2022 -- S 2678 | |
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LC005169 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022 | |
____________ | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE OFFICE OF EARLY | |
CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING | |
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Introduced By: Senators Gallo, Cano, DiMario, McCaffrey, Goodwin, Ruggerio, | |
Date Introduced: March 15, 2022 | |
Referred To: Senate Education | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE AFFAIRS AND |
2 | GOVERNMENT" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: |
3 | CHAPTER 162 |
4 | THE OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING |
5 | 42-162-1. Short title. |
6 | This chapter shall be known and may be cited as “The Office of Early Childhood |
7 | Development and Learning”. |
8 | 42-162-2. Purpose and intent. |
9 | The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive, statewide governing structure |
10 | for the early childhood development and learning system in the State of Rhode Island. Through a |
11 | coherent governance model, the state shall facilitate the coordination of federal, state, and local |
12 | policies concerning early childhood care and pre-kindergarten education and make progress toward |
13 | ensuring that all children enter school ready to learn. |
14 | 42-162-3. The office of early childhood development and learning. |
15 | (a) Effective June 30, 2024, the office of early childhood development and learning ("the |
16 | office") is established within the executive branch of state government, to serve as the principal |
17 | agency for managing a statewide early learning system. The office shall have the following powers |
18 | and duties in accordance with the following schedule: |
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1 | (1) On or about June 30, 2024, to assume functions related to early childcare set forth in |
2 | chapter 12 of title 42, to be transferred from the department of human services; |
3 | (2) On or about June 30, 2024, to assume functions related to pre-kindergarten set forth in |
4 | chapter 87 of title 16, to be transferred from the department of education; |
5 | (3) On or before December 1, 2024, to provide the senate and house of representatives a |
6 | comprehensive study of the existing early childhood education infrastructure, a review of roles, |
7 | functions, and programs of the office of early childhood development and learning, and a workforce |
8 | training plan in collaboration with the department of labor and training and the department of |
9 | education; and |
10 | (4) On or before June 30, 2028, to provide universal pre-kindergarten education that meets |
11 | high quality standards and serves children ages three (3) and four (4). |
12 | (b) The department of administration may furnish the office with suitable offices and |
13 | telephone service in the state house, state office building, or some other convenient location, for |
14 | the transaction of its business. |
15 | (c) The Rhode Island Head Start Collaboration Office shall be transferred to the office of |
16 | early childhood development and learning. |
17 | 42-162-4. Director of early childhood development and learning -- Appointment. |
18 | The office shall be under the direction of the director of early childhood development and |
19 | learning, whose appointment shall be made by the governor, with the advice and consent of the |
20 | senate. The position of director is hereby created in the unclassified service. The director shall be |
21 | responsible for implementing the policies and directives of the office. The director shall have the |
22 | authority to designate any employee as his or her agent to exercise all or part of the authority, |
23 | powers and duties of the director in his or her absence. |
24 | 42-162-5. The office of early childhood development and learning -- Additional |
25 | powers and duties. |
26 | (a) The office shall be responsible for: |
27 | (1) Administering funds received by the State of Rhode Island pursuant to the federal Child |
28 | Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, the Child Care and Development Fund, and other |
29 | federal child care funds and grants received by the State of Rhode Island; |
30 | (2) The delivery of services to young children and their families to ensure optimal health, |
31 | safety and learning for each young child; |
32 | (3) Developing and implementing the early childhood information system, in accordance |
33 | with the provisions of this section; |
34 | (4) Developing and reporting on the early childhood accountability plan, in accordance |
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1 | with the provisions of this section; |
2 | (5) Implementing a communications strategy for outreach to families, service providers |
3 | and policymakers; |
4 | (6) Not later than July 1, 2024, in collaboration with the department of education, beginning |
5 | a state-wide longitudinal evaluation of the school readiness program examining the educational |
6 | progress of children from pre-kindergarten programs to grade four (4); |
7 | (7) Developing, coordinating and supporting public and private partnerships to aid early |
8 | childhood initiatives; |
9 | (8) Developing or identifying and implementing a statewide developmentally appropriate |
10 | kindergarten assessment tool that measures a child's level of preparedness for kindergarten; |
11 | provided, the assessment shall not be used as a measure of program accountability or used to |
12 | demonstrate a child’s kindergarten readiness. Such statewide assessment tool may be incorporated |
13 | into the early childhood information system; |
14 | (9) Creating a unified set of reporting requirements for the purpose of collecting the data |
15 | elements necessary to perform quality assessments and longitudinal analysis; |
16 | (10) Continually monitoring and evaluating all early childhood care and pre-kindergarten |
