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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the school readiness program; 2
amending s. 1002.81, F.S.; revising the definition of 3
the term "economically disadvantaged"; amending s. 4
1002.82, F.S.; requiring the Department of Education 5
to establish procedures to annually collect specified 6
data; providing requirements for such data; requiring 7
the department to annually report specified data to 8
the Legislature; amending s. 1002.84, F.S.; revising 9
provisions relating to the sliding fee scale for 10
families receiving school readiness program services; 11
revising requirements for the distribution of the 12
school readiness program funds; amending s. 1002.85, 13
F.S.; revising requirements for the data that must be 14
collected and reported by the department; revising the 15
date by which the report must be implemented; amending 16
s. 1002.89, F.S.; revising a specified calculation for 17
the school readiness program allocation; amending s. 18
1002.895, F.S.; revising requirements for the 19
implementation of the school readiness program market 20
rate schedule; deleting a requirement that the 21
department collect specified data and provide such 22
data to a specified entity; repealing s. 1002.90, 23
F.S., relating to school readine ss cost-of-care 24
information; amending s. 1002.92, F.S.; conforming 25
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provisions to changes made by the act; providing 26
appropriations; providing an effective date 27
togetherness. 28
29
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 30
31
Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 1002.81, Florida 32
Statutes, is amended to read: 33
1002.81 Definitions. —Consistent with the requirements of 34
45 C.F.R. parts 98 and 99 and as used in this part, the term: 35
(6) "Economically disadvantaged" means having a family 36
income that does not exceed 55 percent of the state median 37
income 150 percent of the federal poverty level and includes 38
being a child of a working migratory family as defined by 34 39
C.F.R. s. 200.81(d) or (f) or an agricultural worker who is 40
employed by more than one agricultural employer during the 41
course of a year, and whose income varies according to weather 42
conditions and market stability. 43
Section 2. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 44
1002.82, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsections (10) and 45
(11) are added to that section, to read: 46
1002.82 Department of Education; powers and duties. — 47
(2) The department shall: 48
(d) Establish procedures for the annual calculation of the 49
prevailing market rate and procedures for the collection of data 50
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to support the calculation of the cost data of care pursuant to 51
subsection (10) s. 1002.90. 52
(10) The department shall establish procedures to annually 53
collect cost data. Such data must include, but are not limited 54
to: 55
(a) Data from the Department of Commerce' s Bureau of 56
Workforce Statistics and Economic Research on the average salary 57
for child care personnel, including, at a minimum, child care 58
instructors and child care directors. 59
(b) Data from child care providers, including, at a 60
minimum, the average annu al cost of materials and curriculum, 61
the average annual cost of food and maintenance, the average 62
annual cost of any regulatory fees, the average annual cost of 63
salaries and benefits, and the average annual cost of all other 64
operational costs per child. 65
(11) By November 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the 66
department shall submit the following data to the Legislature: 67
(a) The current fiscal year reimbursement rates, by 68
county, by provider type, and by care level. 69
(b) The cost data collected in subsection (10). 70
(c) The market rate survey data collected pursuant to s. 71
1002.895. 72
(d) The narrow costs analysis data required by 45 C.F.R. 73
s. 98.45. 74
Section 3. Subsections (9) and (17) of section 1002.84, 75
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Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 76
1002.84 Early learning coalitions; school readiness powers 77
and duties.—Each early learning coalition shall: 78
(9) Implement Establish a parent sliding fee scale as 79
established in rule by the State Board of Education that 80
provides for the calculation of a parent copayment at the time 81
of the eligibility determination and for an annual eligibility 82
redetermination thereafter that is not a barrier to families 83
receiving school readiness program services . A coalition may 84
waive the copayment for an at -risk child or temporarily waive 85
the copayment for a child whose family's income is at or below 86
the federal poverty level or whose family experiences a natural 87
disaster or an event that limits the parent's ability to pay, 88
such as incarceration, placement in residential treatment, or 89
becoming homeless, or an emergency situation such as a household 90
fire or burglary, or while the parent is participating in 91
parenting classes or participating in an Early Head Start 92
program or Head Start Program. A parent may not transfer scho ol 93
readiness program services to another school readiness program 94
provider until the parent has submitted documentation from the 95
current school readiness program provider to the early learning 96
coalition stating that the parent has satisfactorily fulfilled 97
the copayment obligation. 98
(17)(a) Distribute the school readiness program funds as 99
allocated in the General Appropriations Act to each the eligible 100
