Child care local licensing

AN ACT Relating to local licensing and regulation of child care 1
providers; reenacting and amending RCW 43.216.010; adding new 2
sections to chapter 43.216 RCW; repealing RCW 43.216.695; and 3
providing an effective date. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 43.216 6
RCW to read as follows: 7
(1) Notwithstanding RCW 43.216.250 and 43.216.255, counties may 8
adopt and maintain ordinances as provided in this section for the 9
licensing and regulation of child care centers and family home 10
providers. Ordinances may be in effect no sooner than July 1, 2026. 11
Before a county may engage in licensing and regulation in accordance 12
with this section, it shall adopt ordinances that address, at a 13
minimum, the following with regard to child care centers and family 14
home providers: 15
(a) The size, safety, cleanliness, and general adequacy of the 16
premises; 17
(b) The plan of operation; 18
(c) The character, suitability, and competence of the provider 19
and its employees who are directly responsible for the care of 20
children served; 21
H-0134.1
HOUSE BILL 1033
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Couture, Low, Marshall, Jacobsen, and Eslick
Prefiled 12/11/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Early Learning & Human Services.
p. 1 HB 1033
(d) The number of qualified persons required to render care;1
(e) The provision of necessary care, including food, clothing, 2
supervision, and discipline; 3
(f) The physical, mental, and social well-being of children 4
served; 5
(g) Educational and recreational opportunities for children 6
served; and 7
(h) The maintenance of records pertaining to children served.8
(2) The county shall notify the department in writing 60 days 9
prior to the effective date of its enacted ordinances meeting the 10
minimum requirements in subsection (1) of this section. The transfer 11
of licensing and regulatory authority shall occur on the effective 12
date of the ordinances as indicated in the county's notification to 13
the department. Licensing and regulation by counties of child care 14
centers and family home providers as provided in this section shall 15
be administered and enforced by those counties. The department shall 16
not regulate these activities nor shall the department bear any civil 17
liability associated with locally licensed and regulated providers. 18
Upon request, the department shall provide technical assistance to 19
any county that is in the process of adopting the ordinances required 20
by this section, and after the ordinances become effective.21
(3) Any county licensing and regulating child care centers and 22
family home providers pursuant to this section shall report to the 23
department on a quarterly basis with the following information: The 24
ordinances adopted pursuant to this section that are currently in 25
effect; a description of how these provisions address the specific 26
areas of regulation identified in subsection (1) of this section; and 27
a complete list of locally licensed providers that includes the type 28
of provider and maximum number of children that may be served under 29
the license. The department must compile and maintain on its website 30
a list of counties that locally license child care centers and family 31
home providers. 32
(4) The department shall adopt rules as necessary to allow 33
locally licensed and regulated child care centers and family home 34
providers to fully participate in the working connections child care 35
program and the early achievers program. In order for locally 36
licensed and regulated providers to qualify to receive state subsidy 37
payments through the working connections child care program, the 38
rules must require providers to participate in the early achievers 39
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program, but must not require providers to rate or request to be 1
rated at any particular early achievers program level.2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.216 3
RCW to read as follows: 4
(1) The department shall contract for a third-party consultant to 5
conduct an analysis of local licensing and regulation of child care 6
centers and family home providers. The analysis must describe the 7
rate of utilization of the local licensing and regulation option 8
permitted under section 1 of this act, and the perceptions of 9
providers, local governments, and the department of the local 10
licensing and regulatory scheme as compared to the state licensing 11
and regulatory scheme. 12
(2) The department must consult with representatives of local 13
governments in selecting a consultant. The department must make the 14
analysis available to the legislature, in compliance with RCW 15
43.01.036, by October 1, 2030. 16
Sec. 3. RCW 43.216.010 and 2021 c 304 s 2 and 2021 c 199 s 501 17
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:18
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 19
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 20
(1) "Agency" means any person, firm, partnership, association, 21
corporation, or facility that provides child care and early learning 22
services outside a child's own home and includes the following 23
irrespective of whether there is compensation to the agency:24
(a) "Child day care center" and "child care center" mean an 25
agency that regularly provides early childhood education and early 26
learning services for a group of children for periods of less than 24 27
hours; 28
(b) "Early learning" includes but is not limited to programs and 29
services for child care; state, federal, private, and nonprofit 30
preschool; child care subsidies; child care resource and referral; 31
parental education and support; and training and professional 32
development for early learning professionals; 33
(c) "Family day care provider" and "family home provider" mean a 34
child care provider who regularly provides early childhood education 35
and early learning services for not more than 12 children at any 36
given time in the provider's home in the family living quarters 37
except as provided in RCW 43.216.692; 38
