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Introduced Version Senate Bill 498 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 498

(By Senators Plymale, Prezioso, Kessler, Wells, Foster, Jenkins, Stollings and Unger)

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[Introduced March 6, 2009; referred to the Committee on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-44 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new article, designated §49-2E-1, §49-2E-2, §49-2E-3, §49-2E-4, §49-2E-5, §49-2E-6, §49-2E-7, §49-2E-8 and §49-2E-9, all relating to early childhood development; early childhood education; findings; early childhood education program providers; use of existing sources; county collaborative plans; annual submission for approval; creating a review board for the purpose of receiving complaints from community-based programs; changes to an approved county collaborative plan; implementation waiver; reports to Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability and the Joint Committee on Government and Finance; enrolling students less than four years of age; State Board of Education rule; community-based programs ceasing to provide services; community-based programs choosing to provide services after initially electing not to; waiver of annual plan submission requirement; quality rating and improvement system; findings, purpose and intent; Secretary of Department of Health and Human Resources rules; pilot projects; statewide implementation; potential gradual implementation; program standards; levels of quality; system participation; accountability measures; evaluations; practitioner and outreach support; parent education and public awareness; financial incentives; wage supports and benefits; scholarships; professional development plans; grants; internet-based management information system; financial assistance for child care consumers; and ongoing quality rating and improvement system evaluation.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-44 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §49-2E-1, §49-2E-2, §49-2E-3, §49-2E-4, §49-2E-5, §49-2E-6, §49-2E-7, §49-2E-8 and §49-2E-9, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.

ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-44. Early childhood education programs.

(a) For the purposes of this section, "early childhood education" means programs for children who have attained the age of four prior to September 1 of the school year in which the pupil enters the program created in this section.
(b) Findings. --
(1) Among other positive outcomes, early childhood education programs have been determined to:
(A) Improve overall readiness when children enter school;
(B) Decrease behavioral problems;
(C) Improve student attendance;
(D) Increase scores on achievement tests;
(E) Decrease the percentage of students repeating a grade; and
(F) Decrease the number of students placed in special education programs.
(2) Quality early childhood education programs improve school performance and low-quality early childhood education programs may have negative effects, especially for at-risk children;
(3) Economic research indicates that high quality child care centers are essential to maintain economic stability, attract outside investments and support working families and their employers;
(3) (4) West Virginia has the lowest percentage of its adult population twenty-five years of age or older with a college bachelor's degree and the education level of parents is a strong indicator of how their children will perform in school;
(4) (5) During the 2006-07 school year, West Virginia currently ranks forty-fourth ranked thirty-ninth among the fifty states in the percentage of school children eligible for free and reduced lunches and this percentage is a strong indicator of how the children will perform in school;
(5) (6) For the school year two thousand one-two thousand two 2008-2009, six thousand eight hundred fifty-three thirteen thousand one hundred thirty-five students less than five years of age were enrolled in the public schools prekindergarten, a number equal to approximately thirty-three sixty-three percent of the number of five-year-old students enrolled in kindergarten;
(6) (7) Excluding projected increases due to increases in enrollment in the early childhood education program, projections indicate that total student enrollment in West Virginia will decline by as much as eighteen percent one percent, or by approximately fifty thousand two thousand seven hundred four students, by the school year 2012-2013;
(7) (8) In part, because of the dynamics of the state aid formula, county boards will continue to enroll four-year old students to offset the declining enrollments;
(8) (9) West Virginia has a comprehensive kindergarten program for five-year olds but the program was established in a manner that resulted in unequal implementation among the counties which helped create deficit financial situations for several county school boards;
(9) (10) Expansion of current efforts to implement a comprehensive early childhood education program should avoid the problems encountered in kindergarten implementation;
(10) (11) Because of the dynamics of the state aid formula, counties experiencing growth are at a disadvantage in implementing comprehensive early childhood education programs; and
(11) (12) West Virginia citizens will benefit from the establishment of quality comprehensive early childhood education programs; and
(13) While expanding comprehensive early childhood education programs will benefit the state, a collaborative approach between all early childhood programs, including, but not limited to, education, Head Start and child care is essential to avoid potential loss of federal funds or reductions in the availability of child care for working families.

(c) Beginning no later than the school year 2012-2013, and continuing thereafter, county boards shall provide make available in accordance with this section early childhood education programs for all children who have attained the age of four prior to September 1 of the school year in which the pupil enters the early childhood education program.
(d) The program shall meet the following criteria:
(1) It shall be voluntary, except, upon enrollment, the provisions of section one, article eight of this chapter shall apply to an enrolled student; and
(2) It may be for fewer than five days per week and may be less than full day.
(e) Enrollment of students in Head Start or child care licensed by the Department of Health and Human Resources and approved in any other program approved by the state superintendent as provided in subsection (k) (l) of this section, shall be counted toward satisfying the requirement of subsection (c) of this section.
(f) For the purposes of implementation financing, all counties are encouraged to county boards shall make use of funds and resources from existing sources, including:
(1) Federal funds provided under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act pursuant to 20 U.S.C. §6301, et seq.;
(2) Federal funds provided for Head Start pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §9831, et seq.;
(3) Federal funds for temporary assistance to needy families pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §601, et seq.;
(4) Funds provided by the School Building Authority pursuant to article nine-d of this chapter;
(5) In the case of counties with declining enrollments, funds from the state aid formula above the amount indicated for the number of students actually enrolled in any school year; and
(6) Any other public or and private funds and resources.
(g) Prior to the school year beginning two thousand three, Annually, each county board shall develop a county collaborative plan for implementing the program required by this section. The plan shall be developed using a team of community partners which includes, at a minimum, representatives from the county school system; the county preschool special needs program, Head Start and child care; the local Department of Health and Human Resources; and parents. The plan shall include the following elements:
(1) An analysis of the demographics of the county related to early childhood education program implementation;
(2) An analysis of facility and personnel needs;
(3) Financial requirements for implementation and potential sources of funding to assist implementation;
(4) Details of how the county board will cooperate and collaborate with other early childhood education programs including, but not limited to, Head Start and child care, to maximize federal and other sources of revenue;
(5) Identification of potential resources and documentation of the efficient use of currently existing resources;
(6) Documentation that county boards are maximizing resources by using the existing capacity of community-based programs, including, but not limited to, Head Start and child care, within the county before opening new classrooms operated solely by the county board. This documentation shall include at least the following:
(A) A letter of participation from each community-based program that is contracted with to provide the early childhood education services required by this section; and
(B) Budgets and contracts for the upcoming year indicating that all of the existing capacity of community-based programs is used to provide the early childhood education services;
(7) Plans demonstrating how, by full implementation, the county board shall phase in classrooms incrementally so that no less than fifty percent of the classrooms for eligible children are provided through contractual agreements with community-based programs, including, but not limited to, Head Start and child care.
(8) Written documentation of the exceptions to the fifty percent requirement which can be made in the following situations:
(A) Community-based programs do not exist in the county, can never meet program requirements or choose not to participate; or
(B) The county board has requested and received a written waiver of this requirement from both the State superintendent and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources.
(9) For those county boards that are including eligible children attending approved, contracted community-based programs in their net enrollment for the purpose of calculating state aid pursuant to article nine-a of this chapter, documentation that the county board is equitably distributing funding for all children, regardless of setting. County boards shall explore all feasible supports to enable community-based programs to participate, including providing certified teachers into the programs, before determining that the programs cannot meet the mandates;
(10) A detailed statement of the progress made in implementing its plan;
(5) (11) Specific time lines for implementation; and
(6) (12) Such other items as the state board by policy may require.
(h) Prior to the school year beginning two thousand three Annually, a county board shall submit its plan to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources. The secretary shall approve the plan if the following conditions are met:
(1) The county board has maximized the use of federal and other available funds for early childhood programs;
(2) The county board has provided for the maximum implementation of Head Start programs and other public and private programs approved by the state superintendent pursuant to the terms of subsection (k) (l) of this section; and
(3) The county board provides quantifiable evidence that the plan meets all requirements included in subsections (c) through (h) of this section; and
(3) (4) If the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources finds that the county board has not met one or more of the requirements of this subsection, but that the county board has acted in good faith and the failure to comply was not the primary fault of the county board, then the secretary shall approve the plan. Any denial by the secretary may be appealed to the circuit court of the county in which the county board is located.