17 | education and child development programs and services, focusing on program outcomes in |
18 | satisfying the health, safety, developmental and educational needs of all children, while retaining |
19 | distinct separation between quality improvement services and child day care licensing services; |
20 | (11) Providing information and technical assistance to persons seeking early childhood |
21 | care, pre-kindergarten education and child development programs and services; |
22 | (12) Assisting the state and municipalities in obtaining available federal funding for early |
23 | childhood care, pre-kindergarten education and child development programs and services; |
24 | (13) Providing technical assistance to providers of early childhood care and pre- |
25 | kindergarten education programs, workforce training, and services to obtain licensing and improve |
26 | program quality; |
27 | (14) Managing a quality rating and improvement system covering home-based, center- |
28 | based, and school-based early childcare and pre-kindergarten education; |
29 | (15) Maintaining an accreditation facilitation initiative to assist early childhood care and |
30 | pre-kindergarten education and service providers in achieving national standards and program |
31 | improvement; |
32 | (16) Consulting on behalf of the early childhood development and learning council with |
33 | other external stakeholders in the early learning landscape, including the Rhode Island early |
34 | learning council, the Head Start advisory committee, and the legislative commission on child care |
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1 | in Rhode Island; |
2 | (17) Ensuring a coordinated and comprehensive statewide system of professional |
3 | development for providers and staff of early childhood care, pre-kindergarten education and child |
4 | development programs and services; |
5 | (18) Providing families with opportunities for choice in services for quality childhood care, |
6 | including community-based, family-centered services; |
7 | (19) Integrating early childhood care and pre-kindergarten education; |
8 | (20) Promoting universal access to early childhood care and pre-kindergarten education; |
9 | (21) Ensuring nonduplication of monitoring and evaluation; |
10 | (22) Performing any other activities that will assist in the provision of early care and pre- |
11 | kindergarten education; |
12 | (23) Developing early learning and development standards to be used by early care and |
13 | pre-kindergarten education providers; and |
14 | (25) Managing the performance-based evaluation system to evaluate licensed child day |
15 | care centers. |
16 | (b) The office of early childhood development and learning may enter into agreements with |
17 | and accept donations from nonprofit and philanthropic organizations to accomplish the purposes |
18 | of this section. |
19 | 42-162-6. Early childhood information system. |
20 | (a) The office of early childhood development and learning shall develop and implement |
21 | an early childhood information system. Such early childhood information system shall facilitate |
22 | and encourage the sharing of data between and among early childhood service and pre-kindergarten |
23 | providers by tracking: |
24 | (1) The health, safety and school readiness of all young children receiving early care and |
25 | pre-kindergarten education services from any local or regional board of education, school readiness |
26 | program, or any program receiving public funding; |
27 | (2) The characteristics of the existing and potential workforce serving such children; |
28 | (3) The location of the early care and pre-kindergarten education providers; and |
29 | (4) The characteristics of such programs serving such children, as required by the office. |
30 | (b) Any local education agency, licensed childcare provider, or licensed pre-kindergarten |
31 | provider shall ensure that all enrolled children and all employed staff are entered into the early |
32 | childhood information system. |
33 | 42-162-7. The early childhood accountability plan. |
34 | (a) The office of early childhood development and learning shall develop, in consultation |
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1 | with the early childhood development and learning council, an early childhood accountability plan. |
2 | Such plan shall: |
3 | (1) Identify and define appropriate population indicators and program and system |
4 | performance measures of the health, safety and readiness of children to enter kindergarten, and |
5 | early school success of children, and shall identify any new or improved data required for such |
6 | purposes; and |
7 | (2) Include aggregate information on the characteristics of children and programs tracked |
8 | by the early childhood information system, including, but not limited to, family income, whether |
9 | the families of such children receive public assistance through temporary assistance for needy |
10 | families or a similar program, and the communities in which such children reside using a |
11 | performance measurement accountability framework. |
12 | (b) Not later than March 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the office shall develop report |
13 | cards containing the indicators and performance measures identified in the early childhood |
14 | accountability plan and provide yearly updates to the council. |
15 | (c) Not later than March 1, 2025 the office of early childhood development and learning |
16 | shall: |
17 | (1) Submit the early childhood accountability plan, and |
18 | (2) Annually report on the results of such plan and report cards to the speaker of the house |
19 | and the senate president. |
20 | 42-162-8. The early childhood development and learning council -- Appointments. |
21 | (a) There is established the early childhood development and learning council. The council |
22 | is established to advise and coordinate with the office of early childhood development and learning |
