§ 43.215.005. Finding -- Purpose
(1) The legislature recognizes that:
(a) Parents are their children's first and most important teachers and decision makers;
(b) Research across disciplines now demonstrates that what happens in the earliest years makes a critical difference in children's readiness to succeed in school and life;
(c) Washington's competitiveness in the global economy requires a world-class education system that starts early and supports life-long learning;
(d) Washington state currently makes substantial investments in voluntary child care and early learning services and supports, but because services are fragmented across multiple state agencies, and early learning providers lack the supports and incentives needed to improve the quality of services they provide, many parents have difficulty accessing high quality early learning services;
(e) A more cohesive and integrated voluntary early learning system would result in greater efficiencies for the state, increased partnership between the state and the private sector, improved access to high quality early learning services, and better employment and early learning outcomes for families and all children.
(2) The legislature finds that the early years of a child's life are critical to the child's healthy brain development and that the quality of caregiving during the early years can significantly impact the child's intellectual, social, and emotional development.
(3) The purpose of this chapter is:
(a) To establish the department of early learning;
(b) To coordinate and consolidate state activities relating to child care and early learning programs;
(c) To safeguard and promote the health, safety, and well-being of children receiving child care and early learning assistance, which is paramount over the right of any person to provide care;
(d) To provide tools to promote the hiring of suitable providers of child care by:
(i) Providing parents with access to information regarding child care providers;
(ii) Providing parents with child care licensing action histories regarding child care providers; and
(iii) Requiring background checks of applicants for employment in any child care facility licensed or regulated under current law;
(e) To promote linkages and alignment between early learning programs and elementary schools and support the transition of children and families from prekindergarten environments to kindergarten;
(f) To promote the development of a sufficient number and variety of adequate child care and early learning facilities, both public and private; and
(g) To license agencies and to assure the users of such agencies, their parents, the community at large and the agencies themselves that adequate minimum standards are maintained by all child care and early learning facilities.
(4) This chapter does not expand the state's authority to license or regulate activities or programs beyond those licensed or regulated under existing law.
[2007 c 415 § 1; 2006 c 265 § 101.]
Notes:
Captions not law -- 2007 c 415: "Captions used in this act are not any part of the law." [2007 c 415 § 11.]
Sections: 43.215.005 43.215.010 43.215.020 43.215.030 43.215.040 43.215.050 43.215.060 43.215.065 43.215.070 43.215.080 43.215.090 43.215.100 43.215.110 43.215.120 43.215.125 Next
Last modified: April 7, 2009