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(d) "Nongovernmental private-public partnership" means an entity 1
registered as a nonprofit corporation in Washington state with a 2
primary focus on early learning, school readiness, and parental 3
support, and an ability to raise a minimum of $5,000,000 in 4
contributions; 5
(e) "Outdoor nature-based child care" means an agency or an 6
agency-offered program that: 7
(i) Enrolls preschool or school-age children; 8
(ii) Provides early learning services to the enrolled children in 9
an outdoor natural space approved by the department for not less than 10
four hours per day or fifty percent of the daily program hours, 11
whichever is less; and 12
(iii) Teaches a nature-based curriculum to enrolled children;13
(f) "Service provider" means the entity that operates a community 14
facility. 15
(2) "Agency" does not include the following: 16
(a) Persons related to the child in the following ways:17
(i) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and 18
including first cousins, nephews or nieces, and persons of preceding 19
generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great;20
(ii) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;21
(iii) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent 22
as well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such 23
persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance 24
with state law; or 25
(iv) Spouses of any persons named in (a)(i), (ii), or (iii) of 26
this subsection, even after the marriage is terminated;27
(b) Persons who are legal guardians of the child;28
(c) Persons who care for a neighbor's or friend's child or 29
children, with or without compensation, where the person providing 30
care for periods of less than 24 hours does not conduct such activity 31
on an ongoing, regularly scheduled basis for the purpose of engaging 32
in business, which includes, but is not limited to, advertising such 33
care; 34
(d) Parents on a mutually cooperative basis exchange care of one 35
another's children; 36
(e) Nursery schools that are engaged primarily in early childhood 37
education with preschool children and in which no child is enrolled 38
on a regular basis for more than four hours per day;39
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(f) Schools, including boarding schools, that are engaged 1
primarily in education, operate on a definite school year schedule, 2
follow a stated academic curriculum, and accept only school age 3
children; 4
(g) Seasonal camps. For purposes of this chapter, "seasonal camp" 5
means a program that: 6
(i) Operates for three months or less within a period of twelve 7
consecutive months; 8
(ii) Is engaged primarily in recreational or educational 9
activities conducted on a closely supervised basis; and10
(iii) Is owned by any person, organization, association, or 11
corporation, or is operated by a federal, state, county, or municipal 12
government; 13
(h) Facilities providing child care for periods of less than 24 14
hours when a parent or legal guardian of the child remains on the 15
premises of the facility for the purpose of participating in:16
(i) Activities other than employment; or 17
(ii) Employment of up to two hours per day when the facility is 18
operated by a nonprofit entity that also operates a licensed child 19
care program at the same facility in another location or at another 20
facility; 21
(i) Any entity that provides recreational or educational 22
programming for school age children only and the entity meets all of 23
the following requirements: 24
(i) The entity utilizes a drop-in model for programming, where 25
children are able to attend during any or all program hours without a 26
formal reservation; 27
(ii) The entity does not assume responsibility in lieu of the 28
parent, unless for coordinated transportation; 29
(iii) The entity is a local affiliate of a national nonprofit; 30
and 31
(iv) The entity is in compliance with all safety and quality 32
standards set by the associated national agency; 33
(j) A program operated by any unit of local, state, or federal 34
government; 35
(k) A program located within the boundaries of a federally 36
recognized Indian reservation, licensed by the Indian tribe;37
(l) A program located on a federal military reservation, except 38
where the military authorities request that such agency be subject to 39
the licensing requirements of this chapter; 40
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(m) A program that offers early learning and support services, 1
such as parent education, and does not provide child care services on 2
a regular basis; or3
(n) A child care center or family home provider that is locally 4
licensed as authorized under section 1 of this act.5
(3) "Applicant" means a person who requests or seeks employment 6
in an agency. 7
(4) "Certificate of parental improvement" means a certificate 8
issued under RCW 74.13.720 to an individual who has a founded finding 9
of physical abuse or negligent treatment or maltreatment, or a court 10
finding that the individual's child was dependent as a result of a 11
finding that the individual abused or neglected their child pursuant 12
to RCW 13.34.030(6)(b). 13
(5) "Conviction information" means criminal history record 14
information relating to an incident which has led to a conviction or 15
other disposition adverse to the applicant. 16
(6) "Department" means the department of children, youth, and 17
families. 18
(7) "Early achievers" means a program that improves the quality 19
of early learning programs and supports and rewards providers for 20
their participation. 21
(8) "Early childhood education and assistance program contractor" 22
means an organization that provides early childhood education and 23
assistance program services under a signed contract with the 24
department. 25
(9) "Early childhood education and assistance program provider" 26
means an organization that provides site level, direct, and high 27
quality early childhood education and assistance program services 28
under the direction of an early childhood education and assistance 29