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provider based upon the reimbursement rate by county, by 101
provider type, and by care level. All instructio ns to early 102
learning coalitions for distributing the school readiness 103
program funds to eligible providers shall emanate from the 104
department in accordance with the policies of the Legislature. 105
providers using the following methodology: 106
1. For each county in the early learning coalition, 107
multiply the cost of care by care level as provided in s. 108
1002.90 by the county's comparable wage factor provided in s. 109
1011.62(2). 110
2. If a county enacted a local ordinance before January 1, 111
2022, that establishes the cou nty's staff-to-children ratio for 112
licensed child care facilities below the ratio established in s. 113
402.305(4), multiply the provider reimbursement rates for that 114
county by the adjustment factor specified in the General 115
Appropriations Act. 116
3. Apply the weight established pursuant to s. 1002.90 for 117
each provider type to calculate the minimum provider 118
reimbursement rates by care level. 119
4. Multiply the weighted provider reimbursement rates by 120
22 percent to determine the amount of the school readiness 121
allocation an early learning coalition is eligible to retain 122
pursuant to s. 1002.89(4). 123
(b) Distribute to each eligible provider the minimum 124
provider reimbursement rate, by provider type and care level, 125
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regardless of the provider's private pay rate. All minimum 126
provider reimbursement rates shall be charged as direct services 127
pursuant to s. 1002.89. 128
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Each early learning coalition with approved prior year minimum 130
provider reimbursement rates for the infant to age 5 care levels 131
that are higher than the minimum provider reimbursement rates 132
established in this subsection may continue to implement its 133
approved prior year minimum provider reimbursement rates until 134
the rates established in this subsection exceed its approved 135
prior year rates. 136
Section 4. Subsection ( 5) of section 1002.85, Florida 137
Statutes, is amended to read: 138
1002.85 Early learning coalition plans. — 139
(5) The department shall collect and report data on 140
coalition delivery of early learning programs. Data Elements 141
shall include, but are not limited to, measures related to 142
progress towards reducing the number of children on the waiting 143
list, the percentage of children served by the program as 144
compared to the number of administrative staff and overhead, the 145
percentage of children served compared to the total number of 146
children younger than under the age of 5 years whose family 147
income is below 55 percent of the state median income 150 148
percent of the federal poverty level , provider payment 149
processes, fraud intervention, child attendance and stability, 150
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use of child care resource and referral, and kindergarten 151
readiness outcomes for children in the Voluntary Prekindergarten 152
Education Program or the school readiness program upon entry 153
into kindergarten. The department shall request input from the 154
early learning coalitions and school readiness program providers 155
before finalizing the format and data to be used. The report 156
shall be implemented beginning July 1, 2025 2014, and results of 157
the report must be included in the annual report under s. 158
1002.82. 159
Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 160
1002.89, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 161
1002.89 School readiness program; funding. — 162
(1) DETERMINATION OF EARLY LEARNING COALITION SCHOOL 163
READINESS PROGRAM FUNDING .—Funding for the school readiness 164
program shall be used by the early learning coalitions in 165
accordance with this part and the General Appropriations Act. 166
(a) School readiness program allocation. —If the annual 167
allocation for the school readiness program is not determined in 168
the General Appropriations Act or the substantive bill 169
implementing the General Appropriations Act, it shall be 170
determined as follows: 171
1. For each county in the early learning coalition, the 172
total number of unweighted full -time equivalent school readiness 173
children eligible population, as adopted by the Early Learning 174
Programs Estimating Conference pursuant to s. 216.136(8), shall 175
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be multiplied by the appropriate care level factor to calculate 176
the weighted full-time equivalent school readiness children. For 177
purposes of this subparagraph, the term "care level factor" 178
means the adjustment made based on the relative differences in 179
reimbursement rates associated with the eligible school 180
readiness children pursuant to s. 1002.87 county's comparable 181
wage factor provided in s. 1011.62(2) . 182
2. The product of weighted full -time equivalent school 183
readiness children shall be multiplied by the rate index to 184
calculate the adjusted weighted full -time equivalent school 185
readiness children. For purpose s of this subparagraph, the term 186
"rate index" means the adjustment made based on the impact of 187
geographic location on reimbursement rates If a county passed a 188
local ordinance before January 1, 2022, that establishes the 189
county's staff-to-children ratio for licensed child care 190
facilities below the ratio established in s. 402.305(4), 191
multiply the product calculated in subparagraph 1. by the 192
adjustment factor specified in the General Appropriations Act . 193
3. The school readiness program funds shall be distribu ted 194
