093_SB0127

 
                                     LRB093 03305 MKM 03322 b

 1        AN ACT concerning day care.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.  The  Children  and  Family  Services  Act is
 5    amended by changing Section 5.15 as follows:

 6        (20 ILCS 505/5.15)
 7        Sec. 5.15.  Daycare; Department of Human Services.
 8        (a)  For the  purpose  of  ensuring  effective  statewide
 9    planning,  development,  and utilization of resources for the
10    day care of children, operated under  various  auspices,  the
11    Department  of Human Services is designated to coordinate all
12    day care activities for  children  of  the  State  and  shall
13    develop  or  continue,  and  shall update every year, a State
14    comprehensive day-care plan for submission  to  the  Governor
15    that identifies high-priority areas and groups, relating them
16    to  available  resources  and  identifying the most effective
17    approaches to the use of  existing  day  care  services.  The
18    State  comprehensive day-care plan shall be made available to
19    the General Assembly following the  Governor's  approval   of
20    the plan.
21        The  plan  shall  include  methods and procedures for the
22    development of additional day care resources for children  to
23    meet  the  goal of reducing short-run and long-run dependency
24    and to provide necessary enrichment and  stimulation  to  the
25    education  of  young children.  Recommendations shall be made
26    for State policy on optimum use of private and public, local,
27    State and federal resources, including  an  estimate  of  the
28    resources needed for the licensing and regulation of day care
29    facilities.
30        A  written  report shall be submitted to the Governor and
31    the General Assembly annually on April 15. The  report  shall
 
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 1    include  an  evaluation  of  developments  over the preceding
 2    fiscal  year,  including  cost-benefit  analyses  of  various
 3    arrangements.  Beginning with the report in 1990 submitted by
 4    the  Department's  predecessor  agency  and  every  2   years
 5    thereafter, the report shall also include the following:
 6             (1)  An assessment of the child care services, needs
 7        and  available  resources  throughout  the  State  and an
 8        assessment  of  the  adequacy  of  existing  child   care
 9        services,   including,   but  not  limited  to,  services
10        assisted under this  Act  and  under  any  other  program
11        administered by other State agencies.
12             (2)  A  survey  of  day care facilities to determine
13        the number of qualified caregivers, as defined  by  rule,
14        attracted   to   vacant   positions   and   any  problems
15        encountered by facilities  in  attracting  and  retaining
16        capable   caregivers.    The   report  shall  include  an
17        assessment, based  on  the  survey,  of  improvements  in
18        employee benefits that may attract capable caregivers.
19             (3)  The  average  wages  and  salaries  and  fringe
20        benefit packages paid to caregivers throughout the State,
21        computed  on  a  regional  basis,  compared  to similarly
22        qualified employees in other but related fields.
23             (4)  The qualifications of new caregivers  hired  at
24        licensed  day  care facilities during the previous 2-year
25        period.
26             (5)  Recommendations for increasing caregiver  wages
27        and salaries to ensure quality care for children.
28             (6)  Evaluation  of  the  fee  structure  and income
29        eligibility for child care subsidized by the State.
30        The requirement for reporting  to  the  General  Assembly
31    shall  be  satisfied  by filing copies of the report with the
32    Speaker, the Minority Leader, and the Clerk of the  House  of
33    Representatives,  the President, the Minority Leader, and the
34    Secretary of the Senate, and the Legislative  Research  Unit,
 
                            -3-      LRB093 03305 MKM 03322 b
 1    as   required   by   Section  3.1  of  the  General  Assembly
 2    Organization Act, and filing such additional copies with  the
 3    State  Government  Report Distribution Center for the General
 4    Assembly as is required under paragraph (t) of Section  7  of
 5    the State Library Act.
 6        (b)  The  Department  of  Human  Services shall establish
 7    policies  and  procedures  for  developing  and  implementing
 8    interagency agreements  with  other  agencies  of  the  State
 9    providing  child  care  services  or  reimbursement  for such
10    services. The plans shall be annually reviewed  and  modified
11    for  the  purpose  of  addressing issues of applicability and
12    service system barriers.
13        (c)  In  cooperation  with  other  State  agencies,   the
14    Department of Human Services shall  develop and implement, or
15    shall  continue, a resource and referral system for the State
16    of Illinois either within the Department or by contract  with
17    local  or  regional  agencies.  Funding for implementation of
18    this system may be provided through Department appropriations
19    or other inter-agency funding arrangements. The resource  and
20    referral   system   shall  provide  at  least  the  following
21    services:
22             (1)  Assembling and maintaining a data base  on  the
23        supply of child care services.
24             (2)  Providing   information   and   referrals   for
25        parents.
26             (3)  Coordinating  the development of new child care
27        resources.
28             (4)  Providing technical assistance and training  to
29        child care service providers.
30             (5)  Recording  and  analyzing  the demand for child
31        care services.
32        (c-5)  The  Department  must,  in  association  with  the
33    resource and referral system and  in  consultation  with  the
34    Child  Care  and  Development  Advisory  Council, develop and
 
