HB 2465 -- Quality Early Childhood Care

Sponsor:  Oxford

This bill provides outreach services, educational training for
child care professionals, and subsidies for early childhood
programs.  In its main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Requires school districts with less than 50% participation
in the Parents as Teachers Program that provide outreach services
for the program to be given grant funding for their outreach
services, subject to appropriations, with priority given to
districts that target families with incomes below 200% of the
federal poverty level;

(2)  Requires all licensed child care providers that serve
families receiving child care subsidy assistance to be reimbursed
at the current market rates for child care services as
established by the biennial state market rate survey conducted by
the Department of Social Services pursuant to federal guidelines
by July 1, 2012;

(3)  Requires the Children's Division within the department to
establish rules by July 1, 2009, to modify the income eligibility
criteria for families that have incomes less than 200% of the
federal poverty level to be eligible to receive child care
subsidy assistance so that their child care providers will
receive benefits through vouchers or direct reimbursement,
subject to appropriations.  The benefits paid to the providers
will be on a sliding scale based on family size and income but
may be waived for a family with a child with special needs.
Families with incomes between 200% and 225% of the federal
poverty level will be eligible to receive child care subsidy
benefits in accordance to a benefit scale established by the
division.  Families with incomes greater than 225% of the federal
poverty level will not be eligible to receive child care subsidy
benefits.  The division must establish a waiting list and rules
for the prioritization of all eligible families when there is
insufficient funding for all eligible families; and

(4)  Requires the department to offer grants annually for up to
250 child care professionals through the Teacher Education and
Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H.) Early Childhood MISSOURI
Scholarship Program and the Workforce Incentive Initiative to
improve the quality of early childhood programs by increasing the
skill level of child care professionals and by reducing workforce
turnover.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:12 pm