House File 562 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES
(SUCCESSOR TO HF 383)
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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