(i) Prior to the school year beginning two thousand three Annually, the county board shall submit its plan for approval to the state board state superintendent. The state board state superintendent shall approve the plan if the county board has complied substantially with the requirements of subsection (g) of this section and has obtained the approval required in subsection (h) of this section.
(j) A review board shall be established for the purpose of receiving complaints from community-based programs.
(1) The complaints that may be heard by the review board include:
(A) Allegations that a community-based program has been compelled to enter into an unsatisfactory agreement with a county board to provide early childhood education services due to the community-based program having an unequal bargaining position;
(B) Allegations that a community-based program has been wrongfully excluded from a county board's plan or from the fifty percent calculation required pursuant to subsection (g) of this section; and
(C) Any other allegations by a community-based program of wrongdoing by a county board that resulted in harm to the community-based program.
(2) The review board shall consist of a representative of the state superintendent, a representative of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources and the Director of the West Virginia Head Start Collaboration Office. The state superintendent shall appoint his or her representative, and the secretary shall appoint his or her representative. The state superintendent and the secretary are not required to appoint the same representative to the review board to address all complaints.
(3) A community-based program shall file their complaint with the review board in writing and may request a hearing to testify before the review board. The review board shall grant the community-based program's request for a hearing.
(4) When a community-based program files a complaint with the review board, the state superintendent shall provide notice to the county board that is a party to the contested agreement and shall fax or electronically transfer a copy of the complaint within seven days of receiving the complaint. If a complaint is heard from a community-based program, the review board also shall give the county board an opportunity to testify before the review board, submit a report to the review board in writing or both, at the county board's discretion.
(5) The review board shall report it's findings to both the state superintendent and the secretary and advise both on a course of action within forty-five days after the complaint is received. Both the report and advice to the state superintendent and the secretary shall be made at least in writing.
(6) If the state superintendent or the secretary find that a community-based program's complaint is justified, either or both the state superintendent and the secretary may rescind their prior approval of the county board's plan within fourteen days of receiving the review board's report and advice.
(7) The state superintendent, the secretary and the director shall agree on a process for implementing the requirements of this subsection which shall at least include:
(A) A designated office or person to handle all clerical duties related to these provisions such as receiving initial complaints and coordinating meetings of the review board; and
(B) Educating community-based programs throughout the state about the existence of the review board and where initial complaints are required to be filed.
(j) Every county board shall submit its plan for reapproval by the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources and by the state board at least every two years after the initial approval of the plan and until full implementation of the early childhood education program in the county. As part of the submission, the county board shall provide a detailed statement of the progress made in implementing its plan. The standards and procedures provided for the original approval of the plan apply to any reapproval.
(k) All changes of substance to an approved county collaborative plan must be submitted with the signatures of all required collaborative partners for approval to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources and the state superintendent thirty days prior to the implementation of the changes. If a county board fails to submit its plan to the secretary and the state superintendent within thirty days prior to the implementation of the changes, the county board's plan is considered disapproved until the changes are approved by both the secretary and the state superintendent or the county board reverses its implementation of the changes.
(k) (l) Commencing with the school year beginning on July 1, 2004, and thereafter, no county board may increase the total number of students enrolled in the county in an early childhood program until its program county collaborative plan is approved by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources and the state board has been granted state superintendent.
(l) (m) The state board state superintendent annually may grant a county board a waiver for total or partial implementation if the state board state superintendent finds that all of the following conditions exist:
(1) The county board is unable to comply either because:
(A) It does not have sufficient facilities available; or
(B) It does not and has not had available funds sufficient to implement the program;
(2) The county has not experienced a decline in enrollment at least equal to the total number of students to be enrolled; and
(3) Other agencies of government have not made sufficient funds or facilities available to assist in implementation.
Any county board seeking a waiver must apply with the supporting data to meet the criteria for which they are eligible on or before March 25 for the following school year. The state superintendent shall grant or deny the requested waiver on or before April 15 of that same year.
