Text: HSB00591 Text: HSB00593 Text: HSB00500 - HSB00599 Text: HSB Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 256D.1 INTENT.
1 2 It is the intent of the general assembly to provide
1 3 assistance to enable communities to reduce gaps in service and
1 4 eliminate duplication in meeting the needs of children from
1 5 birth through five years of age. These needs, at a minimum,
1 6 include child development, child care, children's health and
1 7 safety, and parent education needs.
1 8 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 256D.2 BUILDING BLOCKS OF SUCCESS
1 9 GRANT PROGRAM – ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.
1 10 1. The departments of education, human services, and
1 11 public health shall jointly develop a building blocks of
1 12 success grant program; establish criteria for the formation of
1 13 ongoing community collaborative groups; determine the core
1 14 indicators of performance that will be used to assess the
1 15 effectiveness of the community collaborative groups, including
1 16 increasing the basic skill levels of students entering school,
1 17 increasing health care coverage for low-income children,
1 18 reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect, increasing
1 19 the access of children to an adult mentor, and increasing the
1 20 quality and accessibility of child care; and establish
1 21 guidelines and a process to be used in selecting community
1 22 collaborative groups as recipients for building blocks of
1 23 success grants.
1 24 2. The department of education shall adopt rules, in
1 25 consultation with the departments of human services and public
1 26 health, pursuant to chapter 17A for the administration of this
1 27 chapter.
1 28 3. The departments shall provide maximum flexibility for
1 29 the use of the funds included in a community collaborative
1 30 plan.
1 31 4. The child development coordinating council, established
1 32 in section 256A.2, shall review the grant applications
1 33 submitted by community collaborative groups and shall at least
1 34 annually make grant award recommendations to the directors of
1 35 the departments of education, human services, and public
2 1 health. The directors shall review the recommendations of the
2 2 council and shall jointly award the grants.
2 3 5. The denial or termination of a grant may be appealed to
2 4 the director of the department of education.
2 5 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 256D.3 COMPOSITION OF COMMUNITY
2 6 COLLABORATIVE GROUPS AS GRANTEES – REQUIREMENTS.
2 7 1. For purposes of this chapter, a "community
2 8 collaborative group" shall include, at a minimum,
2 9 representatives of one or more school districts, a county
2 10 decategorization governance board, the innovation zone board
2 11 created in section 8A.2, a city, county, or district board of
2 12 health, and parents residing in the community. A community
2 13 collaborative group may include representatives of private and
2 14 public providers of education, child care, health, or social
2 15 services to children from birth through five years of age,
2 16 representatives of business and labor organizations and
2 17 religious institutions, and any other representatives deemed
2 18 necessary by the community collaborative group. Local
2 19 communities are encouraged to use or expand existing early
2 20 childhood partnerships and other community collaborative
2 21 endeavors to meet the requirements of this section. The
2 22 fiscal agent for a community collaborative group shall be a
2 23 public agency as defined in section 28E.2, as chosen by the
2 24 community collaborative group.
2 25 2. A community collaborative group receiving a grant
2 26 shall, at a minimum, provide the following:
2 27 a. Preschool services provided on a voluntary basis to
2 28 four-year-old children deemed at risk, in accordance with
2 29 criteria established for the definition of at-risk children by
2 30 the child development coordinating council, of not succeeding
2 31 in elementary school.
2 32 b. Parent education programs provided on a voluntary basis
2 33 to parents of children from birth through five years of age.
2 34 c. A comprehensive community plan developed by a community
2 35 collaborative group for providing children's services for
3 1 children from birth through five years of age including but
3 2 not limited to child development, child care, children's
3 3 health and safety, and parent education services. At a
3 4 minimum, the plan shall do all of the following:
3 5 (1) Describe community needs for children from birth
3 6 through five years of age as identified through ongoing
3 7 assessment.
3 8 (2) Describe the current and desired levels of community
3 9 coordination of services for children from birth through five
3 10 years of age.
3 11 (3) Identify all funding sources available in the
3 12 community that will be used to provide services to children
3 13 from birth through five years of age.
3 14 (4) Describe how such funds will be used collaboratively
3 15 and the degree to which the funds can be combined to provide
3 16 the necessary services.
3 17 (5) Identify the results the community collaborative group
3 18 expects to achieve through implementation of the building
3 19 blocks of success grant program, and identify community-
3 20 specific performance indicators that can be measured and
3 21 reported annually under paragraph "d".
