wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 1649 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that the current community-based training pathway for licensed child care providers to meet professional education requirements required for licensure, called provider access to a community equivalent or PACE, is underutilized. This community-based pathway is not as accessible as it should be and many individuals drop out of this program based on the overly rigorous curriculum and significant time commitment.
The legislature further finds that the building bridges community-based pathway that was discontinued due to lack of funding was an effective community-based pathway that could allow more individuals to meet professional education requirements required for licensure. For those reasons, the legislature intends for the department of children, youth, and families to redesign the current community-based training pathway based on the building bridges curriculum.
By August 1, 2025, the department shall implement a redesigned noncredit-bearing, community-based training pathway for licensed child care providers to meet professional education requirements associated with child care licensure that is modeled after the building bridges community-based pathway. The community-based training pathway must be offered as an alternative to existing credit-bearing pathways available to providers, and will replace the provider access to a community equivalent pathway.
The department shall consult with the following stakeholders in the development and implementation of the community-based training pathway: The statewide child care resource and referral network, a community-based training organization that provides training to licensed family day care providers, a statewide organization that represents the interests of family day care providers, a statewide organization that represents the interests of licensed child day care centers, an organization that represents the interests of refugee and immigrant communities, a bilingual child care provider whose first language is not English, an organization that advocates for early learning, an organization representing private and independent schools, and the state board for community and technical colleges.
The community-based training pathway must:
Align with adopted core competencies for early learning professionals;
Be made available to providers in multiple languages;
Include culturally relevant practices;
Be made available at low cost to providers and at prices comparable to the cost of similar community-based trainings, not to exceed $250 per person;
Be accessible to providers in rural and urban settings; and
Be made available in the communities where child care centers operate and in an online format.
The department shall allow licensed child care providers until at least August 1, 2035, or until at least 10 years following the full implementation by the department of all components of the community-based training pathway, whichever is later, to:
Comply with child care licensing rules that require a provider to hold an early childhood education initial certificate , an early childhood education short certificate, or an early childhood education state certificate;
Complete community-based pathway trainings; or
Demonstrate to the department work experience-based competency after having worked in a licensed child care setting for at least three years, which is not required to be a continuous three-year period, but could include multiple periods of work in a licensed child care setting at different times.
The department may not require licensed child care providers to complete annual in-service training requirements in order to demonstrate work experience-based competency described under subsection (4)(c) of this section.