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State convenes staff-qualifications work group under House Bill 1648, sets September kickoff
Summary
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families told the Provider Supports Subcommittee it convened a work group to implement staff-qualification changes in House Bill 1648, including a five‑year experiential equivalency for certain program leadership and a required legislative report due Dec. 1, 2026.
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) has convened a staff‑qualifications work group to implement changes from House Bill 1648, agency staff told the Provider Supports Subcommittee at a September meeting.
DCYF workforce supports manager Gretchen Star Brunig, speaking to providers on the call, said the law extends timelines for staff qualifications and creates an experiential equivalency for certain leadership roles. "The DCYF is required to report to the legislature by 12/01/2026," Brunig said.
Why it matters: The bill changes how early‑care leaders can demonstrate required qualifications, widening an experiential pathway and extending deadlines—moves that affect center directors, assistant directors and program supervisors across the state and that DCYF staff said will be developed with provider input through the newly formed work group.
At the subcommittee meeting, DCYF described two main provisions in the law. First, providers get an extra five years to complete staff qualifications. Second, the bill establishes an experiential equivalency for center directors, center assistant directors, and program supervisors who have a cumulative five years of experience by Aug. 1, 2030; staff must still meet related health, safety and current‑employment requirements to use the pathway. Brunig and child care policy program manager Brett Skinner said the agency will detail how the equivalency is documented and how it will be entered in the state’s Merit system.
Skinner described the work‑group selection process and membership balance, saying outreach returned strong interest. "We had 55, people respond to the survey and express interest," he said, and DCYF sought geographic, programmatic and linguistic diversity among the participants.
The work group’s first meeting is scheduled for Sept. 29; Brunig and Skinner said the group will meet monthly thereafter and that summaries of recommendations will be routed through DCYF’s executive steering committee, which will finalize recommendations that will be included in the legislature‑bound report.
Providers on the call pressed for rapid clarification on operational details. One provider asked whether the experiential equivalency counted consecutive service or cumulative time; Brunig and others confirmed it can be cumulative so long as the candidate has five total years of experience by Aug. 1, 2030. Providers also asked when Merit will reflect the change. Brunig said a Merit update is planned "in the next few months" but gave no firm date.
DCYF said it will use monthly presentations to the Provider Supports Subcommittee, ELAC and related advisory groups to collect feedback, and will publish opportunities for one‑on‑one conversations with tribes. The agency also said it will provide follow‑up answers in its feedback loop on program‑specific timelines such as PACE completion times.
The work group will prepare draft reports and an outline for review by advisory groups through August 2026; DCYF staff said the agency needs several months of internal processing after that to prepare the legislative submission.
What’s next: The work group will begin meeting in late September and DCYF will circulate guiding questions, draft outlines and monthly summaries for provider feedback ahead of the 12/01/2026 reporting deadline.
Ending: DCYF staff asked providers to continue submitting questions and comments through the agency feedback loop so the work group can incorporate provider experiences into recommendations and implementation plans.
