Current Status Bill Number:5028 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19980414 Primary Sponsor:Byrd All Sponsors:Byrd, J. Brown, Scott and J. Smith Drafted Document Number:kgh\15561ac.98 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Education and Public Works Committee 21 HEPW Subject:Early Childhood Initiative Act, Health and Human Services Department, Minors, School districts
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
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House 19980414 Introduced, read first time, 21 HEPW
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND TITLE 44, CHAPTER 6, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES BY ADDING ARTICLE 9 SO AS TO ENACT THE EARLY CHILDHOOD INITIATIVE ACT FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A COMPREHENSIVE, LONG-RANGE STATEWIDE PLAN TO IMPROVE EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT BY PROVIDING EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES THROUGH GRANTS TO LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AWARDED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
Whereas, the General Assembly finds that every child can benefit from, and should have access to, high quality early childhood education and development services. The economic future and well-being of the State depend upon it. To ensure that all children have access to quality early childhood education and development services, the General Assembly further finds that:
(1) Parents have the primary duty to raise, educate, and transmit values to young preschool children;
(2) The State can assist parents in their role as the primary caregivers and educators of young preschool children; and
(3) There is a need to explore innovative approaches and strategies for aiding parents and families in the education and development of young preschool children.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 44, Chapter 6 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 44-6-1110. This article may be cited as the 'Early Childhood Initiative Act'.
Section 44-6-1120. (A) The purpose of this article is to establish a framework whereby the General Assembly may support, through financial and other means, an early childhood initiative statewide and through local partnerships, which have as their missions the development of a comprehensive, long-range strategic plan for early childhood development, and the provision, through public and private means, of high quality early childhood education and development services for children and families. It is the intent of the General Assembly that communities be given the maximum flexibility and discretion practicable in developing their plans.
As used in this article:
(1) 'Department' means the Department of Health and Human Services;
(2) 'Director' means the director of the Department of Health and Human Services;
(3) 'Local partnership' means a local, private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established to coordinate a local project under this article.
Section 44-6-1130. (A) There is established the Early Childhood Initiative to be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services with an advisory board comprised of:
(1) The Director of the Department of Health and Human Services;
(2) The Superintendent of Education
(3) The President of the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education;
(4) One resident from each congressional district appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate;
(5) One resident from each congressional district appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
(6) Seventeen members to be appointed by the Governor.
(B) The department shall oversee the development and implementation of the local projects as they are selected.
(C) The department shall develop and implement a comprehensive standard fiscal accountability plan to ensure the fiscal integrity and accountability of state funds appropriated to the Initiative and to the local partnerships. The standard fiscal accountability plan shall, at a minimum, include a uniform, standardized system of accounting, internal controls, payroll, fidelity bonding, chart of accounts, and contract management and monitoring. The department may contract with outside firms to develop and implement the standard fiscal accountability plan. All local partnerships shall adopt the standard fiscal accountability plan developed and adopted by the department pursuant to this subsection.
(D) The department shall develop and implement a centralized accounting and contract management system which incorporates features of the required standard fiscal accountability plan provided for in subsection (C). All local partnerships must adopt the centralized accountability system developed by the department pursuant to this subsection.
(E) The department shall develop a formula for allocating direct services funds appropriated for this purpose to local partnerships. The department may adjust its allocations on the basis of local partnerships performance assessments. In determining whether to adjust its allocations to local partnerships, the department shall consider whether the local partnerships are meeting the outcome goals and objectives of the department and the goals and objectives set forth by the local partnerships in their approved annual program plans.
The department may use additional factors to determine whether to adjust the local partnerships' allocations. These additional factors must be developed with input from the local partnerships and must be communicated to the local partnerships when the additional factors are selected. These additional factors may include board involvement, family and community outreach, collaboration among public and private service agencies, and family involvement.
On the basis of performance assessments, local partnerships annually must be rated 'superior', 'satisfactory', or 'needs improvement'. Local partnerships rated 'superior' may receive, to the extent that funds are available, a ten percent increase in their annual funding allocation. Local partnerships rated 'satisfactory' may receive their annual funding allocation. Local partnerships rated 'needs improvement' may receive ninety percent of their annual funding allocation.
The department may contract with outside firms to conduct the performance assessments of local partnerships.
(F) The department shall establish a local partnership advisory committee comprised of fifteen members. Eight of the members must be chairs of local partnership boards of directors, and seven must be staff of local partnerships. Members must be chosen by the department from a pool of candidates nominated by local partnership boards of directors. The local partnership advisory committee shall serve in an advisory capacity to the department and shall establish a schedule of regular meetings. Members shall serve two-year terms and may not serve more than two consecutive terms. Members must be chosen from local partnerships on a rotating basis. The advisory committee shall annually elect a chair from among its members.
(G) The department shall report quarterly to the General Assembly and the Governor on the ongoing progress of all the local partnerships' work, including all details of the use to which the allocations were put, and on the continuing plans of the department, together with legislative proposals, including proposals to implement the program statewide.
Section 44-6-1140. (A) The department shall:
(1) Develop a statewide process to select the local projects. The first six local projects developed and implemented must be located in the six congressional districts, one to a district. The locations of subsequent selections of local projects shall represent the various geographic areas of the State.
