COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 498
(By Senators Plymale, Prezioso, Kessler, Wells, Foster, Jenkins,
Stollings and Unger)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported March 27, 2009.]
____________
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, §49-2E-9 and
§49-2E-10, 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 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 applicable
to certain child care providers; findings, purpose and intent;
Secretary of Department of Health and Human Resources rules;
pilot projects; quality rating and improvement system advisory
council; statewide implementation; potential gradual
implementation; components of quality rating and improvement
system; conditioning requirements on legislative appropriation
or other funding; program standards; tiers of quality; review,
reduction, suspension or disqualification; accountability
measures; evaluations; practitioner and outreach support;
parent education and public awareness; financial incentives;
wage supports and benefits; subsidizing for services to low-
income families; 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, §49-2E-9 and §49-
2E-10, 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 or a
family child care home registered with 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 for 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 Any other items
as the state board
may require
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), inclusive, of this section; and
(3) (4) If the 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 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 include at a minimum:
(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 A county board may
not 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 shall 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
shall board may 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 the 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 Any 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
necessary
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
request the waiver for either one or two years; and
(2) Both the state superintendent and the secretary make a
finding at the time for 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 in 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 one of only 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 up to five 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.
(a) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Resources may promulgate emergency rules 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 beginning July 1, 2009. The quality
rating and improvement system shall be applicable to licensed child
care centers and facilities and registered family child care homes.
(b) The pilot quality rating and improvement systems shall be
in accordance with the provisions of this article for the statewide
system and in accordance with the policies and procedures proposed
by the Partners Implementing an Early Care and Education System
Advisory Council report on Building a Child Care Quality Rating and
Improvement System for West Virginia to the extent those policies
and procedures are not in conflict with this article. The
secretary may modify and develop additional policies consistent
with this article as appropriate.
(c) The secretary shall create a quality rating and
improvement system advisory council as a subcommittee of the
Partners Implementing an Early Care and Education Advisory Council
to provide input into the selection of pilot counties and the
development of policies not inconsistent with the provisions of
this article. The secretary shall facilitate meetings of the
advisory council. The advisory council shall include
representatives from the provider community, advocacy groups, the
Legislature, providers of professional development services for the
early childhood community, regulatory agencies and others who may
be impacted by the creation of a quality rating and improvement system.
§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. The
secretary shall collaborate with community and statewide partners
and the Quality Rating and Improvement System Advisory Council
established pursuant to section two of this article in developing
the rules. The quality rating and improvement system shall be
applicable to licensed child care centers and facilities and
registered family child care homes. If other types of child care
settings such as school-age child care programs become licensed
after the implementation of a statewide quality rating and
improvement system, the secretary may develop quality criteria and
incentives that will allow the other types of child care settings
to participate in the quality rating and improvement system.
(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. Quality rating and improvement system components; all
requirements subject to legislative appropriation or
the availability of other funding.
(a) The components of a quality rating and improvement system
include the following:
(1) Program standards, the requirements for which are set
forth in section five of this article;
(2) Accountability measures, the requirements for which are
set forth in section six of this article;
(3) Practitioner outreach and support, the requirements for
which are set forth in section seven of this article;
(4) Parent education and public awareness, the requirements
for which are set forth in section eight of this article; and
(5) Financial incentives, the requirements for which are set
forth in section nine of this article.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the
contrary, all requirements in this article are subject to
legislative appropriation or the availability of other funding.
(c) The Legislature recognizes that expenditures, especially
one time types of expenditures or expenditures of a limited
duration, may be funded with moneys derived through the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
§49-2E-5. Program standards.
(a) The rating system shall consist of four tiers of quality standards. For the purposes of this article, "tier" means level
and refers to the level of quality standards met. To communicate
the level of quality to parents and consumers, a star symbol shall
be used.
(b) Standards shall be developed for registered family child
care homes and all licensed programs, including family child care
facilities and child care centers.
(c) The standards for achieving the first tier shall be the
basic state licensing requirements.
(d) Participation beyond the first tier is voluntary.
(e) A child care center shall not be rated at the fourth tier
unless it achieves national accreditation through the National
Association for the Education of Young Children or other equivalent
accreditations.
