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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to funding for the school readiness 2
program; amending s. 1002.89, F.S.; deleting a 3
requirement that specified funds be used to increase 4
the number of children served; conforming provisions 5
and cross-references to changes made by the act; 6
creating s. 1002.90, F.S.; requiring the Division of 7
Early Learning to conduct the School Readiness Funding 8
Formula Allocation Conference before the distribut ion 9
of certain funds for the school readiness program; 10
specifying conference principals; requiring conference 11
principals to discuss and approve specified 12
conventions for calculating the school readiness 13
funding formula; requiring such conventions to remain 14
in effect until a specified time; requiring the 15
division to provide conference principals with 16
specified data; providing requirements for such data; 17
amending ss. 1002.81 and 1002.82, F.S.; conforming 18
cross-references to changes made by the act; providing 19
an effective date. 20
21
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22
23
Section 1. Subsections (4) through (6) of section 1002.89, 24
Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (3) through (5), 25
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respectively, and subsections (1) and (3) and present subsection 26
(5) of that section are amended to read: 27
1002.89 School readiness program; funding. — 28
(1) Funding for the school readiness program shall be 29
allocated among the early learning coalitions in accordance with 30
this section and the General Appropriations Act and s. 1002.90. 31
(3) All cost savings and all revenues received through a 32
mandatory sliding fee scale shall be used to increase the number 33
of children served. 34
(4)(5) Costs shall be kept to the minimum necessary for 35
the efficient and effective administration of the school 36
readiness program with the highest priority of expenditure being 37
direct services for eligible children. However, no more than 5 38
percent of the funds described in subsection (4) may be used for 39
administrative costs and no more than 22 percent of the funds 40
described in subsection (4) may be used in any fiscal year for 41
any combination of administrative costs, quality activities, and 42
nondirect services as follows: 43
(a) Administrative costs as described in 45 C.F.R. s. 44
98.54, which shall include monitoring providers using the 45
standard methodology adopted under s. 1002.82 to improve 46
compliance with state and federal regulations and law pursuant 47
to the requirements of the statewide provider contract adopted 48
under s. 1002.82(2)(m). 49
(b) Activities to improve the quality of child care as 50
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described in 45 C.F.R. s. 98.53, which shall be limited to the 51
following: 52
1. Developing, establishing, expanding, operating, and 53
coordinating resource and referral programs specifically relat ed 54
to the provision of comprehensive consumer education to parents 55
and the public to promote informed child care choices specified 56
in 45 C.F.R. s. 98.33. 57
2. Awarding grants and providing financial support to 58
school readiness program providers and their s taff to assist 59
them in meeting applicable state requirements for the program 60
assessment required under s. 1002.82(2)(n), child care 61
performance standards, implementing developmentally appropriate 62
curricula and related classroom resources that support 63
curricula, providing literacy supports, and providing continued 64
professional development and training. Any grants awarded 65
pursuant to this subparagraph shall comply with ss. 215.971 and 66
287.058. 67
3. Providing training, technical assistance, and financial 68
support to school readiness program providers, staff, and 69
parents on standards, child screenings, child assessments, child 70
development research and best practices, developmentally 71
appropriate curricula, character development, teacher -child 72
interactions, age-appropriate discipline practices, health and 73
safety, nutrition, first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the 74
recognition of communicable diseases, and child abuse detection, 75
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prevention, and reporting. 76
4. Providing, from among the funds provided for the 77
activities described in subparagraphs 1. -3., adequate funding 78
for infants and toddlers as necessary to meet federal 79
requirements related to expenditures for quality activities for 80
infant and toddler care. 81
5. Improving the monitoring of compliance with, and 82
enforcement of, applicable state and local requirements as 83
described in and limited by 45 C.F.R. s. 98.40. 84
6. Responding to Warm -Line requests by providers and 85
parents, including providing developmental and health screenings 86
to school readiness program children. 87
(c) Nondirect services as described in applicable Office 88
of Management and Budget instructions are those services not 89
defined as administrative, direct, or quality services that are 90
required to administer the school readiness program. Such 91
services include, but are not limited to: 92
1. Assisting families to complete the required application 93
and eligibility documentation. 94
