Text: HF02413 Text: HF02415 Text: HF02400 - HF02499 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 DIVISION I
1 2 STATE CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE
1 3 Section 1. Section 237A.1, Code Supplement 1999, is
1 4 amended by adding the following new subsection:
1 5 NEW SUBSECTION. 12A. "Poverty level" means the poverty
1 6 level defined by the most recently revised poverty income
1 7 guidelines published by the United States department of health
1 8 and human services.
1 9 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 237A.13 STATE CHILD CARE
1 10 ASSISTANCE.
1 11 1. A state child care assistance program is established in
1 12 the department to assist children in families who meet
1 13 eligibility guidelines and are described by any of the
1 14 following circumstances:
1 15 a. The child's parent, guardian, or custodian is in
1 16 academic or vocational training.
1 17 b. The child's parent, guardian, or custodian is
1 18 unemployed or looking for employment.
1 19 c. The child's parent, guardian, or custodian is employed
1 20 and the family income meets income requirements.
1 21 d. The child's parent, guardian, or custodian is absent
1 22 for a limited period of time due to hospitalization, physical
1 23 illness, or mental illness, or the parent, guardian, or
1 24 custodian is deceased.
1 25 e. The child needs protective services to prevent or
1 26 alleviate child abuse or neglect.
1 27 2. Services under the program may be provided in a
1 28 licensed child care center, a registered group child care
1 29 home, a registered family child care home, the home of a
1 30 relative, the child's own home, an unregistered family child
1 31 care home, or in a facility exempt from licensing or
1 32 registration.
1 33 3. The department shall set provider reimbursement rates
1 34 based on a county-by-county basis using a child care facility
1 35 rate reimbursement survey of each county. The survey shall be
2 1 conducted at least every two years. The department shall set
2 2 rates in a manner so as to provide incentives for an
2 3 unregistered provider to become registered.
2 4 4. The department shall not apply waiting list
2 5 requirements to any of the following persons:
2 6 a. Persons deemed to be eligible for benefits under the
2 7 state child care assistance program in accordance with section
2 8 239B.24.
2 9 b. Children whose parent, guardian, or custodian is absent
2 10 or deceased.
2 11 c. Children who need protective services to prevent or
2 12 alleviate child abuse or neglect.
2 13 5. Based upon the availability of the funding appropriated
2 14 for state child care assistance for a fiscal year, the
2 15 department shall establish waiting lists for state child care
2 16 assistance in descending order of prioritization as follows:
2 17 a. Families with an income at or below one hundred percent
2 18 of the federal poverty level whose members are employed at
2 19 least twenty-eight hours per week, and parents with a family
2 20 income at or below one hundred percent of the federal poverty
2 21 level who are under the age of twenty-one years and are
2 22 participating in an educational program leading to a high
2 23 school diploma or the equivalent.
2 24 b. Parents with a family income at or below one hundred
2 25 percent of the federal poverty level who are under the age of
2 26 twenty-one years and are participating, at a satisfactory
2 27 level, in an approved training program or in an educational
2 28 program.
2 29 c. Families with an income of more than one hundred
2 30 percent but not more than one hundred forty percent of the
2 31 federal poverty level whose members are employed at least
2 32 twenty-eight hours per week.
2 33 d. Families with an income at or below one hundred
2 34 seventy-five percent of the federal poverty level whose
2 35 members are employed at least twenty-eight hours per week with
3 1 a special needs child as a member of the family.
3 2 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed as or is
3 3 intended as, or shall imply, a grant of entitlement for
3 4 services to persons who are eligible for assistance due to an
3 5 income level or other eligibility circumstance addressed in
3 6 this section. Any state obligation to provide services
3 7 pursuant to this section is limited to the extent of the funds
3 8 appropriated for the purposes of state child care assistance.
3 9 Sec. 3. Section 239B.24, subsection 1, Code Supplement
3 10 1999, is amended to read as follows:
3 11 1. The following persons are deemed to be eligible for
3 12 benefits under the state child care assistance program
3 13 administered by the department in accordance with section
3 14 237A.13, notwithstanding the program's eligibility
3 15 requirements or any waiting list:
3 16 DIVISION II
3 17 COUNTY CLUSTER EMPLOYEE AND VOLUNTEER RECORD CHECKS
3 18 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 217.44 COUNTY CLUSTERS – EMPLOYEE
3 19 AND VOLUNTEER RECORD CHECKS.
