1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to family and early childhood education 
  1.3             finance; creating a pilot parent education program for 
  1.4             parents of children ages five to 18; appropriating 
  1.5             money. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [PILOT GROWING FAMILIES PROGRAM.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] A pilot parent education 
  1.9   program is established to provide up to ten grants to community 
  1.10  education programs under Minnesota Statutes, section 124D.19, or 
  1.11  local school boards to create parent education programs for 
  1.12  parents of children ages five to 18. 
  1.13     Subd. 2.  [PROGRAM GOALS.] The goals of the parent 
  1.14  education program are to: 
  1.15     (1) support each child's optimal physical, intellectual, 
  1.16  social, and emotional development; 
  1.17     (2) promote informed, realistic attitudes and expectations 
  1.18  in the context of the child's expanding world; 
  1.19     (3) increase parental involvement in each child's learning 
  1.20  and education; 
  1.21     (4) enhance effective communication and healthy 
  1.22  parent-child-family relationships; 
  1.23     (5) facilitate and strengthen formal and informal family 
  1.24  support networks for effective parenting; 
  1.25     (6) encourage the development and effective use of 
  2.1   community resources for families; 
  2.2      (7) prevent negative outcomes for children ages five to 18 
  2.3   such as smoking, family violence, pregnancies, and drug use; 
  2.4      (8) develop each parent's self-confidence as a parent; 
  2.5      (9) understand the reciprocal nature of parent-child 
  2.6   interactions; 
  2.7      (10) promote respectful, enjoyable parent-child 
  2.8   relationships; and 
  2.9      (11) provide ways for managing work-family issues. 
  2.10     Subd. 3.  [GRANT APPLICATION; APPROVAL.] (a) The 
  2.11  commissioner may establish criteria for agencies to apply to 
  2.12  provide services under this section.  The criteria for grant 
  2.13  application approval must include: 
  2.14     (1) a proposed budget for the program; 
  2.15     (2) universal access for all families; 
  2.16     (3) availability of programs for both parents and children; 
  2.17     (4) collaborative development of programs with other state, 
  2.18  county, health care, human services, and educational 
  2.19  organizations; 
  2.20     (5) inclusion of education, support, and referral services; 
  2.21     (6) a plan for evaluation of the program; and 
  2.22     (7) delivery of parent education services to parents whose 
  2.23  children are in one of the following educational groups:  
  2.24  elementary school, middle school, junior high school, and senior 
  2.25  high school. 
  2.26     (b) The commissioner must ensure that rural, suburban, and 
  2.27  urban community education programs or local school boards are 
  2.28  among the recipients of the pilot parent education grants. 
  2.29     (c) The commissioner must ensure that among the funded 
  2.30  programs are programs that serve parents of elementary, middle, 
  2.31  junior high, and senior high school students. 
  2.32     (d) Community education programs and local school boards 
  2.33  must apply to the commissioner according to the time lines and 
  2.34  on the forms provided by the commissioner. 
  2.35     (e) All applications must be submitted to the commissioner 
  2.36  of children, families, and learning.  When a grant application 
  3.1   is approved by the commissioner, the commissioner must award a 
  3.2   grant to the community education program or local school board 
  3.3   for the creation and implementation of a parent education 
  3.4   program. 
  3.5      (f) The commissioner may refuse any grant application that 
  3.6   does not meet the criteria established by the commissioner. 
  3.7      Subd. 4.  [GRANTS.] The commissioner of children, families, 
  3.8   and learning is authorized to award ten grants of up to $50,000 
  3.9   per program each year for two years.  The grant funds must be 
  3.10  used by successful applicants to employ a licensed parent 
  3.11  educator, develop and deliver a parent education program, and 
  3.12  pay for program expenses. 
  3.13     Subd. 5.  [EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES.] The commissioner must 
  3.14  establish a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of appropriations 
  3.15  under this section to meet the needs of parents of children ages 
  3.16  five to 18.  The commissioner must require each grantee that 
  3.17  receives an allocation under this section to participate in the 
  3.18  development and use of a common set of outcomes and indicators 
  3.19  for parent education programs in Minnesota and in an 
  3.20  outcome-based evaluation of the funds distributed under this 
  3.21  section. 
  3.22     Subd. 6.  [REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE.] The commissioner of 
  3.23  children, families, and learning must report to the legislature 
  3.24  by February 15, 2003, on the effectiveness of the pilot parent 
  3.25  education programs and make recommendations on the continuation 
  3.26  of these programs and the expansion of these programs statewide. 
  3.27     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  3.28     (a) $500,000 in fiscal year 2002 and $500,000 in fiscal 
  3.29  year 2003 are appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.30  commissioner of children, families, and learning for pilot 
  3.31  parent education program grants. 
  3.32     (b) $25,000 in fiscal year 2002 and $25,000 in fiscal year 
  3.33  2003 are appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
  3.34  of children, families, and learning for the administration of 
  3.35  the pilot parent education program.  
  3.36     (c) $50,000 is appropriated for the fiscal biennium ending 
  4.1   June 30, 2003, from the general fund to the commissioner of 
  4.2   children, families, and learning for an outcome-based evaluation 
  4.3   of the pilot parent education program.