wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5752 > Original Bill
Funding for the program of early learning established under this chapter must be appropriated to the department. The department shall distribute funding to approved early childhood education and assistance program contractors on the basis of eligible children enrolled.
The program shall be implemented in phases, so that full implementation is achieved in the 2030-31 school year.
Funding shall continue to be phased in each year until full statewide implementation of the early learning program is achieved in the 2030-31 school year, at which time any eligible child is entitled to be enrolled in the program. Entitlement under this section is voluntary enrollment.
School districts and approved community‑based early learning providers may contract with the department to provide services under the program. The department shall collaborate with school districts, community‑based providers, and educational service districts to promote an adequate supply of approved providers.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout RCW 43.216.500 through 43.216.559, 43.216.900, and 43.216.901.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout RCW 43.216.500 through 43.216.559, 43.216.900, and 43.216.901.
"Advisory committee" means the advisory committee under RCW 43.216.520.
"Approved programs" means those state-supported education and special assistance programs which are recognized by the department as meeting the minimum program rules adopted by the department to qualify under RCW 43.216.500 through 43.216.550, 43.216.900, and 43.216.901 and are designated as eligible for funding by the department under RCW 43.216.530 and 43.216.540.
"Comprehensive" means an assistance program that focuses on the needs of the child and includes education, health, and family support services.
"Eligible child" means a three to five-year old child who is not age-eligible for kindergarten, is not a participant in a federal or state program providing comprehensive services, and who:
Has a family with an income at or below 50 percent of the state median income adjusted for family size;
Is experiencing homelessness;
Has participated in early head start or a successor federal program providing comprehensive services for children from birth through two years of age, the early support for infants and toddlers program or received class C developmental services, or the early childhood intervention and prevention services program;
Is eligible for special education due to disability under RCW 28A.155.020;
Is a member of an assistance unit that is eligible for or is receiving basic food benefits under the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program or the state food assistance program;
Is Indian as defined in rule by the department after consultation and agreement with Washington state's federally recognized tribes pursuant to RCW 43.216.5052 and is at or below 100 percent of the state median income adjusted for family size; or
Meets criteria under rules adopted by the department if the number of such children equals not more than ten percent of the total enrollment in the early childhood program. Preference for enrollment in this group shall be given to children from families with the lowest income, children in foster care, or to eligible children from families with multiple needs.
"Experiencing homelessness" means a child without a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence as described in the federal McKinney-Vento homeless assistance act (Title 42 U.S.C., chapter 119, subchapter VI, part B) as it existed on January 1, 2021.
"Family support services" means providing opportunities for parents to:
Actively participate in their child's early childhood program;
Increase their knowledge of child development and parenting skills;
Further their education and training;
Increase their ability to use needed services in the community;
Increase their self-reliance; and
Connect with culturally competent, disability positive therapists and supports where appropriate.
The department shall adopt rules that allow a child to enroll in the early childhood education and assistance program, as space is available and subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, when the child is not eligible under RCW 43.216.505 and the child turns three years old at any time during the school year when the child:
Has a family income at or below 50 percent of the state median income or meets at least one risk factor criterion adopted by the department in rule; and
Has received services from or participated in:
The early head start or a successor federal program providing comprehensive services for children from birth through two years of age;
The early support for infants and toddlers program or received class C developmental services; or
iii.
The early childhood intervention and prevention services program.
The legislature finds that our state suffers from an extreme shortage of infant child care, impacting the ability of parents to participate in the workforce. Further, parents returning to work after using paid family leave to care for a new child struggle to find readily available, high quality care during a time of critical growth and brain development for young children. Therefore, the legislature intends to incentivize the provision of high quality infant care.
Beginning July 1, 2022, the department shall provide an infant rate enhancement for licensed or certified child care providers who are:
Accepting state subsidy;
In good standing with the early achievers quality rating and improvement system; and
Caring for a child between the ages of birth and 11 months.
