Title 43 — Title 43 STATE GOVERNMENT—EXECUTIVE
178 chapters · 3,474 sections in this title.
RCW 43.216.578 Birth to three early childhood education and assistance program—Pilot project—Reports.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall develop a plan for phased implementation of a birth to three early childhood education and assistance program pilot project for eligible children under thirty-six months old. F…
RCW 43.216.579 Infant child care incentives.
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(1) The legislature finds that our state suffers from an extreme shortage of infant child care, impacting the ability of parents to participate in the workforce. Further, parents returning to work after using paid family leave to care for a new child struggle to find readily avai…
RCW 43.216.580 Early intervention services—Funding.
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(1) The department is the state lead agency for Part C of the federal individuals with disabilities education act. The department shall administer the early support for infants and toddlers program, to provide early intervention services to all eligible children with disabilities…
RCW 43.216.585 Program rates.
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(1) For the 2021-22 school year, rates for the early childhood education and assistance program must be set at a level at least 10 percent higher than the rates established in section 225, chapter 415, Laws of 2019.(2) It is the intent of the legislature that rate increases shall…
RCW 43.216.587 Complex needs funds.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall administer two complex needs funds to promote inclusive, least restrictive environments and to support contractors and providers serving children who have developmental delays,…
RCW 43.216.590 Trauma-informed care supports.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall provide supports to aid eligible providers in providing trauma-informed care. Trauma-informed care supports may be used by eligible providers for the following purposes:(a) Add…
RCW 43.216.592 Dual language designation—Rate enhancement.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall establish a dual language designation and provide subsidy rate enhancements or site-specific grants for licensed or certified child care providers who are accepting state subsi…
RCW 43.216.595 Early childhood equity grants.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall distribute early childhood equity grants to eligible applicants. Eligible applicants include play and learn groups, licensed or certified child care centers and family home pro…
RCW 43.216.597 Play and learn groups—Resources and supports.
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Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department, in consultation with community-based programs, shall provide or contract to provide, or both, resources and supports for inclusive and culturally and linguistically relevant play and le…
RCW 43.216.600 Professional development supports.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall provide professional development supports to aid eligible providers in reaching the professional education and training standards adopted by the department. Professional develo…
RCW 43.216.602 Child care deserts grant program.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall establish a grant program to expand child care in child care deserts. Grants must be used for one-time costs associated with the opening of a child care site, including program…
RCW 43.216.650 Child fatality reviews.
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(1) For the purposes of this section, "near fatality" means an act that, as certified by a physician, places the child in serious or critical condition.(2)(a) The department shall conduct a child fatality review if a child fatality occurs in an early learning program described in…
RCW 43.216.655 Data collection and program evaluation—Reports.
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(1) The education data center established in RCW 43.41.400 must collect longitudinal, student-level data on all children attending an early childhood education and assistance program. Upon completion of an electronic time and attendance record system, the education data center mu…
RCW 43.216.660 Child care services—Declaration of policy.
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It shall be the policy of the state of Washington to:(1) Recognize the family as the most important social and economic unit of society and support the central role parents play in child rearing. All parents are encouraged to care for and nurture their children through the tradit…
RCW 43.216.665 Child care workers—Findings—Intent.
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The legislature finds that as of 2000, child care workers in the state earned an average hourly wage of eight dollars and twenty-two cents, only fifty-eight percent received medical insurance through employers, only sixty-six percent received paid sick leave, and only seventy-thr…
RCW 43.216.670 Child care provider rules review.
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In conjunction with child care providers and other early learning leaders, the department shall review and revise child care provider rules in order to emphasize the need for mutual respect among parents, providers, and state staff who enforce rules. Revised rules shall clearly f…
RCW 43.216.675 Child care workers—Career and wage ladder.
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(1) Subject to the availability of funds appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall establish a child care career and wage ladder in licensed child care centers that meet the following criteria: (a) At least ten percent of child care slots are dedicated to child…
RCW 43.216.680 Child care workers—Career and wage ladder—Wage increases.
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Child care centers adopting the child care career and wage ladder established pursuant to *RCW 43.215.505 shall increase wages for child care workers who have earned a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate as provided in RCW 28B.50.536, gain additional years …
RCW 43.216.685 Child care—Toll-free information number.
