There is hereby established within the Department of Human Services the Office of Child Care. The Office of Child Care shall:

1. Develop a state child care plan to qualify for federal child care and development block grant funds.

Such plan shall:

a.Provide to the maximum extent practicable that parents or guardians of each eligible child be given the option to enroll such child with a child care provider that has a grant or contract for the provision of child care services with the Department of Human Services, which is selected by the parent or guardian, or to receive a child care certificate, as defined in Chapter 6 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, of value commensurate with the subsidy value of child care services provided through contract or grant;

b.Provide that nothing in the plan shall preclude the use of child care certificates for sectarian child care services if freely chosen by the parents;

2. Oversee distribution of state and federal funds related to child care;

3. Provide technical assistance to employers who are interested in exploring child care benefits and community child care needs;

4. Assist the Oklahoma Department of Commerce in promoting Oklahoma as a state that cares about families and children;

5. Address barriers that limit the availability of care for children with handicaps, infants, school-age children and children whose parents work nontraditional hours;

6. Provide oversight, training and technical assistance to resource and referral programs;

7. Coordinate the provision of training statewide for child care providers;

8. Increase community awareness of the need for quality child care which is both available and affordable;

9. Serve as a clearinghouse for child care data, resources and initiatives;

10. Cooperate with the Office of Management and Enterprise Services regarding child care benefits for state employees; and

11. Advise parents that no outside child care can ever be as effective and beneficial as devoted loving care within the home, and encourage parents to care for their children themselves, in their own home, whenever possible.

Added by Laws 1991, c. 147, § 1. Renumbered from Title 63, § 1-240 by Laws 2012, c. 253, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2012. Amended by Laws 2012, c. 304, § 479.

NOTE: Laws 1991, c. 147, § 1, as renumbered by Laws 2012, c. 253, § 6 repealed by Laws 2013, c. 15, § 2, emerg. eff. April 8, 2013.