237A.21, subsection 3, unnumbered
2 16 paragraph 1, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
2 17 The voting membership of the council shall be appointed in
2 18 a manner so as to provide equitable representation of persons
2 19 with an interest in child care and shall include all of the
2 20 following:
2 21 Sec. 4. Section 237A.21, subsection 3, paragraph m, Code
2 22 2009, is amended by striking the paragraph.
2 23 Sec. 5. Section 237A.21, subsection 3, Code 2009, is
2 24 amended by adding the following new paragraphs:
2 25 NEW PARAGRAPH. n. One person who is a business owner or
2 26 executive officer. Notwithstanding subsection 2, the nominees
2 27 under this paragraph shall be submitted by the Iowa chamber of
2 28 commerce executives.
2 29 NEW PARAGRAPH. o. One designee of the community
2 30 empowerment office of the department of management.
2 31 NEW PARAGRAPH. p. One person who is a member of the Iowa
2 32 afterschool alliance.
2 33 NEW PARAGRAPH. q. One person who is part of a local
2 34 program implementing the statewide preschool program for
2 35 four=year=old children under chapter 256C.
3 1 Sec. 6. Section 237A.21, Code 2009, is amended by adding
3 2 the following new subsection:
3 3 NEW SUBSECTION. 4. In addition to the voting members, the
3 4 membership shall include four legislators as ex officio,
3 5 nonvoting members. The four legislators shall be appointed
3 6 one each by the majority leader of the senate, the minority
3 7 leader of the senate, the speaker of the house of
3 8 representatives, and the minority leader of the house of
3 9 representatives for terms as provided in section 69.16B.
3 10 Sec. 7. Section 237A.22, Code 2009, is amended to read as
3 11 follows:
3 12 237A.22 DUTIES OF STATE CHILD CARE ADVISORY COUNCIL AND
3 13 DEPARTMENT.
3 14 1. The state child care advisory council shall advise and
3 15 make recommendations to the department, governor, and general
3 16 assembly concerning child care. In fulfilling this
3 17 responsibility the advisory council shall do all of the
3 18 following:
3 19 1. a. Consult with the department and make
3 20 recommendations to the department concerning policy issues
3 21 relating to child care.
3 22 2. b. Advise the department concerning services relating
3 23 to child care, including but not limited to any of the
3 24 following:
3 25 a. (1) Resource and referral services.
3 26 b. (2) Provider training.
3 27 c. (3) Quality improvement.
3 28 d. (4) Public=private partnerships.
3 29 e. (5) Standards review and development.
3 30 (6) The federal child care and development block grant,
3 31 state funding, grants, and other funding sources for child
3 32 care.
3 33 (7) Child care involvement by children, parents, and
3 34 providers.
3 35 3. c. Assist the department in developing an
4 1 implementation plan to provide seamless service to recipients
4 2 of public assistance, which includes child care services. For
4 3 the purposes of this subsection, "seamless service" means
4 4 coordination, where possible, of the federal and state
4 5 requirements which apply to child care.
4 6 4. d. Advise and provide technical services to the
4 7 director of the department of education or the director's
4 8 designee, upon request, relating to prekindergarten,
4 9 kindergarten, and before and after school programming and
4 10 facilities.
4 11 e. Make recommendations concerning child care expansion
4 12 programs that meet the needs of children attending a core
4 13 education program by providing child care before and after the
4 14 core program hours and during times when the core program does
4 15 not operate.
4 16 f. Make recommendations for improving collaborations
4 17 between the child care programs involving the department and
4 18 programs supporting the education and development of young
4 19 children including but not limited to the federal head start
4 20 program, the statewide preschool program for four=year=old
4 21 children and the early childhood, at=risk, and other early
4 22 education programs administered by the department of
4 23 education.
4 24 g. Make recommendations for eliminating duplication and
4 25 otherwise improving the eligibility determination processes
4 26 used for the state child care assistance program and other
4 27 programs supporting low=income families, including but not
4 28 limited to the federal head start, early head start, and even
4 29 start programs, the early childhood, at=risk, and preschool
4 30 programs administered by the department of education, the
4 31 family and self=sufficiency grant program, and the family
4 32 investment program.
4 33 h. Make recommendations as to the most effective and
4 34 efficient means of managing the state and federal funding
4 35 available for the state child care assistance program.
5 1 i. Review departmental program data concerning child care
5 2 as deemed to be necessary by the advisory council, although
5 3 the department shall not provide personally identifiable data
5 4 or information.
5 5 2. The department shall provide information to the
5 6 advisory council semiannually on all of the following:
5 7 a. Federal, state, local, and private revenues and
5 8 expenditures for child care, including but not limited to
5 9 updates on the current and future status of the revenues and
5 10 expenditures.
5 11 b. Financial information and data relating to regulation
5 12 of child care by the department and the usage of the state
5 13 child care assistance program.
5 14 c. Utilization and availability data relating to child
5 15 care regulation, quantity, and quality from consumer and
5 16 provider perspectives.
5 17 d. Statistical and demographic data regarding child care
5 18 providers and the families utilizing child care.
5 19 e. Statistical data regarding the processing time for
5 20 issuing notices of decision to state child care assistance
5 21 applicants and for issuing payments to child care providers.
5 22 3. The advisory council shall report annually to the
5 23 governor and general assembly in December concerning the
5 24 status of child care in the state, providing findings, and
5 25 making recommendations. The annual report may be personally
5 26 presented to the general assembly's standing committees on
5 27 human resources by a representative of the advisory council.
5 28 EXPLANATION
5 29 This bill relates to the state child care advisory council
5 30 established in Code section 237A.21.
5 31 Code section 217.2, creating the council on human services
5 32 in the department of human services, is amended to require one
5 33 of the seven members to be a member of the child care advisory
5 34 council, to be appointed by the governor from nominees
5 35 submitted by the advisory council.
6 1 The provisions involving the advisory council in Code
6 2 section 237A.21 are amended. The membership of the advisory
6 3 council is appointed by the director of human services,
6 4 generally from nominees submitted by a nominating committee
6 5 consisting of various child care interests and professionals.
6 6 Current law specifies representation of particular interests
6 7 for 22 slots. The slot designated for an unregistered child
6 8 care home provider is instead designated for a "family,
6 9 friend, and neighbor child care" provider, as defined by the
6 10 bill. The bill specifies four additional slots and identifies
6 11 a different nominating body for one of the additional slots to
6 12 ensure representation for these interests: business from
6 13 nominees submitted by the Iowa chamber of commerce executives,
6 14 community empowerment office, and Iowa afterschool alliance,
6 15 statewide preschool program for four=year=old children.
6 16 Current law in Code section 237A.22 authorizes the advisory
6 17 council to advise the department concerning a list of items
6 18 involving child care. The bill adds to this list the federal
6 19 Child Care and Development Block Grant and other funding
6 20 sources and child care involvement.
6 21 The bill also requires the department to semiannually
6 22 provide to the advisory council various types of financial,
6 23 expenditure, usage, and statistical information.
6 24 The advisory council is directed to make recommendations on
6 25 various topics.
6 26 Finally, the bill requires the advisory council to annually
6 27 report to the governor and general assembly concerning the
6 28 status of child care in the state, providing findings, and
6 29 making recommendations.
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