1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	elating to education; continuing implementation of quality rating and 
1.3 	improvement system for child care; appropriating money;amending Minnesota 
1.4 	Statutes 2010, section 119B.13, subdivision 3a; proposing coding for new law 
1.5 	in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 124D.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 119B.13, subdivision 3a, is amended to 
1.8 	read:
1.9 		Subd. 3a.Provider rate differential for accreditation. A family child care 
1.10 	provider or child care center shall be paid a 15 percent differential above the maximum 
1.11 	rate established in subdivision 1, up to the actual provider rate, if the provider or 
1.12 	center holds a current early childhood development credential, has received the highest 
1.13 	possible rating available through the quality rating and improvement system under 
1.14 	section 124D.143, or is accredited. For a family child care provider, early childhood 
1.15 	development credential and accreditation includes an individual who has earned a child 
1.16 	development associate degree, a child development associate credential, a diploma 
1.17 	in child development from a Minnesota state technical college, or a bachelor's or 
1.18 	post baccalaureate degree in early childhood education from an accredited college or 
1.19 	university, or who is accredited by the National Association for Family Child Care or 
1.20 	the Competency Based Training and Assessment Program. For a child care center, 
1.21 	accreditation includes accreditation by the National Association for the Education of 
1.22 	Young Children, the Council on Accreditation, the National Early Childhood Program 
1.23 	Accreditation, the National School-Age Care Association, or the National Head Start 
1.24 	Association Program of Excellence. For Montessori programs, accreditation includes 
2.1 	the American Montessori Society, Association of Montessori International-USA, or the 
2.2 	National Center for Montessori Education.

2.3 	Sec. 2. [124D.143] QUALITY RATING AND IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM 
2.4 	IMPLEMENTATION.
2.5 		Subdivision 1.Implementation of a quality rating and improvement system. (a) 
2.6 	The commissioner of human services, in cooperation with the commissioner of education, 
2.7 	shall phase in the implementation of a voluntary quality rating and improvement system 
2.8 	for early learning and care programs. The system must build on the quality rating and 
2.9 	improvement system in use in fiscal year 2011. The program must be designed to ensure 
2.10 	that Minnesota's children have access to high-quality services in a range of settings so 
2.11 	that children entering kindergarten are ready for kindergarten by 2020, as stated in section 
2.12 	124D.142.
2.13 	(b) For purposes of this section, "early learning and care programs" include:
2.14 	(1) licensed center-based child care programs under section 119B.011;
2.15 	(2) licensed family and group family child care homes under section 119B.011;
2.16 	(3) Head Start programs under section 119A.50; and
2.17 	(4) school readiness programs under section 124D.15.
2.18 	(c) The quality rating and improvement system must:
2.19 	(1) set research-based program standards and quality indicators designed to improve 
2.20 	the educational outcomes of children so that they are ready for school;
2.21 	(2) assess program quality using the program standards and indicators and issue 
2.22 	quality ratings to participating early learning and care programs;
2.23 	(3) establish a database to collect, store, analyze, and report data for quality ratings 
2.24 	and to track improvement supports and incentives to programs. The database must 
2.25 	incorporate data from or be linked to related databases, such as those maintained by the 
2.26 	child care resource and referral system;
2.27 	(4) provide rating information to consumers to facilitate informed choices of early 
2.28 	learning and care programs;
2.29 	(5) provide information to early learning and care programs to enable them to 
2.30 	measure the results of their quality improvement efforts; and
2.31 	(6) provide supports to participating programs to help them improve their quality 
2.32 	rating.
2.33 	(d) A program that is accredited or has otherwise been evaluated may submit 
2.34 	information to the commissioner of education in the form and manner prescribed by the 
2.35 	commissioner and may be rated on the basis of that information.
3.1 	(e) A program that has previously been rated under this section or has been rated 
3.2 	through the Parent Aware pilot program may continue with that rating for two years.
3.3 	(f) The commissioners of education and human services may develop a cash 
3.4 	incentive reward for programs listed in paragraph (b), clauses (1) and (2), that: (1) agree 
3.5 	to be rated; or (2) improve from their previous rating. A cash incentive may not exceed 
3.6 	$....... per program.
3.7 		Subd. 2.Phase-in of quality rating and improvement system. The commissioner 
3.8 	must continue the quality rating and improvement system in use in fiscal year 2011 in the 
3.9 	original pilot areas and must expand the system to at least two new, rural geographic 
3.10 	locations by June 30, 2012. The commissioner must use a competitive process to select 
3.11 	the new pilot areas by targeting areas that meet one or more of the following criteria: 
3.12 	existence of a local early care and education collaborative, existence of local matching 
3.13 	funds, and demonstration of local support from community-based early learning and care 
3.14 	programs. The commissioner must add one new pilot area per year and work toward 
3.15 	statewide availability of ratings by 2015.

3.16 	Sec. 3. CHILD CARE DEVELOPMENT FUNDS; APPROPRIATIONS.
 3.17 	The commissioner of human services shall direct $....... in federal child care 
3.18 	development funds from ....... for the purpose of continuing the quality rating and 
3.19 	improvement system as described in section 2, subdivision 1, in the original pilot area and 
3.20 	expanding the system to two new rural geographic locations as described in section 2, 
3.21 	subdivision 2, and for paying the cash incentives for rated programs.