SF 1300

as introduced - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 02/23/2012 09:43am

A bill for an act
relating to health; repealing family home visiting programs and related
provisions; amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 124D.141, subdivision
2; 145.882, subdivision 7; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 145A.17,
subdivisions 1, 3, 4, 4a, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 124D.141, subdivision 2, is amended to
read:

Subd. 2.

Additional duties.

The following duties are added to those assigned
to the council under federal law:

(1) make recommendations on the most efficient and effective way to leverage state
and federal funding streams for early childhood and child care programs;

(2) make recommendations on how to coordinate or colocate early childhood and
child care programs in one state Office of Early Learning. The council shall establish a task
force to develop these recommendations. The task force shall include two nonexecutive
branch or nonlegislative branch representatives from the council; six representatives from
the early childhood caucus; two representatives each from the Departments of Education,
Human Services, and Health; one representative each from a local public health agency, a
local county human services agency, and a school district; and two representatives from
the private nonprofit organizations that support early childhood programs in Minnesota.
In developing recommendations in coordination with existing efforts of the council, the
task force shall consider how to:

(i) consolidate and coordinate resources and public funding streams for early
childhood education and child care, and ensure the accountability and coordinated
development of all early childhood education and child care services to children from birth
to kindergarten entrance;

(ii) create a seamless transition from early childhood programs to kindergarten;

(iii) encourage family choice by ensuring a mixed system of high-quality public and
private programs, with local points of entry, staffed by well-qualified professionals;

(iv) ensure parents a decisive role in the planning, operation, and evaluation of
programs that aid families in the care of children;

(v) provide consumer education and accessibility to early childhood education
and child care resources;

(vi) advance the quality of early childhood education and child care programs in
order to support the healthy development of children and preparation for their success
in school;

(vii) develop a seamless service delivery system with local points of entry for early
childhood education and child care programs administered by local, state, and federal
agencies;

(viii) ensure effective collaboration between state and local child welfare programs
and early childhood mental health programs and the Office of Early Learning;

(ix) develop and manage an effective data collection system to support the necessary
functions of a coordinated system of early childhood education and child care in order to
enable accurate evaluation of its impact;

(x) respect and be sensitive to family values and cultural heritage; and

(xi) establish the administrative framework for and promote the development of
early childhood education and child care services in order to provide that these services,
staffed by well-qualified professionals, are available in every community for all families
that express a need for them.

In addition, the task force must consider the following responsibilities for transfer
to the Office of Early Learning:

(A) responsibilities of the commissioner of education for early childhood education
programs and financing under sections 119A.50 to 119A.535, 121A.16 to 121A.19, and
124D.129 to 124D.2211; new text begin and
new text end

(B) responsibilities of the commissioner of human services for child care assistance,
child care development, and early childhood learning and child protection facilities
programs and financing under chapter 119B and section 256E.37 deleted text begin ; and
deleted text end

deleted text begin (C) responsibilities of the commissioner of health for family home visiting programs
and financing under section 145A.17 deleted text end .

Any costs incurred by the council in making these recommendations must be paid
from private funds. If no private funds are received, the council must not proceed in
making these recommendations. The council must report its recommendations to the
governor and the legislature by January 15, 2011;

(3) review program evaluations regarding high-quality early childhood programs;

(4) make recommendations to the governor and legislature, including proposed
legislation on how to most effectively create a high-quality early childhood system in
Minnesota in order to improve the educational outcomes of children so that all children
are school-ready by 2020;

(5) make recommendations to the governor and the legislature by March 1, 2011, on
the creation and implementation of a statewide school readiness report card to monitor
progress toward the goal of having all children ready for kindergarten by the year 2020.
The recommendations shall include what should be measured including both children and
system indicators, what benchmarks should be established to measure state progress
toward the goal, and how frequently the report card should be published. In making their
recommendations, the council shall consider the indicators and strategies for Minnesota's
early childhood system report, the Minnesota school readiness study, developmental
assessment at kindergarten entrance, and the work of the council's accountability
committee. Any costs incurred by the council in making these recommendations must be
paid from private funds. If no private funds are received, the council must not proceed in
making these recommendations; and

