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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5346
February Session, 2024
LCO No. 2296
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING EARLY CHILD CARE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-511 of the 2024 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective July 1, 2024): 3
The Comptroller shall establish the Early Childhood Education Fund. 4
Said fund may contain any moneys required or permitted by law to be 5
deposited in the fund, including any unexpended funds deposited 6
pursuant to section 8-210, as amended by this act, or section 10-16p, as 7
amended by this act, and any funds received from any public or private 8
contributions, gifts, grants, donations, bequests or devises to the fund. 9
Such fund shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year but shall be 10
available for expenditure during the next fiscal year. 11
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 8-210 of the 2024 supplement to the 12
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 13
thereof (Effective July 1, 2024): 14
(b) The state, acting by and in the discretion of the Commissioner of 15 Raised Bill No. 5346
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Early Childhood, may enter into a contract with a municipality, a group 16
child care home or family child care home, as described in section 19a-17
77, a human resource development agency or a nonprofit corporation 18
for state financial assistance in developing and operating child care 19
centers, group child care homes and family child care homes for 20
children disadvantaged by reasons of economic, social or environmental 21
conditions, provided no such financial assistance shall be available for 22
the operating costs of any such child care center, group child care home 23
or family child care home unless it has been licensed by the 24
Commissioner of Early Childhood pursuant to section 19a-80. Such 25
financial assistance shall be available for a program of a municipality, of 26
a group child care home or family child care home, of a human resource 27
development agency or of a nonprofit corporation which may provide 28
for personnel, equipment, supplies, activities, program materials and 29
renovation and remodeling of the physical facilities of such child care 30
centers, group child care homes or family child care homes. Such 31
contract shall provide for state financial assistance, within available 32
appropriations, in the form of a state grant-in-aid (1) for a portion of the 33
cost of such program, as determined by the Commissioner of Early 34
Childhood, if not federally assisted, (2) equal to one-half of the amount 35
by which the net cost of such program, as approved by the 36
Commissioner of Early Childhood, exceeds the federal grant-in-aid 37
thereof, or (3) in an amount not less than (A) the per child cost as 38
described in subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 10-16q, for each 39
child in such program that is three or four years of age and each child 40
that is five years of age who is not eligible to enroll in school, pursuant 41
to section 10-15c, while maintaining services to children under three 42
years of age under this section, and (B) thirteen thousand five hundred 43
dollars for each child three years of age or under who is in infant or 44
toddler care and not in a preschool program. Any such contract entered 45
into on or after July 1, 2022, shall include a provision that at least sixty 46
per cent of the children enrolled in such child care center, group child 47
care home or family child care home are members of families who are 48
at or below seventy-five per cent of the state median income. The 49
Commissioner of Early Childhood may authorize child care centers, 50 Raised Bill No. 5346
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group child care homes and family child care homes receiving financial 51
assistance under this subsection to apply a program surplus to the next 52
program year. The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall consult with 53
directors of child care centers in establishing fees for the operation of 54
such centers. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the Commissioner 55
of Early Childhood shall, within available appropriations, enter into 56
contracts under this section for the purpose of expanding the number of 57
spaces available to children three years of age or under who are in infant 58
or toddler care and not in a preschool program. Any unexpended funds 59
appropriated for purposes of this section shall not lapse at the end of the 60
fiscal year but shall be deposited in the Early Childhood Education Fund 61
established pursuant to section 10-511, as amended by this act. 62
Sec. 3. Subsection (e) of section 10-16p of the 2024 supplement to the 63
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 64
thereof (Effective July 1, 2024): 65
(e) [(1)] If funds appropriated for the purposes of subsection (c) of this 66
section are not expended, the commissioner [may] shall deposit such 67
unexpended funds in the [account established under section 10-16aa 68
and use such unexpended funds in accordance with the provisions of 69
section 10-16aa] Early Childhood Education Fund established pursuant 70
to section 10-511, as amended by this act. 71
[(2) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, and each fiscal year 72
thereafter, if funds appropriated for the purposes of subsection (c) of 73
this section are not expended, an amount up to one million dollars of 74
such unexpended funds may be available for the provision of 75
professional development for early childhood care and education 76
program providers, and staff employed in such programs, provided 77
such programs accept state funds for infant, toddler and preschool slots. 78
Such unexpended funds may be available for use in accordance with the 79
provisions of this subparagraph for the subsequent fiscal year. The 80
commissioner may use such unexpended funds on and after July 1, 2015, 81
to support early childhood education programs accepting state funds in 82
