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92_HB1734
LRB9205801MWdv
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.
17 (3) The average wages and salaries and fringe
18 benefit packages paid to caregivers throughout the State,
19 computed on a regional basis.
20 (4) The qualifications of new caregivers hired at
21 licensed day care facilities during the previous 2-year
22 period.
23 (5) Recommendations for increasing caregiver wages
24 and salaries to ensure quality care for children.
25 (6) Evaluation of the fee structure and income
26 eligibility for child care subsidized by the State.
27 The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
28 shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the
29 Speaker, the Minority Leader, and the Clerk of the House of
30 Representatives, the President, the Minority Leader, and the
31 Secretary of the Senate, and the Legislative Research Unit,
32 as required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly
33 Organization Act, and filing such additional copies with the
34 State Government Report Distribution Center for the General
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1 Assembly as is required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of
2 the State Library Act.
3 (b) The Department of Human Services shall establish
4 policies and procedures for developing and implementing
5 interagency agreements with other agencies of the State
6 providing child care services or reimbursement for such
7 services. The plans shall be annually reviewed and modified
8 for the purpose of addressing issues of applicability and
9 service system barriers.
10 (c) In cooperation with other State agencies, the
11 Department of Human Services shall develop and implement, or
12 shall continue, a resource and referral system for the State
13 of Illinois either within the Department or by contract with
14 local or regional agencies. Funding for implementation of
15 this system may be provided through Department appropriations
16 or other inter-agency funding arrangements. The resource and
17 referral system shall provide at least the following
18 services:
19 (1) Assembling and maintaining a data base on the
20 supply of child care services.
21 (2) Providing information and referrals for
22 parents.
23 (3) Coordinating the development of new child care
24 resources.
25 (4) Providing technical assistance and training to
26 child care service providers.
27 (5) Recording and analyzing the demand for child
28 care services.
29 (c-5) The Department must, in association with the
30 resource and referral system and in consultation with the
31 Child Care and Development Advisory Council, develop and
32 implement an infant-toddler initiative to address the severe
33 shortage of high quality child care in Illinois for children
34 under 3 years of age. The Department must annually report on
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1 the status of the infant-toddler initiative as part of the
2 State's comprehensive day-care plan.
3 (d) The Department of Human Services shall conduct day
4 care planning activities with the following priorities:
5 (1) Development of voluntary day care resources
6 wherever possible, with the provision for grants-in-aid
7 only where demonstrated to be useful and necessary as
8 incentives or supports.
9 (2) Emphasis on service to children of recipients
10 of public assistance when such service will allow
11 training or employment of the parent toward achieving the
12 goal of independence.
13 (3) Maximum employment of recipients of public
14 assistance in day care centers and day care homes,
15 operated in conjunction with short-term work training
16 programs.
17 (4) Care of children from families in stress and
18 crises whose members potentially may become, or are in
19 danger of becoming, non-productive and dependent.
20 (5) Expansion of family day care facilities
21 wherever possible.
22 (6) Location of centers in economically depressed
23 neighborhoods, preferably in multi-service centers with
24 cooperation of other agencies.
25 (7) Use of existing facilities free of charge or
26 for reasonable rental whenever possible in lieu of
27 construction.
28 (8) Development of strategies for assuring a more
29 complete range of day care options, including provision
30 of day care services in homes, in schools, or in centers,
31 which will enable a parent or parents to complete a
32 course of education or obtain or maintain employment.
33 Emphasis shall be given to support services that will
34 help to ensure such parents' graduation from high school and
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1 to services for participants in the Project Chance program of
2 job training conducted by the Department.
3 (e) The Department of Human Services shall actively
4 stimulate the development of public and private resources at
5 the local level. It shall also seek the fullest utilization
6 of federal funds directly or indirectly available to the
7 Department.
8 Where appropriate, existing non-governmental agencies or
9 associations shall be involved in planning by the Department.
10 (f) To better accommodate the child care needs of low
11 income working families, especially those who receive
12 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or who are
13 transitioning from TANF to work, or who are at risk of
14 depending on TANF in the absence of child care, the
15 Department shall complete a study using outcome-based
16 assessment measurements to analyze the various types of child
17 care needs, including but not limited to: child care homes;
18 child care facilities; before and after school care; and
19 evening and weekend care. Based upon the findings of the
20 study, the Department shall develop a plan by April 15, 1998,
21 that identifies the various types of child care needs within
22 various geographic locations. The plan shall include, but
23 not be limited to, the special needs of parents and guardians
24 in need of non-traditional child care services such as early
25 mornings, evenings, and weekends; the needs of very low
26 income families and children and how they might be better
27 served; and strategies to assist child care providers to meet
28 the needs and schedules of low income families.
29 (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97; 90-236, eff. 7-28-97;
30 90-590, eff. 1-1-99.)
31 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
32 becoming law.