By Wilborn P. Nobles III
The Dallas Morning News
(TNS)
(The Dallas Morning News) — In an effort to support the more than half a million Texas children lacking child care, the state Legislature is considering measures to improve access and quality.
Efforts include bills that aim to simplify data sharing among state agencies, enhance access for children with disabilities, improve safety standards at day cares and broaden eligibility for subsidized child care.
Child care advocates say about 25% of the state’s 2.1 million children under 6 lack such services. Most of them have parents who work and need child care.
Texas also lost nearly 75,000 child care seats last year, resulting in a 15% increase in child care deserts. Such areas are defined as having at least 30 children under age 6 with a demand for quality child care that is three times greater than the current capacity, according to advocacy nonprofit Children at Risk.
Here’s what to know about the proposals.
More money to help Texas families afford child care
The most significant movement so far is a $100 million boost to child care scholarships for low-income working families.
Last month, the House added the money to the state’s supplemental budget. That should result in more seats for children and their families, advocates say.
The supplemental budget is currently in the Senate for consideration.
Meanwhile, another proposal would expand who is eligible to receive subsidized child care.
Parents in certain education programs — such as GED classes, ESL courses and job training programs — could seek such child care help under House Bill 5146 by Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock.
That proposal also aims to ease the burden on single parents by limiting the combined work and training hours they must complete each week to 20 hours in order to be eligible. That bill is pending in the House Committee on Trade, Workforce & Economic Development.
Tracking Texas child care gaps and early childhood education
Information on Texas’ early childhood systems are currently fragmented across multiple state agencies — with Child Protective Services under the Department of Family and Protective Services, public prekindergarten offerings under the Texas Education Agency, and child care services through the Texas Workforce Commission.
House Bill 3963, by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, would create a new system for central data collection from across early childhood programs to help track and address gaps in child care service.
While the bill does not explicitly list what data would be collected, the information targeted for collection includes child care program participation metrics and details on the services offered among the different programs, according to a bill analysis from the House committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency.
Having such information siloed increases cost, hampers transparency and obscures information, according to the bill analysis. Capriglione’s bill would bring this data together in a collaborative manner for the agencies involved in child care, said Kelle Kieschnick of the Texas Business Leadership Council.
“This information is essential for identifying gaps in the early education infrastructure that directly impact workforce participation, business productivity, and long-term economic growth,” Kieschnick said.
The House voted 121-25 on Thursday to advance the bill to the Senate.
Expanding care for children with disabilities
Texas could expand early learning and educational opportunities for young children with disabilities under two bills moving in the Legislature.
Texas would establish a grant program to provide additional funding to child care providers who obtain certifications for teaching children with disabilities under House Bill 175.
The measure, by Rep. Mary González, D-Clint, passed the House in a 91-53 vote Thursday and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate.
Meanwhile, another proposal would require the relevant state agencies to address the barriers students with disabilities or developmental delays face when seeking access to prekindergarten, early childhood special education and child care programs.
House members approved the bill by Rep. Claudia Ordaz, D-El Paso, on Wednesday. House Bill 2310 now moves to the Senate for consideration.
If it passes into law, the Texas Education Agency, the Health and Human Services Commission, and the Texas Workforce Commission would have to publish plans for addressing those barriers by Sept. 1, 2026, with updates every four years thereafter.
State officials would have to identify the barriers affecting such children in early learning programs and create recommendations — including regulatory and funding changes — to improve conditions for them.
Making child care safer for Texas kids
Child care centers would get higher state ratings if they are safer under one proposal.
Rep. Ray Lopez, D-San Antonio, filed House Bill 4113 in March to encourage child care day cares to install crash-rated safety barriers.
Day cares would get a higher rating under the Texas Rising Star Program for installing such barriers in areas where children and staff are most likely to gather, including playgrounds and entrances to the facility.
That bill is pending in the House Committee on Trade, Workforce & Economic Development.
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