satisfying the staff qualifications requirements of subparagraphs (B) and 83 Raised Bill No. 5346
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(C) of subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section. The commissioner 84
shall use any such funds to provide assistance to individual staff 85
members, giving priority to those staff members (A) attending an 86
institution of higher education accredited by the Board of Regents for 87
Higher Education or the Office of Higher Education, and approved by 88
the Office of Early Childhood, and regionally accredited, at a maximum 89
of ten thousand dollars per staff member per year for the cost of higher 90
education courses leading to a bachelor's degree or, not later than 91
December 31, 2015, an associate degree, as such degrees are described 92
in said subparagraphs (B) and (C), or (B) receiving noncredit 93
competency-based training approved by the office, at a maximum of one 94
thousand dollars per staff member per year, provided such staff 95
members have applied for all available federal and state scholarships 96
and grants, and such assistance does not exceed such staff members' 97
financial need. Individual staff members shall apply for such 98
unexpended funds in a manner determined by the commissioner. The 99
commissioner shall determine how such unexpended funds shall be 100
distributed. 101
(3) If funds appropriated for the purposes of subsection (c) of this 102
section are not expended pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, 103
deposited pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, or used 104
pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, the commissioner may 105
use such unexpended funds to support local school readiness programs. 106
The commissioner may use such funds for purposes including, but not 107
limited to, (A) assisting local school readiness programs in meeting and 108
maintaining accreditation requirements, (B) providing training in 109
implementing the preschool assessment and curriculum frameworks, 110
including training to enhance literacy teaching skills, (C) developing a 111
state-wide preschool curriculum, (D) developing student assessments 112
for students in grades kindergarten to two, inclusive, (E) developing 113
and implementing best practices for parents in supporting preschool 114
and kindergarten student learning, (F) developing and implementing 115
strategies for children to successfully transition to preschool and from 116
preschool to kindergarten, including through parental engagement and 117 Raised Bill No. 5346
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whole-family supports that may be utilized through the two -118
generational initiative, established pursuant to section 17b-112l, or 119
through other available resources, (G) providing for professional 120
development, including assisting in career ladder advancement, for 121
school readiness staff, (H) providing supplemental grants to other 122
towns that are eligible for grants pursuant to subsection (c) of this 123
section, and (I) developing a plan to provide spaces in an accredited 124
school readiness program or a school readiness program seeking 125
accreditation to all eligible children who reside in an area or town 126
described in subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, of subdivision (1) of 127
subsection (d) of this section.] 128
Sec. 4. (Effective from passage) The Department of Administrative 129
Services shall conduct a study regarding the availability of state 130
property for the provision of early childhood care and early childhood 131
education programs, housing and adult training programs. Such study 132
shall include, but need not be limited to, a review of (1) state-owned 133
buildings that house offices of agencies of the state for the purpose of 134
determining whether such buildings contain available space that may 135
be utilized to provide early childhood care and early childhood 136
education programs, and (2) real property owned by the state that is 137
vacant and may be developed for the purpose of providing early 138
childhood care and early childhood education programs, housing or 139
adult training programs. Not later than January 1, 2026, the department 140
shall submit a report on its findings and any recommendations to the 141
joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 142
matters relating to education, in accordance with the provisions of 143
section 11-4a of the general statutes. 144
Sec. 5. (Effective from passage) The Office of Early Childhood shall 145
conduct a study regarding the feasibility of expanding the qualifications 146
required for a person to be issued an early childhood teacher credential 147
under section 10-520b of the general statutes to include experience in 148
nontraditional child care settings and other forms of informal child care. 149
Not later than January 1, 2025, the office shall submit a report on its 150
findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of the 151 Raised Bill No. 5346
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General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, 152
in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 153
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2024 10-511
Sec. 2 July 1, 2024 8-210(b)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2024 10-16p(e)
Sec. 4 from passage New section
Sec. 5 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To provide the Early Childhood Education Fund with unexpended
funds from certain early childhood programs; to require the Department
of Administrative Services to conduct a study of state-owned buildings
and property for the purpose of utilizing or converting such buildings
and property for early childhood care, early childhood education,
housing and adult training programs; and to require the Office of Early
Childhood to study ways to include experience in nontraditional child
care settings and other informal child care arrangements for purposes
of issuing an early childhood teacher credential.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]