Early achievers awards

AN ACT Relating to early achievers quality improvement awards; 1
and amending RCW 43.216.085. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 43.216.085 and 2021 c 304 s 6 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) The department, in collaboration with tribal governments and 6
community and statewide partners, shall implement a quality rating 7
and improvement system, called the early achievers program. The early 8
achievers program provides a foundation of quality for the early care 9
and education system. The early achievers program is applicable to 10
licensed or certified child care centers, family home child care, 11
outdoor nature-based child care, and early learning programs such as 12
working connections child care and early childhood education and 13
assistance programs. 14
(2) The objectives of the early achievers program are to:15
(a) Improve short-term and long-term educational outcomes for 16
children as measured by assessments including, but not limited to, 17
the Washington kindergarten inventory of developing skills in RCW 18
28A.655.080; 19
(b) Give parents clear and easily accessible information about 20
the quality of child care and early education programs;21
H-2681.2
HOUSE BILL 2318
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Eslick, Callan, Abbarno, Berry, Ryu, Dufault,
Paul, Nance, Dent, Macri, Fosse, Bergquist, and Bernbaum
Prefiled 01/07/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Early Learning & Human Services.
p. 1 HB 2318
(c) Support improvement in early learning and child care programs 1
throughout the state; 2
(d) Increase the readiness of children for school;3
(e) Close the disparities in access to quality care;4
(f) Provide professional development and coaching opportunities 5
to early child care and education providers; and 6
(g) Establish a common set of expectations and standards that 7
define, measure, and improve the quality of early learning and child 8
care settings. 9
(3)(a) Licensed or certified child care centers, family home 10
child care, and outdoor nature-based child care, serving nonschool-11
age children and receiving state subsidy payments, must participate 12
in the early achievers program by the required deadlines established 13
in RCW 43.216.135. 14
(b) Approved early childhood education and assistance program 15
providers receiving state-funded support must participate in the 16
early achievers program by the required deadlines established in RCW 17
43.216.515. 18
(c) Participation in the early achievers program is voluntary 19
for: 20
(i) Licensed or certified child care centers, family home child 21
care, and outdoor nature-based child care, not receiving state 22
subsidy payments; and 23
(ii) Early learning programs not receiving state funds.24
(d) School-age child care providers are exempt from participating 25
in the early achievers program. By July 1, 2017, the department and 26
the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall jointly 27
design a plan to incorporate school-age child care providers into the 28
early achievers program or other appropriate quality improvement 29
system. To test implementation of the early achievers system for 30
school-age child care providers the department and the office of the 31
superintendent of public instruction shall implement a pilot program.32
(4)(a) There are five primary levels in the early achievers 33
program. 34
(b) In addition to the primary levels, the department must 35
establish an intermediate level that is between level 3 and level 4 36
and serves to assist participants in transitioning to level 4.37
(c) Participants are expected to actively engage and continually 38
advance within the program. 39
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(5) The department has the authority to determine the rating 1
cycle for the early achievers program. The department shall 2
streamline and eliminate duplication between early achievers 3
standards and state child care rules in order to reduce costs 4
associated with the early achievers rating cycle and child care 5
licensing. 6
(a) Early achievers program participants may request to be rated 7
at any time after the completion of all level 2 activities.8
(b) The department shall provide an early achievers program 9
participant an update on the participant's progress toward completing 10
level 2 activities after the participant has been enrolled in the 11
early achievers program for fifteen months. 12
(c) The first rating is free for early achievers program 13
participants. 14
(d) Each subsequent rating within the established rating cycle is 15
free for early achievers program participants. 16
(6)(a) Early achievers program participants may request to be 17
rerated outside the established rating cycle. A rerating shall reset 18
the rating cycle timeline for participants. 19
(b) The department may charge a fee for optional rerating 20
requests made by program participants that are outside the 21
established rating cycle. 22
(c) Fees charged are based on, but may not exceed, the cost to 23
the department for activities associated with the early achievers 24
program. 25
(7)(a) The department must create a single source of information 26
for parents and caregivers to access details on a provider's early 27
achievers program rating level, licensing history, and other 28
indicators of quality and safety that will help parents and 29
caregivers make informed choices. The licensing history that the 30
department must provide for parents and caregivers pursuant to this 31
subsection shall only include license suspension, surrender, 32
revocation, denial, stayed suspension, or reinstatement. No unfounded 33
child abuse or neglect reports may be provided to parents and 34
caregivers pursuant to this subsection. 35
(b) The department shall publish to the department's website, or 36
offer a link on its website to, the following information:37
(i) Early achievers program rating levels 1 through 5 for all 38
child care programs that receive state subsidy, early childhood 39
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education and assistance programs, and federal head start programs in 1
Washington; and 2