The department must adopt rules to implement this section.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall provide professional development supports to aid eligible providers in reaching the professional education and training standards adopted by the department. Professional development supports may include:
Department-required trainings for child care providers conducted by department-approved trainers;
Trainings for license-exempt family, friend, and neighbor child care providers conducted by department-approved trainers;
Early achievers scholarships;
Community-based training pathways and systems developed under RCW 43.216.755;
Supporting a nonprofit organization that provides relationship-based professional development support to family, friend, and neighbor caregivers, child care centers, and licensed family home providers, and their work to help providers start their businesses; and
Other professional development activities such as updating training content, data collection and reporting, trainer recruitment, retention, program monitoring, and trainings delivered by department-approved trainers on topics such as small business management, antibias and antiracist training, providing care for children with developmental disabilities, social-emotional learning, implementing inclusionary practices in early learning environments, infant and toddler care, dual language program development, and providing trauma-informed care.
For the purposes of this section, "eligible provider" means: (a) An owner of a licensed or certified child care center, licensed or certified outdoor nature-based care, or licensed family home provider accepting state subsidy; (b) an employee of a licensed or certified child care center, licensed or certified outdoor nature-based care, or a licensed family home provider; (c) a contractor or provider of the early childhood education and assistance program ; or (d) an early achievers coach.
The spending goals and strategies for the fair start for kids account created under RCW 43.216.770 include, but are not limited to:
Increasing child care subsidy rates, with the goal of moving toward the full cost of providing high quality child care;
Expanding health care coverage through state sponsorship of child care workers on the Washington health benefit exchange and providing consumer assistance through navigators, as well as any other expansions of access to affordable health care for staff in child care centers, family home providers, outdoor nature-based care, and early childhood education and assistance program staff;
Increasing child care and early learning providers' compensation;
Implementing the provisions of collective bargaining agreements for family child care providers negotiated pursuant to RCW 41.56.028;
Supporting and expanding access to the early childhood education and assistance program to reach state-funded entitlement required in RCW 43.216.556;
Making child care affordable for families;
Providing resources and supports for family, friend, and neighbor caregivers that better reflect the full cost of care;
Providing child care subsidies for families working to resolve homelessness;
Delivering infant and early childhood mental health consultation services;
Establishing prekindergarten through third grade systems coordinators at educational service districts;
Supporting youth development programs serving children and youth ages birth through 12 including, but not limited to, expanded learning opportunities, mentoring, school-age child care, and wraparound supports or integrated student supports;
Awarding grants and loans through the early learning facilities grant and loan program established under chapter 43.31 RCW;
Funding special designations in the working connections child care programsand early childhood education and assistance programs including designations established in RCW 43.216.579, 43.216.585, 43.216.590, and 43.216.592;
Supporting costs for transparent data collection and information technology systems operated by the department and department contractors, in particular, to ensure equitable systemic service provision and outcomes;
Providing access to learning technology;
Providing child care resource and referral services;
Conducting quality rating and improvement system activities through the early achievers program;
Expanding prenatal to three services and supports, including the in-home parent skill-based programs established in RCW 43.216.130;
Building and delivering a family resource and referral linkage system;
Allowing the exploration of options to provide regulatory relief and make licensing more affordable for child care providers;
Administering comprehensive shared services hubs to allow the ongoing pooling and shared use of services by licensed or certified child care centers and family home providers;
Training department staff to ensure consistent and equitable application of child care licensing and quality standards across the state including antibias and antiracist training;
Providing incentives and supports for child care providers to become licensed;
Studying and evaluating options to incentivize business participation in child care and early learning systems;
Providing start-up grants to eligible organizations as described in RCW 43.31.575 who provide or commit to providing the early childhood education and assistance program or working connections child care. Start-up grants must be used for one-time start-up costs associated with the start-up of a new child care or early childhood education and assistance program site; and
aa. Recognizing the benefits of the diverse workforce and facilitating communication in the three most commonly spoken languages by developing a language access plan that centers on equity and access for immigrants, multilingual providers, caregivers, and families.