2. Determining child and family eligibility. 95
3. Recruiting eligible child care providers. 96
4. Processing and tracking att endance records. 97
5. Developing and maintaining a statewide child care 98
information system. 99
100
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As used in this paragraph, the term "nondirect services" does 101
not include payments to school readiness program providers for 102
direct services provided to children w ho are eligible under s. 103
1002.87, administrative costs as described in paragraph (a), or 104
quality activities as described in paragraph (b). 105
Section 2. Section 1002.90, Florida Statutes, is created 106
to read: 107
1002.90 School Readiness Funding Formula Allo cation 108
Conference.—Before the distribution of any funds appropriated in 109
the General Appropriations Act for the school readiness program, 110
the Division of Early Learning shall conduct an allocation 111
conference. Conference principals shall include representati ves 112
of the Division of Early Learning, the Executive Office of the 113
Governor, and the appropriations committees of the Senate and 114
the House of Representatives. Conference principals shall 115
discuss and approve all conventions, including the actual cost 116
of child care by level and care type, eligible population data, 117
rounding conventions, and methods of computation , to be used to 118
calculate the school readiness funding formula for the early 119
learning coalitions for the fiscal year for which the 120
appropriations are made. The conventions shall remain in effect 121
until further agreements are reached in subsequent allocation 122
conferences called by the division for that purpose. Before each 123
recalculation of the school readiness funding formula and 124
allocations to the early l earning coalitions, the division shall 125
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provide conference principals with all data necessary to 126
replicate those allocations precisely. Such data shall include a 127
matrix by early learning coalition of all full -time equivalent 128
changes made by the division as part of its administration of 129
the school readiness program. 130
Section 3. Subsection (4) of section 1002.81, Florida 131
Statutes, is amended to read: 132
1002.81 Definitions. —Consistent with the requirements of 133
45 C.F.R. parts 98 and 99 and as used in this par t, the term: 134
(4) "Direct enhancement services" means services for 135
families and children that are in addition to payments for the 136
placement of children in the school readiness program. Direct 137
enhancement services for families and children may include 138
supports for providers, parent training and involvement 139
activities, and strategies to meet the needs of unique 140
populations and local eligibility priorities. Direct enhancement 141
services offered by an early learning coalition shall be 142
consistent with the activit ies prescribed in s. 1002.89(4)(b) s. 143
1002.89(5)(b). 144
Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section 145
1002.82, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 146
1002.82 Department of Education; powers and duties. — 147
(7) By January 1 of each year, the depart ment shall 148
annually publish on its website a report of its activities 149
conducted under this section. The report must include a summary 150
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of the coalitions' annual reports, a statewide summary, and the 151
following: 152
(a) An analysis of early learning activities throughout 153
the state, including the school readiness program and the 154
Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program. 155
1. The total and average number of children served in the 156
school readiness program, enumerated by age, eligibility 157
priority category, and co alition, and the total number of 158
children served in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education 159
Program. 160
2. A summary of expenditures by coalition, by fund source, 161
including a breakdown by coalition of the percentage of 162
expenditures for administrative activi ties, quality activities, 163
nondirect services, and direct services for children. 164
3. A description of the department's and each coalition's 165
expenditures by fund source for the quality and enhancement 166
activities described in s. 1002.89(4)(b) s. 1002.89(5)(b). 167
4. A summary of annual findings and collections related to 168
provider fraud and parent fraud. 169
5. Data regarding the coalitions' delivery of early 170
learning programs. 171
6. The total number of children disenrolled statewide and 172
the reason for disenrollme nt. 173
7. The total number of providers by provider type. 174
8. The number of school readiness program providers who 175
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have completed the program assessment required under paragraph 176
(2)(n); the number of providers who have not met the minimum 177
program assessment composite score for contracting established 178
under paragraph (2)(n); and the number of providers that have an 179
active improvement plan based on the results of the program 180
assessment under paragraph (2)(n). 181
9. The total number of provider contracts revoke d and the 182
reasons for revocation. 183
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 184