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(1) The department shall establish and maintain a toll-free telephone number, and an interactive web-based system through which persons may obtain information regarding child day care centers, outdoor nature-based child care providers, and family day care providers. This number s…
RCW 43.216.687 Child care—Required postings—Disclosure of complaints.
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(1) Every child day care center, outdoor nature-based child care provider, and family day care provider shall prominently post the following items, clearly visible to parents and staff:(a) The license issued under this chapter;(b) The department's toll-free telephone number estab…
RCW 43.216.689 Child care—Public access to reports and enforcement action notices.
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(1) Every child day care center, outdoor nature-based child care provider, and family day care provider shall have readily available for review by the department, parents, and the public a copy of each inspection report and notice of enforcement action received by the center or p…
RCW 43.216.690 Child day care centers and outdoor nature-based child care providers—Immunization.
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(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, child day care centers and outdoor nature-based child care providers licensed under this chapter may not allow on the premises an employee or volunteer, who has not provided the child day care center or outdoor nature-base…
RCW 43.216.692 Family home providers—Capacity flexibility.
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The department may waive the limit, as established in RCW 43.216.010(1)(c), that restricts family home providers from serving not more than 12 children. The department must establish conditions for such waivers by rule and must assess, at a minimum, the provider's available squar…
RCW 43.216.695 County regulation of family day-care centers—Twelve-month pilot projects.
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(1) Notwithstanding RCW 74.15.030, counties with a population of three thousand or less may adopt and enforce ordinances and regulations as provided in this section for family day-care providers as defined in *RCW 74.15.020(1)(f) as a twelve-month pilot project. Before a county m…
RCW 43.216.700 Day care insurance.
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(1) Every licensed child day care center and outdoor nature-based child care provider shall, at the time of licensure or renewal and at any inspection, provide to the department proof that the licensee has day care insurance as defined in RCW 48.88.020, or is self-insured pursuan…
RCW 43.216.705 Child care providers—Tiered-reimbursement system—Pilot sites.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall implement the tiered-reimbursement system developed pursuant to section 6, chapter 490, Laws of 2005. Implementation of the tiered-reimbursement system shall initially consist …
RCW 43.216.710 Child care services.
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The department shall:(1) Work in conjunction with the statewide child care resource and referral network as well as local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and community child care advocates to create local child care resource and referral organizations. These org…
RCW 43.216.712 Child care—High-potency synthetic opioids in the home.
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Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall establish a pilot program for contracted child care slots for infants in child protective services in locales with the historically highest rates of child welfare screened-in intak…
RCW 43.216.713 Legal liaison—Child abuse and neglect court cases.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, at least one legal liaison position shall be established within the department in each of its regions to work with both the department and the office of the attorney general for the purpose of assi…
RCW 43.216.715 Child care partnership employer liaison.
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An employer liaison position is established in the department to be colocated with the department of commerce. The employer liaison shall, within appropriated funds:(1) Staff and assist the child care partnership in the implementation of its duties;(2) Provide technical assistanc…
RCW 43.216.720 Child care expansion grant fund.
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(1) The legislature recognizes that a severe shortage of child care exists to the detriment of all families and employers throughout the state. Many workers are unable to enter or remain in the workforce due to a shortage of child care resources. The high costs of starting a chil…
RCW 43.216.735 Placement of children ages sixty months through six years.
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For children ages sixty months through six years, the child's school enrollment status may not be used as a reason to require the child be placed within a specific mixed-age group. Nothing in this section changes or requires the department to change the staff-to-child ratio requi…
RCW 43.216.742 Outdoor nature-based child care program.
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(1) The department shall establish a licensed outdoor nature-based child care program.(2) The department shall adopt rules to implement the outdoor nature-based child care program and may waive or adapt licensing requirements when necessary to allow for the operation of outdoor c…
RCW 43.216.745 Child care consultation program—Creation, operation, and duties.
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(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall establish a child care consultation program linking child care providers with evidence-based, trauma-informed, and best practice resources regarding caring for infants and youn…
RCW 43.216.750 Child welfare workers—Department duties—Technical work group to develop workload model—Annual report to legislature.
