Bill Text: TX HB62 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to establishing an Office of Early Childhood to coordinate, consolidate and integrate early childhood programs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-23 - Referred to Public Education [HB62 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB62-Introduced.html
By: Talarico | H.B. No. 62 |
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relating to establishing an Office of Early Childhood to | ||
coordinate, consolidate and integrate early childhood programs. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 1001, Health and Safety Code, is amended | ||
by adding Subsection 1001.266 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 1001.266. OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD. (a) There is | ||
hereby established an Office of Early Childhood ("the Office"). | ||
The Office is vested with all powers and duties transferred to it | ||
under this law and such other powers and duties as may be authorized | ||
by law. The Office shall be within the Department of Health and | ||
Human Services for administrative and budget purposes. | ||
(b) The Office of Early Childhood shall be headed by the | ||
Director of Early Childhood who shall be appointed within three | ||
months of the effective date of this Act by a committee composed of | ||
designees for the Governor, the speaker of the house of | ||
representatives, the president of the senate, the minority leader | ||
of the house of representatives and the minority leader of the | ||
senate; if the Committee cannot agree on an appointee, then the | ||
Governor shall make the appointment. | ||
(c) The primary duties of the Office of Early Childhood are | ||
to coordinate and integrate child care, early childhood, and early | ||
care and learning programs in Texas in order to administer programs | ||
and funding as efficiently as possible. The Office's duties shall | ||
include, but are not limited to: | ||
(i) The delivery of services to young children and their | ||
families to ensure optimal health, safety and learning for each | ||
young child; | ||
(ii) Developing and implementing an early childhood | ||
information system. Such early childhood information system shall | ||
facilitate and encourage the sharing of data between and among | ||
early childhood service providers by tracking: | ||
(1) the health, safety and school readiness of all young | ||
children receiving early care and education services from any local | ||
or regional board of education or school readiness program, | ||
(2) the characteristics of the existing and potential | ||
workforce serving such children, and | ||
(3) the characteristics of such programs serving such | ||
children; | ||
(iii) Developing and reporting on the early childhood | ||
accountability plan. Such plan shall: | ||
(1) identify and define appropriate population indicators | ||
and program and system performance measures of the health, safety | ||
and readiness of children to enter kindergarten, and early school | ||
success of children, and shall identify any new or improved data | ||
required for such purposes; and | ||
(2) include aggregate information on the characteristics of | ||
children and programs tracked by the early childhood information | ||
system established by subsection (c, ii) of this act; | ||
(3) the characteristics of such programs serving such | ||
children; | ||
(iv) Implementing a communications strategy for outreach to | ||
families, service providers and policymakers; | ||
(v) Not later than 6 months from the effective date of this | ||
act, beginning a state-wide longitudinal evaluation of the school | ||
readiness program examining the educational progress of children | ||
from prekindergarten programs through grade four; | ||
(vi) Developing, coordinating and supporting public and | ||
private partnerships to aid early childhood initiatives; | ||
(vii) Developing and implementing a state-wide | ||
developmentally appropriate kindergarten assessment tool that | ||
measures a child's level of preparedness for kindergarten, but | ||
shall not be used as a measurement tool for program accountability; | ||
(viii) Creating a unified set of reporting requirements for | ||
the purpose of collecting the data elements necessary to perform | ||
quality assessments and longitudinal analysis; | ||
(ix) Comparing and analyzing data collected pursuant to | ||
reporting requirements created under subdivision (viii) of this | ||
subsection with the data collected in state-wide public school | ||
information systems to enable population-level analysis of | ||
children and families and the impacts of supported programs; | ||
(x) Continually monitoring and evaluating all early care | ||
and education and child development programs and services, focusing | ||
on program outcomes in satisfying the health, safety, developmental | ||
and educational needs of all children, while retaining distinct | ||
separation between quality improvement services and child day care | ||
licensing services; | ||
(xi) Coordinating home visitation services across programs | ||
for young children; | ||
(xii) Providing information and technical assistance to | ||
persons seeking early care and education and child development | ||
programs and services; | ||
(xiii) Assisting state agencies and municipalities in | ||
obtaining federal funding for early care and education and child | ||
development programs and services, including to maximize federal | ||
dollars coming into Texas for federally-funded meals, home | ||
visiting, and other early childhood programs; | ||
(xiv) Providing technical assistance to providers of early | ||
care and education programs and services to obtain licensing and | ||
improve program quality; | ||
(xv) Establishing a quality rating and improvement system | ||
that covers home-based, center-based and school-based early child | ||
care and day care; | ||
(xvi) Maintaining an accreditation facilitation initiative | ||
to assist early childhood care and education and day care program | ||
and service providers in achieving national standards and program | ||
improvement; | ||
(xvii) Managing early childhood care and education and day | ||
care licensing to the extent such is under state jurisdiction; | ||
(xviii) Ensuring a coordinated and comprehensive statewide | ||
system of professional development for providers and staff of early | ||
childhood care and education, child development, and day care | ||
programs and services; | ||
(xix) Developing early learning and development standards | ||
to be used by early childhood care and education and day care | ||
providers; and | ||
(xx) Providing families with opportunities for choice in | ||
services including quality child care and community-based | ||
family-centered services; | ||
(xxi) Integrating early childhood care and education and | ||
special education services; | ||
(xxii) Promoting universal access to early childhood care | ||
and education; and | ||
(xxiii) Performing any other activities that will assist in | ||
the provision of early care and education and child development | ||
programs and services. | ||
(d) The Director of Early Childhood shall be responsible for | ||
implementing the policies and directives of the Office of Early | ||
Childhood. The director may seek and shall be entitled to receive | ||
from other state agencies such assistance as may be required to | ||
perform such director's duties pursuant to this subsection. | ||
(i) The Director may appoint such officers, employees, | ||
agents and consultants as he or she may deem necessary. | ||
(ii) To the extent practicable, the Director shall appoint | ||
the officers, employees, agents and consultants for the office of | ||
early childhood, from among the existing officers and employees of | ||
existing agencies and departments currently housing early | ||
childhood programs, as supervision for those programs is moved into | ||
the Office of Early Childhood. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |