SECOND REGULAR SESSION
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE FRANZ.
Pre-filed January 3, 2008 and copies ordered printed.
D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 210, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to a quality rating system for child care facilities.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 210, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 210.205, to read as follows:
210.205. 1. By September 1, 2008, the department of social services in collaboration with the departments of health and senior services, elementary and secondary education, and mental health shall develop a quality rating system for early childhood and before- and after-school programs licensed by the department of health and senior services that operate in this state. Such ratings shall be built upon Missouri's current system of licensing and regulation. The base level of the rating system shall be licensing, and the highest level of the rating system shall include accreditation by a state or nationally recognized accrediting agency. The department of social services shall utilize the model from the existing Missouri quality rating system pilots developed by the University of Missouri Center for Family Policy and Research, or any successor organization, to establish this system.
2. The quality rating system shall:
(1) Provide information for consumers and parents to evaluate and select high quality programs;
(2) Create an accountability system for policymakers and those who fund early childhood and before- and after-school programs;
(3) Guide providers through a system of ever increasing levels of quality with specific outcomes.
3. By July 1, 2011, all licensed facilities receiving quality improvement funds or services shall be rated using the quality rating system established under this section. The coordinating board for early childhood, established under section 210.102, shall develop a plan for a tiered system of reimbursement for child care subsidies based on the quality rating system established under this section. The plan shall be submitted to the general assembly with recommendations for implementation of the reimbursement system, to begin July 1, 2010.
4. There is hereby created in the state treasury the "Quality Rating System Program Improvement Grant Fund". Within this fund there is created a first sub-account which shall consist of all gifts, donations, transfers, and bequests to the fund. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080, RSMo, to the contrary, any moneys remaining in this first sub-account shall not revert to the credit of the general revenue fund. There is also created a second sub-account consisting of moneys appropriated by the general assembly. Any moneys remaining in this second sub-account shall at the end of the biennium revert to the credit of the general revenue fund. The state treasurer shall be custodian of the fund and may approve disbursements from the fund in accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180, RSMo. Upon appropriation, money in the fund shall be used solely for the administration of this section to provide grants directly to licensed providers seeking assistance for quality improvements to undergo evaluation under the quality rating system established under this section or to community-based organizations assisting providers with such improvements. The fund shall be administered by the department of social services. The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as other funds are invested. Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be credited to the fund.
5. The department of social services in collaboration with the departments of health and senior services and elementary and secondary education shall be responsible for:
(1) Collecting and distributing resource materials to educate the public and early childhood and before- and after-school programs in Missouri about the quality rating system established under this section;
(2) Developing and distributing educational materials, including but not limited to brochures and other media as part of a comprehensive public relations campaign about the useful and informational system of assessing the quality of child care and early childhood programs in Missouri; and
(3) A site to post ratings of the quality rating system on the Internet in a format easily understood and accessible by the public by January 1, 2010.
6. The department of social services shall promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2008, shall be invalid and void.
7. For purposes of this section, "early childhood program" shall mean programs that are both centered and home-based and providing services for children from birth to kindergarten.
8. Pursuant to section 23.253, RSMo, of the Missouri sunset act:
(1) The provisions of the new program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset six years after the effective date of this section unless reauthorized by an act of the general assembly; and
(2) If such program is reauthorized, the program authorized under this section shall automatically sunset six years after the effective date of the reauthorization of this section; and
(3) This section shall terminate on September first of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the program authorized under this section is sunset.
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