STAND. COM. REP. NO. 827

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 511

       S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 511, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD CARE FACILITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to address the oversight of child care facilities in the State.

     More specifically, this measure:

(1)  Requires the Department of Human Services, beginning with the inspections occurring on and after January 1, 2018, to post on its website copies of its reports of child care facility inspections within thirty working days of the conclusion of each inspection;

(2)  Creates a child care facility inspection information oversight committee within the Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division of the Department of Human Services, to oversee the Department's compliance with the requirement that the Department post copies of its childcare facilities inspection reports on its website; and

(3)  Requires the Department of Human Services to submit an annual report to the Legislature on all records and actions pertaining to its child care facility inspections.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from fifty concerned individuals.

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Hawaii Children's Action Network.

     Your Committee finds that child care facilities provide one of the most crucial services in the State.  Parents and guardians place significant amounts of trust in the child care facilities that they select for their children, and should have access to complete information when selecting a child care facility.  Requiring the Department of Human Services to post its records of child care facility inspections and complaint investigations on its website will provide parents and guardians with important information that will assist them in selecting child care facilities.  Moreover, establishing an oversight committee to oversee the Department's compliance with the posting requirement helps to further ensure that parents and guardians are provided with the required information.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Replacing on the oversight committee, the Coordinator of the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care, or the Coordinator's designee, with the Chairperson of the Early Learning Advisory Board, or the Chairperson's designee; and

(2)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 511, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 511, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair