The child development coordinating council shall develop a four-year grant program and the criteria and process to be used in selecting school district grant recipients. Criteria for the selection shall include the service requirements contained in section 256C.3 and a method for prioritizing grant applications based on illustrated efforts to meet the critical social welfare needs of the children and families in the surrounding community. Criteria for the selection shall also include a requirement that the program administrator, whose primary responsibility is to administer the family resource center, have at least two years of experience in early childhood education or development, demonstrated skills in community development, and a master's degree in a related field such as community service, health, human services, child development, parent support, or home economics, or at least five years of experience as an administrator of a licensed early childhood education or development program. Critical social welfare needs that may entitle a grant application to priority, if the application includes methods of amelioration of an identified community problem, shall include, but are not limited to, a significant infant mortality rate in the community, a significant rate of incidence of teenage pregnancy in the community, a significant number of single-parent families in the community that are living below the federal poverty guidelines, a lack of available affordable child care within the community, a significant number of children qualifying for free or reduced price lunches within the district, and a significant illiteracy rate within the community. The department shall assist the council in creating a grant application process and shall provide technical assistance to districts chosen to establish a family resource center.
A district applying for a grant under this section shall agree, for each dollar of grant funds, to provide twenty cents in matching cash or in-kind resources. Grants may be awarded for four years, beginning July 1, 1994, and ending June 30, 1998. Up to ten percent of the moneys appropriated for the grant program may be used by the council for staffing, technical assistance, and external evaluation development. Notwithstanding section 8.33, unencumbered or unobligated funds remaining on June 30 of the fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated shall not revert but shall be available for expenditure for the following fiscal year for the purposes of this section.
Each school district that receives a grant and establishes a family resource center, as part of the district program, shall also establish an advisory committee to the center that shall advise the center on program and services planning and development. The advisory committee shall also establish service goals for the center and create an evaluation process to permit the committee to assess the center's progress toward achieving the goals. A majority of the members of each advisory committee shall consist of parents who participate in programs or receive services at the center. Other members of the committee may include, but are not limited to, school officials, home economists, child care providers, public or private child and family service agency providers, recreational service providers, health care professionals, and other members of the community.
92 Acts, ch 1221, §5; 93 Acts, ch 150, § 2, 3
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