Sec. 32d.
(1) From the funds appropriated in section 11, there is allocated to eligible intermediate districts and consortia of intermediate districts for great start readiness programs an amount not to exceed $243,600,000.00 for 2015-2016. Funds allocated under this section for great start readiness programs shall be used to provide part-day, school-day, or GSRP/head start blended comprehensive free compensatory classroom programs designed to improve the readiness and subsequent achievement of educationally disadvantaged children who meet the participant eligibility and prioritization guidelines as defined by the department. For a child to be eligible to participate in a program under this section, the child shall be at least 4, but less than 5, years of age as of the date specified for determining a child's eligibility to attend school under section 1147 of the revised school code, MCL 380.1147.
(2) Funds allocated under subsection (1) shall be allocated to intermediate districts or consortia of intermediate districts based on the formula in section 39. An intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts receiving funding under this section shall act as the fiduciary for the great start readiness programs. In order to be eligible to receive funds allocated under this subsection from an intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts, a district, a consortium of districts, or a public or private for-profit or nonprofit legal entity or agency shall comply with this section and section 39.
(3) In addition to the allocation under subsection (1), from the general fund money appropriated under section 11, there is allocated an amount not to exceed $300,000.00 for 2015-2016 for a competitive grant to continue a longitudinal evaluation of children who have participated in great start readiness programs.
(4) To be eligible for funding under this section, a program shall prepare children for success in school through comprehensive part-day, school-day, or GSRP/head start blended programs that contain all of the following program components, as determined by the department:
(a) Participation in a collaborative recruitment and enrollment process to assure that each child is enrolled in the program most appropriate to his or her needs and to maximize the use of federal, state, and local funds.
(b) An age-appropriate educational curriculum that is in compliance with the early childhood standards of quality for prekindergarten children adopted by the state board.
(c) Nutritional services for all program participants supported by federal, state, and local resources as applicable.
(d) Physical and dental health and developmental screening services for all program participants.
(e) Referral services for families of program participants to community social service agencies, including mental health services, as appropriate.
(f) Active and continuous involvement of the parents or guardians of the program participants.
(g) A plan to conduct and report annual great start readiness program evaluations and continuous improvement plans using criteria approved by the department.
(h) Participation in a school readiness advisory committee convened as a workgroup of the great start collaborative that provides for the involvement of classroom teachers, parents or guardians of program participants, and community, volunteer, and social service agencies and organizations, as appropriate. The advisory committee annually shall review and make recommendations regarding the program components listed in this subsection. The advisory committee also shall make recommendations to the great start collaborative regarding other community services designed to improve all children's school readiness.
(i) The ongoing articulation of the kindergarten and first grade programs offered by the program provider.
(j) Participation in this state's great start to quality process with a rating of at least 3 stars.
(5) An application for funding under this section shall provide for the following, in a form and manner determined by the department:
(a) Ensure compliance with all program components described in subsection (4).
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, ensure that at least 90% of the children participating in an eligible great start readiness program for whom the intermediate district is receiving funds under this section are children who live with families with a household income that is equal to or less than 250% of the federal poverty level. If the intermediate district determines that all eligible children are being served and that there are no children on the waiting list under section 39(1)(d) who live with families with a household income that is equal to or less than 250% of the federal poverty level, the intermediate district may then enroll children who live with families with a household income that is equal to or less than 300% of the federal poverty level. The enrollment process shall consider income and risk factors, such that children determined with higher need are enrolled before children with lesser need. For purposes of this subdivision, all age-eligible children served in foster care or who are experiencing homelessness or who have individualized education plans recommending placement in an inclusive preschool setting shall be considered to live with families with household income equal to or less than 250% of the federal poverty level regardless of actual family income.
(c) Ensure that the applicant only uses qualified personnel for this program, as follows:
(i) Teachers possessing proper training. A lead teacher must have a valid teaching certificate with an early childhood (ZA or ZS) endorsement or a bachelor's degree in child development or early child development with specialization in preschool teaching. However, if an applicant demonstrates to the department that it is unable to fully comply with this subparagraph after making reasonable efforts to comply, teachers who have significant but incomplete training in early childhood education or child development may be used if the applicant provides to the department, and the department approves, a plan for each teacher to come into compliance with the standards in this subparagraph. A teacher's compliance plan must be completed within 2 years of the date of employment. Progress toward completion of the compliance plan shall consist of at least 2 courses per calendar year.
(ii) Paraprofessionals possessing proper training in early childhood development, including an associate's degree in early childhood education or child development or the equivalent, or a child development associate (CDA) credential. However, if an applicant demonstrates to the department that it is unable to fully comply with this subparagraph after making reasonable efforts to comply, the applicant may use paraprofessionals who have completed at least 1 course that earns college credit in early childhood education or child development if the applicant provides to the department, and the department approves, a plan for each paraprofessional to come into compliance with the standards in this subparagraph. A paraprofessional's compliance plan must be completed within 2 years of the date of employment. Progress toward completion of the compliance plan shall consist of at least 2 courses or 60 clock hours of training per calendar year.
(d) Include a program budget that contains only those costs that are not reimbursed or reimbursable by federal funding, that are clearly and directly attributable to the great start readiness program, and that would not be incurred if the program were not being offered. Eligible costs include transportation costs. The program budget shall indicate the extent to which these funds will supplement other federal, state, local, or private funds. Funds received under this section shall not be used to supplant any federal funds received by the applicant to serve children eligible for a federally funded preschool program that has the capacity to serve those children.
(6) For a grant recipient that enrolls pupils in a school-day program funded under this section, each child enrolled in the school-day program shall be counted as 2 children served by the program for purposes of determining the number of children to be served and for determining the amount of the grant award. A grant award shall not be increased solely on the basis of providing a school-day program.
(7) For a grant recipient that enrolls pupils in a GSRP/head start blended program, the grant recipient shall ensure that all head start and GSRP policies and regulations are applied to the blended slots, with adherence to the highest standard from either program, to the extent allowable under federal law.
(8) An intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts receiving a grant under this section shall designate an early childhood coordinator, and may provide services directly or may contract with 1 or more districts or public or private for-profit or nonprofit providers that meet all requirements of subsection (4).
(9) Funds received under this section may be retained for administrative services as follows:
(a) For the portion of the total grant amount for which services are provided directly by an intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts, the intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts may retain an amount equal to not more than 7% of that portion of the grant amount.
(b) For the portion of the total grant amount for which services are contracted, the intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts receiving the grant may retain an amount equal to not more than 4% of that portion of the grant amount and the subrecipients engaged by the intermediate district to provide program services may retain for administrative services an amount equal to not more than 4% of that portion of the grant amount.
(10) An intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts may expend not more than 2% of the total grant amount for outreach, recruiting, and public awareness of the program.
(11) Each grant recipient shall enroll children identified under subsection (5)(b) according to how far the child's household income is below 250% of the federal poverty level by ranking each applicant child's household income from lowest to highest and dividing the applicant children into quintiles based on how far the child's household income is below 250% of the federal poverty level, and then enrolling children in the quintile with the lowest household income before enrolling children in the quintile with the next lowest household income until slots are completely filled. If the grant recipient determines that all eligible children are being served and that there are no children on the waiting list under section 39(1)(d) who live with families with a household income that is equal to or less than 250% of the federal poverty level, the grant recipient may then enroll children who live with families with a household income that is equal to or less than 300% of the federal poverty level. The enrollment process shall consider income and risk factors, such that children determined with higher need are enrolled before children with lesser need. For purposes of this subdivision, all age-eligible children served in foster care or who are experiencing homelessness or who have individualized education plans recommending placement in an inclusive preschool setting shall be considered to live with families with household income equal to or less than 250% of the federal poverty level regardless of actual family income.
(12) An intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts receiving a grant under this section shall allow parents of eligible children who are residents of the intermediate district or within the consortium to choose a program operated by or contracted with another intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts and shall pay to the educating intermediate district or consortium the per-child amount attributable to each child enrolled pursuant to this sentence, as determined under section 39.
(13) An intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts receiving a grant under this section shall conduct a local process to contract with interested and eligible public and private for-profit and nonprofit community-based providers that meet all requirements of subsection (4) for at least 30% of its total slot allocation. The intermediate district or consortium shall report to the department, in a manner prescribed by the department, a detailed list of community-based providers by provider type, including private for-profit, private nonprofit, community college or university, head start grantee or delegate, and district or intermediate district, and the number and proportion of its total slot allocation allocated to each provider as subrecipient. If the intermediate district or consortium is not able to contract for at least 30% of its total slot allocation, the grant recipient shall notify the department and, if the department verifies that the intermediate district or consortium attempted to contract for at least 30% of its total slot allocation and was not able to do so, then the intermediate district or consortium may retain and use all of its allocated slots as provided under this section. To be able to use this exemption, the intermediate district or consortium shall demonstrate to the department that the intermediate district or consortium increased the percentage of its total slot allocation for which it contracts with a community-based provider and the intermediate district or consortium shall submit evidence satisfactory to the department, and the department must be able to verify this evidence, demonstrating that the intermediate district or consortium took measures to contract for at least 30% of its total slot allocation as required under this subsection, including, but not limited to, at least all of the following measures:
(a) The intermediate district or consortium notified each licensed child care center located in the service area of the intermediate district or consortium at least twice regarding the center's eligibility to participate. One of these notifications may be made electronically, but at least 1 of these notifications shall be made via hard copy through the United States mail. At least 1 of these notifications shall be made within 7 days after the intermediate district or consortium receives notice from the department of its slot allocations.
(b) The intermediate district or consortium provided to each licensed child care center located in the service area of the intermediate district or consortium information regarding great start readiness program requirements and a description of the application and selection process for community-based providers.
(c) The intermediate district or consortium provided to the public and to participating families a list of community-based great start readiness program subrecipients with a great start to quality rating of at least 3 stars.
(14) If an intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts receiving a grant under this section fails to submit satisfactory evidence to demonstrate its effort to contract for at least 30% of its total slot allocation, as required under subsection (1), the department shall reduce the slots allocated to the intermediate district or consortium by a percentage equal to the difference between the percentage of an intermediate district's or consortium's total slot allocation awarded to community-based providers and 30% of its total slot allocation.
(15) In order to assist intermediate districts and consortia in complying with the requirement to contract with community-based providers for at least 30% of their total slot allocation, the department shall do all of the following:
(a) Ensure that a great start resource center or the department provides each intermediate district or consortium receiving a grant under this section with the contact information for each licensed child care center located in the service area of the intermediate district or consortium by March 1 of each year.
(b) Provide, or ensure that an organization with which the department contracts provides, a community-based provider with a validated great start to quality rating within 90 days of the provider's having submitted a request and self-assessment.
(c) Ensure that all intermediate district, district, community college or university, head start grantee or delegate, private for-profit, and private nonprofit providers are subject to a single great start to quality rating system. The rating system shall ensure that regulators process all prospective providers at the same pace on a first-come, first-served basis and shall not allow 1 type of provider to receive a great start to quality rating ahead of any other type of provider.
(d) Not later than November 1 of each year, compile the results of the information reported by each intermediate district or consortium under subsection (10) and report to the legislature a list by intermediate district or consortium with the number and percentage of each intermediate district's or consortium's total slot allocation allocated to community-based providers by provider type, including private for-profit, private nonprofit, community college or university, head start grantee or delegate, and district or intermediate district.
(16) A recipient of funds under this section shall report to the department in a form and manner prescribed by the department the number of children participating in the program who meet the income eligibility criteria under subsection (5)(b) and the total number of children participating in the program. For children participating in the program who meet the income eligibility criteria specified under subsection (5)(b), a recipient shall also report whether or not a parent is available to provide care based on employment status. For the purposes of this subsection, "employment status" shall be defined by the department of health and human services in a manner consistent with maximizing the amount of spending that may be claimed for temporary assistance for needy families maintenance of effort purposes.
(17) As used in this section:
(a) "GSRP/head start blended program" means a part-day program funded under this section and a head start program, which are combined for a school-day program.
(b) "Part-day program" means a program that operates at least 4 days per week, 30 weeks per year, for at least 3 hours of teacher-child contact time per day but for fewer hours of teacher-child contact time per day than a school-day program.
(c) "School-day program" means a program that operates for at least the same length of day as a district's first grade program for a minimum of 4 days per week, 30 weeks per year. A classroom that offers a school-day program must enroll all children for the school day to be considered a school-day program.
(18) An intermediate district or consortium of intermediate districts receiving funds under this section shall establish a sliding scale of tuition rates based upon household income for children participating in an eligible great start readiness program who live with families with a household income that is more than 250% of the federal poverty level to be used by all of its providers, as approved by the department. A grant recipient shall charge tuition according to that sliding scale of tuition rates on a uniform basis for any child who does not meet the income eligibility requirements under this section.
(19) From the amount appropriated in subsection (1), there is allocated an amount not to exceed $10,000,000.00 for reimbursement of transportation costs for children attending great start readiness programs funded under this section. To receive reimbursement under this subsection, not later than November 1, 2015, a program funded under this section that provides transportation shall submit to the intermediate district that is the fiscal agent for the program a projected transportation budget. The amount of the reimbursement for transportation under this subsection shall be no more than the projected transportation budget or $150.00 multiplied by the number of slots funded for the program under this section. If the amount allocated under this subsection is insufficient to fully reimburse the transportation costs for all programs that provide transportation and submit the required information, the reimbursement shall be prorated in an equal amount per slot funded. Payments shall be made to the intermediate district that is the fiscal agent for each program, and the intermediate district shall then reimburse the program provider for transportation costs as prescribed under this subsection.
History: Add. 2000, Act 297, Imd. Eff. July 26, 2000 ;-- Am. 2001, Act 121, Imd. Eff. Sept. 28, 2001 ;-- Am. 2002, Act 191, Imd. Eff. Apr. 26, 2002 ;-- Am. 2002, Act 521, Imd. Eff. July 25, 2002 ;-- Am. 2003, Act 158, Eff. Oct. 1, 2003 ;-- Am. 2004, Act 351, Eff. Oct. 1, 2004 ;-- Am. 2005, Act 155, Eff. Oct. 1, 2005 ;-- Am. 2006, Act 342, Eff. Oct. 1, 2006 ;-- Am. 2007, Act 137, Imd. Eff. Nov. 8, 2007 ;-- Am. 2008, Act 268, Eff. Oct. 1, 2008 ;-- Am. 2009, Act 121, Imd. Eff. Oct. 19, 2009 ;-- Am. 2010, Act 110, Eff. Oct. 1, 2010 ;-- Am. 2011, Act 62, Eff. Oct. 1, 2011 ;-- Am. 2012, Act 201, Eff. Oct. 1, 2012 ;-- Am. 2013, Act 60, Eff. Oct. 1, 2013 ;-- Am. 2014, Act 196, Eff. Oct. 1, 2014 ;-- Am. 2015, Act 85, Eff. Oct. 1, 2015 ;-- Am. 2015, Act 139, Eff. Oct. 7, 2015
Last modified: October 10, 2016