Bill Text: IL HB4728 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Department of Human Services Act. Requires the Department of Human Services to implement a Child Care Collaboration Program by no later than July 1, 2024 to facilitate high quality collaborative programming between child care and other early care and education providers and funding streams in order to increase, through collaboration, the quality and quantity of early care and education for families in Illinois who are eligible to receive child care assistance under the Department's Child Care Assistance Program. Provides that to be eligible to participate in the Child Care Collaboration Program a provider must meet certain eligibility requirements, including: (i) be a profit or nonprofit early childhood center or licensed family child care home; (ii) receive or be eligible to receive child care assistance funding; and (iii) be a part of an existing or pending collaborative arrangement with a Head Start or Early Head Start Program or with a pre-kindergarten program funded by the Illinois State Board of Education through the Early Childhood Block Grant. Sets forth approvable models of collaboration and application requirements for providers seeking approval of their existing or proposed child care collaboration program. Provides that each eligible provider that receives Department approval of its existing or proposed child care collaboration program shall receive an annual contract from the Department that allows for the advance payment of child care services at a rate that is based on the license capacity of the program. Provides that a family's eligibility for collaboration services under the approved child care collaboration program shall be determined in accordance with all current child care rules, with certain exceptions, including, but not limited to: (1) a family's eligibility period for collaboration services shall be up to 36 months to coincide with the family's eligibility for a Head Start or Early Head Start Program or an early childhood or preschool program funded through the Early Childhood Block Grant; and (2) no child care co-payments shall be assigned or collected from the family. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-19 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4728 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4728-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4728 Introduced , by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
20 ILCS 1305/1-90 new
Amends the Department of Human Services Act. Requires the Department of Human Services to implement a Child Care Collaboration Program by no later than July 1, 2024 to facilitate high quality collaborative programming between child care and other early care and education providers and funding streams in order to increase, through collaboration, the quality and quantity of early care and education for families in Illinois who are eligible to receive child care assistance under the Department's Child Care Assistance Program. Provides that to be eligible to participate in the Child Care Collaboration Program a provider must meet certain eligibility requirements, including: (i) be a profit or nonprofit early childhood center or licensed family child care home; (ii) receive or be eligible to receive child care assistance funding; and (iii) be a part of an existing or pending collaborative arrangement with a Head Start or Early Head Start Program or with a pre-kindergarten program funded by the Illinois State Board of Education through the Early Childhood Block Grant. Sets forth approvable models of collaboration and application requirements for providers seeking approval of their existing or proposed child care collaboration program. Provides that each eligible provider that receives Department approval of its existing or proposed child care collaboration program shall receive an annual contract from the Department that allows for the advance payment of child care services at a rate that is based on the license capacity of the program. Provides that a family's eligibility for collaboration services under the approved child care collaboration program shall be determined in accordance with all current child care rules, with certain exceptions, including, but not limited to: (1) a family's eligibility period for collaboration services shall be up to 36 months to coincide with the family's eligibility for a Head Start or Early Head Start Program or an early childhood or preschool program funded through the Early Childhood Block Grant; and (2) no child care co-payments shall be assigned or collected from the family. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning State government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Department of Human Services Act is amended
by adding Section 1-90 as follows:
(20 ILCS 1305/1-90 new)
Sec. 1-90. Child Care Collaboration Program.
(a) As used in this Section:
"Child care collaboration" means any braiding of Illinois
child care subsidy funds or programs with other early
childhood funds or programs to create higher quality full day,
full year services for eligible families with young children.
"License capacity" means the maximum number of day care
children under the age of 6 permitted in the facility at any
one time.
(b) The Department shall implement a Child Care
Collaboration Program by no later than July 1, 2024 to
facilitate high quality collaborative programming between
child care and other early care and education providers and
funding streams in order to increase, through collaboration,
the quality and quantity of early care and education for
families in Illinois who are eligible to receive child care
assistance under the Department's Child Care Assistance