(ii) New early achievers program ratings within thirty days after 3
a program becomes licensed or certified, or receives a rating.4
(c) The early achievers program rating levels shall be published 5
in a manner that is easily accessible to parents and caregivers and 6
takes into account the linguistic needs of parents and caregivers.7
(d) The department must publish early achievers program rating 8
levels for child care programs that do not receive state subsidy but 9
have voluntarily joined the early achievers program.10
(e) Early achievers program participants who have published 11
rating levels on the department's website or on a link on the 12
department's website may include a brief description of their 13
program, contingent upon the review and approval by the department, 14
as determined by established marketing standards. 15
(8)(a) The department shall create a professional development 16
pathway for early achievers program participants to obtain a high 17
school diploma or equivalency or higher education credential in early 18
childhood education, early childhood studies, child development, or 19
an academic field related to early care and education.20
(b) The professional development pathway must include 21
opportunities for scholarships and grants to assist early achievers 22
program participants with the costs associated with obtaining an 23
educational degree. 24
(c) The department shall address cultural and linguistic 25
diversity when developing the professional development pathway.26
(9) The early achievers quality improvement awards shall be 27
reserved for participants offering programs to an enrollment 28
population consisting of a total of at least five percent of enrolled 29
children who are receiving a state subsidy , participating in the 30
early childhood education and assistance program, or participating in 31
the head start program. 32
(10) In collaboration with tribal governments, community and 33
statewide partners, and the early achievers review subcommittee 34
created in RCW 43.216.075, the department shall develop a protocol 35
for granting early achievers program participants an extension in 36
meeting rating level requirement timelines outlined for the working 37
connections child care program and the early childhood education and 38
assistance program. 39
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(a) The department may grant extensions only under exceptional 1
circumstances, such as when early achievers program participants 2
experience an unexpected life circumstance. 3
(b) Extensions shall not exceed six months, and early achievers 4
program participants are only eligible for one extension in meeting 5
rating level requirement timelines. 6
(c) Extensions may only be granted to early achievers program 7
participants who have demonstrated engagement in the early achievers 8
program. 9
(11)(a) The department shall accept national accreditation that 10
meets the requirements of this subsection (11) as a qualification for 11
the early achievers program ratings. 12
(b) Each national accreditation agency will be allowed to submit 13
its most current standards of accreditation to establish potential 14
credit earned in the early achievers program. The department shall 15
grant credit to accreditation bodies that can demonstrate that their 16
standards meet or exceed the current early achievers program 17
standards. By December 1, 2019, and subject to the availability of 18
amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department must 19
submit a detailed plan to the governor and the legislature to 20
implement a robust cross-accreditation process with multiple pathways 21
that allows a provider to earn equivalent early achievers credit 22
resulting from accreditation by high quality national organizations.23
(c) Licensed child care centers, child care home providers, and 24
outdoor nature-based child care must meet national accreditation 25
standards approved by the department for the early achievers program 26
in order to be granted credit for the early achievers program 27
standards. Eligibility for the early achievers program is not subject 28
to bargaining, mediation, or interest arbitration under RCW 29
41.56.153, consistent with the legislative reservation of rights 30
under RCW 41.56.153(4)(d). 31
(12) The department shall explore the use of alternative quality 32
assessment tools that meet the culturally specific needs of the 33
federally recognized tribes in the state of Washington.34
(13) A child care or early learning program that is operated by a 35
federally recognized tribe and receives state funds shall participate 36
in the early achievers program. The tribe may choose to participate 37
through an interlocal agreement between the tribe and the department. 38
The interlocal agreement must reflect the government-to-government 39
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relationship between the state and the tribe, including recognition 1
of tribal sovereignty. The interlocal agreement must provide that:2
(a) Tribal child care facilities and early learning programs may 3
volunteer, but are not required, to be licensed by the department;4
(b) Tribal child care facilities and early learning programs are 5
not required to have their early achievers program rating level 6
published to the department's website or through a link on the 7
department's website; and 8
(c) Tribal child care facilities and early learning programs must 9
provide notification to parents or guardians who apply for or have 10
been admitted into their program that early achievers program rating 11
level information is available and provide the parents or guardians 12
with the program's early achievers program rating level upon request.13
(14) The department shall consult with the early achievers review 14
subcommittee on all substantial policy changes to the early achievers 15
program. 16
(15) Nothing in this section changes the department's 17
responsibility to collectively bargain over mandatory subjects or 18
limits the legislature's authority to make programmatic modifications 19
to licensed child care and early learning programs under RCW 20
41.56.153(4)(d). 21
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