HF 3680

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 education; establishing 
  1.3             pilot projects to create a model of service 
  1.4             integration among early childhood care and education 
  1.5             providers; appropriating money. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION PILOT 
  1.8   PROJECTS.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [PILOT PROJECTS AUTHORIZED; PURPOSE.] The 
  1.10  commissioner of children, families, and learning shall 
  1.11  distribute a block grant to a nonprofit corporation to be used 
  1.12  to administer pilot projects to provide early childhood care and 
  1.13  education opportunities for children birth to age five.  The 
  1.14  nonprofit corporation must have experience as a fiscal agent and 
  1.15  have demonstrated the ability to analyze financing projects and 
  1.16  to participate in community planning.  The nonprofit corporation 
  1.17  shall award grants to community organizations to establish at 
  1.18  least three pilot projects, one each in urban, suburban, and 
  1.19  greater Minnesota.  The purpose of the pilot projects is to 
  1.20  create a model of service integration among all types of family 
  1.21  and early childhood care and education providers to provide a 
  1.22  high quality, early childhood development approach that 
  1.23  encompasses: 
  1.24     (1) a learning environment that supports the individual 
  1.25  child's social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development; 
  2.1      (2) involves parents in the child's development and 
  2.2   education and offers parenting education and information; and 
  2.3      (3) recordkeeping and reporting systems that provide 
  2.4   accurate and timely data to the nonprofit corporation and the 
  2.5   commissioner regarding children, families, and staff, and that 
  2.6   ensure confidentiality. 
  2.7      Subd. 2.  [GRANT APPLICATION.] A community organization may 
  2.8   apply to the nonprofit corporation for a grant to establish a 
  2.9   pilot project.  The applicant must describe: 
  2.10     (1) its ability and willingness to integrate family and 
  2.11  early childhood care and education services; 
  2.12     (2) the geographic area to be served and the needs of the 
  2.13  families in the area; 
  2.14     (3) the services to be provided with associated costs, 
  2.15  including all-day care, special needs care, and nontraditional 
  2.16  hour care; 
  2.17     (4) procedures and methods used to integrate and maximize 
  2.18  use of existing early childhood care and education services, 
  2.19  including, but not limited to, programs under the auspices of 
  2.20  school districts, licensed child care providers, government 
  2.21  agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and neighborhood 
  2.22  organizations; 
  2.23     (5) the strategies it will use to ensure that children at 
  2.24  greatest risk receive appropriate services; 
  2.25     (6) any local, state, federal, and private resources the 
  2.26  applicant will bring to the project and the flexibility it has 
  2.27  with those resources; 
  2.28     (7) how it plans to provide a data-set including, but not 
  2.29  limited to, the number and type of sites and services provided 
  2.30  in the pilot project, the demographic information of children 
  2.31  served at all sites, the income levels of the families of all 
  2.32  children served, relevant characteristics of the children 
  2.33  served, and the salaries and turnover rates of all early 
  2.34  childhood care and education providers; and 
  2.35     (8) how it will measure outcomes of service integration. 
  2.36     Subd. 3.  [REPORTING.] Beginning in calendar year 2002, 
  3.1   each site that receives funding shall submit to the nonprofit 
  3.2   corporation and the commissioner the data described in 
  3.3   subdivision 2, clause (7). 
  3.4      Subd. 4.  [REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS.] The 
  3.5   commissioner shall, as requested by the nonprofit organization, 
  3.6   review laws or rules under the commissioner's jurisdiction and 
  3.7   may waive burdensome law or rule requirements if the waiver 
  3.8   simplifies or consolidates program requirements or emphasizes 
  3.9   outcomes rather than procedures. 
  3.10     Subd. 5.  [RECOMMENDATION TO LEGISLATURE.] The commissioner 
  3.11  shall use the data from the pilot projects to recommend to the 
  3.12  legislature a plan for integrating early childhood care and 
  3.13  education services statewide.  The recommendation must include 
  3.14  training and professional development, funding, advocacy, 
  3.15  regulation, data collection and utilization, consumer 
  3.16  information, appropriate early childhood facilities, and policy 
  3.17  recommendations that would facilitate integration and remove 
  3.18  barriers related to integration. 
  3.19     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.20     $4,000,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.21  commissioner of children, families, and learning for the fiscal 
  3.22  biennium ending June 30, 2003, for the purposes of section 1.