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91_SB1721
LRB9112685MWgcB
1 AN ACT to amend the Children and Family Services Act by
2 changing Section 5.15.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Children and Family Services Act is
6 amended by changing Section 5.15 as follows:
7 (20 ILCS 505/5.15)
8 Sec. 5.15. Daycare; Department of Human Services.
9 (a) For the purpose of ensuring effective statewide
10 planning, development, and utilization of resources for the
11 day care of children, operated under various auspices, the
12 Department of Human Services is designated to coordinate all
13 day care activities for children of the State and shall
14 develop or continue, and shall update every year, a State
15 comprehensive day-care plan for submission to the Governor
16 that identifies high-priority areas and groups, relating them
17 to available resources and identifying the most effective
18 approaches to the use of existing day care services. The
19 State comprehensive day-care plan shall be made available to
20 the General Assembly following the Governor's approval of
21 the plan.
22 The plan shall include methods and procedures for the
23 development of additional day care resources for children to
24 meet the goal of reducing short-run and long-run dependency
25 and to provide necessary enrichment and stimulation to the
26 education of young children. Recommendations shall be made
27 for State policy on optimum use of private and public, local,
28 State and federal resources, including an estimate of the
29 resources needed for the licensing and regulation of day care
30 facilities.
31 The plan shall include provisions setting the income
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1 eligibility level for subsidized child care services at 50%
2 of the State median income. The State median income must be
3 calculated using data from the most recently completed fiscal
4 year.
5 A written report shall be submitted to the Governor and
6 the General Assembly annually on April 15. The report shall
7 include an evaluation of developments over the preceding
8 fiscal year, including cost-benefit analyses of various
9 arrangements. Beginning with the report in 1990 submitted by
10 the Department's predecessor agency and every 2 years
11 thereafter, the report shall also include the following:
12 (1) An assessment of the child care services, needs
13 and available resources throughout the State and an
14 assessment of the adequacy of existing child care
15 services, including, but not limited to, services
16 assisted under this Act and under any other program
17 administered by other State agencies.
18 (2) A survey of day care facilities to determine
19 the number of qualified caregivers, as defined by rule,
20 attracted to vacant positions and any problems
21 encountered by facilities in attracting and retaining
22 capable caregivers.
23 (3) The average wages and salaries and fringe
24 benefit packages paid to caregivers throughout the State,
25 computed on a regional basis.
26 (4) The qualifications of new caregivers hired at
27 licensed day care facilities during the previous 2-year
28 period.
29 (5) Recommendations for increasing caregiver wages
30 and salaries to ensure quality care for children.
31 (6) Evaluation of the fee structure and income
32 eligibility for child care subsidized by the State.
33 The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
34 shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the
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1 Speaker, the Minority Leader, and the Clerk of the House of
2 Representatives, the President, the Minority Leader, and the
3 Secretary of the Senate, and the Legislative Research Unit,
4 as required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly
5 Organization Act, and filing such additional copies with the
6 State Government Report Distribution Center for the General
7 Assembly as is required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of
8 the State Library Act.
9 (b) The Department of Human Services shall establish
10 policies and procedures for developing and implementing
11 interagency agreements with other agencies of the State
12 providing child care services or reimbursement for such
13 services. The plans shall be annually reviewed and modified
14 for the purpose of addressing issues of applicability and
15 service system barriers.
16 (c) In cooperation with other State agencies, the
17 Department of Human Services shall develop and implement, or
18 shall continue, a resource and referral system for the State
19 of Illinois either within the Department or by contract with
20 local or regional agencies. Funding for implementation of
21 this system may be provided through Department appropriations
22 or other inter-agency funding arrangements. The resource and
23 referral system shall provide at least the following
24 services:
25 (1) Assembling and maintaining a data base on the
26 supply of child care services.
27 (2) Providing information and referrals for
28 parents.
29 (3) Coordinating the development of new child care
30 resources.
31 (4) Providing technical assistance and training to
32 child care service providers.
33 (5) Recording and analyzing the demand for child
34 care services.
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1 (d) The Department of Human Services shall conduct day
2 care planning activities with the following priorities:
3 (1) Development of voluntary day care resources
4 wherever possible, with the provision for grants-in-aid
5 only where demonstrated to be useful and necessary as
6 incentives or supports.
7 (2) Emphasis on service to children of recipients
8 of public assistance when such service will allow
9 training or employment of the parent toward achieving the
10 goal of independence.
11 (3) Maximum employment of recipients of public
12 assistance in day care centers and day care homes,
13 operated in conjunction with short-term work training
14 programs.
15 (4) Care of children from families in stress and
16 crises whose members potentially may become, or are in
17 danger of becoming, non-productive and dependent.
18 (5) Expansion of family day care facilities
19 wherever possible.
20 (6) Location of centers in economically depressed
21 neighborhoods, preferably in multi-service centers with
22 cooperation of other agencies.
23 (7) Use of existing facilities free of charge or
24 for reasonable rental whenever possible in lieu of
25 construction.
26 (8) Development of strategies for assuring a more
27 complete range of day care options, including provision
28 of day care services in homes, in schools, or in centers,
29 which will enable a parent or parents to complete a
30 course of education or obtain or maintain employment.
31 Emphasis shall be given to support services that will
32 help to ensure such parents' graduation from high school and
33 to services for participants in the Project Chance program of
34 job training conducted by the Department.
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1 (e) The Department of Human Services shall actively
2 stimulate the development of public and private resources at
3 the local level. It shall also seek the fullest utilization
4 of federal funds directly or indirectly available to the
5 Department.
6 Where appropriate, existing non-governmental agencies or
7 associations shall be involved in planning by the Department.
8 (f) To better accommodate the child care needs of low
9 income working families, especially those who receive
10 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or who are
11 transitioning from TANF to work, or who are at risk of
12 depending on TANF in the absence of child care, the
13 Department shall complete a study using outcome-based
14 assessment measurements to analyze the various types of child
15 care needs, including but not limited to: child care homes;
16 child care facilities; before and after school care; and
17 evening and weekend care. Based upon the findings of the
18 study, the Department shall develop a plan by April 15, 1998,
19 that identifies the various types of child care needs within
20 various geographic locations. The plan shall include, but
21 not be limited to, the special needs of parents and guardians
22 in need of non-traditional child care services such as early
23 mornings, evenings, and weekends; the needs of very low
24 income families and children and how they might be better
25 served; and 1trategies to assist child care providers to meet
26 the needs and schedules of low income families.
27 (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97; 90-236, eff. 7-28-97;
28 90-590, eff. 1-1-99.)