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Senate File 2347

Partial Bill History

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  7I.1  DEFINITIONS.
  1  2    For the purposes of this chapter:
  1  3    1.  "Community empowerment area" means a geographic area
  1  4 designated in accordance with this chapter.
  1  5    2.  "Community empowerment area board" or "community board"
  1  6 means the board for a community empowerment area created in
  1  7 accordance with this chapter.
  1  8    3.  "Iowa empowerment board" means the board or other body
  1  9 designated in law by the general assembly to oversee the
  1 10 formation of community empowerment areas and to administer the
  1 11 school ready children grant program.
  1 12    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  7I.2  COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AREAS.
  1 13    1.  The purpose of a community empowerment area is to
  1 14 enable local citizens to collaboratively manage funds on
  1 15 behalf of the children, families, and other citizens residing
  1 16 in the area.
  1 17    2.  A community empowerment area shall be formed by using
  1 18 existing school district and county boundaries to the extent
  1 19 possible.  Each county and school district in the state shall
  1 20 have the option of participating in a community empowerment
  1 21 area.
  1 22    3.  The formation of a community empowerment area and a
  1 23 community empowerment area board is subject to the approval of
  1 24 the Iowa empowerment board.  The Iowa empowerment board shall
  1 25 adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A providing for the initial
  1 26 identification of community empowerment areas and procedures
  1 27 for later changing the initially identified areas.
  1 28    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  7I.3  COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AREA
  1 29 BOARDS CREATED.
  1 30    1.  A community empowerment area shall be governed by a
  1 31 community empowerment area board.  The composition of a
  1 32 community board shall be two-thirds members who are citizens,
  1 33 elected officials, or volunteers and one-third members who are
  1 34 employees of or are paid for representing any of the entities
  1 35 listed in this subsection.  The members of a community
  2  1 empowerment area board shall include one or more
  2  2 representatives of any of the following:
  2  3    a.  A school district.
  2  4    b.  A county.
  2  5    c.  A local board of health.
  2  6    d.  A hospital.
  2  7    e.  A charitable funding group.
  2  8    f.  The department of human services.
  2  9    g.  A religious institution.
  2 10    h.  An area education agency.
  2 11    i.  Juvenile court services.
  2 12    j.  An area substance abuse agency.
  2 13    k.  A community action program.
  2 14    2.  A community board may designate representatives of
  2 15 service providers or public agency staff to provide technical
  2 16 assistance to the community board.
  2 17    3.  A community board may designate a professional advisory
  2 18 council consisting of persons employed by or otherwise paid to
  2 19 represent an entity listed in subsection 1 or other provider
  2 20 of service.
  2 21    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  7I.4  COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AREA
  2 22 BOARD RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITY.
  2 23    1.  A community empowerment area board shall do the
  2 24 following:
  2 25    a.  Designate a public agency of this state, as defined in
  2 26 section 28E.2, to be the fiscal agent for grant moneys and for
  2 27 other moneys administered by the community board.
  2 28    b.  Administer community empowerment block grant moneys
  2 29 available to the community board.  Eligibility for these block
  2 30 grant moneys shall be limited to those community boards which
  2 31 have developed an approved school ready children grant plan in
  2 32 accordance with this chapter.  Community empowerment block
  2 33 grant moneys may include but are not limited to moneys
  2 34 relating to any of the following:
  2 35    (1)  Child day care services.
  3  1    (2)  At-risk programs for preschool children.
  3  2    (3)  Head start programs.
  3  3    (4)  Parent education programs.
  3  4    (5)  Children's health programs.
  3  5    (6)  The family investment program, including the PROMISE
  3  6 JOBS program.
  3  7    (7)  Substance abuse assessment and referral.
  3  8    (8)  Department of human services' field and program staff
  3  9 supervision and oversight.
  3 10    (9)  Child welfare services, which may include group foster
  3 11 care, rehabilitative treatment services, juvenile court
  3 12 services, and other community-based juvenile justice services.
  3 13    (10)  Other moneys authorized in law for block grant
  3 14 funding.
  3 15    c.  Assume other responsibilities established in law or
  3 16 administrative rule.
