HF 668

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 04/09/2021 12:47pm

A bill for an act
relating to child care; authorizing grants to expand access to child care for children
with disabilities; appropriating money.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. new text begin GRANTS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO CHILD CARE FOR CHILDREN
WITH DISABILITIES.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services must establish
competitive grants to expand access to licensed family child care providers or licensed child
care centers for children with disabilities including medical complexities. Grants must be
awarded to counties or tribes and must be used to assist family child care providers or child
care centers to serve children with disabilities in inclusive settings alongside children without
disabilities. Competitive grants must be awarded to at least two applicants beginning no
later than December 1, 2021.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Commissioner's duties. new text end

new text begin To implement these grants, the commissioner must:
new text end

new text begin (1) develop a request for proposals with stakeholder input;
new text end

new text begin (2) develop procedures for data collection, qualitative and quantitative measurement of
programmatic outcomes, and reporting requirements for grantees;
new text end

new text begin (3) convene a working group of grantees, grantee partners, and participating families to
assess progress on grant activities, share best practices, and collect and review data on grant
activities; and
new text end

new text begin (4) based on information gathered throughout the grant period and at the conclusion of
the grant period, provide a report to the chairs and ranking minorities members of the
legislative committees with jurisdiction over health and human services regarding grant
activities, with legislative recommendations for implementing inclusive child care statewide.
The report must be made available to the public.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Grant activities. new text end

new text begin Grantees must use grant money to expand access to inclusive
family child care providers or child care centers to children with disabilities, which may
include:
new text end

new text begin (1) onetime needs to equip a child care setting to serve children with disabilities, such
as:
new text end

new text begin (i) environmental modifications;
new text end

new text begin (ii) accessibility modifications;
new text end

new text begin (iii) sensory adaptation;
new text end

new text begin (iv) training and staff time for training; or
new text end

new text begin (v) equipment purchase;
new text end

new text begin (2) ongoing medical or disability-related services for children with disabilities in inclusive
child care settings, such as:
new text end

new text begin (i) mental health supports;
new text end

new text begin (ii) inclusion specialist services;
new text end

new text begin (iii) home care nursing;
new text end

new text begin (iv) behavioral supports;
new text end

new text begin (v) coaching or training for staff;
new text end

new text begin (vi) substitute teaching time; or
new text end

new text begin (vii) enhanced rate for increased staff-to-child ratio; and
new text end

new text begin (3) other expenses determined by the grantee and family child care provider or child
care center partners to be necessary to serve children with disabilities in inclusive child care
settings.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Requirements for grantees. new text end

new text begin Upon receipt of grant money and throughout the
grant period, grant recipients must:
new text end

new text begin (1) partner with at least three family child care providers or child care centers, each of
which must meet one of the following criteria:
new text end

new text begin (i) serve ten or fewer children, including at least one child with a disability who is not
a family member of the family child care provider or of an employee of the child care center;
new text end

new text begin (ii) serve 11 to 30 children, including at least two children with disabilities; or
new text end

new text begin (iii) serve more than 30 children, including at least three children with disabilities;
new text end

new text begin (2) develop and use a process to ensure that grant funding be used to support children
with disabilities who, without the additional supports made available through the grant,
would have difficulty accessing inclusive child care settings;
new text end

new text begin (3) pursue funding for ongoing services needed for children with disabilities in inclusive
child care settings, such as:
new text end

new text begin (i) Medicaid or private health insurance coverage;
new text end

new text begin (ii) additional grant funding; or
new text end

new text begin (iii) other sources of county, state, or federal funds; and
new text end

new text begin (4) explore and seek opportunities to use existing federal funds to provide ongoing
support to family child care providers or child care centers serving children with disabilities.
Grantees must seek to minimize family financial obligations for child care for a child with
disabilities beyond what child care would cost for a child without disabilities.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Reporting. new text end

new text begin Grantees must report semiannually to the commissioner according
to a manner specified by the commissioner on the following:
new text end

new text begin (1) additional supports needed to serve children with disabilities in inclusive child care
settings;
new text end

new text begin (2) costs for additional supports;
new text end

new text begin (3) billing best practices;
new text end

new text begin (4) available funding sources;
new text end

new text begin (5) processes for identifying families of children with disabilities who could benefit
from grant activities and connecting them with family child care providers or child care
centers interested in serving them; and
new text end

new text begin (6) processes used to determine whether a child is a child with a disability and means
of prioritizing grant funding to serve children with significant support needs associated with
their disability.
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin $250,000 in fiscal year 2022 and $250,000 in fiscal year 2023 are appropriated from the
general fund to the commissioner of human services for the child care expansion grants in
section 1. The commissioner may use up to seven percent of the appropriation for
administration and technical assistance.
new text end