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91_HJ0032
LRB9109240DJcsB
1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, About half the 10.3 million preschoolers whose
3 mothers work are cared for by family members. The working
4 parents of the other half of those preschoolers unfortunately
5 cannot count on relatives to help out. They must do their
6 best to seek high-quality, affordable, and accessible care,
7 often with little support from employers and typically with
8 few options; and
9 WHEREAS, High-quality child care is in short supply. The
10 shortage is especially acute for before and after-school care
11 and for care outside traditional working hours. This gap in
12 the availability of child care will grow only wider as more
13 parents seek and obtain employment; and
14 WHEREAS, Children need safe, loving, stable environments
15 where they can learn and develop. Child-care centers and
16 their staffs need financial stability, strong and timely
17 oversight by State licensers, and support in providing
18 nurturing environments for children to learn. Action needs to
19 be taken to put a new emphasis on the quality of child care,
20 expand the availability of child care, enlist the business
21 community as a partner in supporting child care, and provide
22 access to affordable child care for the working poor; and
23 WHEREAS, Illinois needs to develop a comprehensive child
24 care policy that recognizes the needs of working families and
25 fosters partnerships between parents, communities, schools,
26 faith-based organizations, employers, and government;
27 therefore, be it
28 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
29 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
30 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Joint Child Care Task
31 Force shall be created, to be composed of 12 voting members
32 appointed by the Governor as follows: 3 members representing
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1 child care providers, 3 members representing consumers of
2 child care services, 3 members representing employers or
3 businesses, and 3 members representing the general public. A
4 voting member of the Task Force may not be an employee of the
5 State of Illinois. The voting members shall elect a
6 chairperson from among their number. The following or their
7 designees shall serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the
8 Task Force: the Secretary of Human Services, the Director of
9 Children and Family Services, the Director of Commerce and
10 Community Affairs, the Director of Central Management
11 Services, the Executive Director of the Capital Development
12 Board, and the State Superintendent of Education. The Task
13 Force shall also have 4 nonvoting legislative members,
14 appointed one each by the President of the Senate, the
15 Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
16 Representatives, and the Minority Leader of the House of
17 Representatives. All members of the Task Force are entitled
18 to reimbursement for their reasonable expenses incurred in
19 performing their duties. The Department of Human Services
20 shall provide necessary staff support to the Task Force; and
21 be it further
22 RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall examine ways to
23 improve the quality of child care, recognizing that research
24 consistently shows that a child's first years, between birth
25 and age 3, are critical for development. Child care workers
26 need good training so that children in their care master
27 important learning and motor skills. Small children also
28 require stable environments to feel safe and develop, but low
29 salaries for child-care workers make it difficult to recruit
30 quality staff and often result in high staff turnover. To
31 fully develop, small children need to be surrounded by
32 stimulating materials that help them learn. Illinois has an
33 important stake in making certain that small children grow
34 and get ready to learn--that they receive quality care, not
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1 merely custodial care. In particular, the Task Force shall
2 investigate and make recommendations concerning strategies to
3 improve the quality of child care, including the following:
4 (1) Expansion of early education programs to help
5 more at-risk children get off to a strong start in their
6 school careers--especially by expanding the State's
7 pre-kindergarten program to serve more young children
8 identified as "at risk"; by continuing recent pilot
9 efforts to expand Head Start programs to a full-day
10 format better serving the children of working parents;
11 and by implementing quality early childhood education
12 programs as the crucial bridge to a successful school
13 career.
14 (2) Investment of State moneys in promoting quality
15 environments in child-care centers--especially by
16 continuing funding for a valuable effort aimed at
17 promoting staff training and enriching the physical
18 surroundings of child-care centers.
19 (3) Exploring new incentives to encourage qualified
20 child-care staff to stay in their jobs.