(2) Develop and conduct a statewide needs and resource assessment every third year, beginning in the 1998-99 fiscal year. This needs assessment must be conducted in cooperation with the local partnerships. The department may contract with an independent firm to conduct the needs assessment. The needs assessment must be conducted in a way which enables the department to review, and revise as necessary, the total program cost estimate and methodology. The data and findings of this needs assessment shall form the basis for annual program plans developed by local partnerships and approved by the department. A report of the findings of the needs assessment must be presented to the General Assembly before the beginning of the 2000 legislative session and every three years after that date.
(3) Develop and maintain an automated, publicly accessible database of all regulated childcare programs.
(4) Adopt any regulations necessary to implement this article. In order to allow local partnerships to focus on the development of long-range plans in their initial year of funding, the department may limit the categories of direct services for young children and their families for which funds are made available during the initial year.
(5) Annually update its funding formula using the most recent data available. These amounts shall serve as the basis for determining 'full funding' amounts for each local partnership.
(B) The director shall approve all allocations of state funds to local projects. The director also shall approve all local partnership plans.
Section 44-6-1150. In order to receive state funds, each local:
(1) project must be coordinated by a new local partnership responsible for developing a comprehensive, collaborative, long-range plan of services to children and families in the service delivery area. The board of directors of each local partnership shall consist of members including representatives of public and private nonprofit health and human service agencies, childcare providers, the business community, foundations, county and municipal governments, local education units, and families;
(2) partnership shall agree to adopt procedures for its operations that are comparable to those of the Freedom of Information Act;
(3) partnership shall adopt procedures to ensure that all personnel who provide services to young children and their families under this article know and understand their responsibility to report suspected child abuse and neglect;
(4) partnership shall participate in the uniform standard fiscal accountability plan developed and adopted by the department pursuant to Section 44-6-1130;
(5) partnership must agree to be audited and reviewed by the state auditor.
Section 44-6-1160. (A) State funds allocated to local projects for services to children and families must be used to meet assessed needs, expand coverage, and improve the quality of these services. The local plan shall address the assessed needs of all children to the extent feasible. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the needs of both young children below poverty who remain in the home, as well as the needs of young children below poverty who require services beyond those offered in childcare settings, be addressed. Therefore, as local partnerships address the assessed needs of all children, they should devote an appropriate amount of their state allocations, considering these needs and other available resources, to meet the needs of children below poverty and their families.
(B) Depending on local, regional, or statewide needs, funds may be used to support activities and services that must be made available and accessible to providers, children, and families on a voluntary basis. Of the total funds allocated to all local partnerships for direct services, seventy percent must be used in childcare related activities and programs which improve access to childcare services, develop new childcare services, or improve the quality of childcare services in all settings.
(C) Long-term plans for local projects that do not receive their full allocation in the first year must consider how to meet the assessed needs of low income children and families within their neighborhoods or communities. These plans also must reflect a process to meet these needs as additional allocations and other resources are received.
(D) State funds designated for start-up and related activities may be used for capital expenses or to support activities and services for children, families, and providers. State funds designated to support direct services for children, families, and providers must not be used for major capital expenses unless the department approves this use of state funds based upon a finding that a local partnership has demonstrated that:
(i) this use is a clear priority need for the local plan;
(ii) it is necessary to enable the local partnership to provide services and activities to underserved children and families; and
(iii) the local partnership will not otherwise be able to meet this priority need by using state or federal funds available to that local partnership.
The funds approved for capital projects in any two consecutive fiscal years may not exceed ten percent of the total funds for direct services allocated to a local partnership in those two consecutive fiscal years.
(E) State funds allocated to local partnerships must not supplant current expenditures by counties on behalf of young children and their families, and maintenance of current efforts on behalf of these children and families must be sustained. State funds must not be applied without the director's approval where state or federal funding sources, such as Head Start, are available or could be made available to that county.
(F) Local partnerships may carry over funds from one fiscal year to the next, subject to the following conditions:
(1) Local partnerships in their first year of receiving direct services funding may, on a one-time basis only, carry over any unspent funds to the subsequent fiscal year.
(2) Any local partnership may carry over any unspent funds to the subsequent fiscal year, subject to the limitation that funds carried over may not exceed the increase in funding the local partnership received during the current fiscal year over the prior fiscal year.
(G) Not less than thirty percent of each local partnership's direct services allocation may be used to expand childcare subsidies. To the extent practicable, these funds must be used to enhance the affordability, availability, and quality of childcare services as described in this section.
Section 44-6-1170. No home centered services, including home visits or in-home parenting training are allowed under this article unless the written, informed consent of the participating parents authorizing the home centered services is first obtained by the local partnership, educational institution, local school administrative unit, private school, non-for-profit organization, governmental agency, or other entity that is conducting the parenting program. The participating parents may revoke at any time their consent for the home centered services.
The consent form shall contain a clear description of the program including:
(1) the activities and information to be provided by the program during the home visits;
(2) the number of expected home visits;
(3) any responsibilities of the parents;
(4) the fact, if applicable, that a record will be made and maintained on the home visits;
(5) the fact that the parents may revoke at any time the consent; and
(6) any other information as may be necessary to convey to the parents a clear understanding of the program.
Parents at all times shall have access to any record maintained on home centered services provided to their family and may place in that record a written response to any information with which they disagree that is in the record."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.