  3 17    2.  A community board may do any of the following:
  3 18    a.  Designate one or more committees for oversight of grant
  3 19 moneys awarded to the community empowerment area.
  3 20    b.  Function as a coordinating body for services directed
  3 21 to similar populations by the jurisdictions within the
  3 22 community empowerment area.
  3 23    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  7I.5  SCHOOL READY CHILDREN GRANT
  3 24 PROGRAM – ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.
  3 25    1.  The departments of education, human services, and
  3 26 public health shall jointly develop a school ready children
  3 27 grant program which shall provide for all of the following
  3 28 components:
  3 29    a.  Identify the core indicators of performance that will
  3 30 be used to assess the effectiveness of the school ready
  3 31 children grants, including increasing the basic skill levels
  3 32 of students entering school, increasing health status of
  3 33 children, reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect,
  3 34 increasing the access of children to an adult mentor,
  3 35 increasing parental involvement with their children, and
  4  1 increasing the quality and accessibility of child day care.
  4  2    b.  Identify guidelines and a process to be used for
  4  3 determining the readiness of a community empowerment area for
  4  4 administering school ready children grants.
  4  5    c.  Provide for technical assistance concerning funding
  4  6 sources, program design, and other pertinent areas.
  4  7    2.  The program developed and components identified under
  4  8 subsection 1 are subject to approval by the Iowa empowerment
  4  9 board.  The Iowa empowerment board shall provide maximum
  4 10 flexibility to grantees for the use of the grant moneys
  4 11 included in a school ready children grant.
  4 12    3.  A school ready children grant shall, at a minimum, be
  4 13 used to provide the following:
  4 14    a.  Preschool services provided on a voluntary basis to
  4 15 children deemed at risk of not succeeding in elementary school
  4 16 as determined by the community board and specified in the
  4 17 grant plan developed in accordance with this section.
  4 18    b.  Parent education programs promoted to parents of
  4 19 children from birth through five years of age.  Parent
  4 20 education programs shall be offered in a flexible manner to
  4 21 accommodate the varying schedules, meeting place requirements,
  4 22 and other needs of working families.
  4 23    c.  A comprehensive school ready children grant plan
  4 24 developed by a community board for providing children's
  4 25 services for children from birth through five years of age
  4 26 including but not limited to child development, child care,
  4 27 children's health and safety, assessment provisions to
  4 28 identify chemically exposed infants and children, and parent
  4 29 education services.  At a minimum, the plan shall do all of
  4 30 the following:
  4 31    (1)  Describe community needs for children from birth
  4 32 through five years of age as identified through ongoing
  4 33 assessments.
  4 34    (2)  Describe the current and desired levels of community
  4 35 coordination of services for children from birth through five
  5  1 years of age.
  5  2    (3)  Identify all federal, state, local, and private
  5  3 funding sources available in the community empowerment area
  5  4 that will be used to provide services to children from birth
  5  5 through five years of age.
  5  6    (4)  Describe how the funding source will be used
  5  7 collaboratively and the degree to which the moneys can be
  5  8 combined to provide the necessary services.
  5  9    (5)  Identify the results the community board expects to
  5 10 achieve through implementation of the school ready children
  5 11 grant program, and identify community-specific quantifiable
  5 12 performance indicators that can be measured and reported in
  5 13 the annual report.
  5 14    5.  An annual report on the effectiveness of the grant
  5 15 program in addressing school readiness and children's health
  5 16 and safety needs shall be submitted by the community board to
  5 17 the Iowa empowerment board and to the local governing bodies.
  5 18 The annual report shall indicate the effectiveness of the
  5 19 community board in achieving state and locally determined
  5 20 goals.
  5 21    6.  A school ready children grant to a community board
  5 22 shall be awarded for a five-year period, with annual payments
  5 23 made to the community board on or before October 1 of each
  5 24 fiscal year.  However, receipt of continued funding is subject
  5 25 to submission of the required annual report.
