Rep. Elizabeth Coulson
Filed: 3/19/2009
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| 1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2766
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| 2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2766 by replacing | ||||||
| 3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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| 4 | "Section 5. The Department of Human Services Act is amended | ||||||
| 5 | by adding Section 10-65 as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (20 ILCS 1305/10-65 new) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 10-65. Gateways to Opportunity. | ||||||
| 8 | (a) Subject to the availability of funds, the Department of | ||||||
| 9 | Human Services shall operate a Gateways to Opportunity program, | ||||||
| 10 | a comprehensive professional development system. The goal of | ||||||
| 11 | Gateways to Opportunity is to support a diverse, stable, and | ||||||
| 12 | quality workforce for settings serving children and youth, | ||||||
| 13 | specifically to: | ||||||
| 14 | (1) enhance the quality of services; | ||||||
| 15 | (2) increase positive outcomes for children and youth; | ||||||
| 16 | and | ||||||
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| 1 | (3) advance the availability of coursework and | ||||||
| 2 | training related to quality services for children and | ||||||
| 3 | youth. | ||||||
| 4 | (b) The Department shall award Gateways to Opportunity | ||||||
| 5 | credentials to early care and education, school-age, and youth | ||||||
| 6 | development practitioners. The credentials shall validate an | ||||||
| 7 | individual's qualifications and shall be issued based on a | ||||||
| 8 | variety of professional achievements in field experience, | ||||||
| 9 | knowledge and skills, educational attainment, and training | ||||||
| 10 | accomplishments. The Department shall adopt rules outlining | ||||||
| 11 | the framework for awarding credentials. | ||||||
| 12 | (c) The Gateways to Opportunity program shall identify | ||||||
| 13 | professional knowledge guidelines for practitioners serving | ||||||
| 14 | children and youth. The professional knowledge guidelines | ||||||
| 15 | shall define what all adults who work with children and youth | ||||||
| 16 | need to know, understand, and be able to demonstrate to support | ||||||
| 17 | children's and youth's development, school readiness, and | ||||||
| 18 | school success. The Department shall adopt rules to identify | ||||||
| 19 | content areas, alignment with other professional standards, | ||||||
| 20 | and competency levels.
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| 21 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
| 22 | becoming law.".
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