Sec. 531.03131. ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO CHILD-CARE AND EDUCATION SERVICES REFERRAL INFORMATION. (a) In this section, "child-care and education services" means:

(1) subsidized child-care services administered by the Texas Workforce Commission and local workforce development boards and funded wholly or partly by federal child-care development funds;

(2) child-care and education services provided by a Head Start or Early Head Start program provider;

(3) child-care and education services provided by a school district through a prekindergarten or after-school program; and

(4) any other government-funded child-care and education services, other than education and services provided by a school district as part of the general program of public and secondary education, designed to educate or provide care for children under the age of 13 in middle-income or low-income families.

(b) In addition to providing health and human services information, the Texas Information and Referral Network Internet site established under Section 531.0313 shall provide information to the public regarding child-care and education services provided by public or private entities throughout the state. The Internet site will serve as a single point of access through which a person may be directed on how or where to apply for all child-care and education services available in the person's community.

(c) To the extent resources are available, the Internet site must:

(1) be geographically indexed and designed to inform an individual about the child-care and education services provided in the area where the person lives;

(2) contain prescreening questions to determine a person's or family's probable eligibility for child-care and education services; and

(3) be designed in a manner that allows staff of the Texas Information and Referral Network to:

(A) provide an applicant with the telephone number, physical address, and electronic mail address of the nearest Head Start or Early Head Start office or center and local workforce development center and the appropriate school district; and

(B) send an electronic mail message to each appropriate entity described by Paragraph (A) containing the name of and contact information for each applicant and a description of the services the applicant is applying for.

(d) On receipt of an electronic mail message from the Texas Information and Referral Network under Subsection (c)(3)(B), each entity shall contact the applicant to verify information regarding the applicant's eligibility for available child-care and education services and, on certifying eligibility, shall match the applicant with entities providing those services in the applicant's community, including local workforce development boards, local child-care providers, or a Head Start or Early Head Start program provider.

(e) The child-care resource and referral network under Chapter 310, Labor Code, and each entity providing child-care and education services in this state, including local workforce development boards, the Texas Education Agency, school districts, Head Start and Early Head Start program providers, municipalities, counties, and other political subdivisions of this state, shall cooperate with the Texas Information and Referral Network as necessary in the administration of this section.

(f) Repealed by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 837 , Sec. 2.08(b)(2), eff. September 1, 2015.

(g) Repealed by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 837 , Sec. 2.08(b)(2), eff. September 1, 2015.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1260 (H.B. 2048), Sec. 23(b), eff. June 18, 2005.

Amended by:

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1312 (S.B. 59), Sec. 35, eff. September 1, 2013.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 837 (S.B. 200), Sec. 2.08(b)(2), eff. September 1, 2015.