MPM C.S.H.B. 2357 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2357
By: Coleman
Human Services
3/14/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current state law does not require licensed child-care providers to develop
and implement child development activities.  This allows disparities in the
quality among various early child-care programs.  The educational and
developmental experience of preschool-aged children profoundly influences
school readiness and learning.  Developmentally appropriate early childhood
education programs that meet professional standards can provide positive
outcomes for all Texas children.  C.S.H.B. 2357 requires the Department of
Protective and Regulatory Services to adopt rules to impose standards for
child development activities provided by a licensed day-care center. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services in SECTION 1 (Section 42.0422, Human Resources Code) of
this bill. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2357 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Department of
Protective and Regulatory Services (PRS) to adopt rules relating to child
development activities provided by a licensed day-care center. The bill
specifies that the rules require the operator of a licensed day-care center
to: 

_develop and implement a written plan for the provision of age and
developmentally appropriate, nonsexist activities that are designed to
stimulate the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of
each group of children served and that are based on the sociocultural
background of the children served; 

_annually review and update the plan and ensure that the plan is easily
accessible to the parents of the children served by the center; 

_provide opportunities for parental involvement in developing and updating
the plan; 

_provide appropriate child-development activity materials and activity
tools for use by the children; and 

_develop and with parental consent administer assessment tools designed to
inform a parent of the developmental progress of a child. 

C.S.H.B. 2357 authorizes PRS to make models of appropriate child
development activity plans available to licensed day-care centers, and to
develop the models through collaboration with other agencies and resources.
The bill requires PRS to encourage and assist in the development and
dissemination of child development resources and local models of child
development activity plans for use by licensed day-care centers, to
collaborate with other agencies and organizations to address gaps in child
development services, and to provide information to operators of licensed
day-care centers regarding sources of models of appropriate child
development activities. 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2357 differs from the original by applying the bill to day-care
centers, rather than child-care facilities.  The substitute also modifies
the original by conforming to Texas Legislative Council format.