SF 944

1st Engrossment - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to child care; improving the quality of child care and expanding the
professional development of child care practitioners; appropriating money;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 119B.21, subdivision 5; proposing
coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 119B.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 119B.21, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Child care services grants.

(a) A child care resource and referral program
designated under section 119B.19, subdivision 1a, may award child care services grants
for:

(1) creating new licensed child care facilities and expanding existing facilities,
including, but not limited to, supplies, equipment, facility renovation, and remodeling;

(2) improving licensed child care facility programs;

(3) staff training and development services including, but not limited to, in-service
training, curriculum development, accreditation, certification, consulting, resource centers,
deleted text begin and deleted text end program and resource materials new text begin , supporting effective teacher-child interactions,
child-focused teaching, and content-driven classroom instruction new text end ;

(4) interim financing;

(5) capacity building through the purchase of appropriate technology to create,
enhance, and maintain business management systems;

(6) emergency assistance for child care programs;

(7) new programs or projects for the creation, expansion, or improvement of
programs that serve ethnic immigrant and refugee communities; and

(8) targeted recruitment initiatives to expand and build the capacity of the child
care system and to improve the quality of care provided by legal nonlicensed child care
providers.

(b) A child care resource and referral program designated under section 119B.19,
subdivision 1a, may award child care services grants to:

(1) licensed providers;

(2) providers in the process of being licensed;

(3) corporations or public agencies that develop or provide child care services;

(4) school-age care programs; or

(5) any combination of clauses (1) to (4).

Unlicensed providers are only eligible for grants under paragraph (a), clause (7).

(c) A recipient of a child care services grant for facility improvements, interim
financing, or staff training and development must provide a 25 percent local match.

Sec. 2.

new text begin [119B.27] TEACHER EDUCATION AND COMPENSATION HELPS;
MINNESOTA EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER RETENTION PROGRAMS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin TEACH. new text end

new text begin The teacher education and compensation helps program
(TEACH) is established to provide tuition scholarships, education incentives, and an
early childhood teacher retention program to provide retention incentives to early care
and education providers. The commissioner shall transfer funds provided under this
section through a grant to a nonprofit organization licensed to administer the TEACH
early childhood program.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Program components. new text end

new text begin (a) The nonprofit organization shall distribute
funds for:
new text end

new text begin (1) tuition scholarships up to $5,000 per year for courses leading to the nationally
recognized child development associate credential or college-level courses leading to an
associate's or bachelor's degree in early childhood development and school-age care; and
new text end

new text begin (2) education incentives of a minimum of $100 to participants in the tuition
scholarship program if they complete a year of working in the early care and education
field.
new text end

new text begin (b) Applicants for the scholarship must be either employed by a licensed early
childhood or child care program and working directly with children, a licensed family
child care provider, or an employee in a school-age program operated under the auspices
of a license-exempt public program. Lower wage earners will be given high consideration
when awarding the tuition scholarships. Scholarship recipients must contribute ten
percent of the total scholarship and must be sponsored by their employers, who must
also contribute ten percent of the total scholarship. Scholarship recipients who are
self-employed must contribute only 20 percent of the total scholarship.
new text end

new text begin (c) The organization shall also distribute funds for teacher retention incentives of
$1,000 to $3,500 annually to be paid biannually. Applicants for the retention incentives
must be either employed by a licensed early childhood or child care program and
working directly with children, a licensed family child care provider, or an employee in
a school-age program operated under the auspices of a license-exempt public program.
Lower wage earners will be given high consideration. The amount of the retention
incentive must be based on the applicant's level of education when the applicant applies
for the incentive. A provider is eligible for the retention incentive if the provider:
new text end

new text begin (1) has worked in the field for at least one year and has been working at the same
location for at least one year at the time of application;
new text end

new text begin (2) agrees to remain in the provider's current position for a period of at least one
year; and
new text end

new text begin (3) has an associate's or bachelor's degree or a child development associate's degree.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Advisory committee. new text end

new text begin The TEACH early childhood and Minnesota early
childhood teacher retention programs must have an advisory board as prescribed by the
national TEACH organization.
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN SERVICES DUTIES; EARLY
CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL-AGE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
TRAINING.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Development and implementation of an early childhood and
school-age professional development system. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of human services,
in cooperation with the commissioners of education and health, shall develop and phase-in
the implementation of a professional development system for practitioners serving
children in early childhood and school-age programs.
new text end

new text begin The system must, at a minimum, include the following features:
new text end

new text begin (1) a continuum of training content based on the early childhood and school-age
care practitioner core competencies that translates knowledge into improved practice to
support children's school success;
new text end

new text begin (2) training strategies that provide direct feedback about practice to practitioners
through ongoing consultation, mentoring, or coaching with special emphasis on early
literacy and early math;
new text end

new text begin (3) an approval process for trainers;
new text end

new text begin (4) a professional development registry for early childhood and school-age care
practitioners that will provide tracking and recognition of practitioner training/career
development progress;
new text end

new text begin (5) a career lattice that includes a range of professional development and educational
opportunities that provide appropriate coursework and degree pathways;
new text end

new text begin (6) development of a plan with public higher education institutions for an articulated
system of education, training, and professional development that includes credit for prior
learning and development of equivalences to two- and four-year degrees;
new text end

new text begin (7) incentives and support for early childhood and school-age care practitioners to
seek additional training and education, including TEACH, other scholarships, and career
guidance; and
new text end

new text begin (8) coordinated and accessible delivery of training to early childhood and school-age
care practitioners.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commissioner of human services must evaluate the professional development
system and make continuous improvements.
new text end

new text begin (c) Beginning July 1, 2007, as appropriations permit, the commissioner shall
phase-in the professional development system.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Two-hour early childhood training. new text end

new text begin By January 15, 2008, the
commissioner of human services, with input from the Minnesota Licensed Family Child
Care Association and the Minnesota Professional Development Council, shall identify
new training that meets the two-hour early childhood development training requirement
for new child care practitioners under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.14, subdivision
9a. For licensed family child care, the commissioner will also seek the input of labor
unions that serve licensed family child care providers, if the union has been recognized
by a county to serve licensed family child care providers.
new text end

Sec. 4. new text begin APPROPRIATIONS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Expanded quality rating system pilot program. new text end

new text begin $....... is
appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of human services for the
biennium beginning July 1, 2007, to be transferred to the Minnesota Early Learning
Foundation under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.175, to fund an expanded pilot
program that offers geographic diversity to the current pilot program to test and evaluate
the quality rating system.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Child care services grants. new text end

new text begin $....... is appropriated from the general
fund to the commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning July 1, 2007,
for purposes of providing child care services grants under Minnesota Statutes, section
119B.21, subdivision 5.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Early childhood professional development system. new text end

new text begin $....... is appropriated
from the general fund to the commissioner of human services for the biennium beginning
July 1, 2007, for purposes of the early childhood professional development system, which
increases the quality and continuum of professional development opportunities for child
care practitioners.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin TEACH. new text end

new text begin $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner
of human services for the teacher education and compensation helps and the Minnesota
early childhood teacher retention programs in Minnesota Statutes, section 119B.27, in
fiscal year 2007 and shall become part of the base level funding for fiscal year 2008.
new text end