23 | to help achieve a unified and aligned system of early learning education and services. |
24 | (b) When appointing council members under this section, the governor, the senate |
25 | president, and the speaker of the house of representatives shall ensure that the council members |
26 | represent the racial, ethnic and linguistic diversity of children in this state who are five (5) years of |
27 | age or younger. |
28 | (c) The council shall be composed of thirteen (13) members consisting of: |
29 | (1) The executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count, who shall serve as a co-chairperson |
30 | of the council; |
31 | (2) The director of the office of early childhood development and learning, who shall serve |
32 | as co-chairperson of the council; |
33 | (3) The commissioner of the department of education, or designee; |
34 | (4) The director of the department of human services, or designee; |
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1 | (5) The commissioner of postsecondary education, or designee; |
2 | (6) One representative from the department of education who is responsible for programs |
3 | required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq., appointed |
4 | by the commissioner of education; |
5 | (7) A representative from Head Start or early Head Start programs; |
6 | (8) An early childcare provider of a state funded childcare center; |
7 | (9) A community-based childcare provider; |
8 | (10) A representative from the superintendents' association or a school district; |
9 | (11) A parent or guardian of a child in early childcare; |
10 | (12) A parent or guardian of a child in pre-kindergarten; and |
11 | (13) A representative of organized labor. |
12 | (d) The council shall meet at least quarterly. Members shall not be compensated for their |
13 | services. Any member who fails to attend three (3) consecutive meetings or who fails to attend fifty |
14 | percent (50%) of all meetings held during any calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned from |
15 | the council. |
16 | (e) A simple majority of the members of the authority shall constitute a quorum. No |
17 | vacancy in the membership of the authority shall impair the right of a quorum to exercise all the |
18 | rights and perform all of the duties of the authority. |
19 | 42-162-9. The early childhood development and learning council – Powers and duties. |
20 | The early childhood development and learning council shall: |
21 | (1) Advise the office of early childhood development and learning; |
22 | (2) Recommend measures for the efficient and effective consolidation of administrative |
23 | functions relating to the statewide early learning system, to the extent practicable, including, but |
24 | not limited to, training and technical assistance, planning and budgeting; |
25 | (3) Advise on the office’s adoption of written policies that establish training and technical |
26 | assistance programs to ensure that personnel have skills in appropriate areas, including, but not |
27 | limited to, cultural and gender differences and other areas, as needed; |
28 | (4) Develop a plan for the implementation of a common data system for early childhood |
29 | programs; |
30 | (5) Assist with the coordination of existing and new early childhood programs to provide |
31 | a range of community-based supports; |
32 | (6) Review and verify that all plans for early childhood services are coordinated and |
33 | consistent with federal and state law, including, but not limited to, plans for Rhode Island pre- |
34 | kindergarten programs, federal Head Start programs, early childhood special education services, |
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1 | early intervention services and public health services; |
2 | (7) Identify how the statewide early learning system for children who are zero through five |
3 | (5) years of age will link with systems of support for older children and their families; and |
4 | (8) Review and approve the early childhood accountability plan. |
5 | SECTION 2. Section 16-87-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-87 entitled "Rhode Island |
6 | Pre-Kindergarten Education Act" is hereby repealed. |
7 | 16-87-3. Planning phase for a pre-Kindergarten program. |
8 | (a) The Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education shall begin |
9 | planning an initial, pilot pre-Kindergarten program that meets high quality standards, builds on the |
10 | existing early childhood education infrastructure in the state (including child care, Head Start and |
11 | public schools) and serves children ages three (3) and four (4) who reside in communities with |
12 | concentrations of low performing schools. This planning phase will develop specific goals to |
13 | expand the pilot pre-Kindergarten program over time and will also identify opportunities to |
14 | strengthen care and learning programs for infants and toddlers. |
15 | (b) During this planning phase, the Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary |
16 | education will quantify the resources needed to achieve and maintain high quality standards in pre- |
17 | Kindergarten programs and identify incentives and supports to develop a qualified early education |
18 | workforce, including opportunities for experienced early childhood educators and |
19 | paraprofessionals to acquire college degrees and earn early childhood teacher certification. |
20 | (c) The Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education will begin to |
21 | develop plans to collect and analyze data regarding the impact of the pilot pre-Kindergarten |
22 | program on participating children's school readiness and school achievement. |
23 | SECTION 3. Sections 40-6.5-1 and 40-6.5-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-6.5 entitled |
24 | "Child Day Care Grant Program" are hereby repealed. |
25 | 40-6.5-1. Grant program -- Child day care. |
26 | The director of human services shall establish a program of grants to establish and/or |