(m) (n) The provisions of subsections (b), (c) and (d), section eighteen of this article relating to kindergarten shall apply to early childhood education programs in the same manner in which they apply to kindergarten programs.
(n) (o) On or before the first day of December, two thousand four December 1, 2009, and each year thereafter, the state board state superintendent shall report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability on the progress of implementation of this section.
(o) (p) During or after the school year beginning in two thousand four 2009, and except as may be required by federal law or regulation, no county board shall enroll students who will be less than four years of age prior to September 1 for the year they enter school, regardless of the source of funds, unless such funds are a necessary support for children with special needs or are dedicated solely for education of children under the age of four: Provided, That nothing in this subsection shall be construed to include children less than four years of age enrolled under the dedicated funding source exception in the definition of "net enrollment" set forth in section two, article nine-a of this chapter.
(p) (q) Neither the state board nor the state department may provide any funds to any county board for the purpose of implementing this section unless the county board has a plan approved pursuant to subsections (h), (i), and (j) and (k) of this section.
(q) (r) The state board state superintendent and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall jointly prepare a proposed rule to be recommended to the state board for implementing the provisions of this section. The state board shall promulgate the recommended rule, a modified version of the recommended rule or a new rule shall promulgate a rule in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code for the purposes of implementing the provisions of this section. The state board shall consult with the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources in the preparation of the rule. The rule shall contain the following:
(1) Standards for curriculum;
(2) Standards for preparing students;
(3) Attendance requirements;
(4) Standards for personnel; and
(5) Guidelines for ensuring that the health and safety needs of children under the age of five are provided for; and
(5) (6) Such other terms as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
(r) (s) The rule shall include the following elements relating to curriculum standards:
(1) A requirement that the curriculum be designed to address the developmental needs of four-year old children, consistent with prevailing research on how children learn;
(2) A requirement that the curriculum be designed to achieve long range goals for the social, emotional, physical and academic development of young children;
(3) A method for including a broad range of content that is relevant, engaging and meaningful to young children;
(4) A requirement that the curriculum incorporate a wide variety of learning experiences, materials and equipment, and instructional strategies to respond to differences in prior experience, maturation rates and learning styles that young children bring to the classroom;
(5) A requirement that the curriculum be designed to build on what children already know in order to consolidate their learning and foster their acquisition of new concepts and skills;
(6) A requirement that the curriculum meet the recognized standards of the relevant subject matter disciplines;
(7) A requirement that the curriculum engage children actively in the learning process and provide them with opportunities to make meaningful choices;
(8) A requirement that the curriculum emphasize the development of thinking, reasoning, decision-making and problem-solving skills;
(9) A set of clear guidelines for communicating with parents and involving them in decisions about the instructional needs of their children; and
(10) A systematic plan for evaluating program success in meeting the needs of young children and for helping them to be ready to succeed in school.
(s) (t) On or before the second day of January, two thousand four Annually, the secretary and the state superintendent shall submit a report to the Legislative Oversight commission on education accountability and the Joint Committee on Government and Finance which address addresses, at a minimum, the following issues:
(1) A summary of the approved county plans for providing the early childhood education programs pursuant to this section;
(2) An analysis of the total cost to the state and counties county boards of implementing the plans;
(3) A separate analysis of the impact of the plans on counties with increasing enrollment; and
(4) An analysis of the effect of the programs on the maximization of the use of federal funds for early childhood programs and the impact on both public and private early childhood programs and funding.
The intent of this subsection is to enable the Legislature to proceed in a fiscally responsible manner, make any program improvements as may be necessary based on reported information prior to implementation of the early childhood education programs and to monitor the progress with which county boards are using existing community-based programs to provide the early childhood education services.
(u) A community-based program providing early childhood education services shall provide notice to the county board it is under contract with to provide those services at least one year in advance of ceasing to provide those services. If a community-based program fails to provide the one year advance notice, the community-based program may not enter into a contract to provide the early childhood education services and the community-based program shall not be included in the fifty percent collaboration calculation for three full school years after the community-based program ceases to provide the early childhood education services.
