1002.94 Child Care Executive Partnership Program.—
(1) There is created a body politic and corporate known as the Child Care Executive Partnership which shall establish and govern the Child Care Executive Partnership Program. The purpose of the Child Care Executive Partnership Program is to use state and federal funds as incentives for matching local funds derived from local governments, employers, charitable foundations, and other sources so that Florida communities may create local flexible partnerships with employers. The Child Care Executive Partnership Program funds shall be used at the discretion of local communities to meet the needs of working parents. A child care purchasing pool shall be developed with the state, federal, and local funds to provide subsidies to low-income working parents whose family income does not exceed the allowable income for any federally subsidized child care program with a dollar-for-dollar match from employers, local government, and other matching contributions. The funds used from the child care purchasing pool must be used to supplement or extend the use of existing public or private funds for direct services.
(2) The Child Care Executive Partnership, staffed by the office, shall consist of a representative of the Executive Office of the Governor and nine members of the corporate or child care community, appointed by the Governor.
(a) Members shall serve for a period of 4 years, except that the representative of the Executive Office of the Governor shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
(b) The Child Care Executive Partnership shall be chaired by a member chosen by a majority vote and shall meet at least quarterly and at other times upon the call of the chair. The Child Care Executive Partnership may use any method of telecommunications to conduct meetings, including establishing a quorum through telecommunications, only if the public is given proper notice of a telecommunications meeting and reasonable access to observe and, when appropriate, participate.
(c) Members shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for per diem and travel expenses in accordance with s. 112.061.
(d) The Child Care Executive Partnership shall have all the powers and authority, not explicitly prohibited by law, necessary to carry out and effectuate the purposes of this section, as well as the functions, duties, and responsibilities of the partnership, including, but not limited to, the following:
1. Making recommendations concerning the implementation and coordination of the school readiness program.
2. Soliciting, accepting, receiving, investing, and expending funds from public or private sources.
3. Contracting with public or private entities as necessary.
4. Approving an annual budget.
5. Providing a report to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate on or before December 1 of each year.
Notwithstanding this subsection, the corporate body politic previously established by prior law is the corporate body politic for purposes of this section and shall continue in existence. All member terms of the existing corporate body politic expire as of June 30, 2013, and new members shall be appointed beginning July 1, 2013, in accordance with this subsection.
(3)(a) The Legislature shall annually determine the amount of state or federal low-income child care moneys which shall be used to create Child Care Executive Partnership Program child care purchasing pools in counties chosen by the Child Care Executive Partnership provided that at least two of the counties have populations of no more than 300,000. The Legislature shall annually review the effectiveness of the child care purchasing pool program and reevaluate the percentage of additional state or federal funds, if any, which can be used for the program’s expansion.
(b) To ensure a seamless service delivery and ease of access for families, the office shall administer the child care purchasing pool funds.
(c) The office, in conjunction with the Child Care Executive Partnership, shall develop procedures for disbursement of funds through the child care purchasing pools. In order to be considered for funding, an early learning coalition or the office must commit to:
1. Matching the state purchasing pool funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
2. Expending only those public funds that are matched by employers, local government, and other matching contributors who contribute to the purchasing pool. Parents shall also pay a fee, which may not be less than the amount identified in the early learning coalition’s school readiness program sliding fee scale.
(d) Each early learning coalition shall establish a community child care task force for each child care purchasing pool. The task force must be composed of employers, parents, private child care providers, and one representative from the local children’s services council, if one exists in the area of the purchasing pool. The early learning coalition is expected to recruit the task force members from existing child care councils, commissions, or task forces already operating in the area of a purchasing pool. A majority of the task force shall consist of employers.
(e) Each participating early learning coalition shall develop a plan for the use of child care purchasing pool funds. The plan must show how many children will be served by the purchasing pool, how many will be new to receiving child care services, and how the early learning coalition intends to attract new employers and their employees to the program.
(4) The office may adopt any rules necessary for the implementation and administration of this section.
History.—s. 17, ch. 2013-252.
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