|
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2193 |
|
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
H.D. 1 |
|
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE EARLY CHILDHOOD REGISTRY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
According to the Center on the Study of Child Care Employment, the lack of early child care and education workforce data prevents policymakers from understanding the needs of this workforce, which may then lead to inefficiencies regarding early child care and education legislation and programs. The legislature recognizes that workforce registries have been used to provide an objective framework for professional development and compensation. The legislature further recognizes that timely, clear, and detailed data on early child care workers and educators is critical to ensure and increase the quality of these workers and educators in the State, while helping to craft data-informed policies. Currently, the department of human services only requires the staff used to meet the staff-child ratio in licensed child care facilities to enroll and update their information on its early childhood registry.
Given the need to expand access to, and the availability of, high-quality early child care and education programs in the State, the legislature also recognizes that data in the Hawaii early childhood registry must be consistently collected and analyzed.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to address the needs of Hawaii's early child care and education workforce by requiring the department of human services to annually collect certain information from all early child care workers and educators in the State through its early childhood registry.
SECTION 2. Chapter 346, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part VIII to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§346- Early childhood registry; staff information
required. (a) The
department shall require all staff used to meet the staff-child ratio in all licensed
and registered child care programs in the State to annually update their information
in the department's early childhood registry.
(b)
The data collected from the early childhood
registry shall include social determinates, including but not limited to: gender, race, age, paid years of experience, preferred
learning languages, languages spoken with children, median hourly wage, paid planning
time, health insurance, paid sick leave, paid vacation, retirement benefits, participation
in an apprenticeship program, level of education, and training hours.
(c) For purposes of this section, "training" includes but is not limited to health and safety training and voluntary professional development training."
SECTION 3.
The department of human services shall submit a report of its findings
and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, regarding updates to the
early childhood registry to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to
the convening of the regular session of 2024.
SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $80,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 for the purpose of improving the State's early childhood registry.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of human services for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 5. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2060; provided that section 4 of this Act shall take effect on July 1, 2022.
Report Title:
Early Childhood Registry; Department of Human Services; Appropriation
Description:
Requires the staff of licensed and registered early childhood programs to annually provide specific information to the Department of Human Services' Early Childhood Workforce Registry. Requires a report to the Legislature. Makes an appropriation. Effective 7/1/2060. (HD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.