(v) For any community-based program that originally chooses not to provide early childhood education services and subsequently chooses to provide the services:
(1) Subject to subdivision (2) of this subsection, the classrooms of that community-based program shall not be included in the fifty percent collaboration calculation for one full school year after the community-based program provides notice to the county board of its intent to provide early childhood education services.
(2) If the county board has invested resources in the opening of classrooms in reliance on the community-based program's initial choice not to provide the early childhood education services and the county board would not be able to comply with the fifty percent collaboration requirement by full implementation without losing its prior investments in the opening of the classrooms if the classrooms of the community-based program were included, the classrooms of the community-based program shall not be included in the fifty percent collaboration calculation until enrollment increases are sufficient to allow the classrooms to be included without causing the county board to lose its prior investments in the opening of the classrooms.
(w) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, the requirement that a county board submit its plan annually to the state superintendent and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources annually may be waived for one or two years under the following conditions:
(1) Both the county board and the community-based programs must request the waiver for either one or two years; and
(2) Both the state superintendent and the secretary must make a finding at the time plan approval that the county board is making a good faith effort to meet the fifty percent collaboration requirement and that the county board is compensating all of the community-based programs an appropriate amount.
CHAPTER 49. CHILD WELFARE.

ARTICLE 2E. QUALITY RATING AND IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM.
§49-2E-1. Findings; purpose; and intent.
(a) The Legislature finds that:
(1) The Partners Implementing an Early Care and Education System (PIECES) Council found that a childcare quality rating and improvement system should be a top priority;
(2) The West Virginia KIDS COUNT Fund also is advocating for the creation of a quality rating and improvement system;
(3) According to a report prepared by the Center for Business and Economic Research at Marshall University in 2005, for every dollar the state invests in high quality early childhood development, an estimated rate of return of $5.20 in benefits can be expected;
(4) Only eight percent of the child care programs in West Virginia have national accreditation which is the gold standard of quality for child care programs;
(5) West Virginia is only one of eight states that does not have a quality rating and improvement system; and
(6) Longitudinal research indicates that high-quality child care programs result in:
(A) Fewer special education placements;
(B) Reduced crime;
(C) Decreased substance abuse;
(D) Improved educational outcomes;
(E) Higher test scores and graduation rates;
(F) Decreased teen pregnancy; and
(G) Higher employment and college attendance.
(7) A study of the cost of implementing a quality rating and improvement system statewide is expected to be conducted over the next couple of years.
(b) The purpose of this legislation is to create a quality rating and improvement system in West Virginia that will serve two primary purposes:
(1) Parents would have information about the quality of child care programs to make good decisions about the placement of their children; and
(2) Child-care programs would have an incentive and resources to improve quality.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to:
(1) Allow for the creation of a quality rating and improvement system as a pilot project in three counties while a study of the cost of implementing a statewide system is conducted; and
(2) Create a statewide quality rating and improvement system to be effective July 1, 2011.
§49-2E-2. Quality rating and improvement system pilot projects.
The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources may propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement a quality rating and improvement system in up to five counties as pilot projects. The pilot quality rating and improvement systems shall be in accordance with the provisions of this article for the statewide system to the extent applicable to pilot systems.
§49-2E-3. Creation of statewide quality rating and improvement system.

(a) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement a quality rating and improvement system statewide pursuant to this article beginning on July 1, 2011, subject to subsection (b) of this section.
(b) If insufficient funds are appropriated for full implementation of the quality rating and improvement system beginning on July 1, 2011, the rules shall provide for gradual implementation over a period of several years.
§49-2E-4. Program standards.
(a) Different sets of standards shall be developed for family child care homes, family child care facilities and child care centers.
(b) The system shall consist of four levels of quality.
(c) The standards for achieving the first level shall be the basic state licensing requirements.
(d) Participation beyond the first level shall be voluntary.
(e) Child-care centers shall not be rated at the second level unless it has a regular license.
(f) Family child care homes shall not be rated at the second level unless they have been registered with the state for at least six months.
