093_SB0373

 
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 1        AN ACT concerning child 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 adding Section 34.13 as follows:

 6        (20 ILCS 505/34.13 new)
 7        Sec. 34.13.  Child Care Partnership Program.
 8        (a)  Legislative  findings.   The  General Assembly finds
 9    that when private employers provide  on-site  child  care  or
10    provide  other  child care benefits, they benefit by improved
11    recruitment and higher retention rates for  employees,  lower
12    absenteeism,  and  improved  employee  morale.   The  General
13    Assembly also finds that there are many ways in which private
14    employers  can  provide  child  care assistance to employees:
15    information and referral, vouchering,  employer  contribution
16    to  child care programs, and on-site care.  Private employers
17    can offer child care as part of a menu of employee  benefits.
18    The  General  Assembly  recognizes that flexible compensation
19    programs providing a child care option are beneficial to  the
20    private  employer  through  increased  productivity,  to  the
21    private  employee  in  knowing  that  his or her children are
22    being cared for in a safe and nurturing environment,  and  to
23    the  State  in  more  dollars  being available for purchasing
24    power and investment.
25        It is the intent  of  the  General  Assembly  to  promote
26    public-private  partnerships  to  ensure that the children of
27    the State be provided safe and enriching child  care  at  any
28    time,   but   especially   while   parents   work  to  remain
29    self-sufficient.  It is the intent of  the  General  Assembly
30    that  private  employers  be encouraged to participate in the
31    future  of  this  State  by  providing  employee  child  care
 
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 1    benefits. Further, it is the intent of the  General  Assembly
 2    to  encourage private employers to explore innovative ways to
 3    assist employees to obtain quality child care.
 4        The General Assembly further recognizes that many parents
 5    need assistance in paying the full  costs  of  quality  child
 6    care.    The  public  and  private  sectors,  by  working  in
 7    partnership, can promote and improve access to quality  child
 8    care and early education for children of working families who
 9    need  it.  Therefore, a more formal mechanism is necessary to
10    stimulate the establishment of  public-private  partnerships.
11    It  is  the  intent  of  the  General  Assembly to expand the
12    availability of scholarship options for working  families  by
13    providing  incentives  for employers to contribute to meeting
14    the needs  of  their  employees'  families  through  matching
15    public dollars available for child care.
16        (b)  There  is  created  the  the  Child  Care  Executive
17    Partnership   to   establish   and   govern  the  Child  Care
18    Partnership  Program.   The  purpose  of   the   Child   Care
19    Partnership  Program  is  to  use  State and federal funds as
20    incentives  for  matching  local  funds  derived  from  local
21    governments, employers,  charitable  foundations,  and  other
22    sources,  so  that  Illinois  communities  may  create  local
23    flexible   partnerships   with  employers.   The  Child  Care
24    Partnership Program funds shall be used at the discretion  of
25    local  communities  to meet the needs of local communities in
26    addressing the child care needs of working parents.  A  child
27    care  purchasing pool shall be developed with State, federal,
28    and local funds to provide subsidies  to  low-income  working
29    parents  who  are  eligible  for subsidized child care with a
30    dollar-for-dollar match from employers, local government, and
31    other matching contributors.  The funds used from  the  child
32    care purchasing pool must be used to supplement or extend the
33    use  of  existing public or private funds and may not be used
34    to supplant the maintenance of effort  presently  exerted  by
 
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 1    the employer or other participant in the activity funded.
 2        (c)  The Child Care Executive Partnership, staffed by the
 3    Department of Human Services, consists of:
 4             (1)  A  representative of the Office of the Governor
 5        who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
 6             (2)  Nine members of the  corporate  or  child  care
 7        community,  appointed by the Governor, to be known as the
 8        "board".  Members of the board shall serve for  a  period
 9        of 4 years.
10             (3)  One  representative  from  each of the 10 Child
11        Care Partnership Program pilot purchasing  pool  counties
12        established by the board, known as the "oversight group".
13        Members  of  the  oversight  group  shall  serve  at  the
14        pleasure of the Governor.
15        The  Child Care Executive Partnership shall be chaired by
16    a member chosen by a majority vote of  the  board  and  shall
17    meet  at  least quarterly and at other times upon the call of
18    the chair.
19        Members shall serve  without  compensation,  but  may  be
20    reimbursed for per diem and travel expenses.
21        (d)  The  Child  Care  Executive  Partnership has all the
22    powers and  authority,  not  explicitly  prohibited  by  law,
23    necessary  to  carry  out and effectuate the purposes of this
24    Section, including, but not limited to, the following:
25             (1)  Assisting in the formulation  and  coordination
26        of the State's child care policy.
27             (2)  Adopting an official seal.
28             (3)  Soliciting,  accepting,  receiving,  investing,
29        and expending funds from public or private sources.
30             (4)  Contracting  with public or private entities as
31        necessary.
32             (5)  Approving an annual budget.
33             (6)  Carrying   forward   any    unexpended    State
34        appropriations  into  succeeding fiscal years, subject to
 
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 1        reappropriations by the General Assembly.
 2             (7)  Providing a report to the Governor, the Speaker
 3        of the House of Representatives, and the President of the
 4        Senate on or before December 1 of each year.
 5        (e)  The  General  Assembly,  by   appropriation,   shall
 6    annually  determine the amount of State or federal low-income
 7    child care moneys that may  be  used  to  create  Child  Care
 8    Partnership  Program  child care purchasing pools in counties
 9    chosen by the board of the Child Care Executive  Partnership.
10    The  General  Assembly  shall review the effectiveness of the
11    child  care  purchasing  pool  program  and  reevaluate   the
12    percentage of additional State or federal funds, if any, that
13    can be used for the program's expansion.
14        To  ensure a seamless service delivery and ease of access
15    for families, the community coordinated child  care  agencies
16    shall administer the child care purchasing pool funds.
17        The  Department  of  Human Services shall issue a request
18    for proposal for  the  operation  of  the  pilot  child  care
19    purchasing  pools.   In order to be considered, the community
20    coordinated child care agency must commit to:
21             (i)  matching the state pilot purchasing pool  funds
22        on a dollar-for-dollar basis; and
23             (ii)  expending  only  those  public  funds that are
24        matched  by  employers,  local  government,   and   other
25        matching   contributors   who  contribute  to  the  pilot
26        purchasing pool.  Parents shall also  pay  a  fee,  based
27        upon the Department's child care fee scale.
28        (f)  Each  community  coordinated child care agency shall
29    be required to establish a community child  care  task  force
30    for  each  pilot  child care purchasing pool.  The task force
31    must be composed of employers, parents,  private  child  care
32    providers,  and  one  representative  each  from the district
33    interagency coordinating council for children's services  and
34    the  local  children's services council, if they exist in the
 
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 1    area of the pilot purchasing pool.  The community coordinated
 2    child care agency is  expected  to  recruit  the  task  force
 3    members  from  existing  child care councils, commissions, or
 4    task  forces  already  operating  in  the  area  of  a  pilot
 5    purchasing pool.  A majority of the task force shall  consist
 6    of  employers.   Each task force shall develop a plan for the
 7    use of child care purchasing pool funds.  The plan must  show
 8    how  many  children  will  be  served by the pilot purchasing
 9    pool, how many will be new to receiving child care  services,
10    and  how  the community coordinated child care agency intends
11    to attract new employers and their  employees  to  the  pilot
12    project.
13        (g)  The  Department  of  Human  Services shall adopt any
14    rules necessary for the implementation and administration  of
15    this Section.