program contractor. 30
(10) "Education data center" means the education data center 31
established in RCW 43.41.400, commonly referred to as the education 32
research and data center. 33
(11) "Employer" means a person or business that engages the 34
services of one or more people, especially for wages or salary to 35
work in an agency. 36
(12) "Enforcement action" means denial, suspension, revocation, 37
modification, or nonrenewal of a license pursuant to RCW 38
43.216.325(1) or assessment of civil monetary penalties pursuant to 39
RCW 43.216.325(3). 40
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(13) "Extended day program" means an early childhood education 1
and assistance program that offers early learning education for at 2
least 10 hours per day, a minimum of 2,000 hours per year, at least 3
four days per week, and operates year-round. 4
(14) "Family resource and referral linkage system" means a system 5
that connects families to resources, services, and programs for which 6
families are eligible and uses a database that is developed and 7
maintained in partnership with communities, health care providers, 8
and early learning providers. 9
(15) "Family resource center" means a unified single point of 10
entry where families, individuals, children, and youth in communities 11
can obtain information, an assessment of needs, referral to, or 12
direct delivery of family services in a manner that is welcoming and 13
strength-based. 14
(a) A family resource center is designed to meet the needs, 15
cultures, and interests of the communities that the family resource 16
center serves. 17
(b) Family services may be delivered directly to a family at the 18
family resource center by family resource center staff or by 19
providers who contract with or have provider agreements with the 20
family resource center. Any family resource center that provides 21
family services shall comply with applicable state and federal laws 22
and regulations regarding the delivery of such family services, 23
unless required waivers or exemptions have been granted by the 24
appropriate governing body. 25
(c) Each family resource center shall have one or more family 26
advocates who screen and assess a family's needs and strengths. If 27
requested by the family, the family advocate shall assist the family 28
with setting its own goals and, together with the family, develop a 29
written plan to pursue the family's goals in working towards a 30
greater level of self-reliance or in attaining self-sufficiency.31
(16) "Full day program" means an early childhood education and 32
assistance program that offers early learning education for a minimum 33
of 1,000 hours per year. 34
(17) "Inspection report" means a written or digital record or 35
report created by the department that identifies or describes 36
licensing violations or conditions within an agency. An inspection 37
report does not include a child care facility licensing compliance 38
agreement as defined in RCW 43.216.395. 39
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(18) "Low-income child care provider" means a person who 1
administers a child care program that consists of at least 80 percent 2
of children receiving working connections child care subsidy.3
(19) "Low-income neighborhood" means a district or community 4
where more than 20 percent of households are below the federal 5
poverty level. 6
(20) "Negative action" means a court order, court judgment, or an 7
adverse action taken by an agency, in any state, federal, tribal, or 8
foreign jurisdiction, which results in a finding against the 9
applicant reasonably related to the individual's character, 10
suitability, and competence to care for or have unsupervised access 11
to children in child care. This may include, but is not limited to:12
(a) A decision issued by an administrative law judge;13
(b) A final determination, decision, or finding made by an agency 14
following an investigation; 15
(c) An adverse agency action, including termination, revocation, 16
or denial of a license or certification, or if pending adverse agency 17
action, the voluntary surrender of a license, certification, or 18
contract in lieu of the adverse action; 19
(d) A revocation, denial, or restriction placed on any 20
professional license; or 21
(e) A final decision of a disciplinary board. 22
(21) "Nonconviction information" means arrest, founded 23
allegations of child abuse, or neglect pursuant to chapter 26.44 RCW, 24
or other negative action adverse to the applicant.25
(22) "Nonschool age child" means a child who is age six years or 26
younger and who is not enrolled in a public or private school.27
(23) "Part day program" means an early childhood education and 28
assistance program that offers early learning education for at least 29
two and one-half hours per class session, at least 320 hours per 30
year, for a minimum of 30 weeks per year. 31
(24) "Private school" means a private school approved by the 32
state under chapter 28A.195 RCW. 33
(25) "Probationary license" means a license issued as a 34
disciplinary measure to an agency that has previously been issued a 35
full license but is out of compliance with licensing standards.36
(26) "Requirement" means any rule, regulation, or standard of 37
care to be maintained by an agency. 38
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(27) "School age child" means a child who is five years of age 1
through 12 years of age and is attending a public or private school 2
or is receiving home-based instruction under chapter 28A.200 RCW.3
(28) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department.4
(29) "Washington state preschool program" means an education 5
program for children three-to-five years of age who have not yet 6
entered kindergarten, such as the early childhood education and 7
assistance program. 8
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. RCW 43.216.695 (County regulation of 9
family day-care centers— Twelve-month pilot projects) and 2005 c 509 s 10
1 are each repealed, effective July 1, 2026.11
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