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Program. To be eligible to participate in the Child Care
Collaboration Program a provider must:
(1) be a profit or nonprofit early childhood center or
licensed family child care home;
(2) receive or be eligible to receive child care
funding under the Department's Child Care Assistance
Program through a child care contract or a child care
certificate;
(3) be a part of an existing or pending collaborative
arrangement with a Head Start or Early Head Start Program
or with a Preschool for All Program, Preschool for All
Expansion Program, or Prevention Initiative program funded
by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) through
the Early Childhood Block Grant as authorized under
Section 1C-2 of the School Code;
(4) serve children under the collaborative arrangement
in one location for their full day of care; and
(5) use child care subsidy funds braided with other
early childhood funds to cover day services not just
auxiliary services such as parental training services.
(c) Approvable models of collaboration include the
following:
(1) Two or more center-based agencies. Collaborative
arrangements between child care and Head Start or ISBE
pre-kindergarten centers in which services are provided
and children receive their care in one location.

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(2) Early childhood providers and family child care
homes or networks. Collaborative arrangements between
child care and Head Start or ISBE pre-kindergarten
programs using family child care homes or home networks in
which services are provided and children receive their
care in one location.
(3) One early childhood provider, 2 types of funding.
Child care and Head Start or ISBE pre-kindergarten
programs that receive the other type of funding to provide
services and children receive their care in one location.
(4) Use of child care certificates. Collaborative
arrangements in which Head Start or ISBE pre-kindergarten
programs use the child care certificate system in which
services are provided and children receive their care in
one location.
(d) To obtain Department approval of its existing or
proposed child care collaboration program, a provider must
submit an application as prescribed by the Department and
provide the following information:
(1) Program enhancements. A detailed explanation of
how the collaboration improves or will improve the quality
of early care and education under the existing or proposed
child care collaboration program, including, but not
limited to, improvements in staffing patterns and
qualifications, enhanced curriculum and educational
experiences, outcomes for children, comprehensive services

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and family engagement, and compliance with additional
quality standards, such as Head Start Program Performance
Standards, Illinois Early Learning and Development
Standards, National Early Childhood Program Accreditation,
NAEYC Early Learning Program Accreditation Standards and
Assessment Items, or ExceleRate Illinois. A description of
any unique features of the collaboration and a clear
explanation on how program enhancements are a direct
result of the collaboration.
(2) Continuity of care. A description of how the
schedule of care in the collaboration model enhances
services to families, including how the hours of care and
days of the week are determined. A description of how
children served by the collaboration program are ensured
stability and continuity of care, both in location and
staffing.
(3) Community collaboration. A detailed explanation of
how the collaboration is coordinated with the local early
childhood community, including, but not limited to,
service referrals, communication or information sharing,
shared training, and shared resources. A description of
how the collaboration is based on a community assessment,
the community assessment process used, the need for child
care slots in the community, the availability of other
services, and how the collaboration coordinates, rather
than competes, with other providers.

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(4) Service information. A brief description of the
provider's total operations, including, but not limited
to, locations, overall number of classrooms or homes, and
all other programs the provider operates.
(5) Organizational capacity. A brief description on
how long the provider or child care collaboration program
has been in operation, the provider's previous work with
partners, the provider's recordkeeping, reporting, and
monitoring systems, and the provider's plan for continuous
quality improvement.
(e) Each eligible provider that receives Department
approval of its existing or proposed child care collaboration
program shall receive an annual contract from the Department
that allows for the advance payment of child care services at a
rate that is based on the license capacity of the existing or
proposed program.
(f) If the conditions of provider eligibility in
subsection (b) are met and the provider's child care
collaboration program is approved by the Department, a
family's eligibility for collaboration services under the
approved program shall be determined in accordance with all
current child care rules under 89 Ill. Adm. Code 50.230 and
50.235, with the following exceptions:
(1) a family's eligibility period for collaboration
services shall be up to 36 months to coincide with the
family's eligibility for a Head Start or Early Head Start

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Program or an early childhood or preschool program funded
through the Early Childhood Block Grant;
(2) all eligible children shall receive a full day of
care and collaboration services regardless of whether the
child's parent or other responsible adult is employed on a
full-time or part-time basis;
(3) no child care co-payments shall be assigned or
collected from the family; and
(4) a family may meet the training and education
activity requirement for child care assistance after
enrolling in a Head Start, Early Head Start, or ISBE
pre-kindergarten program and participating in any training
or education activities or services referred to the family
by the Head Start, Early Head Start, or ISBE
pre-kindergarten center, subject to Department approval.