1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to child care; improving the quality of child care and expanding the 
1.3 	professional development of child care practitioners; establishing a pilot 
1.4 	project; authorizing children's services grants; appropriating money;amending 
1.5 	Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 119B.21, subdivision 5.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 119B.21, subdivision 5, is amended to read:
1.8 		Subd. 5.Child care services grants. (a) A child care resource and referral program 
1.9 	designated under section 119B.19, subdivision 1a, may award child care services grants 
1.10 	for: 
1.11 	(1) creating new licensed child care facilities and expanding existing facilities, 
1.12 	including, but not limited to, supplies, equipment, facility renovation, and remodeling;
1.13 	(2) improving licensed child care facility programs;
1.14 	(3) staff training and development services including, but not limited to, in-service 
1.15 	training, curriculum development, accreditation, certification, consulting, resource centers, 
1.16 	and program and resource materials, supporting effective teacher-child interactions, 
1.17 	child-focused teaching, and content-driven classroom instruction;
1.18 	(4) interim financing;
1.19 	(5) capacity building through the purchase of appropriate technology to create, 
1.20 	enhance, and maintain business management systems;
1.21 	(6) emergency assistance for child care programs;
1.22 	(7) new programs or projects for the creation, expansion, or improvement of 
1.23 	programs that serve ethnic immigrant and refugee communities; and
2.1 	(8) targeted recruitment initiatives to expand and build the capacity of the child 
2.2 	care system and to improve the quality of care provided by legal nonlicensed child care 
2.3 	providers.
2.4 	(b) A child care resource and referral program designated under section 119B.19, 
2.5 	subdivision 1a, may award child care services grants to: 
2.6 	(1) licensed providers;
2.7 	(2) providers in the process of being licensed;
2.8 	(3) corporations or public agencies that develop or provide child care services;
2.9 	(4) school-age care programs; or
2.10 	(5) any combination of clauses (1) to (4).
2.11 	Unlicensed providers are only eligible for grants under paragraph (a), clause (7).
2.12 	(c) A recipient of a child care services grant for facility improvements, interim 
2.13 	financing, or staff training and development must provide a 25 percent local match.

2.14 	Sec. 2. COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN SERVICES DUTIES; EARLY 
2.15 	CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL-AGE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 
2.16 	TRAINING.
 2.17 		Subdivision 1.Development and implementation of early childhood and 
2.18 	school-age professional development system. (a) The commissioner of human services, 
2.19 	in cooperation with the commissioners of education and health, shall develop and phase 
2.20 	in the implementation of a professional development system for practitioners serving 
2.21 	children in early childhood and school-age programs. The system must, at a minimum, 
2.22 	include the following features:
2.23 	(1) a continuum of training content based on the early childhood and school-age 
2.24 	care practitioner core competencies that translates knowledge into improved practice to 
2.25 	support children's school success;
2.26 	(2) training strategies that provide direct feedback about practice to practitioners 
2.27 	through ongoing consultation, mentoring, or coaching with special emphasis on early 
2.28 	literacy and early math;
2.29 	(3) an approval process for trainers;
2.30 	(4) a professional development registry for early childhood and school-age care 
2.31 	practitioners that will provide tracking and recognition of practitioner training/career 
2.32 	development progress;
2.33 	(5) a career lattice that includes a range of professional development and educational 
2.34 	opportunities that provide appropriate coursework and degree pathways;
3.1 	(6) development of a plan with public higher education institutions for an articulated 
3.2 	system of education, training, and professional development that includes credit for prior 
3.3 	learning and development of equivalences to two- and four-year degrees;
3.4 	(7) incentives and supports for early childhood and school-age care practitioners 
3.5 	to seek additional training and education, including TEACH, other scholarships, and 
3.6 	career guidance; and
3.7 	(8) coordinated and accessible delivery of training to early childhood and school-age 
3.8 	care practitioners.
3.9 	(b) The commissioner of human services must evaluate the professional development 
3.10 	system and make continuous improvements.
3.11 	(c) Beginning July 1, 2007, as appropriations permit, the commissioner shall phase 
3.12 	in the professional development system.
3.13 		Subd. 2.Two-hour early childhood training. By January 15, 2008, the 
3.14 	commissioner of human services, with input from the Minnesota Licensed Family Child 
3.15 	Care Association and the Minnesota Professional Development Council, shall identify 
3.16 	new training that meets the two-hour early childhood development training requirement 
3.17 	for new child care practitioners under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.14, subdivision 
3.18 	9a, paragraphs (a) and (b). For licensed family child care, the commissioner shall also 
3.19 	seek the input of labor unions that serve licensed family child care providers, if the union 
3.20 	has been recognized by a county to serve licensed family child care providers.

3.21 	Sec. 3. APPROPRIATIONS.
 3.22 		Subdivision 1.Expanded quality rating system pilot program. $....... is 
3.23 	appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of human services for the 
3.24 	biennium beginning July 1, 2007, to be transferred to the Minnesota Early Learning 
3.25 	Foundation under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.175, to fund an expanded pilot 
3.26 	program that offers geographic diversity to the current pilot program to test and evaluate 
3.27 	the quality rating system.
3.28 		Subd. 2.Child care services grants. $....... is appropriated from the general fund 
3.29 	to the commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning July 1, 2007, for 
3.30 	the purposes of providing child care services grants under Minnesota Statutes, section 
3.31 	119B.21, subdivision 5.
3.32 		Subd. 3.Early childhood professional development system. $....... is appropriated 
3.33 	from the general fund to the commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning 
3.34 	July 1, 2007, for the purposes of the early childhood professional development system, 
4.1 	which increases the quality and continuum of professional development opportunities for 
4.2 	child care practitioners.