3 22 d. An annual report on the effectiveness of the program in
3 23 addressing school readiness and children's health and safety
3 24 needs to be submitted to the child development coordinating
3 25 council and to the local governing boards of entities
3 26 represented in the community collaborative group. The annual
3 27 report shall indicate the effectiveness of the community
3 28 collaborative group in achieving state and locally determined
3 29 goals.
3 30 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 256D.4 GRANTS.
3 31 1. A grant to a community collaborative group shall be
3 32 awarded for a five-year period, with annual payments made by
3 33 the department of education to the community collaborative
3 34 group on or before October 1 of each fiscal year. In
3 35 determining the maximum annual amount of a grant that may be
4 1 awarded to a community collaborative group, the department of
4 2 education shall first determine maximum subamounts based upon
4 3 the characteristics of each school district located within the
4 4 community collaborative group. For each school district in
4 5 the community collaborative group, the department shall
4 6 calculate an at-risk multiplier. The at-risk multiplier is a
4 7 percent equal to the product of the percent of children
4 8 enrolled in the school district qualifying for free or reduced
4 9 price meals for the year in which application for the grant is
4 10 made and eight percent. The grant subamount is the product of
4 11 the regular program district cost of the district for the year
4 12 in which the grant application is made and the at-risk
4 13 multiplier for the district for that year. The maximum annual
4 14 amount for a community collaborative group is the sum of the
4 15 subamounts less the total of federal and state funds that were
4 16 received for the school year in which the grant application is
4 17 made for the purposes of serving children from birth through
4 18 five years of age within the local communities and school
4 19 districts in the community collaborative group, as determined
4 20 by the departments of education, human services, and public
4 21 health.
4 22 2. Highest priority for funds received under this chapter
4 23 shall be to provide preschool services on a voluntary basis to
4 24 four-year-old children deemed at risk of not succeeding in
4 25 elementary school and parent education programs on a voluntary
4 26 basis to parents of children from birth through five years of
4 27 age. Remaining funds may be used to provide other services to
4 28 children from birth through five years of age as specified in
4 29 the comprehensive community plan.
4 30 EXPLANATION
4 31 This bill requires the departments of education, human
4 32 services, and public health to jointly develop a building
4 33 blocks of success grant program for purposes of awarding
4 34 grants to community collaborative groups.
4 35 The highest priority for program funds is to provide on a
5 1 voluntary basis preschool services for four-year-old at-risk
5 2 children and parent education programs for parents of children
5 3 age birth through five years. Remaining funds may be used to
5 4 provide other services to children age birth through five
5 5 years as specified in the community plan.
5 6 The departments of education, human services, and public
5 7 health must also jointly establish the criteria for the
5 8 formation of ongoing community collaborative groups, determine
5 9 the core indicators of performance that will be used to assess
5 10 the effectiveness of the collaborative groups, and establish
5 11 guidelines and a process to be used in selecting community
5 12 collaborative groups for grants. The bill directs the
5 13 department of education, in consultation with the departments
5 14 of human services and public health, to adopt rules to
5 15 administer the program.
5 16 The bill provides that a "community collaborative group"
5 17 includes, at a minimum, representatives of one or more school
5 18 districts, a county decategorization board, the innovation
5 19 zone board, a city, county, or district board of health, and
5 20 parents residing in the community. The bill also lists other
5 21 organizations whose representatives may be represented in the
5 22 collaborative group. The collaborative group is required to
5 23 choose a public agency as a fiscal agent.
5 24 The child development coordinating council is required to
5 25 review grant applications and annually make award
5 26 recommendations to the directors of the departments, who will
5 27 jointly award the grants. Applicants or grantees may appeal
5 28 the denial or termination of a grant to the director of the
5 29 department of education.
5 30 The bill requires grantees to develop a plan and submit an
5 31 annual report, and the bill lists the programs and services a
5 32 grantee must provide.
5 33 A grant is awarded for a five-year period. The maximum
5 34 annual amount a community collaborative group is eligible to
5 35 receive under this chapter is the sum of the following for
6 1 each school district in the collaborative group: the
6 2 percentage equal to the product of eight percent and the
6 3 percent of children qualifying for free or reduced meals,
6 4 times the regular program district cost, less the amount of
6 5 existing federal and state funds received for purposes of
6 6 serving children from birth through five years of age as
6 7 determined by the departments of education, human services,
6 8 and public health, within the communities and school districts
6 9 in the collaborative group.
6 10 LSB 3513XL 77
6 11 kh/cf/24.3
Text: HSB00591 Text: HSB00593 Text: HSB00500 - HSB00599 Text: HSB Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
© 1998 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
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