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91_SB1706
LRB9112681MWgc
1 AN ACT to amend the Children and Family Services Act by
2 adding Section 34.13.
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 adding Section 34.13 as follows:
7 (20 ILCS 505/34.13 new)
8 Sec. 34.13. Child Care Partnership Program.
9 (a) Legislative findings. The General Assembly finds
10 that when private employers provide on-site child care or
11 provide other child care benefits, they benefit by improved
12 recruitment and higher retention rates for employees, lower
13 absenteeism, and improved employee morale. The General
14 Assembly also finds that there are many ways in which private
15 employers can provide child care assistance to employees:
16 information and referral, vouchering, employer contribution
17 to child care programs, and on-site care. Private employers
18 can offer child care as part of a menu of employee benefits.
19 The General Assembly recognizes that flexible compensation
20 programs providing a child care option are beneficial to the
21 private employer through increased productivity, to the
22 private employee in knowing that his or her children are
23 being cared for in a safe and nurturing environment, and to
24 the State in more dollars being available for purchasing
25 power and investment.
26 It is the intent of the General Assembly to promote
27 public-private partnerships to ensure that the children of
28 the State be provided safe and enriching child care at any
29 time, but especially while parents work to remain
30 self-sufficient. It is the intent of the General Assembly
31 that private employers be encouraged to participate in the
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1 future of this State by providing employee child care
2 benefits. Further, it is the intent of the General Assembly
3 to encourage private employers to explore innovative ways to
4 assist employees to obtain quality child care.
5 The General Assembly further recognizes that many parents
6 need assistance in paying the full costs of quality child
7 care. The public and private sectors, by working in
8 partnership, can promote and improve access to quality child
9 care and early education for children of working families who
10 need it. Therefore, a more formal mechanism is necessary to
11 stimulate the establishment of public-private partnerships.
12 It is the intent of the General Assembly to expand the
13 availability of scholarship options for working families by
14 providing incentives for employers to contribute to meeting
15 the needs of their employees' families through matching
16 public dollars available for child care.
17 (b) There is created the the Child Care Executive
18 Partnership to establish and govern the Child Care
19 Partnership Program. The purpose of the Child Care
20 Partnership Program is to use State and federal funds as
21 incentives for matching local funds derived from local
22 governments, employers, charitable foundations, and other
23 sources, so that Illinois communities may create local
24 flexible partnerships with employers. The Child Care
25 Partnership Program funds shall be used at the discretion of
26 local communities to meet the needs of local communities in
27 addressing the child care needs of working parents. A child
28 care purchasing pool shall be developed with State, federal,
29 and local funds to provide subsidies to low-income working
30 parents who are eligible for subsidized child care with a
31 dollar-for-dollar match from employers, local government, and
32 other matching contributors. The funds used from the child
33 care purchasing pool must be used to supplement or extend the
34 use of existing public or private funds and may not be used
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1 to supplant the maintenance of effort presently exerted by
2 the employer or other participant in the activity funded.
3 (c) The Child Care Executive Partnership, staffed by the
4 Department of Human Services, consists of:
5 (1) A representative of the Office of the Governor
6 who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
7 (2) Nine members of the corporate or child care
8 community, appointed by the Governor, to be known as the
9 "board". Members of the board shall serve for a period
10 of 4 years.
11 (3) One representative from each of the 10 Child
12 Care Partnership Program pilot purchasing pool counties
13 established by the board, known as the "oversight group".
14 Members of the oversight group shall serve at the
15 pleasure of the Governor.
16 The Child Care Executive Partnership shall be chaired by
17 a member chosen by a majority vote of the board and shall
18 meet at least quarterly and at other times upon the call of
19 the chair.
20 Members shall serve without compensation, but may be
21 reimbursed for per diem and travel expenses.
22 (d) The Child Care Executive Partnership has all the
23 powers and authority, not explicitly prohibited by law,
24 necessary to carry out and effectuate the purposes of this
25 Section, including, but not limited to, the following:
26 (1) Assisting in the formulation and coordination
27 of the State's child care policy.
28 (2) Adopting an official seal.
29 (3) Soliciting, accepting, receiving, investing,
30 and expending funds from public or private sources.
31 (4) Contracting with public or private entities as
32 necessary.
33 (5) Approving an annual budget.
34 (6) Carrying forward any unexpended State
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1 appropriations into succeeding fiscal years, subject to
2 reappropriations by the General Assembly.
3 (7) Providing a report to the Governor, the Speaker
4 of the House of Representatives, and the President of the
5 Senate on or before December 1 of each year.
6 (e) The General Assembly, by appropriation, shall
7 annually determine the amount of State or federal low-income
8 child care moneys that may be used to create Child Care
9 Partnership Program child care purchasing pools in counties
10 chosen by the board of the Child Care Executive Partnership.
11 The General Assembly shall review the effectiveness of the
12 child care purchasing pool program and reevaluate the
13 percentage of additional State or federal funds, if any, that
14 can be used for the program's expansion.
15 To ensure a seamless service delivery and ease of access
16 for families, the community coordinated child care agencies
17 shall administer the child care purchasing pool funds.
18 The Department of Human Services shall issue a request
19 for proposal for the operation of the pilot child care
20 purchasing pools. In order to be considered, the community
21 coordinated child care agency must commit to:
22 (i) matching the state pilot purchasing pool funds
23 on a dollar-for-dollar basis; and
24 (ii) expending only those public funds that are
25 matched by employers, local government, and other
26 matching contributors who contribute to the pilot
27 purchasing pool. Parents shall also pay a fee, based
28 upon the Department's child care fee scale.
29 (f) Each community coordinated child care agency shall
30 be required to establish a community child care task force
31 for each pilot child care purchasing pool. The task force
32 must be composed of employers, parents, private child care
33 providers, and one representative each from the district
34 interagency coordinating council for children's services and
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1 the local children's services council, if they exist in the
2 area of the pilot purchasing pool. The community coordinated
3 child care agency is expected to recruit the task force
4 members from existing child care councils, commissions, or
5 task forces already operating in the area of a pilot
6 purchasing pool. A majority of the task force shall consist
7 of employers. Each task force shall develop a plan for the
8 use of child care purchasing pool funds. The plan must show
9 how many children will be served by the pilot purchasing
10 pool, how many will be new to receiving child care services,
11 and how the community coordinated child care agency intends
12 to attract new employers and their employees to the pilot
13 project.
14 (g) The Department of Human Services shall adopt any
15 rules necessary for the implementation and administration of
16 this Section.