27 | expand child daycare programs, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per grantee, and not |
28 | to exceed a total expenditure of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000). |
29 | 40-6.5-2. Rules and regulations. |
30 | The director shall promulgate reasonable rules and regulations establishing eligibility |
31 | requirements, and provide that at least fifty percent (50%) of the total grant funds available be |
32 | distributed to nonprofit agencies that meet the following standards: |
33 | (1) Each grantee shall employ, educate, or train significant numbers of parents whose |
34 | incomes are below the statewide median family income; |
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1 | (2) Each grantee shall demonstrate a need for additional child daycare services in their |
2 | service delivery area; and |
3 | (3) In selecting additional grantees for the remainder of the available funds, priority shall |
4 | be given to grant proposals that would develop: (i) child daycare programs and opportunities for |
5 | children with special healthcare needs; and (ii) specialized childcare programs, such as programs |
6 | for parents who work nontraditional hours and programs for sick childcare. All grantees must |
7 | demonstrate that childcare services established under this childcare grant program will be certified |
8 | or licensed in accordance with Rhode Island law. |
9 | SECTION 4. Sections 42-12-24 and 42-12-26 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-12 |
10 | entitled "Department of Human Services" are hereby repealed. |
11 | 42-12-24. Development, innovation and start-up of early education and care |
12 | programs. |
13 | (a) The general assembly shall annually appropriate to the department of human services |
14 | such funds as it deems necessary to enable the department to develop and expand availability of |
15 | child care providers and programs. The development and expansion of child care providers and |
16 | programs shall include, without limitation, the development of innovative start-up arrangements |
17 | linked to small businesses, the development of programs and providers in geographically |
18 | underserved areas, and the establishment of before and after school programs with priority to be |
19 | given by the department to programs linked to schools, to infant/toddler programs, programs related |
20 | to child opportunity zone family centers, and programs that serve children with special health needs |
21 | or developmental risks. Funds may be used for start up costs which may include building, |
22 | rehabilitation or construction costs. |
23 | (b) The director of the department of human services is further authorized to request such |
24 | appropriation for each state fiscal year as he or she deems necessary to carry out the program and |
25 | purposes of this section. |
26 | 42-12-26. Expansion and enhancement of early education and care for low-income |
27 | children. |
28 | (a) The general assembly shall annually appropriate such funds as it deems necessary to |
29 | enable the department of human services to establish a program whose express purposes are: |
30 | (i) To increase the numbers of eligible children in existing Head Start program, especially |
31 | in underserved areas; and |
32 | (ii) To increase resources to childcare providers for the enhancement of services to low |
33 | income children. Enhancement of services shall include social services, health, mental health, |
34 | nutrition service, parent involvement and transition services for children entering kindergarten. |
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1 | (b) The director of the department of human services is further authorized to request such |
2 | appropriation for each state fiscal year as he or she deems necessary to carry out the programs and |
3 | purposes of this section. |
4 | (c) A panel comprised of the members of the children's cabinet and five (5) members of |
5 | the public, to be chosen by the chairperson of the children's cabinet, shall be responsible for |
6 | determining how the funds prescribed in this section shall be allocated; and shall by May 1, 1999 |
7 | establish the methodology of enhancing comprehensive services in child care programs serving low |
8 | income children and establish the numbers of additional Head Start slots in underserved areas to be |
9 | funded; provided, however, that priority shall be given in the allocation of funds to applicants who |
10 | serve children in underserved communities; who integrate children with special needs; who |
11 | collaborate with existing early education and care programs and other existing services including |
12 | child opportunity zone family centers, schools and agencies providing health, mental health, |
13 | nutrition and social services; and who address the child care needs of the families to be served. |
14 | SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE OFFICE OF EARLY | |
CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING | |
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1 | This act would establish the office of early childhood development and learning to manage |
2 | a statewide early learning system for children from birth through five (5) years of age, ensure the |
3 | coordination of federal, state and local policies concerning early childhood care and pre- |
4 | kindergarten education and ensure that all children enter school ready to learn. This act would |
5 | further establish the early childhood development and learning council to advise and coordinate |
6 | with the office of early childhood development and learning. This act would further repeal the |
7 | applicable statutory laws vesting authority in the department of human services in regards to early |
8 | childcare and pre-kindergarten and transfer such powers to the office of early childhood |
9 | development and learning. |
10 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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