SF 110

as introduced - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 02/23/2012 08:23am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; establishing grant programs to promote healthy
communities and the development of circles of support initiatives; appropriating
money.

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

Section 1. new text begin PURPOSE.
new text end

new text begin The Ladder Out of Poverty Task Force, developed out of recommendations from
the Legislative Commission to End Poverty, was created to identify specific policies,
strategies, and actions to:
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new text begin (1) increase opportunities for poor and near-poor families and individuals to acquire
assets and create and build wealth;
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new text begin (2) expand the utilization of individual development account programs;
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new text begin (3) reduce or eliminate predatory financial practices in Minnesota;
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new text begin (4) provide financial literacy information to low-income families and individuals at
the time the recipient has the ability, opportunity, and motivation to receive, understand,
and act on the information provided; and
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new text begin (5) identify incentives and mechanisms to increase community engagement in
combating poverty and helping poor and near-poor families and individuals to acquire
assets and create and build wealth.
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new text begin The grant programs created in sections 2 and 3 are strategies to promote community
engagement in combating poverty.
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Sec. 2. new text begin GRANT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE HEALTHY COMMUNITY
INITIATIVES.
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new text begin (a) The commissioner of human services must contract with the Search Institute to
help local communities develop, expand, and maintain the tools, training, and resources
needed to foster positive community development and effectively engage people in their
community. The Search Institute must: (1) provide training in community mobilization,
youth development, and assets getting to outcomes; (2) provide ongoing technical
assistance to communities receiving grants under this section; (3) use best practices to
promote community development; (4) share best program practices with other interested
communities; (5) create electronic and other opportunities for communities to share
experiences in and resources for promoting healthy community development; and (6)
provide an annual report of the strong communities project.
new text end

new text begin (b) Specifically, the Search Institute must use a competitive grant process to select
ten interested communities throughout Minnesota to undertake strong community
mobilization initiatives to support communities wishing to catalyze multiple sectors to
create or strengthen a community collaboration to address issues of poverty in their
communities. The Search Institute must provide the selected communities with the tools,
training, and resources they need for successfully implementing initiatives focused on
strengthening the community. The Search Institute also must use a competitive grant
process to provide eight strong community innovation grants to encourage current
community initiatives to bring new innovation approaches to their work to reduce poverty.
Finally, the Search Institute must work to strengthen networking and information sharing
activities among all healthy community initiatives throughout Minnesota, including
sharing best program practices and providing personal and electronic opportunities for
peer learning and ongoing program support.
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new text begin (c) In order to receive a grant under paragraph (b), a community must show
involvement of at least three sectors of their community and the active leadership of both
youth and adults. Sectors may include, but are not limited to, local government, schools,
community action agencies, faith communities, businesses, higher education institutions,
and the medical community. In addition, communities must agree to: (1) attend training
on community mobilization processes and strength-based approaches; (2) apply the assets
getting to outcomes process in their initiative; (3) meet at least two times during the
grant period to share successes and challenges with other grantees; (4) participate on an
electronic listserv to share information throughout the period on their work; and (5) all
communication requirements and reporting processes.
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new text begin (d) The commissioner of human services must evaluate the effectiveness of this
program and must recommend to the committees of the legislature with jurisdiction over
health and human services reform and finance by February 15, 2013, whether or not
to make the program available statewide. The Search Institute annually must report to
the commissioner of human services on the services it provided and the grant money
it expended under this section.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
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Sec. 3. new text begin CIRCLES OF SUPPORT GRANTS.
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new text begin The commissioner of human services must provide grants to community action
agencies to help local communities develop, expand, and maintain the tools, training, and
resources needed to foster social assets to assist people out of poverty through circles of
support. The circles of support model must provide a framework for a community to build
relationships across class and race lines so that people can work together to advocate for
change in their communities and move individuals toward self-sufficiency.
new text end

new text begin Specifically, circles of support initiatives must focus on increasing social capital,
income, educational attainment, and individual accountability, while reducing debt,
service dependency, and addressing systemic disparities that hold poverty in place. The
effort must support the development of local guiding coalitions as the link between the
community and circles of support for resource development and funding leverage.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2011.
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Sec. 4. new text begin APPROPRIATIONS.
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new text begin (a) $....... in fiscal year 2012 and $....... in fiscal year 2013 are appropriated from
the general fund to the commissioner of human services for contracting with the Search
Institute to promote healthy community initiatives under section 2, paragraph (b). The
commissioner may expend up to five percent of the appropriation to provide for the
program evaluation under section 2, paragraph (d).
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new text begin (b) $....... in fiscal year 2012 and $....... in fiscal year 2013 are appropriated from the
general fund to the commissioner of human services for the purpose of providing grants to
community action agencies for circles of support initiatives under section 3.
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new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2011.
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Sec. 5. new text begin NORTHERN CONNECTIONS.
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new text begin $....... is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2012
to the commissioner of employment and economic development for a grant to Northern
Connections in Perham for a workforce program that provides one-stop supportive
services to individuals as they transition into the workforce.
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Sec. 6. new text begin WORKFORCE TRANSITION SERVICES.
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new text begin $....... is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2012
to the commissioner of employment and economic development for grants to counties that
have a written collaboration agreement to establish and operate programs that provide
one-stop supportive services to individuals as they transition into the workforce. The
commissioner must award grants on a competitive basis in accordance with criteria to be
developed by the commissioner in consultation with the commissioner of human services.
new text end