HF 876

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to children; providing child care grants for 
  1.3             African immigrant and refugee families and their 
  1.4             children; appropriating money. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [CHILD CARE DEVELOPMENT GRANTS; AFRICAN 
  1.7   IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE COMMUNITY.] 
  1.8      (a) The commissioner of children, families, and learning 
  1.9   shall provide funding to develop culturally competent early 
  1.10  childhood child care and education services for the African 
  1.11  immigrant and refugee communities through one or more grants to 
  1.12  a nonprofit organization or government agency.  The grant must 
  1.13  support the establishment of a child care center, licensed or 
  1.14  legal family child care, or the establishment of up to 30 legal 
  1.15  informal providers for the care of children of African immigrant 
  1.16  and refugee families.  The grant may be used for technical 
  1.17  assistance, the start-up costs for supplies and equipment, a 
  1.18  subsidy for housing purchase or rehabilitation costs for 
  1.19  licensed or legal informal family and group family child care, 
  1.20  transportation costs, provider training including training in 
  1.21  English as a second language, on-the-job-training, mentoring, 
  1.22  training in interpreter skills and scholarships for accredited 
  1.23  child care courses, and other costs of obtaining a child care 
  1.24  license under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 245A.  The grant may 
  1.25  also be used to subsidize payments for child care services and 
  2.1   wages for child care workers. 
  2.2      (b) The commissioner shall consult with the council on 
  2.3   Black Minnesotans and representatives of the African immigrant 
  2.4   communities to formulate grant applications under this section.  
  2.5   The commissioner, in consultation with the council on Black 
  2.6   Minnesotans and representatives of the African immigrant 
  2.7   communities, shall appoint an advisory committee to review grant 
  2.8   applications and make recommendations on grants under this 
  2.9   section.  
  2.10     (c) In making grants under this section, priority must be 
  2.11  given to programs that include persons who are fluent in English 
  2.12  and in the native language of the participating families and 
  2.13  children and to programs that demonstrate partnerships and 
  2.14  collaboration with other private and public entities.  The 
  2.15  commissioner shall also give priority in funding to establishing 
  2.16  and supporting child care in urban, suburban, and rural areas 
  2.17  with the highest concentration of African immigrant and refugee 
  2.18  peoples.  An organization that receives a grant under this 
  2.19  section must submit a report describing the services provided 
  2.20  through the grant, including an evaluation of the program and 
  2.21  the services provided to African immigrant families and their 
  2.22  children.  The report must be submitted to the commissioner, the 
  2.23  appropriate committees of the legislature, and the council on 
  2.24  Black Minnesotans. 
  2.25     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION; CHILD CARE DEVELOPMENT GRANT; 
  2.26  AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE COMMUNITY.] 
  2.27     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  2.28  department of children, families, and learning for fiscal year 
  2.29  2000 for grants to a nonprofit organization or government agency 
  2.30  to develop culturally competent child care services for the 
  2.31  African immigrant and refugee communities under section 1.