2022 -- S 2679 | |
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LC005148 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- EARLY LEARNING HUBS | |
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Introduced By: Senators DiMario, Cano, Gallo, Lawson, Valverde, DiPalma, Miller, | |
Date Introduced: March 15, 2022 | |
Referred To: Senate Education | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Title 40 of the General Laws entitled "HUMAN SERVICES" is hereby |
2 | amended by adding thereto the following chapter: |
3 | CHAPTER 6.7 |
4 | EARLY LEARNING HUBS |
5 | 40-6.7-1. Definitions. |
6 | As used in this chapter: |
7 | (1) "Early learning hub" means any entity serving as an intermediary among regional |
8 | partners to coordinate support for early learning providers in the delivery of early childhood care |
9 | and education, as determined by rules adopted by the department of human services. |
10 | (2) "Early learning intermediary" means any Rhode Island-based entity with experience |
11 | and expertise in the design, implementation and/or evaluation of early childhood care and |
12 | education, who has the capacity and authority, as determined by the department of human services, |
13 | to coordinate programs, resources and services intended to support other early childhood care and |
14 | learning providers to offer, expand or improve service delivery to children and families in Rhode |
15 | Island. |
16 | (3) "Regional partners" may include, but are not limited to, early childhood care and |
17 | education providers, community-based service providers, the Rhode Island department of |
18 | education, the Rhode Island department of labor and training, cities or towns, school districts, |
19 | community colleges, public universities, private educational institutions, faith-based organizations, |
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1 | and tribes. |
2 | 40-6.7-2. Early learning hubs established. |
3 | (a) The department of human services shall establish no more than five (5) early learning |
4 | hubs throughout the state, coordinated by early learning intermediaries identified by the |
5 | department. |
6 | (b) Led by early learning intermediaries, the early learning hubs, shall serve as one-stop |
7 | service centers to support early childhood care and education providers, and those looking to |
8 | become providers, to access resources, receive technical assistance, achieve licensing and other |
9 | quality standards, recruit and retain qualified staff, and deliver high-quality early childhood |
10 | services. |
11 | (c) The department shall ensure that early learning hubs: |
12 | (i) Conduct outreach to early childhood care and education providers to assess the most |
13 | critical needs facing providers in the delivery of high-quality services to children and families; |
14 | (ii) Convene and coordinate regional partners for the purpose of coordinating resources |
15 | and services aimed at building capacity among early childhood care and education providers; |
16 | (iii) Reduce barriers facing prospective, new or existing early childhood care and education |
17 | providers in establishing, expanding or improving programs in the early childhood care and |
18 | learning system in Rhode Island; |
19 | (iv) Evaluate the impact of enhanced and streamlined services to providers through |
20 | measures defined by the department. |
21 | (d) The department of human services may promulgate rules and regulations to achieve the |
22 | purpose of this chapter. |
23 | 40-6.7-3. Proposals and requirements. |
24 | (a) The department shall implement a process for requesting proposals from entities to |
25 | become early learning hubs. Proposals submitted under this subsection must comply with criteria |
26 | and requirements adopted by the department by rule, including: |
27 | (1) The entity will be able to coordinate early learning provider support services. |
28 | (2) The entity will ensure that the support services will be in alignment with, and further |
29 | the quality standards defined by the department of human services and department of elementary |
30 | and secondary education. |
31 | (3) The entity will be able to integrate efforts among education and workforce providers, |
32 | providers of health and human services and providers of other programs and services in the |
33 | community. |
34 | (4) The entity will use coordinated and transparent budgeting. |
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1 | (5) The entity will operate in a fiscally sound manner. |
2 | (6) The entity must have or establish a community advisory body that: |
3 | (i) Has the authority to initiate audits, recommend the terms of a contract and provide |
4 | reports to the public and to the department on the outcomes of the provision of early learning |
5 | services to the community served by the entity. |
6 | (ii) Has members selected through a transparent process and includes both public and |
7 | private entities, locally based parents and service recipients, social service providers, childcare |
8 | providers, and representatives of local governments from the service area. |
9 | (7) The entity will collaborate on documentation related to coordinated services with public |
10 | and private entities that are identified by the department as providers of services that advance the |
11 | early learning of children. |
12 | (8) The entity will serve a community that is based on the population and service needs of |
13 | the community and will demonstrate the ability to improve results for children served by the |
14 | providers in the early learning hub’s network. |
15 | (9) The entity will be able to raise and leverage significant funds from public and private |
16 | sources and to secure in-kind support to support early learning services coordinated by the entity |
17 | and operate in a fiscally sound manner. |
18 | (10) The entity may provide administrative support, such as, but not limited to, payroll, |
19 | inventory, or staffing support, to providers within the entity’s early learning hub. |
20 | (11) The entity meets any other qualifications established by the department. |
21 | (d) The department may adopt by rule requirements that are in addition to the requirements |
22 | described in this section that an entity must meet to qualify as an early learning hub. When |
23 | developing the additional requirements, the department must use a statewide public process of |
24 | community engagement that is consistent with the requirements of the federal Head Start Act. |
25 | (e) When determining whether to designate an entity as an early learning hub, the |
26 | department shall balance the following factors: |
27 | (1) The entity’s ability to engage the community and be involved in the community. |
28 | (2) The entity’s ability to produce outcomes that benefit children. |
29 | (3) The entity’s resourcefulness. |
30 | (4) The entity’s use, or proposed use, of evidence-based practices. |
31 | (5) The entity’s ability to develop a mixed delivery early childcare system that includes |
32 | infant childcare and pre-Kindergarten education. |
33 | (f) The department shall use appropriate and relevant metrics for the purpose of providing |
34 | funding to early learning hubs designated under this section. The metrics must: |
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1 | (1) Focus on community readiness, high capacity development and progress toward |
2 | tracking child outcomes; |
3 | (2) Establish a baseline of information for the area to be served by the early learning hub, |
4 | including information about the inclusion of community partners in the governance structure of the |
5 | early learning hub, the availability of data on local programs and outcomes and the success in |
6 | leveraging private, nonprofit and other governmental resources for early learning; and |
7 | (3) Include child performance metrics. |
8 | (g) An entity designated as part of an early learning hub may not use more than fifteen |
9 | percent (15%) of the monies received by the entity from the department to pay administrative costs |
10 | of the entity. |
11 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC005148 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- EARLY LEARNING HUBS | |
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1 | This act would establish "early learning hubs" to serve as an intermediary among regional |
2 | partners in order to coordinate support for early learning providers in the delivery of early childhood |
3 | care and education. |
4 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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LC005148 | |
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