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91_HB2597
LRB9105501SMdv
1 AN ACT to amend the Children and Family Services Act by
2 changing Section 5.15.
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 changing Section 5.15 as follows:
7 (20 ILCS 505/5.15)
8 Sec. 5.15. Daycare; Department of Human 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 plan for submission to the Governor
16 that identifies high-priority areas and groups, relating them
17 to available resources and identifying the most effective
18 approaches to the use of existing day care services. The
19 State comprehensive day-care plan shall be made available to
20 the General Assembly following the Governor's approval of
21 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. The report shall include an
18 assessment, based on the survey, of any working condition
19 improvements required to attract capable caregivers.
20 (3) The average wages and salaries and fringe
21 benefit packages paid to caregivers throughout the State,
22 computed on a regional basis. The report shall include a
23 determination by the Department of the adequacy of those
24 wages and salaries and fringe benefit packages in
25 assuring the provision of quality child care.
26 (4) The qualifications of new caregivers hired at
27 licensed day care facilities during the previous 2-year
28 period.
29 (5) Recommendations for increasing caregiver wages
30 and salaries to ensure quality care for children.
31 (6) Evaluation of the fee structure and income
32 eligibility for child care subsidized by the State.
33 The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
34 shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the
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1 Speaker, the Minority Leader, and the Clerk of the House of
2 Representatives, the President, the Minority Leader, and the
3 Secretary of the Senate, and the Legislative Research Unit,
4 as required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly
5 Organization Act, and filing such additional copies with the
6 State Government Report Distribution Center for the General
7 Assembly as is required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of
8 the State Library Act.
9 (b) The Department of Human Services shall establish
10 policies and procedures for developing and implementing
11 interagency agreements with other agencies of the State
12 providing child care services or reimbursement for such
13 services. The plans shall be annually reviewed and modified
14 for the purpose of addressing issues of applicability and
15 service system barriers.
16 (c) In cooperation with other State agencies, the
17 Department of Human Services shall develop and implement, or
18 shall continue, a resource and referral system for the State
19 of Illinois either within the Department or by contract with
20 local or regional agencies. Funding for implementation of
21 this system may be provided through Department appropriations
22 or other inter-agency funding arrangements. The resource and
23 referral system shall provide at least the following
24 services:
25 (1) Assembling and maintaining a data base on the
26 supply of child care services.
27 (2) Providing information and referrals for
28 parents.
29 (3) Coordinating the development of new child care
30 resources.
31 (4) Providing technical assistance and training to
32 child care service providers.
33 (5) Recording and analyzing the demand for child
34 care services.
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1 (d) The Department of Human Services shall conduct day
2 care planning activities with the following priorities:
3 (1) Development of voluntary day care resources
4 wherever possible, with the provision for grants-in-aid
5 only where demonstrated to be useful and necessary as
6 incentives or supports. By January 1, 2000, the
7 Department shall design a plan to create more child care
8 slots as well as goals and timetables to improve quality
9 and accessibility of child care.
10 (2) Emphasis on service to children of recipients
11 of public assistance when such service will allow
12 training or employment of the parent toward achieving the
13 goal of independence.
14 (3) Maximum employment of recipients of public
15 assistance in day care centers and day care homes,
16 operated in conjunction with short-term work training
17 programs.
18 (4) Care of children from families in stress and
19 crises whose members potentially may become, or are in
20 danger of becoming, non-productive and dependent.
21 (5) Expansion of family day care facilities
22 wherever possible.
23 (6) Location of centers in economically depressed
24 neighborhoods, preferably in multi-service centers with
25 cooperation of other agencies. The Department shall
26 coordinate the provision of grants to encourage the
27 creation and expansion of child care centers in high need
28 communities to be issued by the State, business, and
29 local governments.
30 (7) Use of existing facilities free of charge or
31 for reasonable rental whenever possible in lieu of
32 construction.
33 (8) Development of strategies for assuring a more
34 complete range of day care options, including provision
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1 of day care services in homes, in schools, or in centers,
2 which will enable a parent or parents to complete a
3 course of education or obtain or maintain employment and
4 the creation of more child care options for swing shift,
5 evening, and weekend workers and for working women with
6 sick children. The Department shall encourage companies
7 to provide child care in their own offices or in the
8 building in which the corporation is located so that
9 employees of all the building's tenants can benefit from
10 the facility.
11 (9) Development of strategies for subsidizing
12 students pursuing degrees in the child care field.
13 (10) Continuation and expansion of support service
14 programs that assist teen parents to continue and
15 complete their education.
16 Emphasis shall be given to support services that will
17 help to ensure such parents' graduation from high school and
18 to services for participants in the Project Chance program of
19 job training conducted by the Department.
20 (e) The Department of Human Services shall actively
21 stimulate the development of public and private resources at
22 the local level. It shall also seek the fullest utilization
23 of federal funds directly or indirectly available to the
24 Department.
25 Where appropriate, existing non-governmental agencies or
26 associations shall be involved in planning by the Department.
27 (f) To better accommodate the child care needs of low
28 income working families, especially those who receive
29 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or who are
30 transitioning from TANF to work, or who are at risk of
31 depending on TANF in the absence of child care, the
32 Department shall complete a study using outcome-based
33 assessment measurements to analyze the various types of child
34 care needs, including but not limited to: child care homes;
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1 child care facilities; before and after school care; and
2 evening and weekend care. Based upon the findings of the
3 study, the Department shall develop a plan by April 15, 1998,
4 that identifies the various types of child care needs within
5 various geographic locations. The plan shall include, but
6 not be limited to, the special needs of parents and guardians
7 in need of non-traditional child care services such as early
8 mornings, evenings, and weekends; the needs of very low
9 income families and children and how they might be better
10 served; and strategies to assist child care providers to meet
11 the needs and schedules of low income families.
12 (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97; 90-236, eff. 7-28-97;
13 90-590, eff. 1-1-99.)