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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 the school readiness program; 2
amending s. 1002.81, F.S.; revising definitions; 3
amending s. 1002.82, F.S.; revising requirements for a 4
specified statewide data information program within 5
the school readiness program; amending s. 1002.84, 6
F.S.; revising requirements for the program's uniform 7
waiting list; amending s. 1002.85, F.S.; conforming 8
provisions to changes made by the act; amending s. 9
1002.89, F.S.; revising the requirements for 10
determining the school readiness program allocation; 11
providing an effective date. 12
13
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14
15
Section 1. Subsections (6) and (13) of section 1002.81, 16
Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (g) is added to 17
subsection (1) of that section, to read: 18
1002.81 Definitions. —Consistent with the requirements of 19
45 C.F.R. parts 98 and 99 and as used in this part, the term: 20
(1) "At-risk child" means: 21
(g) A child in the custody of and in residence with a 22
parent who is receiving comprehensive services with a licensed 23
residential behavioral health treatment center with an onsite 24
child care facility. 25
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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
(6) "Economically disadvantaged" means having a family 26
income that does not exceed the greater of either 50 percent of 27
the state median income or 150 percent of the federal poverty 28
level and includes being a child of a working migratory family 29
as defined by 34 C.F.R. s. 200.81(d) or (f) or an agricultural 30
worker who is employed by more than one agricultural employer 31
during the course of a year, and whose income varies according 32
to weather conditions and market stability. 33
(13) "Single point of entry" means an integrated 34
information system that allows a parent to enroll his or her 35
child in the school readiness program or the Voluntary 36
Prekindergarten Education Program at various locations 37
throughout a county, that may allow a parent to enroll his or 38
her child by telephone or through a website, and that uses a 39
uniform waiting list to track eligible children waiting for 40
enrollment in the school readiness program based on family 41
household income and the priorities established under s. 42
1002.87. 43
Section 2. Paragraph (f) of subsection (2) of section 44
1002.82, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 45
1002.82 Department of Education; powers and duties. — 46
(2) The department shall: 47
(f) Establish a unified approach to the state's efforts to 48
coordinate a comprehensive early learning program. In support of 49
this effort, the department: 50
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1. Shall adopt specific program support services that 51
address the state's school readiness program, including: 52
a. Statewide data information program requirements that 53
include: 54
(I) Eligibility requirements. 55
(II) Financial reports. 56
(III) Program accountability measures. 57
(IV) Child progress reports. 58
b. Child care resource and referral services. 59
c. A single point of entry and uniform waiting list that 60
tracks children waiting for school readiness program services 61
based on family house hold income and the priorities established 62
under s. 1002.87. 63
2. May provide technical assistance and guidance on 64
additional support services to complement the school readiness 65
program, including: 66
a. Warm-Line services. 67
b. Anti-fraud plans. 68
c. Training and support for parental involvement in 69
children's early education. 70
d. Family literacy activities and services. 71
Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 1002.84, Florida 72
Statutes, is amended to read: 73
1002.84 Early learning coalitions; school readin ess powers 74
and duties.—Each early learning coalition shall: 75
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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
(2) Establish a uniform waiting list to track eligible 76
children waiting for enrollment in the school readiness program 77
based on family household income and the priorities established 78
under s. 1002.87 and in accordance with rules adopted by the 79
State Board of Education. 80
Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) and subsection 81
(5) of section 1002.85, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 82
1002.85 Early learning coalition plans. — 83
(2) Each early learning coalition must submit a school 84
readiness program plan every 3 years to the department before 85
the expenditure of funds. A coalition may not implement its 86
school readiness program plan until it receives approval from 87
the department. A coalition may not implement any revision to 88
its school readiness program plan until the coalition submits 89
the revised plan to and receives approval from the department. 90
If the department rejects a plan or revision, the coalition must 91
continue to operate under its p reviously approved plan. The plan 92
must include, but is not limited to: 93
(b) The coalition's procedures for implementing the 94
requirements of this part, including: 95
1. Single point of entry. 96
2. Uniform waiting list that tracks children waiting for 97
school readiness program services based on family household 98
income and the priorities established under s. 1002.87 . 99
3. Eligibility and enrollment processes and local 100
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eligibility priorities for children pursuant to s. 1002.87. 101
4. Parent access and choice. 102
5. Sliding fee scale and policies on applying the waiver 103
or reduction of fees in accordance with s. 1002.84(9). 104
6. Use of preassessments and postassessments, as 105
applicable. 106
7. Use of contracted slots, as applicable, based on the 107
results of the assessmen t required under paragraph (i). 108
(5) The department shall collect and report data on 109
coalition delivery of early learning programs. Elements shall 110
include, but are not limited to, measures related to progress 111
towards reducing the number of children on the waiting list, the 112
percentage of children served by the program as compared to the 113
number of administrative staff and overhead, the percentage of 114
children served compared to total number of children under the 115
age of 5 years below either 50 percent of the s tate median 116
income or 150 percent of the federal poverty level, whichever is 117
greater, provider payment processes, fraud intervention, child 118
attendance and stability, use of child care resource and 119
referral, and kindergarten readiness outcomes for children in 120
the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program or the school 121
readiness program upon entry into kindergarten. The department 122
shall request input from the coalitions and school readiness 123
program providers before finalizing the format and data to be 124
used. The report shall be implemented beginning July 1, 2014, 125
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and results of the report must be included in the annual report 126
under s. 1002.82. 127
Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 128
1002.89, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 129
1002.89 School readiness program; funding. — 130
(1) DETERMINATION OF EARLY LEARNING COALITION SCHOOL 131
READINESS PROGRAM FUNDING. —Funding for the school readiness 132
program shall be used by the early learning coalitions in 133
accordance with this part and the General Appropr iations Act. 134
(a) School readiness program allocation. —If the annual 135
allocation for the school readiness program is not determined in 136
the General Appropriations Act or the substantive bill 137
implementing the General Appropriations Act, it shall be 138
determined as follows: 139
1. For each county in the early learning coalition, the 140
total number of unweighted full -time equivalent school readiness 141
children, as adopted by the Early Learning Programs Estimating 142
Conference pursuant to s. 216.136(8), which shall consider the 143
historical trend of children served and population changes for 144
each county, shall be multiplied by the appropriate care level 145
factor to calculate the weighted full -time equivalent school 146
readiness children. For purposes of this subparagraph , the term 147
"care level factor" means the adjustment made based on the 148
relative differences in reimbursement rates associated with the 149
eligible school readiness children pursuant to s. 1002.87. 150
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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
2. The total weighted full -time equivalent school 151
readiness children shall be multiplied by the rate index to 152
calculate the adjusted weighted full -time equivalent school 153
readiness children. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term 154
"rate index" means the adjustment made based on the impact of 155
geographic location o n reimbursement rates. 156
3. The school readiness program funds shall be distributed 157
based on each county's proportionate share of the total adjusted 158
weighted full-time equivalent school readiness children. 159
Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 160