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(1) The department shall provide child welfare workers and those supervising child welfare workers with access to:(a) A critical incident protocol that establishes a process for appropriately responding to traumatic or high stress incidents in a manner that provides employees wit…
RCW 43.216.755 Child care providers—Community-based training pathway.
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(1) By July 1, 2021, the department shall implement a noncredit-bearing, community-based training pathway for licensed child care providers to meet professional education requirements associated with child care licensure. The community-based training pathway must be offered as an…
RCW 43.216.757 Child care providers—Experience-based competency.
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(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the department shall allow licensed child care providers until August 1, 2030, to demonstrate experience-based competency as an alternative means to comply with child care licensing rules that require a provider to hold an…
RCW 43.216.760 Child care and early learning providers—Firearms, dangerous weapons.
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(1) Every child day care center and early childhood education and assistance program provider is subject to RCW 9.41.282.(2)(a) A family day care provider must store any firearm, ammunition, or other dangerous weapon as described in RCW 9.41.250 in a secure area when children for…
RCW 43.216.762 Child care and early learning providers—Firearms, dangerous weapons—Rules.
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The department must adopt rules to implement RCW 9.41.282 and 43.216.760.[ 2020 c 189 s 3.]
RCW 43.216.770 Fair start for kids account.
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(1) The fair start for kids account is created in the state treasury. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.(2) Expenditures from the account may be used only for child care and early learning purposes.[ 2021 c 199 s 101.]Notes:Short title—2021 c 199: "This …
RCW 43.216.772 Fair start for kids account—Spending goals and strategies.
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(1) The spending goals and strategies for the fair start for kids account created under RCW 43.216.770 include, but are not limited to:(a) Increasing child care subsidy rates, with the goal of moving toward the full cost of providing high quality child care;(b) Expanding health c…
RCW 43.216.775 Inflationary adjustments to rates.
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(1) Rates paid under RCW 43.216.592 must be adjusted every two years according to an inflationary increase. The inflationary increase must be calculated by applying the rate of the increase in the inflationary adjustment index to the rates established pursuant to RCW 43.216.592.(…
RCW 43.216.800 General policies.
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(1) The department shall establish and implement policies in the working connections child care program to promote stability and quality of care for children from low-income households. These policies shall focus on supporting school readiness for young learners. Policies for the…
RCW 43.216.802 Eligibility—General requirements.
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*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2689-S.SL) ***(1) It is the intent of the legislature to increase working families' access to affordable, high quality child care and to support the expansion of the workforce to support businesses and the statewide economy.(2) A family is eligible for…
RCW 43.216.804 Copayments.
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(1) Effective until October 1, 2026, the department must calculate a monthly copayment according to the following schedule:If the household's income is:Then the household's maximum monthly copayment is:At or below 20 percent of the state median incomeWaived to the extent allowabl…
RCW 43.216.806 Exceptions to approved activity requirements.
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(1)(a) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department may not require an applicant or consumer to meet work requirements as a condition of receiving working connections child care benefits when the applicant or consumer is a full-tim…
RCW 43.216.808 Categorical eligibility—Child protective, child welfare, or family assessment response services and participation in specialty courts.
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(1) The department shall establish and implement policies in the working connections child care program to allow eligibility for families with children who:(a) In the last six months have:(i) Received child protective services as defined and used by chapters 26.44 and 74.13 RCW;(…
RCW 43.216.814 Expanded eligibility—High school students or students working toward a high school equivalency certificate.
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(1) A parent who is attending high school is eligible to receive working connections child care.(2) A parent age 21 years or younger who is working toward completing a high school equivalency certificate is eligible to receive working connections child care.(3) When determining c…
RCW 43.216.820 Working connections child care program—Notification of change in providers.
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Beginning July 1, 2016, or earlier if a different date is provided in the omnibus appropriations act, when an applicant or recipient applies for or receives working connections child care benefits, the applicant or recipient is required to notify the department, within five days,…
RCW 43.216.822 Child care subsidy fraud—Referral—Collection of overpayments.
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(1) The department must refer all suspected incidents of child care subsidy fraud to the department of social and health services office of fraud and accountability for appropriate investigation and action.(2) For the purposes of this section, "fraud" has the definition in RCW 74…