(6) make recommendations to the governor and the legislature on how to screen
earlier and comprehensively assess children for school readiness in order to provide
increased early interventions and increase the number of children ready for kindergarten.
In formulating their recommendations, the council shall consider (i) ways to interface
with parents of children who are not participating in early childhood education or care
programs, (ii) ways to interface with family child care providers, child care centers, and
school-based early childhood and Head Start programs, (iii) if there are age-appropriate
and culturally sensitive screening and assessment tools for three-, four-, and five-year-olds,
(iv) the role of the medical community in screening, (v) incentives for parents to have
children screened at an earlier age, (vi) incentives for early education and care providers
to comprehensively assess children in order to improve instructional practice, (vii) how to
phase in increases in screening and assessment over time, (viii) how the screening and
assessment data will be collected and used and who will have access to the data, (ix)
how to monitor progress toward the goal of having 50 percent of three-year-old children
screened and 50 percent of entering kindergarteners assessed for school readiness by 2015
and 100 percent of three-year-old children screened and entering kindergarteners assessed
for school readiness by 2020, and (x) costs to meet these benchmarks. The council shall
consider the screening instruments and comprehensive assessment tools used in Minnesota
early childhood education and care programs and kindergarten. The council may survey
early childhood education and care programs in the state to determine the screening and
assessment tools being used or rely on previously collected survey data, if available. For
purposes of this subdivision, "school readiness" is defined as the child's skills, knowledge,
and behaviors at kindergarten entrance in these areas of child development: social;
self-regulation; cognitive, including language, literacy, and mathematical thinking; and
physical. For purposes of this subdivision, "screening" is defined as the activities used to
identify a child who may need further evaluation to determine delay in development or
disability. For purposes of this subdivision, "assessment" is defined as the activities used
to determine a child's level of performance in order to promote the child's learning and
development. Work on this duty will begin in fiscal year 2012. Any costs incurred by the
council in making these recommendations must be paid from private funds. If no private
funds are received, the council must not proceed in making these recommendations. The
council must report its recommendations to the governor and legislature by January 15,
2013, with an interim report on February 15, 2011.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 145.882, subdivision 7, is amended to read:

Subd. 7.

Use of block grant money.

Maternal and child health block grant money
allocated to a community health board under this section must be used for qualified
programs for high risk and low-income individuals. Block grant money must be used
for programs that:

(1) specifically address the highest risk populations, particularly low-income and
minority groups with a high rate of infant mortality and children with low birth weight,
by providing services, including prepregnancy family planning services, calculated
to produce measurable decreases in infant mortality rates, instances of children with
low birth weight, and medical complications associated with pregnancy and childbirth,
including infant mortality, low birth rates, and medical complications arising from
chemical abuse by a mother during pregnancy;

(2) specifically target pregnant women whose age, medical condition, maternal
history, or chemical abuse substantially increases the likelihood of complications
associated with pregnancy and childbirth or the birth of a child with an illness, disability,
or special medical needs;

(3) specifically address the health needs of young children who have or are likely
to have a chronic disease or disability or special medical needs, including physical,
neurological, emotional, and developmental problems that arise from chemical abuse
by a mother during pregnancy;

(4) provide family planning and preventive medical care for specifically identified
target populations, such as minority and low-income teenagers, in a manner calculated to
decrease the occurrence of inappropriate pregnancy and minimize the risk of complications
associated with pregnancy and childbirth;

(5) specifically address the frequency and severity of childhood and adolescent
health issues, including injuries in high risk target populations by providing services
calculated to produce measurable decreases in mortality and morbidity; new text begin or
new text end

deleted text begin (6) specifically address preventing child abuse and neglect, reducing juvenile
delinquency, promoting positive parenting and resiliency in children, and promoting
family health and economic sufficiency through public health nurse home visits under
section 145A.17; or
deleted text end

deleted text begin (7) deleted text end new text begin (6) new text end specifically address nutritional issues of women, infants, and young children
through WIC clinic services.

Sec. 3. new text begin REPEALER.
new text end

new text begin Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 145A.17, subdivisions 1, 3, 4, 4a, 5, 6, 7, 8, and
9, new text end new text begin are repealed.
new text end