                            -4-      LRB093 03305 MKM 03322 b
 1    implement an infant-toddler initiative to address the  severe
 2    shortage  of high quality child care in Illinois for children
 3    under 3 years of age.  The Department must annually report on
 4    the status of the infant-toddler initiative as  part  of  the
 5    State's comprehensive day-care plan.
 6        (d)  The  Department  of Human Services shall conduct day
 7    care planning activities with the following priorities:
 8             (1)  Development of  voluntary  day  care  resources
 9        wherever  possible,  with the provision for grants-in-aid
10        only where demonstrated to be  useful  and  necessary  as
11        incentives   or   supports.   By  January  1,  2002,  the
12        Department shall design a plan to create more child  care
13        slots  as well as goals and timetables to improve quality
14        and accessibility of child care.
15             (2)  Emphasis on service to children  of  recipients
16        of   public  assistance  when  such  service  will  allow
17        training or employment of the parent toward achieving the
18        goal of independence.
19             (3)  (Blank).
20             (4)  Care of children from families  in  stress  and
21        crises  whose  members  potentially may become, or are in
22        danger of becoming, non-productive and dependent.
23             (5)  Expansion  of  family   day   care   facilities
24        wherever possible.
25             (6)  Location  of  centers in economically depressed
26        neighborhoods, preferably in multi-service  centers  with
27        cooperation  of  other  agencies.  The  Department  shall
28        coordinate  the  provision  of  grants,  but  only to the
29        extent  funds  are  specifically  appropriated  for  this
30        purpose,  to encourage  the  creation  and  expansion  of
31        child  care centers in high need communities to be issued
32        by the State, business, and local governments.
33             (7)  Use of existing facilities free  of  charge  or
34        for  reasonable  rental  whenever  possible  in  lieu  of
 
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 1        construction.
 2             (8)  Development  of  strategies for assuring a more
 3        complete range of day care options,  including  provision
 4        of day care services in homes, in schools, or in centers,
 5        which  will  enable  a  parent  or  parents to complete a
 6        course of education or obtain or maintain employment  and
 7        the  creation of more child care options for swing shift,
 8        evening, and weekend workers and for working  women  with
 9        sick  children.  The Department shall encourage companies
10        to provide child care in their  own  offices  or  in  the
11        building  in  which  the  corporation  is located so that
12        employees of all the building's tenants can benefit  from
13        the facility.
14             (9)   Development   of  strategies  for  subsidizing
15        students pursuing degrees in the child care field.
16             (10)  Continuation and expansion of service programs
17        that assist teen parents to continue and  complete  their
18        education.
19        Emphasis  shall  be  given  to support services that will
20    help to ensure such parents' graduation from high school  and
21    to  services for participants in any programs of job training
22    conducted by the Department.
23        (e)  The Department  of  Human  Services  shall  actively
24    stimulate  the development of public and private resources at
25    the local level. It shall also seek the  fullest  utilization
26    of  federal  funds  directly  or  indirectly available to the
27    Department.
28        Where appropriate, existing non-governmental agencies  or
29    associations shall be involved in planning by the Department.
30        (f)  To  better  accommodate  the child care needs of low
31    income  working  families,  especially  those   who   receive
32    Temporary  Assistance  for  Needy  Families (TANF) or who are
33    transitioning from TANF to  work,  or  who  are  at  risk  of
34    depending   on  TANF  in  the  absence  of  child  care,  the
 
                            -6-      LRB093 03305 MKM 03322 b
 1    Department  shall  complete  a  study   using   outcome-based
 2    assessment measurements to analyze the various types of child
 3    care  needs,  including but not limited to: child care homes;
 4    child care facilities; before  and  after  school  care;  and
 5    evening  and  weekend  care.   Based upon the findings of the
 6    study, the Department shall develop a plan by April 15, 1998,
 7    that identifies the various types of child care needs  within
 8    various  geographic  locations.   The plan shall include, but
 9    not be limited to, the special needs of parents and guardians
10    in need of non-traditional child care services such as  early
11    mornings,  evenings,  and  weekends;  the  needs  of very low
12    income families and children and how  they  might  be  better
13    served; and strategies to assist child care providers to meet
14    the needs and schedules of low income families.
15    (Source: P.A. 92-468, eff. 8-22-01.)

16        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
17    becoming law.