Each county's school readiness allocation shall be based on each 195
the county's proportionate share of the total adjusted weighted 196
full-time equivalent school readiness children eligible school 197
readiness population . 198
Section 6. Subsections (8) and (9) of section 1002.895, 199
Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (6) and (7), 200
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respectively, and present subsections (1), (2), (3), (4), (6), 201
and (7) of that section are amended to read: 202
1002.895 Market rate schedule. —The school readiness 203
program market rate schedule shall be implemented as follows: 204
(1) The department shall establish procedures for the 205
adoption of a market rate schedule. The schedule must include, 206
at a minimum, county -by-county rates and: 207
(a) the market rate, to include including the minimum and 208
the maximum rates for child care providers that hold a Gold Seal 209
Quality Care designation under s. 1002.945 and adhere to its 210
accrediting association's teacher -to-child ratios and group size 211
requirements and. 212
(b) The market rate for child care providers that do not 213
hold a Gold Seal Quality Care designation. 214
(2) The market rate schedule must differentiate rates by 215
provider type, including, but not limited to: 216
(a) Child care providers that hold a Gold Seal Quality 217
Care designation under s. 1002.945 and adhere to their 218
accrediting association's teacher -to-child ratios and group size 219
requirements. 220
(a)(b) Child care providers licensed under s. 402.305, 221
faith-based child care providers exempt from licensure under s. 222
402.316 that do not hold a Gold Seal Quality Care designation , 223
and large family child care homes licensed under s. 402.3131 224
that do not hold a Gold Seal Quality Care designation . 225
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(b)(c) Public or nonpublic schools exempt from licensure 226
under s. 402.3025. 227
(c)(d) Family day care homes licensed or registered under 228
s. 402.313. 229
(e) Large family child care homes licensed under s. 230
402.3131. 231
(3) The market rate schedule must differentiate rates by 232
care level that includes the type of child care services 233
provided for children with special needs or risk categories, 234
infants, toddlers, 2 -year-old children, 3-year-old children, 4-235
year-old children, 5-year-old children, and school -age children. 236
(4) The market rate schedule must differentiate rates 237
between full-time and part-time child care services and consider 238
discounted rates for child care services for multiple children 239
in a single family. 240
(6) The department shall establish procedures to annually 241
collect data regarding the cost of care to include, but not be 242
limited to: 243
(a) Data from the Department of Economic Opportunity's 244
Bureau of Workforce Statistics and Economic Research on the 245
average salary for child care personnel to include, at a 246
minimum, child care instructors and child care directors. 247
(b) Data from child care providers as part of data 248
collected under s. 1002.92(4) to include, at a minimum, the 249
average annual cost of materials and curriculum, the average 250
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annual cost of food and maintenance costs, and the average 251
annual cost of any regul atory fees or operational costs per 252
child. 253
(7) The department shall provide all applicable data 254
collected in this section to the Early Learning Programs 255
Estimating Conference established pursuant to s. 216.136(8). 256
Section 7. Section 1002.90, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 257
Section 8. Paragraph (e) of subsection (4) of section 258
1002.92, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 259
1002.92 Child care and early childhood resource and 260
referral.— 261
(4) A child care facility licensed under s. 402.305 and 262
licensed and registered family day care homes must provide the 263
statewide child care and resource and referral network with the 264
following information annually: 265
(e) Data required under s. 1002.895. 266
Section 9. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the sum of 267
$75,384,882 in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the Child 268
Care and Development Block Grant Trust Fund to the Department of 269
Education for the costs associated with the change of the income 270
eligibility requirement for the school readiness program to 55 271
percent of the state median income as provided by this act. 272
These funds shall be placed in reserve. The department is 273
authorized to submit budget amendments requesting the release of 274
the funds pursuant to chapter 216, Florida Statutes. Release of 275
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the funds is contingent upon the submission of an allocation 276
plan in accordance with the requirements of s. 1002.89(1), 277
Florida Statutes. 278
Section 10. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the sum of $100 279
million in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the Child 280
Care and Development Block Grant Trust Fund to the Department of 281
Education for allocation to the early learning coalitions in 282
accordance with s. 1002.84(17), Florida Statutes. These funds 283
shall be placed in reserve. The department is authorized to 284
submit budget amendments requesting the release of the funds 285
pursuant to chapter 216, Florida Statutes. Release of the funds 286
is contingent upon the submission of an allocation plan 287
developed by the department in collaboration with the early 288
learning coalitions. 289
Section 11. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 290