(g) A child care center shall not be rated at the fourth level unless it achieves national accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children or other equivalent accreditations and has received an overall score of five on an evaluation using environmental rating scales.
(h) A Family child care home shall not be rated at the fourth level unless it achieves national accreditation by the National Association for Family Child Care plus additional standards to be set forth in the rule required by sections two or three of this article, as applicable.
(i) Program standards shall be categorized using the West Virginia State Training and Registry System Core Knowledge Areas.
(j) Standards required for the lower level shall be included in the standards required to reach the next level.
(k) Any program currently accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children or the National Association for Family Child Care, as applicable, shall automatically have level four status initially, but lose their level four status at the time of their next National Association for the Education of Young Children or National Association for Family Child Care visit unless it meets all the standards of the first three levels by the time of that visit.
(l) School-age child care programs shall be eligible to participate in the system after promulgation of school-age child care rules.
(m) The rules required pursuant to sections two and three of this article shall include policies relating to the review, reduction, suspension or disqualification of child care programs from the quality rating and improvement system.
§49-2E-5. Accountability measures.
(a) On-site inspections shall be conducted at least annually to determine whether programs are rated correctly and continue to meet the appropriate standards.
(b) Environmental rating scales for early childhood, infant, toddler, school-age care and facility child care shall be used in accordance with the following:
(1) Family child care homes shall be evaluated using the Family child care environmental rating scales;
(2) Child-care centers shall be evaluated using the Infant and Toddler, Early Childhood or School-Age Environmental Rating Scales, as appropriate, based on their enrollment;
(3) Family child care facilities shall be evaluated using the most appropriate method based on their enrollment;
(4) Programs rated at level two shall do annual self-assessments using the proper environmental rating scale;
(5) Environmental rating scale evaluations shall be conducted by reliable evaluators for centers rated at levels three and four annually and a program improvement plan designed to improve the environmental rating score would be developed for those centers;
(6) Except for making an environmental rating scale score of five a condition of level four status, a certain environmental rating scale score shall not be required so that the focus would be on continuous quality improvement rather than obtaining a certain score; and
(7) Evaluations shall be conducted on fifty percent of center classrooms, with a minimum of one class per age group.
§49-2E-6. Practitioner and outreach support.
(a) Technical assistance staff shall have a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood/Child Development or related field with a classification of social service research assistant.
(b) Technical assistance staff shall be responsible for career advising, accreditation support services, improvement planning, portfolio development and environmental rating scale evaluations for improvement planning only.
(c) Professional development shall be provided to the staff of child care programs in accordance with the rule required pursuant to section two or section three, as applicable.
(d) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall create a position within the department for the purpose of collaborating with other professional development providers to maximize funding for training, scholarships and professional development.
(e) Each of the six child care resource and referral agencies shall employ an additional infant and toddler specialists to deliver a fifty-hour training course for staff caring for infants, to provide on-site assistance with infant and toddler issues and provide higher level training.
(f) Community colleges are encouraged to provide courses through nontraditional means such as online training, evening classes and off campus training.
(g) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall purchase new training programs on topics such as business management, the Devereux Resiliency Training, and Mind in the Making, as well as provide training on the environmental rating scales.
(h) Each of the child care resource and referral agencies shall employ at least one additional training specialists to support new training topics and to provide training for school-age child care programs.
§49-2E-7. Parent education and public awareness.
(a) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall implement communication strategies to educate parents. The communication strategies may include brochures, Internet sites, posters, banners, certificates, decals and pins.
(b) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall conduct a broad public awareness campaign that may include strategies such as earned media campaigns, paid advertising campaigns, e-mail and Internet-based outreach, face-to-face communication with key civic groups and grassroots organizing techniques.
§49-2E-8. Financial incentives.
