HB 1012

Abstract

Early childhood care and education; licensing. Requires the Board of Education to establish a statewide unified public-private system for early childhood care and education in the Commonwealth to be administered by the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Department of Education. The bill transfers the authority to license and regulate child day programs and other early child care agencies from the Board of Social Services and Department of Social Services to the Board of Education and Department of Education. The bill maintains current licensure, background check, and other requirements of such programs. Such provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. The bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a plan for implementing the statewide unified early childhood care and education system and requires the Department of Social Services and the Department of Education to enter into a cooperative agreement to coordinate the transition. The bill also requires the Board of Education to establish, no later than July 1, 2021, a uniform quality rating and improvement system designed to provide parents and families with information about the quality and availability of certain publicly funded early childhood care and education providers and to publish the initial quality ratings under such system in the fall of 2023. This bill is identical to SB 578.

Early childhood care and education; licensing.Requires the Board of Education to establish a statewide unifiedpublic-private system for early childhood care and education in theCommonwealth to be administered by the Board of Education, the Superintendentof Public Instruction, and the Department of Education. The billtransfers the authority to license and regulate child day programsand other early child care agencies from the Board of Social Servicesand Department of Social Services to the Board of Education and Departmentof Education. The bill maintains current licensure, background check,and other requirements of such programs. Such provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021. The bill requiresthe Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a plan forimplementing the statewide unified early childhood care and educationsystem and requires the Department of Social Services and the Departmentof Education to enter into a cooperative agreement to coordinatethe transition. The bill also requires the Board of Education to establish,no later than July 1, 2021, a uniform quality rating and improvementsystem designed to provide parents and families with informationabout the quality and availability of certain publicly funded earlychildhood care and education providers and to publish the initialquality ratings under such system in the fall of 2022.