Florida Senate - 2015 CS for SB 1116
By the Committee on Appropriations; and Senator Abruzzo
576-04514-15 20151116c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Literacy Jump Start Pilot
3 Project; requiring the Office of Early Learning to
4 establish the pilot project in St. Lucie County to
5 assist low-income, at-risk children in developing
6 emergent literacy skills; requiring the office to
7 select an organization to implement the pilot project;
8 requiring the office to oversee implementation of the
9 pilot project; defining the term “emergent literacy”;
10 providing eligibility requirements for participation;
11 requiring background screening for child care
12 personnel; requiring emergent literacy training for
13 instructors; encouraging the coordination of basic
14 health screening and immunization services in
15 conjunction with emergent literacy instruction;
16 requiring annual submission of an accountability
17 report; requiring the office to allocate funds for the
18 pilot project; providing an effective date.
19
20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22 Section 1. (1) The Office of Early Learning shall establish
23 the 5-year Literacy Jump Start Pilot Project in St. Lucie County
24 to assist low-income, at-risk children in developing emergent
25 literacy skills.
26 (a) The Office of Early Learning shall consult with local
27 organizations within St. Lucie County and identify an
28 organization to implement the pilot project. The office shall
29 also consult with the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie
30 County to select municipalities within St. Lucie County eligible
31 for participation in the pilot project. A municipality is
32 eligible for participation if locally or federally subsidized
33 housing is located within the municipality. The office shall
34 oversee the implementation of the pilot project.
35 (b) The Office of Early Learning shall select a local
36 organization that is a not-for-profit corporation, qualified as
37 charitable under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, that
38 provides training to parents to assist their children with
39 success in school, such as the Parent Academy of St. Lucie
40 County or another similarly qualified local organization, to
41 implement the pilot project. The office may select a faith-based
42 organization; however, funds provided for the purpose of
43 implementing the pilot project may be used for only those
44 purposes expressly provided in this section.
45 (2) The organization selected by the Office of Early
46 Learning must use funds provided for the pilot project only to
47 provide emergent literacy instruction to children. In order to
48 provide easy access for participating children and families, the
49 instruction must be provided in a subsidized housing unit
50 located within an eligible municipality selected by the office.
51 (3) As used in this section, the term “emergent literacy”
52 means a variety of early behaviors and skills associated with
53 successful reading and writing development.
54 (4) A child is eligible to receive emergent literacy
55 instruction provided through the pilot project only if the child
56 is:
57 (a) Two or 3 years of age;
58 (b) Eligible for a federally subsidized child care program;
59 and
60 (c) A member of a family that is economically disadvantaged
61 and resides in locally or federally subsidized housing. For
62 purposes of this paragraph, the term “economically
63 disadvantaged” means having a family income that does not exceed
64 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
65 (5) The organization selected by the Office of Early
66 Learning must require all child care personnel, as defined in s.
67 402.302(3), Florida Statutes, to meet the background screening
68 requirements of s. 402.305, Florida Statutes, before
69 participating in the pilot project. The organization may not use
70 state funds to implement the pilot project to pay for background
71 screening. The organization must certify in writing to the
72 office that individuals required to be screened under this
73 subsection have complied with the background screening
74 requirements of this subsection before the office may issue the
75 organization any state funds to implement the pilot project.
76 (6) An instructor in the pilot project must successfully
77 complete an emergent literacy training course, approved by the
78 Office of Early Learning, before providing emergent literacy
79 instruction under this section.
80 (7) The organization is encouraged to coordinate with the
81 St. Lucie County Health Department in providing basic health
82 screening and immunization services for children participating
83 in the pilot project in conjunction with emergent literacy
84 instruction. The organization is further encouraged to engage in
85 community outreach efforts to local community service
86 organizations for the purpose of improving the availability and
87 effective delivery of emergent literacy instruction.
88 (8) By December 31 of each year that the organization
89 provides emergent literacy instruction, the organization shall
90 submit an accountability report to the Office of Early Learning,
91 the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County, the Governor,
92 the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
93 Representatives. The accountability report must include, at a
94 minimum, the following information:
95 (a) The manner in which all state funds received by the
96 organization are used to implement the pilot project, separated
97 by type of expenditure and measured in exact dollar amounts.
98 (b) Other sources of funding received by the organization
99 for purposes of providing emergent literacy instruction.
100 (c) The municipalities selected by the Office of Early
101 Learning for participation in the pilot project.
102 (d) The identities of the organization’s officers.
103 (e) The number of children receiving emergent literacy
104 instruction in each municipality.
105 (f) Information and data relating to coordinated health
106 screening and immunization services provided in conjunction with
107 the emergent literacy instruction, if any.
108 (9) The Office of Early Learning shall allocate funds for
109 implementation of the pilot project pursuant to this section.
110 Expenditures of state funds pursuant to this section must be
111 verified by affidavit and submitted to the office in a procedure
112 and format determined by the office.
113 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.