3 20 1. The department of human services shall conduct criminal
3 21 and child and dependent adult abuse record checks of persons
3 22 who are potential employees, employees, potential volunteers,
3 23 and volunteers in county cluster offices and who are in a
3 24 position having direct contact with the department's clients.
3 25 The record checks shall be performed in this state and the
3 26 department may conduct these checks in other states. If the
3 27 department determines that a person has been convicted of a
3 28 crime or has a record of founded child or dependent adult
3 29 abuse, the department shall perform an evaluation to determine
3 30 whether the crime or founded abuse warrants prohibition of the
3 31 person's employment or participation as a volunteer. The
3 32 record checks and evaluation shall be performed in accordance
3 33 with procedures adopted for this purpose by the department.
3 34 2. In an evaluation, the department shall consider the
3 35 nature and seriousness of the crime or founded child or
4 1 dependent adult abuse in relation to the position sought or
4 2 held, the time elapsed since the commission of the crime or
4 3 founded abuse, the circumstances under which the crime or
4 4 founded abuse was committed, the degree of rehabilitation, the
4 5 likelihood that the person will commit the crime or founded
4 6 abuse again, and the number of crimes or founded abuses
4 7 committed by the person involved.
4 8 3. The department may permit a person who is evaluated to
4 9 be employed or to participate as a volunteer if the person
4 10 complies with the department's conditions relating to
4 11 employment or participation as a volunteer which may include
4 12 completion of additional training.
4 13 4. If the department determines that the person has
4 14 committed a crime or has a record of founded child or
4 15 dependent adult abuse which warrants prohibition of employment
4 16 or participation as a volunteer, the person shall not be
4 17 employed by or participate as a volunteer in a department
4 18 cluster office in a position having direct contact with the
4 19 department's clients.
4 20 EXPLANATION
4 21 This bill relates to programs and administrative
4 22 requirements involving the department of human services.
4 23 Division I of the bill relates to state child care
4 24 assistance. New Code section 237A.13 codifies requirements
4 25 for state child care assistance, including eligibility
4 26 provisions, child care settings that are eligible for
4 27 assistance, a requirement to set rates on a county-by-county
4 28 basis according to a biennial rate survey, a list of persons
4 29 exempt from waiting list requirements, a priority listing if
4 30 waiting lists must be established, and language clarifying
4 31 that the provision of assistance is contingent upon the
4 32 availability of funding appropriated.
4 33 The bill includes a corresponding reference in Code section
4 34 239B.24, relating to child care assistance eligibility for
4 35 participants in the family investment program and JOBS
5 1 program.
5 2 Division II relates to persons who are prospective
5 3 employees, employees, prospective volunteers, and volunteers
5 4 in county cluster offices for positions having direct contact
5 5 with the department's clients. Under new Code section 217.44,
5 6 the department is directed to perform criminal and child and
5 7 dependent adult abuse record checks of such persons in this
5 8 state and may perform the checks in other states. If a
5 9 criminal record or founded abuse exists, the department is to
5 10 perform an evaluation in accordance with specified criteria to
5 11 determine whether prohibition of the person's employment or
5 12 volunteer participation is warranted.
5 13 The department may permit a person who is evaluated to be
5 14 employed or to participate as a volunteer if the person
5 15 complies with the department's conditions relating to
5 16 employment or participation as a volunteer which may include
5 17 completion of additional training. Otherwise, if the
5 18 department determines that the person has committed a crime or
5 19 has a record of founded child or dependent adult abuse which
5 20 warrants prohibition of employment or participation as a
5 21 volunteer, the person cannot be employed by or participate as
5 22 a volunteer in a department cluster office in a position
5 23 having direct contact with the department's clients.
5 24 LSB 6107HH 78
5 25 jp/as/5
Text: HF02413 Text: HF02415 Text: HF02400 - HF02499 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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