(f) A Family child care home shall not be rated at the fourth
tier unless it achieves national accreditation by the National
Association for Family Child Care or other equivalent
accreditations, plus additional standards to be set forth in the
rule required by section two or three of this article, as
applicable.
(g) Program standards shall be categorized using the West
Virginia State Training and Registry System Core Knowledge Areas or
its equivalent.
(h) Programs shall meet standards required for the lower tier before advancing to the next tier.
(i) 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 tier four status initially, but lose its tier
four status at the time of its next National Association for the
Education of Young Children or National Association for Family
Child Care re-accreditation visit unless it meets all the standards
of the first three tiers by the time of that visit.
(j) 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-6. Accountability measures.
(a) Accountability measures shall be established that provide
for a fair, valid, accurate and reliable assessment of compliance
with quality standards.
(b) On-site inspections shall be conducted at least annually
to determine whether programs are rated correctly and continue to
meet the appropriate standards.
(c) Valid and reliable observation and assessment tools, such
as environmental rating scales for early childhood, infant and
toddler, school-age care and family child care shall be used as
appropriate for the particular setting and age group.
(d) Programs rated at tier two shall do annual
self-assessments using the proper observation and assessment tool;
(e) Evaluations shall be conducted annually by reliable
evaluators for participating programs rated at tiers three and four
and a program improvement plan shall be designed to improve the
assessment results;
(f) Evaluations/observations shall be conducted on a
statistically valid percentage of center classrooms, with a minimum
of one class per age group.
(g) Evaluations shall be conducted by trained evaluators with
appropriate early childhood education and training on the selected
assessment tool and with a demonstrated inter-rater reliability of
eighty-five percent or higher.
(h) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Resources shall employ highly trained evaluators to monitor the
assessment process and ensure inter-rater reliability of eighty-
five percent or higher.
§49-2E-7. Practitioner outreach and support.
(a) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Resources shall ensure that individualized technical assistance is
available to participating programs. The goal is to assist
programs in assessment and individual program improvement planning
and to provide the necessary information, coaching and resources to
assist programs to increase their level of quality.
(b) Technical assistance staff shall be responsible for career
advising, accreditation support services, improvement planning,
portfolio development and evaluations for improvement planning
only.
(c) 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. The person filling this position also
shall encourage community and technical colleges to provide courses
through nontraditional means such as online training, evening
classes and off-campus training.
(d) The secretary shall also employ additional infant and
toddler specialists to provide high level professional development
for staff caring for infants and to provide on-site assistance with
infant and toddler issues.
(e) Training providers such as the child care resource and
referral agencies shall purchase new training programs on topics
such as business management, the Devereux Resiliency Training and
Mind in the Making.
(f) Each of the child care resource and referral agencies
shall employ at least one additional training specialist to support
new training topics and to provide training for school-age child
care programs.
§49-2E-8. 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-9. Financial incentives.
(a) The Legislature finds that:
(1) Financial assistance is vital for helping child care
programs improve learning environments, attain high ratings and
sustain long-term quality without passing additional costs on to
families; and
(2) Increased educational levels for staff, which are
essential to improving the quality of care, cannot be supported
without increased salaries and benefits for staff.
(b) 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 shall be phased in over a
five-year period;
(2) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Resources shall establish a salary scale for each of the top three
rating tiers that varies the salary support based on the education
of the care giver and the rating tier of the program;
(3) Any center with at least a tier two rating that employs at
least one staff person participating in the scholarship program
required pursuant to subsection (d) of this section or employs
degree staff may apply to the Secretary of the Department of Health
and Human Resources for funding to provide health care benefits
based on the Teacher Education and Compensation Helps model in
which insurance costs are shared among the employees, the employer
and the state;
(c) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Resources shall subsidize participating programs for providing
child care services to children of low-income families in
accordance with the following:
(1) Base payment rates shall be established at the seventy-
fifth percentile of market rate; and
(2) A system of tiered reimbursement shall be established
which increases the payment rates by a certain amount above the
base payment rates in accordance with the rating tier of the child
care program.
(d) 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.
(e) 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 tiers being awarded a
larger grant than the types of child care programs having less
children and child care programs rated at lower tiers; 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-10. 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 to develop a base line which would be tracked by
the management information system. Child-care programs at tier
three and four status shall undergo annual assessments so that
ongoing tracking of improvements is possible.
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