This section does not interfere with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of family child care providers to bargain collectively with the state through the exclusive bargaining representatives as provided for under RCW 41.56.028.
(1) It is the intent of the legislature to increase working families' access to affordable, high quality child care and to support the expansion of the workforce to support businesses and the statewide economy.
If the household's income is:
Then the household's base monthly copayment is:
Each additional child in that household is:
Below 25 percent of the state median income
$0
$0
At or above 25 percent and below 35 percent of the state median income
25 percent of the state median income for a household of two, multiplied by five percent
+20 percent of the base monthly copayment for each additional child
At or above 35 percent and below 45 percent of the state median income
35 percent of the state median income for a household of two, multiplied by 5.5 percent
+20 percent of the base monthly copayment for each additional child
At or above 45 percent and below 55 percent of the state median income
45 percent of the state median income for a household of two, multiplied by six percent
+20 percent of the base monthly copayment for each additional child
At or above 55 percent of the state median income
55 percent of the state median income for a household of two, multiplied by 6.5 percent
+20 percent of the base monthly copayment for each additional child
The department may adjust the copayment schedule to comply with federal law.
The department must adopt rules to implement this section.
This section does not apply to households eligible for the working connections child care program under RCW 43.216.808 and 43.216.814.
In accordance with RCW 43.216.800, authorizations for a working connections child care subsidy are effective for 12 months and any changes related to eligibility in this act only apply to new applications and reapplications. The changes related to eligibility in this act do not apply to consumers who were authorized for a working connections child care subsidy before July 1, 2025 until the next reapplication.
The changes related to the copayment schedule in section 9 of this act only apply to new applications and reapplications for a working connections child care subsidy. Consumers authorized for a working connections child care subsidy as of July 1, 2025 must not have their copayments adjusted until reapplication.
This section expires July 1, 2027.
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Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department may not require an applicant or consumer to meet work requirements as a condition of receiving working connections child care benefits when the applicant or consumer is a full-time student of a community, technical, or tribal college and is enrolled in:
A vocational education program that leads to a degree or certificate in a specific occupation; or
An associate degree program.
An applicant or consumer is a full-time student for the purposes of this subsection if the applicant or consumer meets the college's definition of a full-time student.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department may extend the provisions of this subsection to full-time students who are enrolled in a bachelor's degree program or applied baccalaureate degree program.
The department must consider an applicant or consumer's participation in the early head start program as an approved activity when determining eligibility for working connections child care benefits.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall provide supports to aid eligible providers in providing trauma-informed care. Trauma-informed care supports may be used by eligible providers for the following purposes:
Additional compensation for individual staff who have an infant and early childhood mental health or other child development specialty credential;
Trauma-informed professional development and training;
The purchase of screening tools and assessment materials;
Supportive services for children with complex needs that are offered as fee-for-service within local communities; or
Other related expenses.
The department must adopt rules to implement this section.
For the purposes of this section, "eligible provider" means: (a) An employee or owner of a licensed or certified child care center or outdoor nature-based care accepting state subsidy; (b) an employee or owner of a licensed family home provider accepting state subsidy; (c) a contractor or provider of the early childhood education and assistance program ; (d) a license-exempt child care program; or (e) an early achievers coach.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall administer or contract for infant and early childhood mental health consultation services to child care providers and early learning providers participating in the early achievers program.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department must have or contract for one infant and early childhood mental health consultation coordinator and must enter into a contractual agreement with an organization providing coaching services to early achievers program participants to hire at least 12 qualified infant and early childhood mental health consultants. The department shall determine, in collaboration with the statewide child care resource and referral network, where the additional consultants should be sited based on factors such as the total provider numbers overlaid with indicators of highest need. The infant and early childhood mental health consultants must support early achievers program coaches and child care providers by providing resources, information, and guidance regarding challenging behavior and expulsions and may travel to assist providers in serving families and children with severe behavioral needs.
The department shall provide, or contract with an entity to provide, reflective supervision and professional development for infant and early childhood mental health consultants to meet national competency standards.