21 (4) Expansion of training and scholarships for
22 child-care workers through the T.E.A.C.H. Program,
23 operated by the Department of Human Services. The
24 T.E.A.C.H. program aims at improving care and reducing
25 staff turnover by helping child-care workers earn
26 associate's degrees in early childhood education; and be
27 it further
28 RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall examine ways to
29 expand the availability of child care, recognizing that
30 parents should have a range of options for child care and
31 that communities, not-for-profit groups, faith-based
32 organizations, schools, and businesses should take a leading
33 role in meeting these needs. In particular, the Task Force
34 shall investigate and make recommendations concerning
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1 strategies to expand the availability of child care in
2 Illinois, including the following:
3 (1) Provision of high-quality child care that meets
4 the needs of working parents and their children, striking
5 a proper balance between providing safe, high-quality
6 environments for children and addressing the growing need
7 for child care. This could involve working with churches,
8 neighborhood organizations, community centers, schools,
9 and home-based providers to expand the availability of
10 care, particularly before and after-school care and using
11 a practical, yet progressive, approach allowing
12 not-for-profit groups and small caregivers to provide
13 reasonable care options to meet the growing needs within
14 their communities.
15 (2) Promotion of a Child Care Partnership Project
16 between public and private groups to respond to the needs
17 of working families and to provide guidance, ideas, and
18 funding to help communities improve child care, focusing
19 on increasing the availability of affordable child care,
20 finding ways to offer care outside traditional work
21 hours, and improving the quality of care.
22 (3) Making certain that State licensing procedures
23 squarely support the need for safe, quality child care
24 and never act as an impediment to starting or maintaining
25 a business--especially by providing the resources to weed
26 out unqualified care providers, especially those with
27 criminal records, while making certain that legitimate
28 businesses are licensed in an expedient fashion; and by
29 implementing high standards, consistent monitoring,
30 appropriate enforcement action, adequate resources, and
31 comprehensive information tracking.
32 (4) Promotion of the Illinois Network of Child Care
33 Resources and Referral Agencies--especially by funding
34 this network and working with the agencies to make this
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1 valuable information more readily available to working
2 parents; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall examine ways to
4 motivate businesses to support child care by implementing
5 "family-friendly" workplaces that offer flex-time,
6 job-sharing, or work-at-home opportunities and family leave
7 policies. In particular, the Task Force shall investigate and
8 make recommendations concerning strategies to motivate
9 businesses to support child care in Illinois, including the
10 following:
11 (1) Encouraging more companies to help pay for child
12 care or offer services on site, including by expanding
13 the Illinois Dependent Care Tax Credit and working with
14 business groups to determine ways of encouraging more
15 companies to provide support for employee child-care
16 needs.
17 (2) Encouraging more businesses to recognize and
18 accommodate the needs of working families, including by
19 showcasing employers who have made family needs a
20 priority by providing regional business roundtables,
21 giving other companies an opportunity to learn about
22 developing "family-friendly" workplaces.
23 (3) Making State government a model for
24 "family-friendly" work policies, including by offering
25 "flex-time", job sharing, and work-at-home opportunities
26 to help employees meet the needs of their families and by
27 providing family leave policies to all State employees
28 and offering alternative work arrangements to help
29 families meet their responsibilities.
30 (4) Promoting the development of child care as a
31 small-business opportunity, especially for adults now on
32 welfare, by means including a State pilot effort to help
33 TANF recipients qualify to open licensed day care homes
34 or to become day care workers in existing facilities; and
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1 be it further
2 RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall investigate and make
3 recommendations concerning ways to provide access to child
4 care for the working poor, especially by continually
5 evaluating State subsidies for child care to make certain the
6 rate is high enough to provide working poor parents equal
7 access to child care, recognizing that access to quality
8 child care is paramount for low-income parents to continue
9 holding jobs and move toward self-sufficiency; and be it
10 further
11 RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its findings
12 and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly
13 not later than January 1, 2001; and be it further
14 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15 forwarded to the Governor.