(a) Wage supports and benefits shall be provided as an incentive to increase child care programs ratings and as an incentive to increase staff qualifications in accordance with the following:
(1) The cost of salary supplements would be phased in over a five-year period;
(2) The West Virginia Early Childhood Training Connections and Resources at River Valley Child Development services shall create an additional position to support the increase in wages;
(3) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall establish a salary scale for each of the top three rating levels that varies the salary support based on the education of the care giver and the rating level of the program;
(4) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall promote the provision of health care benefits for all staff in level two or above programs that are either participating in the scholarship component or who have attained the Apprenticeship for Child Development Specialist credential or a higher level on the career ladder. The secretary shall use the Teacher Education and Compensation Helps model in the provision of the health care benefits;
(5) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall establish base salary rates at the seventy-fifth percentile of market rate; and
(6) A system of tiered reimbursement shall be established which increases the salary rates of staff by a certain amount above the base salary rates for rating level of the child care program.
(b) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall provide scholarships and establish professional development plans that would promote increasing the credentials of center staff over a five-year period to the following levels:
(1) Directors of small centers with up to thirty children would obtain the Apprenticeship for Child Development Specialist credential;
(2) Directors of medium centers with between thirty-one and sixty children would obtain an Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood/Child Development;
(3) Directors of large centers with sixty-one or more children would obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood/Child Development or business degree with eighteen to twenty-four hours of Early Childhood/Child Development credits;
(4) Fifty percent of Teachers and Lead Teachers would obtain an Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood/Child Development and twenty-five percent will be working toward a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood/Child Development; and
(5) Fifty percent of assistant teachers would work toward an Apprenticeship for Child Development Specialist credential.
(c) Two types of grants shall be awarded to child care programs in accordance with the following:
(1) An incentive grant shall be awarded based on the type of child care program and the level at which the child care program is rated with the types of child care programs having more children and child care programs rated at higher levels being awarded a larger grant than the types of child care programs having less children and child care programs rated at lower levels; and
(2) Grants for helping with the cost of national accreditation shall be awarded to child care centers on an equitable basis. The amount of the grants shall be based on the amount of funding available.
§49-2E-9. Other related components for enhancing early care.
(a) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall establish an Internet-based management information system that meets the following requirements:
(1) The system shall allow for multiple agencies to access and input data;
(2) The system shall provide the data necessary to determine if the quality enhancements result in improved care and better outcomes for children;
(3) The system shall allow access by Department of Health and Human Resources subsidy and licensing staff, child care resource and referral agencies, the agencies that provide training and scholarships, evaluators and the child care programs;
(4) The system shall include different security levels in order to comply with the numerous confidentiality requirements;
(5) The system shall assist in informing practice; determining training needs; and tracking changes in availability of care, cost of care, changes in wages and education levels; and
(6) The system shall provide accountability for child care programs and recipients and assure funds are being used effectively.
(b) Since increasing the quality of child care will drive up market prices, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall provide financial assistance to the child care consumers whose income is at two hundred percent of the federal poverty level or under.
(c) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources shall conduct an ongoing evaluation of the quality rating and improvement system by contracting with a state research partner to work with the Partners Implementing an Early Care and Education System and the Department of Health and Human Resources to establish viable measures. The state research partner shall have access to data in the management information system created pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. The secretary shall establish a baseline evaluation of the current level of quality. The state research partner shall assist in establishing a reliable sample of programs for environmental rating scale evaluations to develop a base line which would be tracked by the management information system. Child-care programs at level three status shall undergo annual assessments using the environmental rating scale so that ongoing tracking of improvements is possible.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to codify parts of State Board Policy 2525; require county collaborative plans to be submitted annually; add required elements to the county collaborative plans; establish a review board to receive complaints from community-based programs; address changes to an approved county collaborative plan; address the prohibition against enrolling students less than four years of age; involve the Secretary of Health and Human Resources in preparing a rule for the State Board of Education to consider; address community-based providers ceasing to provide early childhood education services and electing to provide those services after initially electing not to; establish a process for waiving the annual county collaborative plan submission and approval requirement; authorize the creation of quality rating and improvement system pilot projects; require the creation of a statewide quality rating and improvement system beginning July 1, 2011; allow gradual implementation if insufficient funds are available on July 1, 2011; and set forth the components of the quality rating and improvement system and other related provisions.

§49-2E-1, §49-2E-2, §49-2E-3, §49-2E-4, §49-2E-5, §49-2E-6, §49-2E-7, §49-2E-8 and §49-2E-9 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.
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