1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to early childhood education; establishing 
  1.3             pilot projects to provide early childhood care and 
  1.4             education for every child birth to age five in 
  1.5             designated neighborhoods; appropriating money. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [NEIGHBORHOOD-BASED EARLY CHILD CARE AND 
  1.8   EDUCATION SERVICES.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [PILOT PROJECTS AUTHORIZED.] The 
  1.10  commissioner of children, families, and learning shall award 
  1.11  grants to establish pilot projects for neighborhood-based 
  1.12  community organizations to provide early childhood care and 
  1.13  education opportunities for every child birth to age five in 
  1.14  neighborhoods where over 75 percent of families are eligible for 
  1.15  the free or reduced school lunch program.  The commissioner must 
  1.16  award grants to establish pilot projects in Minneapolis, St. 
  1.17  Paul, suburban Minnesota, and greater Minnesota.  The contiguous 
  1.18  geographic area of each neighborhood must include at least 400 
  1.19  children, birth to age five. 
  1.20     Subd. 2.  [GOAL.] The goal of the pilot projects is to 
  1.21  ensure every child birth to age five in the neighborhood has an 
  1.22  all-day quality early care and age-appropriate education 
  1.23  opportunity, regardless of whether the child's family is 
  1.24  eligible for the free and reduced school lunch program. 
  1.25     Subd. 3.  [GRANT APPLICATION.] (a) A neighborhood 
  2.1   organization may apply to the commissioner for a grant to 
  2.2   establish a pilot project.  The applicant must describe the area 
  2.3   to be served, the needs of the area, the services in paragraph 
  2.4   (b) to be provided with associated costs and resources, and the 
  2.5   intended outcomes and proposed methods of measuring outcomes.  
  2.6   The applicant must also describe how parents of children to be 
  2.7   served in the neighborhood were involved in the grant 
  2.8   application process.  The selected organization must implement 
  2.9   the project through service providers who have demonstrated 
  2.10  their effectiveness in the neighborhood and who represent the 
  2.11  diversity of residents. 
  2.12     (b) The commissioner must consider in awarding grants how 
  2.13  the applicant will coordinate and use as many as possible of the 
  2.14  following nongrant resources: 
  2.15     (1) existing licensed child care providers; 
  2.16     (2) comprehensive health and dental care for children birth 
  2.17  to age five; 
  2.18     (3) providing a positive transition for children to a 
  2.19  neighborhood school providing all-day kindergarten and a school 
  2.20  readiness program; 
  2.21     (4) tutoring and mentoring for academically underachieving 
  2.22  children older than five in the neighborhood; 
  2.23     (5) after-school enrichment activities; 
  2.24     (6) parental involvement in their child's activities; 
  2.25     (7) job opportunities for parents; 
  2.26     (8) decent, safe housing for families; 
  2.27     (9) communication system to inform neighborhood residents 
  2.28  about the project; 
  2.29     (10) home visiting; 
  2.30     (11) birth kits for all infants born during the project 
  2.31  time frame; and 
  2.32     (12) contributions from the neighborhood's faith community. 
  2.33     (c) The neighborhood organization must take maximum 
  2.34  advantage of all other state and federal funds available for 
  2.35  child care, home energy assistance, housing assistance, health 
  2.36  insurance, Head Start, and job training.  Participants in the 
  3.1   pilot project may not participate in early childhood care and 
  3.2   education components if they voluntarily discontinue any current 
  3.3   private health or dental insurance.  The commissioner and the 
  3.4   organization must attempt to ensure that employers with 
  3.5   employees living in the pilot neighborhoods do not discriminate 
  3.6   in offering insurance to their employees. 
  3.7      (d) Family child care providers may be incorporated into 
  3.8   the program if the provider is striving to meet National 
  3.9   Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation 
  3.10  standards. 
  3.11     (e) Applicants must identify a governing entity that 
  3.12  includes parents and early child care and education service 
  3.13  providers in the neighborhood.  The entity shall establish 
  3.14  procedures to ensure the quality of the services paid for with 
  3.15  grant funds and to monitor the delivery of services. 
  3.16     Subd. 4.  [EVALUATION.] The commissioner shall review 
  3.17  evaluations of the pilot projects using the "Minnesota Childhood 
  3.18  Indicators of Progress" guide after two years of implementation 
  3.19  and provide testimony about the evaluation to the senate and 
  3.20  house committees with jurisdiction over early child care and 
  3.21  education. 
  3.22     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.23     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.24  commissioner of children, families, and learning for the fiscal 
  3.25  biennium ending June 30, 2003, for grants to create the pilot 
  3.26  projects under section 1.