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91_HB3443
LRB9111177MWgc
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. Day care Daycare; Department of Human
8 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 day-care plan for submission to the
16 Governor that identifies high-priority areas and groups,
17 relating them to available resources and identifying the most
18 effective approaches to the use of existing day care
19 services. The State comprehensive day care day-care plan
20 shall be made available to the General Assembly following the
21 Governor's approval of 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 A written report shall be submitted to the Governor and
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1 the General Assembly annually on April 15. The report shall
2 include an evaluation of developments over the preceding
3 fiscal year, including cost-benefit analyses of various
4 arrangements. Beginning with the report in 1990 submitted by
5 the Department's predecessor agency and every 2 years
6 thereafter, the report shall also include the following:
7 (1) An assessment of the child care services, needs
8 and available resources throughout the State and an
9 assessment of the adequacy of existing child care
10 services, including, but not limited to, services
11 assisted under this Act and under any other program
12 administered by other State agencies.
13 (2) A survey of day care facilities to determine
14 the number of qualified caregivers, as defined by rule,
15 attracted to vacant positions and any problems
16 encountered by facilities in attracting and retaining
17 capable caregivers.
18 (3) The average wages and salaries and fringe
19 benefit packages paid to caregivers throughout the State,
20 computed on a regional basis.
21 (4) The qualifications of new caregivers hired at
22 licensed day care facilities during the previous 2-year
23 period.
24 (5) Recommendations for increasing caregiver wages
25 and salaries to ensure quality care for children.
26 (6) Evaluation of the fee structure and income
27 eligibility for child care subsidized by the State.
28 The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
29 shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the
30 Speaker, the Minority Leader, and the Clerk of the House of
31 Representatives, the President, the Minority Leader, and the
32 Secretary of the Senate, and the Legislative Research Unit,
33 as required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly
34 Organization Act, and filing such additional copies with the
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1 State Government Report Distribution Center for the General
2 Assembly as is required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of
3 the State Library Act.
4 (b) The Department of Human Services shall establish
5 policies and procedures for developing and implementing
6 interagency agreements with other agencies of the State
7 providing child care services or reimbursement for such
8 services. The plans shall be annually reviewed and modified
9 for the purpose of addressing issues of applicability and
10 service system barriers.
11 (c) In cooperation with other State agencies, the
12 Department of Human Services shall develop and implement, or
13 shall continue, a resource and referral system for the State
14 of Illinois either within the Department or by contract with
15 local or regional agencies. Funding for implementation of
16 this system may be provided through Department appropriations
17 or other inter-agency funding arrangements. The resource and
18 referral system shall provide at least the following
19 services:
20 (1) Assembling and maintaining a data base on the
21 supply of child care services.
22 (2) Providing information and referrals for
23 parents.
24 (3) Coordinating the development of new child care
25 resources.
26 (4) Providing technical assistance and training to
27 child care service providers.
28 (5) Recording and analyzing the demand for child
29 care services.
30 (d) The Department of Human Services shall conduct day
31 care planning activities with the following priorities:
32 (1) Development of voluntary day care resources
33 wherever possible, with the provision for grants-in-aid
34 only where demonstrated to be useful and necessary as
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1 incentives or supports.
2 (2) Emphasis on service to children of recipients
3 of public assistance when such service will allow
4 training or employment of the parent toward achieving the
5 goal of independence.
6 (3) Maximum employment of recipients of public
7 assistance in day care centers and day care homes,
8 operated in conjunction with short-term work training
9 programs.
10 (4) Care of children from families in stress and
11 crises whose members potentially may become, or are in
12 danger of becoming, non-productive and dependent.
13 (5) Expansion of family day care facilities
14 wherever possible.
15 (6) Location of centers in economically depressed
16 neighborhoods, preferably in multi-service centers with
17 cooperation of other agencies.
18 (7) Use of existing facilities free of charge or
19 for reasonable rental whenever possible in lieu of
20 construction.
21 (8) Development of strategies for assuring a more
22 complete range of day care options, including provision
23 of day care services in homes, in schools, or in centers,
24 which will enable a parent or parents to complete a
25 course of education or obtain or maintain employment.
26 Emphasis shall be given to support services that will
27 help to ensure such parents' graduation from high school and
28 to services for participants in the Project Chance program of
29 job training conducted by the Department.
30 (e) The Department of Human Services shall actively
31 stimulate the development of public and private resources at
32 the local level. It shall also seek the fullest utilization
33 of federal funds directly or indirectly available to the
34 Department.
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1 Where appropriate, existing non-governmental agencies or
2 associations shall be involved in planning by the Department.
3 (f) To better accommodate the child care needs of low
4 income working families, especially those who receive
5 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or who are
6 transitioning from TANF to work, or who are at risk of
7 depending on TANF in the absence of child care, the
8 Department shall complete a study using outcome-based
9 assessment measurements to analyze the various types of child
10 care needs, including but not limited to: child care homes;
11 child care facilities; before and after school care; and
12 evening and weekend care. Based upon the findings of the
13 study, the Department shall develop a plan by April 15, 1998,
14 that identifies the various types of child care needs within
15 various geographic locations. The plan shall include, but
16 not be limited to, the special needs of parents and guardians
17 in need of non-traditional child care services such as early
18 mornings, evenings, and weekends; the needs of very low
19 income families and children and how they might be better
20 served; and strategies to assist child care providers to meet
21 the needs and schedules of low income families.
22 (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97; 90-236, eff. 7-28-97;
23 90-590, eff. 1-1-99.)