1. (a) Child care funds allocated by the Commission pursuant to its allocation rules (generally, Chapter 800, General Administration, Subchapter B, Allocation and Funding, and specifically §800.58, Child Care), including local public transferred funds and local private donated funds, as provided in §809.17, to the extent they are used for nondirect care quality improvement activities, shall be used only for the following:

   1. (1) Collaborative reading initiatives;
   2. (2) School readiness, early learning, and literacy; or
   3. (3) Local-level support to promote child care consumer education provided by 2-1-1 Texas.

2. (b) Allowable activities to support the quality improvement activities described in subsection (a) of this section may include the following:

   1. (1) Professional development and training for child care providers; or
   2. (2) Purchase of curriculum and curriculum-related support resources for child care providers.
3. (c) Activities in subsection (a) of this section may be designed to meet the needs of children in any age group eligible for Commission-funded child care, as well as children with disabilities.

4. (d) In funding quality improvement activities allowable under this section, a Board may give priority to child care facilities:

   1. (1) participating in the integrated school readiness models developed by the State Center;
   2. (2) implementing components of school readiness curricula as approved by the State Center; or
   3. (3) participating in or voluntarily pursuing participation in Texas Rising Star Provider Certification, pursuant to Texas Government Code §2308.316.
5. (e) Expenditures certified by a public entity, as provided in §809.17(b)(3), may include expenditures for any quality improvement activity described in 45 C.F.R. §98.51.

Source Note:The provisions of this §809.16 adopted to be effective January 29, 2007, 32 TexReg 336.