An Act To Improve Business Certainty for Providers of Quality Child Care
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §3737, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2001, c. 394, §1, is further amended to read:
3. Quality differential. To the extent permitted by federal law, the department shall pay a differential rate for child care services that meet or that make substantial progress toward meeting nationally recognized quality standards, such as those standards required by the Head Start program or required for accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and shall do so from the Child Care Development Fund 25% Quality Set-aside funds or by other acceptable federal practices. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined by Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A 2-A. The rules must limit payment of the differential for substantial progress to a period of one year establish a 4-step child care quality rating system and must provide for graduated quality differential rates for step 2, step 3 and step 4 child care services. The rules must provide differential rates for substantial progress and must define substantial progress as:
A. Having submitted program descriptions and awaiting a scheduled visit from an accrediting body approved by the department; or
B. For family child care, having submitted a portfolio for a child development associate and awaiting a scheduled observation.
Nothing in this subsection requires the department to pay a quality differential rate for child care services provided through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families block grant.
Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF (FORMERLY DHS)
Child Care Services 0563
Initiative: Allocates funds for changes in quality differential rates for child care services.
| FEDERAL BLOCK GRANT FUND | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
|
All Other
|
$0 | $73,590 |
 |
|
|
| FEDERAL BLOCK GRANT FUND TOTAL | $0 | $73,590 |
Effective 90 days following adjournment of the 126th Legislature, Second Regular Session, unless otherwise indicated.