SB233 INTR

Senate Bill No. 233

(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Sprouse

By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced January 17, 2002; referred to the Committee

on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated article twenty-six-b, relating to creating West Virginia educare; setting forth legislative findings; providing for appointment of a board of directors; describing the powers and duties of the board; describing the purposes and responsibilities of educare; and abolishing the West Virginia study commission.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article twenty-six-b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 26B. WEST VIRGINIA EDUCARE.
§5-26B-1. Title.
This article shall be known and may be cited as "West Virginia Educare Act."
§5-26B-2. Legislative findings.
The Legislature finds that:

(a) Recent research on brain development in young children shows that early experiences are important to future social, emotional, physical and cognitive development;

(b) Research shows a clear link between quality early care and education services and workforce recruitment and retention, high school completion, college-going rate, and an educated and employable workforce;

(c) Investment in early care and education significantly reduces future costs of social programs, crime, and remedial education;

(d) Early care and education services for families with preschool children are not widely available in the state;

(e) West Virginia's young children are falling further behind their peers because of the lack of quality early care and education services; and

(f) The state is in need of a system capable of providing and improving full-day, full-year child care and educational opportunities for preschool children, which will stimulate and maximize their growth and development.
§5-26B-3. West Virginia educare.
West Virginia educare ("educare") is hereby created within the office of the governor's cabinet on children and families for the purpose of establishing, and coordinating with local areas, a complement to education and care available to preschool children to prepare them for school and lifelong learning. Goals of educare are to improve the quality of early care and education services, increase the accessibility of such services, and create linkages to help families access services. Educare programs shall be phased in as funds become available and implemented statewide by fiscal year 2008. Activities employed by educare in the implementation of its educational programs shall include development of quality standards, review of local collaborative agreements for approval prior to funding, distribution of funds, technical assistance and monitoring of funded programs and development and implementation of an evaluation component.
§5-26B-4. Board of directors.

(a) The administrative powers of educare shall be vested in a board of directors consisting of eleven members, including the state superintendent of schools, or his or her designee, the secretary of health and human resources, or his or her designee, the president of the West Virginia head start association, or his or her designee, and eight individuals who shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate: Provided, That no more than six members shall be members of the same political party. Appointed members shall serve a term of four years, and shall be eligible for reappointment. The directors shall annually elect one of their appointed members as chairman. The directors shall appoint a person to serve as secretary and as treasurer. The person appointed as treasurer shall give a bond for the faithful performance of his or her duties as custodian of all funds of educare in an amount set by the board. The board may elect such other officers for its staff as it deems proper and prescribe their powers and duties. Appointments to fill a vacancy of one of the appointed members shall be made in the same manner as the original appointment.

(b) All appointed members of the board shall be from the private sector, with at least one member of the board from each congressional district, and shall represent the public interest generally. At least five of the appointed members shall possess such skills and experience as in the governor's opinion are required to develop and manage the designed efforts and prescribed purposes of educare.

(c) Appointed members of the board shall not be entitled to compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for all necessary expenses actually incurred in connection with the performance of their duties as members.

(d) Six members of the board shall constitute a quorum and the affirmative vote of the majority of members present at a meeting of the board shall be necessary and sufficient for any action taken by the board.
§5-26B-5. Powers of the board.

The board shall have the powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes and provisions of this article, including, but not limited to, the power:

(a) To establish, organize, promote, manage and oversee the activities of educare and to offer related services through contracted programs;

(b) To encourage the development of collaborative agreements on the community or county level for presentation to the board for approval prior to funding;

(c) To invest its funds at the board's discretion with the West Virginia investment management board in accordance with the provisions of article six, chapter twelve of this code. Any investments shall be made with the care, skill, prudence and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that as a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims;

(d) To distribute funds through contracts, grants and other necessary instruments for necessary goods and services;

(e) To employ necessary personnel and to engage the services of private persons for administrative and technical assistance in carrying out the responsibilities of educare;

(f) To solicit and accept gifts, including bequests or other testamentary gifts made by will, trust or other disposition, grants, loans, and other aids from any source or to participate in any other way in any federal, state or local governmental programs in carrying out the purposes of this article;

(g) To develop and implement standards that apply to all qualified educare providers, are consistent with existing federal regulations and state policies and procedures, which govern early child care and education services, and are based on the existing educare standards adopted by the West Virginia study commission on services for young children;

(h) To annually evaluate, monitor and ensure compliance with educare policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, authority to withhold payment to providers: Provided, That annual reports are submitted to and reviewed by the board;

(i) To develop and implement procedures to assess the effectiveness of educare programs, which shall include, as funding permits, appropriate assessments of children, follow-up of children on indicators of school success, and assessments of program quality;

(j) To assure provision of technical assistance from individuals or entities with appropriate education and professional experience relative to early childhood development;

(k) To submit a continuation plan and annual report to the Legislative Oversight Committees on Education and Health and Human Resources for approval;

(1) To establish other policies, procedures and criteria necessary to implement and administer the provisions of this article.
§5-26B-6. Board rules.
The board shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. At a minimum, the rules shall provide for:

(a) Programs that avoid duplication and maximize the effectiveness of qualified existing programs;

(b) The formation of written collaborative agreements among qualified educare programs to maximize existing resources and ensure a fair process for the distribution of funds. The agreement or agreements shall include assessment of existing needs and resources and detail the operational issues and the role of existing service providers under the collaborative agreements;

(d) High standards of service and performance for education, child and family care programs; and are either licensed, registered, or certified child care providers, Head Start programs, or public schools;

(e) Cost effective options that are consistent with the adopted standards;

(f) Approval of any county or community early childhood or educare plan, determined through local collaboration, prior to the authorization and receipt of funding. The local educare plan shall be submitted by a group that includes, at a minimum, the following core partners: Head Start, child care, public school preschool, birth to three, and parent of a preschool child;

(g) Evaluation of the results achieved by educare programs; and

(h) Development of a plan for the reasonable implementation of the provisions of the rule.
§5-26B-7. Entitlement.
Participation in educare programs may be made available to families with young children from birth to kindergarten entry and shall not create an entitlement to such programs or any services offered within such programs.
§5-26B-8. West Virginia study commission.
The West Virginia study commission on services for young children created pursuant to section eighteen-d, article five, chapter eighteen is hereby abolished.
§5-26B-9. Transfer of funds prohibited.
The governor's cabinet on children and families may not transfer funds for this initiative pursuant to the provisions of section five, article twenty-six, chapter five of this code.
§5-26B-10. Severability.
If any provision of this article or the application of the article shall for any reason be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not invalidate the remainder of the article, but shall be confined in its operation to the provision directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered, and the applicability of the provision to other circumstances shall not be affected.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish West Virginia Educare for children birth to kindergarten entry as a complement to available education and care for preschool children.

This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.