City's policy on supporting child care

It is the policy of the city to: (1) Acknowledge the importance of affordable and accessible quality child care on the individual, the family, the workplace, and the community; (2) Take a positive and active role in the development and promotion of cooperative relationships among parents, employers, child care professionals, employee organizations, businesses, educators, community leaders, and government officials aimed at increasing the availability of accessible and affordable quality child care to working families in the city; (3) Become a model employer in the delivery of child care services to its employees; (4) Integrate the child care needs of citizens into the city’s land use planning process; (5) Institute procedures to expedite the necessary approvals and permits required for the construction of child care facilities and for projects that include the construction of child care facilities; (6) Make vacant or underused city properties available to qualified child care providers; (7) Ensure that appropriate city personnel possess the requisite understanding of and familiarity with applicable legal, regulatory, and procedural requirements for quality child care programs; (8) Use the available resources of federal, State, and private agencies to enhance the availability of affordable quality child care on Oahu; (9) Support federal and State legislation that is consistent with the intent of this section; (10) Encourage all employers on Oahu to address the issue of child care in their employee policies; (11) Encourage all city vendors to adopt a stated child care policy. To the extent permitted by law, the city shall give vendors with such policies preference in contracting with the city; (12) Support efforts to offer a child care benefit option in any cafeteria plan, within the meaning of § 125, Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, for city employees; and (13) Review the activities of the city in promoting the expansion of child care services in every annual report of the city published by the mayor pursuant to the charter.