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Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 1 in the 6th line (page 1, line 11 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "the Head Start program's"
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 2 in paragraph A in the first line (page 1, line 16 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "who"
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 2 in paragraph L in the first line (page 2, line 17 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "under 6 years of age"
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 2 by inserting after paragraph O the following:
 
‘P. "Home visitor services" means interactions between a home visitor and a parent that are nurturing, responsive and intentional and that support the parent in the parent's role as the primary teacher of the parent's child and assist the parent in using the parent's home and the community as the child's learning environment.’
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 2 in paragraph Q in the first line (page 2, line 30 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "or family of an eligible child"
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 2 by striking out all of paragraph T (page 2, lines 36 to 40 in L.D.)
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 2 by relettering the paragraphs to read alphabetically.
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 3 in paragraph C in the 3rd line (page 3, line 6 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "possible participants" and inserting the following: 'eligible persons'
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 4 by striking out all of paragraph A (page 3, lines 15 to 38 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
 
‘A.  Service delivery as provided by:
 
(1) A child care center or family child care provider, for at least 48 weeks per year, 5 days per week excluding state holidays, available 10 hours per day and with up to 10 days of staff training; or
 
(2) Home visitor services, including group socialization activities that include a child and the child's parent, for at least 48 weeks per year. Curricula must focus on the parent-child relationship and be culturally and linguistically responsive.
 
A participant may receive service delivery under subparagraph (1) or (2) or both;’
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 4 in paragraph D in the first line (page 4, line 11 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "Parent and family" and inserting the following: 'Family'
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 4 in paragraph E in the last line (page 4, line 24 in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "3173;" the following: 'and'
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 4 in paragraph F in the last line (page 4, line 26 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "; and" and inserting the following: '.'
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 4 by striking out all of paragraph G (page 4, lines 27 and 28 in L.D.)
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 5 in paragraph A in subparagraph (2) (page 4, line 32 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "visits;" and inserting the following: 'visits.'
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 5 by striking out all of paragraphs B and C (page 4, lines 33 to 37 in L.D.)
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 by striking out all of subsections 7 and 8 (page 5, lines 12 to 38 and page 6, lines 1 to 15 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
 
‘7.  Community coalition; membership.     A community coalition shall assist and support a community contractor in sponsoring, developing and submitting a project application under subsection 3, including a community assessment and supporting comprehensive, high-quality early child care and education in the community. Membership of a community coalition must include at least one:
 
A.  Community contractor;
 
B.  Representative of the local business community;
 
C.  Center-based child care provider;
 
D.  Family child care provider;
 
E.  Health care provider;
 
F.  Mental health care provider;
 
G.  Home visitor;
 
H.  Public school administrator;
 
I.  Parent;
 
J.  Representative of an organization that supports workforce development;
 
K.  Provider of services under Part B or Part C of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and
 
L.  Provider of professional development to early child care and education professionals.
 
A member of a community coalition must be located or operate within the community represented by the community coalition. A community coalition may include a local government staff member or agency that provides services to or local judicial staff who have engaged with an at-risk population.
 
8.  Community contractor.     A community contractor shall have adequate infrastructure and qualified and credentialed staff to carry out the duties under this subsection. Duties of a community contractor include:
 
A.  Representing and being the responsible member for the community coalition;
 
B.  Submitting an application under subsection 3;
 
C.  Being the lead member and coordinator of a community coalition and the coalition's activities;
 
D.  Contracting for and ensuring implementation of high-quality services with community providers;
 
E.  Employing or contracting for all required services;
 
F.  Implementing and maintaining a data system to collect and report aggregate data regarding child, family and provider information, activities and outcomes; and
 
G. Participating in a collective, Internet-based system that captures data from all project locations in a manner that protects the confidentiality of information of participants.’
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 9 in paragraph A in the last line (page 6, line 21 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and training as a community coach"
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 9 by striking out all of paragraph D (page 6, lines 35 and 36 in L.D.)
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 in subsection 9 by relettering the paragraphs to read alphabetically.
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 by striking out all of subsections 11 to 13 (page 7, lines 13 to 26 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
 
‘11.  Community coach.     The community contractor shall employ or contract with a community coach to provide information and training to a community provider. A community coach must receive training from a research-based early childhood program with experience in a comprehensive, high-quality early child care and education program.
 
12.  Consent to data.     A community provider or community contractor may not use personally identifying data derived from services provided to a participant without the consent of a participant's parent. A community provider or community contractor may not use the personally identifying data derived from services provided to the family of a participant without the consent of the parent.
 
13.  Request for proposals.     The department shall request proposals for projects to commence June 1, 2022 to carry out the purposes of the program. The department shall select up to 10 projects from proposals submitted under this subsection. The department shall prioritize funding to a project that serves a community with high numbers or a high percentage of children who are economically disadvantaged or that effectively involves a wide variety of providers or other entities in the community including school administrative units.
 
14.  Funding.    The department shall seek and apply for available federal funds or funds from any other sources to pay the costs of the projects. To the maximum extent possible, the department shall use state funds received for the projects to maximize its receipt of federal funds to be used for the projects.’
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3931 by renumbering the subsections to read consecutively.
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 2. Report. On October 2, 2024, a community contractor whose project is selected under the First 4 ME Early Care and Education Program established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, chapter 1065 shall report to the Department of Health and Human Services on the progress toward objectives, goals and outcomes of the project detailed in the project's proposal. On or before February 1, 2025, the department shall report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters regarding the project reports received under this section along with any recommended legislation. The committee may report out legislation based upon the department's report to the First Regular Session of the 132nd Legislature.’
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or section number to read consecutively.
 
SUMMARY
This amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, changes the First 4 ME Early Care and Education Program from a pilot project to an ongoing program within the Department of Health and Human Services. It directs the department to seek and apply for available federal funds or funds from any other sources to pay the costs of projects under the program and provides that the department, to the maximum extent possible, must use state funds received for the projects to maximize its receipt of federal funds to be used for the projects. It also amends some of the participant qualification and provider requirements under the program.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)