1998 Minnesota Statutes

     124D.17 Way to grow/school readiness program. 

    Subdivision 1.    Administration.  The commissioner of 
 children, families, and learning shall administer the way to 
 grow/school readiness program, in collaboration with the 
 commissioners of health and human services, to promote 
 intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development and 
 school readiness of children prebirth to age six by coordinating 
 and improving access to community-based and neighborhood-based 
 services that support and assist all parents in meeting the 
 health and developmental needs of their children at the earliest 
 possible age.  

    Subd. 2.    Program components.  (a) A way to 
 grow/school readiness program must: 

    (1) collaborate and coordinate delivery of services with 
 other community organizations and agencies serving children 
 prebirth to age six and their families; 

    (2) target services to families with children prebirth to 
 age six with services increasing based on need; 

    (3) build on existing services and coordinate a continuum 
 of prebirth to age six essential services, including but not 
 limited to prenatal health services, parent education and 
 support, and preschool programs; 

    (4) provide strategic outreach efforts to families using 
 trained paraprofessionals such as home visitors; and 

    (5) support of neighborhood oriented and culturally 
 specific social support, information, outreach, and other 
 programs to promote healthy development of children and to help 
 parents obtain the information, resources, and parenting skills 
 needed to nurture and care for their children. 

    (b) A way to grow/school readiness program may include: 

    (1) a program of home visitors to contact pregnant women 
 early in their pregnancies, encourage them to obtain prenatal 
 care, and provide social support, information, and referrals 
 regarding prenatal care and well-baby care to reduce infant 
 mortality, low birth weight, and childhood injury, disease, and 
 disability; 

    (2) a program of home visitors to provide social support, 
 information, and referrals regarding parenting skills and to 
 encourage families to participate in parenting skills programs 
 and other family supportive services; 

    (3) support of neighborhood-based or community-based 
 parent-child and family resource centers or interdisciplinary 
 resource teams to offer supportive services to families with 
 preschool children; 

    (4) staff training, technical assistance, and incentives 
 for collaboration designed to raise the quality of community 
 services relating to prenatal care, child development, health, 
 and school readiness; 

    (5) programs to raise general public awareness about 
 practices that promote healthy child development and school 
 readiness; 

    (6) programs to expand public and private collaboration to 
 promote the development of a coordinated and culturally specific 
 system of services available to all families; 

    (7) support of periodic screening and evaluation services 
 for preschool children to assure adequate developmental 
 progress; 

    (8) support of health, educational, and other developmental 
 services needed by families with preschool children; 

    (9) support of family prevention and intervention programs 
 needed to address risks of child abuse or neglect; 

    (10) development or support of a jurisdiction-wide 
 coordinating agency to develop and oversee programs to enhance 
 child health, development, and school readiness with special 
 emphasis on neighborhoods with a high proportion of children in 
 need; and 

    (11) other programs or services to improve the health, 
 development, and school readiness of children in target 
 neighborhoods and communities. 

    Subd. 3.    Eligible grantees.  An application for a 
 grant may be submitted by any of the following entities: 

    (1) a city, town, county, school district, or other local 
 unit of government; 

    (2) two or more governmental units organized under a joint 
 powers agreement; 

    (3) a community action agency that satisfies the 
 requirements of section 119A.375, subdivision 1; or 

    (4) a nonprofit organization, or consortium of nonprofit 
 organizations, that demonstrates collaborative effort with at 
 least one unit of local government. 

    Subd. 4.    Distribution.  The commissioner shall give 
 priority to funding existing programs. 

    To the extent possible, the commissioner shall award grants 
 to applicants with experience or demonstrated ability in 
 providing comprehensive, multidisciplinary, community-based 
 programs with objectives similar to those listed in subdivision 
 2, or in providing other human services or social services 
 programs using a multidisciplinary, community-based approach. 

    Subd. 5.    Applications.  Each grant application must 
 propose a five-year program designed to accomplish the purposes 
 of this section.  The application must be submitted on forms 
 provided by the commissioner.  The grant application must 
 include: 

    (1) a description of the specific neighborhoods that will 
 be served under the program and the name, address, and a 
 description of each community agency or agencies with which the 
 applicant intends to contract to provide services using grant 
 money; 

    (2) a letter of intent from each community agency 
 identified in clause (1) that indicates the agency's willingness 
 to participate in the program and approval of the proposed 
 program structure and components; 

    (3) a detailed description of the structure and components 
 of the proposed program and an explanation of how each component 
 will contribute to accomplishing the purposes of this section; 

    (4) a description of how public and private resources, 
 including schools, health care facilities, government agencies, 
 neighborhood organizations, and other resources, will be 
 coordinated and made accessible to families in target 
 neighborhoods, including letters of intent from public and 
 private agencies indicating their willingness to cooperate with 
 the program; 

    (5) a detailed, proposed budget that demonstrates the 
 ability of the program to accomplish the purposes of this 
 section using grant money and other available resources, 
 including funding sources other than a grant; and 

    (6) a comprehensive evaluation plan for measuring the 
 success of the program in meeting the objectives of the overall 
 grant program and the individual grant project, including an 
 assessment of the impact of the program in terms of at least 
 three of the following criteria:  

    (i) utilization rates of community services; 

    (ii) availability of support systems for families; 

    (iii) birth weights of newborn babies; 

    (iv) child accident rates; 

    (v) utilization rates of prenatal care; 

    (vi) reported rates of child abuse; 

    (vii) rates of health screening and evaluation; and 

    (viii) school readiness of way to grow participants 
 compared to nonparticipants. 

    Subd. 6.    Match.  Each dollar of state money must be 
 matched with 50 cents of nonstate money.  Programs may match 
 state money with in-kind contributions, including volunteer 
 assistance. 

    Subd. 7.    Advisory committees.  The commissioner shall 
 establish a program advisory committee consisting of persons 
 knowledgeable in child development, child health, and family 
 services, who reflect the geographic, cultural, racial, and 
 ethnic diversity of the state; and representatives of the 
 commissioners of children, families, and learning, human 
 services, and health.  This program advisory committee must 
 review grant applications, assist in distribution of the grants, 
 and monitor progress of the way to grow/school readiness 
 program.  Each grantee must establish a program advisory board 
 of 12 or more members to advise the grantee on program design, 
 operation, and evaluation.  The board must include 
 representatives of local units of government and representatives 
 of the project area who reflect the geographic, cultural, 
 racial, and ethnic diversity of that community.  

    Subd. 8.    Report.  The advisory committee must report 
 to the education committee of the legislature by January 15, 
 1993, on the evaluation required in subdivision 5, clause (6), 
 and shall make recommendations for establishing successful way 
 to grow programs in unserved areas of the state. 

    HIST: 1993 c 224 art 4 s 9; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 13; 1998 c 
 397 art 3 s 28-31,103