As capacity allows, the department may provide access to infant and early childhood mental health consultation services to caregivers and licensed or certified, military, and tribal early learning providers, license-exempt family, friend, and neighbor care providers, and families with children expelled or at risk of expulsion from child care.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall establish a dual language designation and provide subsidy rate enhancements or site-specific grants for licensed or certified child care providers who are accepting state subsidyor early childhood education and assistance program contractors. It is the intent of the legislature to allow uses of rate enhancements or site-specific grants to include increased wages for individual staff who provide bilingual instruction, professional development training, the purchase of dual language and culturally appropriate curricula and accompanying training programs, instructional materials, or other related expenses.
The department must consult with a culturally and linguistically diverse stakeholder advisory group to develop criteria for the dual language designation.
The department must adopt rules to implement this section.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall administer two complex needs funds to promote inclusive, least restrictive environments and to support contractors and providers serving children who have developmental delays, disabilities, behavioral needs, or other unique needs. The department shall work collaboratively with the office of the superintendent of public instruction and providers to best serve children. One fund must support early childhood education and assistance program contractors and providers , and one fund must support licensed or certified child care providers and license-exempt child care programs.
Support may include staffing, programming, therapeutic services, and equipment or technology support. Additional support may include activities to assist families with children expelled or at risk of expulsion from child care, and to help families transition in and out of child care.
The department shall adopt rules that allow the enrollment of children who meet one or more of the following criteria in the early childhood education and assistance program, as space is available if the number of such children equals not more than twenty-five percent of total statewide enrollment:
The child's family income is above one hundred ten percent but less than or equal to one hundred thirty percent of the federal poverty level;
The child's family income is above one hundred thirty percent but less than or equal to two hundred percent of the federal poverty level if the child meets at least one of the risk factor criterion described in subsection (2) of this section; or
Beginning November 1, 2024, the child is not eligible under RCW 43.216.505 and is a member of an assistance unit that is eligible for or is receiving basic food benefits under the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program or the state food assistance program.
Children enrolled in the early childhood education and assistance program pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section must be prioritized for available funded slots according to a prioritization system adopted in rule by the department that considers risk factors that have a disproportionate effect on kindergarten readiness and school performance, including:
Family income as a percent of the federal poverty level;
Homelessness;
Child welfare system involvement;
Developmental delay or disability that does not meet the eligibility criteria for special education described in RCW 28A.155.020;
Domestic violence;
English as a second language;
Expulsion from an early learning setting;
A parent who is incarcerated;
Other risk factors determined by the department to be linked by research to school performance.
The department shall adopt rules that allow a child to enroll in the early childhood education and assistance program, as space is available, when the child is not eligible under RCW 43.216.505 and the child turns three years old at any time during the school year when the child:
Has a family income at or below two hundred percent of the federal poverty level or meets at least one risk factor criterion adopted by the department in rule; and
Has received services from or participated in:
The early support for infants and toddlers program; or
The early head start or a successor federal program providing comprehensive services for children from birth through two years of age
.
Rates paid under RCW 43.216.592 must be adjusted every two years according to an inflationary increase. The inflationary increase must be calculated by applying the rate of the increase in the inflationary adjustment index to the rates established pursuant to RCW 43.216.592.
Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, rates paid under RCW 43.216.579and 43.216.585 must be adjusted every two years according to an inflationary increase. The inflationary increase must be calculated by applying the rate of the increase in the inflationary adjustment index to the rates established pursuant to RCW 43.216.579and 43.216.585.
Inflationary increases under subsection (1) of this section and any funded inflationary increase under subsection (2) of this section must be included in the rate used to determine inflationary increases in subsequent years.
For the purposes of this section, "inflationary adjustment index" means the implicit price deflator averaged for each fiscal year, using the official current base rate, compiled by the bureau of economic analysis, United States department of commerce.
Except for sections 2 through 4 of this act, this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect July 1, 2025.
(1) Section 2 of this act expires August 1, 2030.
(1) Sections 2 and 4 of this act take effect July 1, 2026.