Bill Text: TX SB1844 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Workforce Commission and local workforce development boards regarding the provision of child care.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-20 - Referred to Natural Resources & Economic Development [SB1844 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB1844-Introduced.html

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88R4697 MM-F
By: Blanco S.B. No. 1844

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Workforce Commission
and local workforce development boards regarding the provision of
child care.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2308.256(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A board is composed as follows:
(1) representatives of the private sector, who:
(A) constitute a majority of the membership of
the board; and
(B) are owners of business concerns, chief
executives or chief operating officers of nongovernmental
employers, or other private sector executives who have substantial
management or policy responsibilities;
(2) representatives of organized labor and
community-based organizations, who constitute not less than 15
percent of the membership of the board; [and]
(3) representatives of the child-care workforce, who
constitute not less than 25 percent of the membership of the board
and who have:
(A) at least five years of experience working in
child-care, early childhood, or out-of-school programs, including
organizations providing care and education services to children
from birth until age 12 and organizations supporting quality or
credentialing for the care and education of children from birth
until age 12; or
(B) expertise in child care or early childhood
education; and
(4) representatives of each of the following:
(A) educational agencies, including community
colleges and secondary and postsecondary practitioners
representing vocational education, that are representative of all
educational agencies in the service delivery area;
(B) vocational rehabilitation agencies;
(C) public assistance agencies;
(D) economic development agencies;
(E) the public employment service;
(F) local literacy councils; and
(G) adult basic and continuing education
organizations.
SECTION 2. Section 2308.3171, Government Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as
follows:
(c) Each board shall post in a prominent place on the
board's Internet website home page and at any physical location
where the board provides services:
(1) a list of local designated vendors that are
child-care providers and have a quality child-care indicator listed
in Subsection (a)(1), (2), (3), or (4); [and]
(2) a list of local parenting classes;
(3) information for parents regarding finding quality
child-care providers;
(4) information regarding the value of quality child
care and the Texas Rising Star Program;
(5) information for parents regarding:
(A) eligibility for child-care assistance,
including subsidized child-care services and other child-care
scholarships;
(B) the application process for child-care
assistance; and
(C) determining the status of a financial
assistance application;
(6) information for child-care providers regarding:
(A) the process for accepting children whose
parents receive child-care assistance; and
(B) the Texas Rising Star Program certification
process; and
(7) contact information, including a telephone number
and an e-mail address, where a provider may receive assistance with
questions or bring a grievance.
(c-1) Each local workforce development board shall make the
following information available to the public on a quarterly basis:
(1) data regarding child-care waitlists, including
the number of children in the board's workforce development area
who are:
(A) on a waitlist, disaggregated by age and zip
code based on the child's home address;
(B) taken off a waitlist and enrolled with a
child-care provider under the subsidized child-care program; and
(C) added to a waitlist during the quarter;
(2) the number of children in the board's workforce
development area receiving subsidized child care, disaggregated by
zip code based on the child's home address;
(3) data regarding child-care providers, including
the number of providers in the board's workforce development area
who during the quarter:
(A) improved the provider's Texas Rising Star
Program rating level;
(B) had the provider's Texas Rising Star Program
rating level decrease; and
(C) received quality dollars from the board; and
(4) data regarding the outcomes related to quality
dollars provided by the board to child-care providers in the
board's workforce development area.
SECTION 3. Section 302.0042(d), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) In this section, "quality child care provider" means a
child care provider that:
(1) participates in the commission's Texas Rising Star
Program as a three-star or four-star provider; or
(2) is accredited by the National Early Childhood
Program Accreditation Commission or the National Association for
the Education of Young Children, or holds any other accreditation
the commission determines meets the quality standards of the Texas
Rising Star Program.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 302.00434 to read as follows:
Sec. 302.00434. SUBSIDIZED CHILD-CARE PROGRAM; RULE CHANGE
POLICY. The commission shall develop appropriate written training
and a reasonable timeline for implementing each change the
commission makes to rules regarding the subsidized child-care
program.
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 302.0063 to read as follows:
Sec. 302.0063. CHILD CARE PERFORMANCE TARGETS. (a) The
commission shall structure performance targets for child-care
services to allow local workforce development boards to address the
needs in the workforce development area identified by the board
through a community needs assessment.
(b) The commission may establish alternative performance
targets that are set by different metrics including:
(1) the total number of children served by child-care
providers in the board's workforce development area;
(2) the number of children served by Texas Rising Star
Program providers in the board's workforce development area with a
three-star or four-star rating;
(3) the number of infants and toddlers served by
child-care providers in the board's workforce development area;
(4) the number of children served by child-care
providers in the board's workforce development area if the area is
located in:
(A) an area where the number of children younger
than six years of age who have working parents is at least three
times greater than the capacity of licensed child-care providers in
the area; or
(B) an area determined by the commission to be
underserved with respect to child-care providers; and
(5) the number of children served by providers in the
board's workforce development area who provide care during
non-traditional hours.
(c) The commission by rule shall:
(1) define the approval process for the alternative
performance targets described by Subsection (b);
(2) develop the components of and procedures for
administering a community needs assessment in local workforce
development areas; and
(3) determine the allocation of funds to meet
alternative performance targets.
SECTION 6. Section 2308.256(g), Government Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.