  5 26    The Iowa empowerment board shall distribute school ready
  5 27 children grant moneys to community boards with approved
  5 28 comprehensive school ready children grant plans in accordance
  5 29 with the following formula:
  5 30    a.  A funding percentage shall be identified for each
  5 31 school district in the state.  The funding percentage shall be
  5 32 the school district's proportion of the children who are
  5 33 enrolled in the school district first through sixth grade
  5 34 qualifying for free or reduced price meals for the school year
  5 35 preceding the fiscal year in which the moneys are to be paid
  6  1 compared to all children in the state who are enrolled in
  6  2 first through sixth grade qualifying for free or reduced price
  6  3 meals for the same school year.
  6  4    b.  A community empowerment area funding percentage shall
  6  5 be determined by adding the funding percentages for each
  6  6 school district in the community empowerment area.
  6  7    c.  The maximum annual grant amount for a community
  6  8 empowerment area is the area's funding percentage of the
  6  9 amount appropriated for school ready children grants for a
  6 10 fiscal year.
  6 11    Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  7I.6  IOWA EMPOWERMENT FUND.
  6 12    1.  An Iowa empowerment fund is created in the state
  6 13 treasury under the authority of the Iowa empowerment board.
  6 14 The moneys in the Iowa empowerment fund are not subject to
  6 15 section 8.33 and shall not be transferred, used, obligated,
  6 16 appropriated, or otherwise encumbered except as provided by
  6 17 law. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or
  6 18 earnings on moneys deposited in the Iowa empowerment fund
  6 19 shall be credited to the fund.
  6 20    2.  A school ready children grants account is created in
  6 21 the Iowa empowerment fund and moneys credited to the account
  6 22 shall be distributed in the form of grants to community
  6 23 empowerment areas as provided in law.
  6 24    Sec. 7.  SCHOOL READY CHILDREN GRANTS.  There is
  6 25 appropriated from the general fund of the state to the Iowa
  6 26 empowerment fund for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1998,
  6 27 and ending June 30, 1999, the following amount, or so much
  6 28 thereof as is necessary, to be used for the purpose
  6 29 designated:
  6 30    For deposit to the credit of the school ready children
  6 31 grants account:  
  6 32 .................................................. $  5,200,000
  6 33    Sec. 8.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act, being deemed of
  6 34 immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.  
  6 35                           EXPLANATION
  7  1    This bill establishes a school ready children grant program
  7  2 to be administered by community empowerment area boards and
  7  3 the Iowa empowerment board.
  7  4    New Code section 7I.1 includes definitions of community
  7  5 empowerment area, community empowerment area board, and Iowa
  7  6 empowerment board.
  7  7    New Code section 7I.2 provides requirements for designating
  7  8 community empowerment areas.
  7  9    New Code section 7I.3 provides requirements for counties
  7 10 and school districts to designate community empowerment area
  7 11 boards.
  7 12    New Code section 7I.4 outlines the responsibilities and
  7 13 authority of a community empowerment area board.
  7 14    New Code section 7I.5 creates the school ready grant
  7 15 program.
  7 16    The departments of education, human services, and public
  7 17 health must jointly determine the core indicators of
  7 18 performance that will be used to assess the effectiveness of
  7 19 the grants, and establish guidelines and a process to be used
  7 20 in selecting community empowerment areas for grants.  The bill
  7 21 directs the Iowa empowerment board to adopt rules to
  7 22 administer the program.
  7 23    The bill requires grantees to develop a plan and submit an
  7 24 annual report, and the bill lists the programs and services a
  7 25 grantee must provide.
  7 26    A grant may be awarded for a five-year period contingent
  7 27 upon a community empowerment area board submitting an annual
  7 28 report.  A funding formula is provided for determining the
  7 29 distribution of grant moneys to community empowerment areas
  7 30 for each fiscal year.
  7 31    New Code section 7I.6 creates an Iowa empowerment fund.
  7 32 Moneys deposited into the fund are not subject to reversion,
  7 33 transfer, or appropriation except as provided by law.
  7 34 Interest or earnings on moneys in the fund are to be credited
  7 35 to the fund.  A school ready children grants account is
  8  1 created in the fund to be used for distribution of grants to
  8  2 community empowerment areas.  A general fund appropriation is
  8  3 made to the account.
  8  4    The bill takes effect upon enactment.  
  8  5 LSB 3933SC 77
  8  6 jp/sc/14
     

Text: SF02346                           Text: SF02348
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