HF 1691

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to early childhood; expanding services and 
  1.3             eligibility for state Head Start funds; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 119A.52; and 119A.53.
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 119A.52, is 
  1.7   amended to read: 
  1.8      119A.52 [DISTRIBUTION OF APPROPRIATION.] 
  1.9      (a) The commissioner of children, families, and learning 
  1.10  must distribute money appropriated for that purpose to Head 
  1.11  Start program programs to grantees to expand services and to 
  1.12  serve additional low-income children, including the cost of 
  1.13  additional classroom space, materials, equipment, and staff 
  1.14  recruitment and training.  Grantees may use state funds to 
  1.15  provide services to children birth to age five and their 
  1.16  families with incomes up to 120 percent of the federal poverty 
  1.17  guidelines.  Money must be allocated to each project Head Start 
  1.18  grantee in existence on the effective date of Laws 1989, chapter 
  1.19  282.  Migrant and Indian reservation grantees must be initially 
  1.20  allocated money based on the grantees' share of federal funds.  
  1.21  The remaining money must be initially allocated to the remaining 
  1.22  local agencies based equally on the agencies' share of federal 
  1.23  funds and on the proportion of eligible children in the 
  1.24  agencies' service area who are not currently being served.  A 
  1.25  Head Start grantee must be funded at a per child rate equal to 
  2.1   its contracted, federally funded base level for program accounts 
  2.2   20, 22, and 25 at the start of the fiscal year.  In allocating 
  2.3   funds under this paragraph, the commissioner of children, 
  2.4   families, and learning must assure that each Head Start grantee 
  2.5   is allocated no less funding in any fiscal year than was 
  2.6   allocated to that grantee in fiscal year 1993.  The commissioner 
  2.7   shall allocate money to each Head Start grantee based equally on:
  2.8      (1) the number of children in the service area birth to age 
  2.9   five living in poverty as reported in the 2000 census for fiscal 
  2.10  years 2002 and 2003, and in the following years as updated by 
  2.11  the United States Census Bureau's intercensal estimates; and 
  2.12     (2) program plans submitted by grantees that include: 
  2.13     (i) an estimate of the number of low-income children and 
  2.14  families to be served; 
  2.15     (ii) a description of the program design and services to be 
  2.16  offered; and 
  2.17     (iii) the cost per child of delivering those services.  
  2.18  The commissioner may provide additional funding to grantees for 
  2.19  start-up costs incurred by grantees due to the increased number 
  2.20  of children to be served.  Before paying money to the grantees, 
  2.21  the commissioner must notify each grantee of its initial 
  2.22  allocation, how the money must be used, and the number of 
  2.23  low-income children that must be served with the allocation.  
  2.24  Each grantee must notify the commissioner of the number of 
  2.25  low-income children it will be able to serve.  For any grantee 
  2.26  that cannot utilize its full allocation, the commissioner must 
  2.27  reduce the allocation proportionately.  Money available after 
  2.28  the initial allocations are reduced must be redistributed to 
  2.29  eligible grantees. 
  2.30     (b) Up to 11 percent of the funds appropriated annually may 
  2.31  be used to provide grants to local Head Start agencies to 
  2.32  provide funds grantees or other early childhood care and 
  2.33  education providers for innovative programs designed either to 
  2.34  target Head Start resources to particular at-risk groups of 
  2.35  children or to provide services in addition to those currently 
  2.36  allowable under federal Head Start regulations.  The 
  3.1   commissioner must award funds for innovative programs under this 
  3.2   paragraph on a competitive basis. 
  3.3      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 119A.53, is 
  3.4   amended to read: 
  3.5      119A.53 [FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS.] 
  3.6      Grantees and the commissioner of children, families, and 
  3.7   learning shall comply with federal regulations governing the 
  3.8   federal Head Start program, except for innovative programs 
  3.9   funded under section 119A.52, paragraph (b), which may operate 
  3.10  differently than federal head start regulations, and except that 
  3.11  when a state statute or regulation conflicts with a federal 
  3.12  statute or regulation, the state statute or regulation prevails.