1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to human services; establishing grant programs to promote healthy 
1.3 	communities and the development of circles of support initiatives; appropriating 
1.4 	money.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. PURPOSE.
 1.7 	The Ladder Out of Poverty Task Force, developed out of recommendations from 
1.8 	the Legislative Commission to End Poverty, was created to identify specific policies, 
1.9 	strategies, and actions to:
1.10 	(1) increase opportunities for poor and near-poor families and individuals to acquire 
1.11 	assets and create and build wealth;
1.12 	(2) expand the utilization of individual development account programs;
1.13 	(3) reduce or eliminate predatory financial practices in Minnesota;
1.14 	(4) provide financial literacy information to low-income families and individuals at 
1.15 	the time the recipient has the ability, opportunity, and motivation to receive, understand, 
1.16 	and act on the information provided; and
1.17 	(5) identify incentives and mechanisms to increase community engagement in 
1.18 	combating poverty and helping poor and near-poor families and individuals to acquire 
1.19 	assets and create and build wealth.
1.20 	The grant programs created in sections 2 and 3 are strategies to promote community 
1.21 	engagement in combating poverty.

1.22 	Sec. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE HEALTHY COMMUNITY 
1.23 	INITIATIVES.
 2.1 	(a) The commissioner of human services must contract with the Search Institute to 
2.2 	help local communities develop, expand, and maintain the tools, training, and resources 
2.3 	needed to foster positive community development and effectively engage people in their 
2.4 	community. The Search Institute must: (1) provide training in community mobilization, 
2.5 	youth development, and assets getting to outcomes; (2) provide ongoing technical 
2.6 	assistance to communities receiving grants under this section; (3) use best practices to 
2.7 	promote community development; (4) share best program practices with other interested 
2.8 	communities; (5) create electronic and other opportunities for communities to share 
2.9 	experiences in and resources for promoting healthy community development; and (6) 
2.10 	provide an annual report of the strong communities project.
2.11 	(b) Specifically, the Search Institute must use a competitive grant process to select 
2.12 	ten interested communities throughout Minnesota to undertake strong community 
2.13 	mobilization initiatives to support communities wishing to catalyze multiple sectors to 
2.14 	create or strengthen a community collaboration to address issues of poverty in their 
2.15 	communities. The Search Institute must provide the selected communities with the tools, 
2.16 	training, and resources they need for successfully implementing initiatives focused on 
2.17 	strengthening the community. The Search Institute also must use a competitive grant 
2.18 	process to provide eight strong community innovation grants to encourage current 
2.19 	community initiatives to bring new innovation approaches to their work to reduce poverty. 
2.20 	Finally, the Search Institute must work to strengthen networking and information sharing 
2.21 	activities among all healthy community initiatives throughout Minnesota, including 
2.22 	sharing best program practices and providing personal and electronic opportunities for 
2.23 	peer learning and ongoing program support.
2.24 	(c) In order to receive a grant under paragraph (b), a community must show 
2.25 	involvement of at least three sectors of their community and the active leadership of both 
2.26 	youth and adults. Sectors may include, but are not limited to, local government, schools, 
2.27 	community action agencies, faith communities, businesses, higher education institutions, 
2.28 	and the medical community. In addition, communities must agree to: (1) attend training 
2.29 	on community mobilization processes and strength-based approaches; (2) apply the assets 
2.30 	getting to outcomes process in their initiative; (3) meet at least two times during the 
2.31 	grant period to share successes and challenges with other grantees; (4) participate on an 
2.32 	electronic listserv to share information throughout the period on their work; and (5) all 
2.33 	communication requirements and reporting processes.
2.34 	(d) The commissioner of human services must evaluate the effectiveness of this 
2.35 	program and must recommend to the committees of the legislature with jurisdiction over 
2.36 	health and human services reform and finance by February 15, 2013, whether or not 
3.1 	to make the program available statewide. The Search Institute annually must report to 
3.2 	the commissioner of human services on the services it provided and the grant money 
3.3 	it expended under this section.

3.4 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

3.5 	Sec. 3. CIRCLES OF SUPPORT GRANTS.
 3.6 	The commissioner of human services must provide grants to community action 
3.7 	agencies to help local communities develop, expand, and maintain the tools, training, and 
3.8 	resources needed to foster social assets to assist people out of poverty through circles of 
3.9 	support. The circles of support model must provide a framework for a community to build 
3.10 	relationships across class and race lines so that people can work together to advocate for 
3.11 	change in their communities and move individuals toward self-sufficiency.
3.12 	Specifically, circles of support initiatives must focus on increasing social capital, 
3.13 	income, educational attainment, and individual accountability, while reducing debt, 
3.14 	service dependency, and addressing systemic disparities that hold poverty in place. The 
3.15 	effort must support the development of local guiding coalitions as the link between the 
3.16 	community and circles of support for resource development and funding leverage.

3.17 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2011.

3.18 	Sec. 4. APPROPRIATIONS.
 3.19 	(a) $....... in fiscal year 2012 and $....... in fiscal year 2013 are appropriated from 
3.20 	the general fund to the commissioner of human services for contracting with the Search 
3.21 	Institute to promote healthy community initiatives under section 2, paragraph (b). The 
3.22 	commissioner may expend up to five percent of the appropriation to provide for the 
3.23 	program evaluation under section 2, paragraph (d).
3.24 	(b) $....... in fiscal year 2012 and $....... in fiscal year 2013 are appropriated from the 
3.25 	general fund to the commissioner of human services for the purpose of providing grants to 
3.26 	community action agencies for circles of support initiatives under section 3.

3.27 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2011.

3.28 	Sec. 5. NORTHERN CONNECTIONS.
 3.29 	$....... is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2012 
3.30 	to the commissioner of employment and economic development for a grant to Northern 
3.31 	Connections in Perham for a workforce program that provides one-stop supportive 
3.32 	services to individuals as they transition into the workforce.

4.1 	Sec. 6. WORKFORCE TRANSITION SERVICES.
 4.2 	$....... is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2012 
4.3 	to the commissioner of employment and economic development for grants to counties that 
4.4 	have a written collaboration agreement to establish and operate programs that provide 
4.5 	one-stop supportive services to individuals as they transition into the workforce. The 
4.6 	commissioner must award grants on a competitive basis in accordance with criteria to be 
4.7 	developed by the commissioner in consultation with the commissioner of human services.