Title: Literacy Jump Start Pilot Project

Summary: Requires Office of Early Learning (OEL) to establish pilot project in St. Lucie County to assist low-income, at-risk children in developing emergent literacy skills; requires OEL to select organization to implement pilot project; provides eligibility requirements for participation; requires background screening for personnel & emergent literacy training for instructors; requires OEL to allocate funds for pilot project.

Full Text:
An act relating to the Literacy Jump Start Pilot Project; requiring the Office of Early Learning to establish the pilot project in St. Lucie County to assist low-income, at-risk children in developing emergent literacy skills; requiring the office to select an organization to implement the pilot project; requiring the office to oversee implementation of the pilot project; providing eligibility requiremen ts for participation; requiring background screening for instructors, volunteers, and noninstructional personnel who make direct contact with children; requiring emergent literacy training for instructors; encouraging the coordination of basic health scree ning and immunization services in conjunction with emergent literacy instruction; requiring annual submission of an accountability report; requiring the office to allocate funds for the pilot project; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. (1) The Office of Early Learning shall establish the-year Literacy Jump Start Pilot Project in St. Lucie County to assist low-income, at-risk children in developing emergent literacy skills. CS/HB 2014 (a) The Office of Early Learning shall consult with local organizations within St. Lucie County and identify an organization to implement the pilot project. The office shall also consult with the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County to select municipaliti es within St. Lucie County eligible for participation in the pilot project. The office shall oversee the implementation of the pilot project. (b) A municipality is eligible for participation in the pilot project if locally or federally subsidized housing is located within the municipality. (c) The Office of Early Learning shall select to implement the pilot project a local organization that is a not-for-profit corporation, qualified as charitable under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, that pro vides training to parents to assist their children with success in school, such as the Parent Academy of St. Lucie County or another similarly qualified local organization. The office may select a faith-based organization; however, funds provided for the purpose of implementing the pilot project may be used for only those purposes expressly provided in this section and may not be used for the purpose of religious indoctrination. (2) The organization selected by the Office of Early Learning must use funds provided for the pilot project only to provide emergent literacy instruction to children. In order to provide easy access for participating children and families, the CS/HB 2014 instruction must be provided in a subsidized housing unit located within an eligible muni cipality selected by the office. (3) As used in this section, the term "emergent literacy" means a variety of early behaviors and skills associated with successful reading and writing development. (4) A child is eligible to receive emergent literacy instruction provided through the pilot project only if the child is: (a) Two or years of age; (b) Eligible for a federally subsidized child care program; and (c) A member of a family that is economically disadvantaged and resides in locally or federa lly subsidized housing. For purposes of this paragraph, "economically disadvantaged" means having a family income that does not exceed percent of the federal poverty level. (5) The organization selected by the Office of Early Learning may not receive any funds from the state for purposes of implementing the pilot project until the office receives written certification from the organization and confirms that all of the organization's volunteers, instructors, and noninstructional personnel who make dire ct contact with children have cleared level background screening pursuant to s. 435.04, Florida Statutes, within years before implementation of the pilot project. The organization shall require volunteers and applicants for employment as instructors or noninstructional CS/HB 2014 personnel who make direct contact with children participating in the pilot project to undergo level background screening pursuant to s. 435.04, Florida Statutes, before hiring the applicant or allowing the volunteer to participate in th epilot project. The organization may not use state funds provided to implement the pilot project to pay for background screening. (6) An instructor in the pilot project must successfully complete an emergent literacy training course, approved by the Office of Early Learning, before providing emergent literacy instruction under this section. (7) The organization is encouraged to coordinate with the St. Lucie County Health Department for the provision of basic health screening and immunization services for children participating in the pilot project in conjunction with emergent literacy instruction. The organization is further encouraged to engage in community outreach efforts to local community service organizations for the purpose of improving the avail ability and effective delivery of emergent literacy instruction. (8) By December of each year that the organization provides emergent literacy instruction, the organization shall submit an accountability report to the Office of Early Learning, the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County, the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The accountability report must include, at a minimum, the following information: CS/HB 2014 (a) The manner in which all state fund sreceived by the organization are used to implement the pilot project, separated by type of expenditure and measured in exact dollar amounts. (b) Other sources of funding received by the organization for purposes of providing emergent literacy instruction. (c) The municipalities selected by the Office of Early Learning for participation in the pilot project. (d) The identities of the organization's officers. (e) The number of children receiving emergent literacy instruction in each municip ality. (f) Information and data relating to coordinated health screening and immunization services provided in conjunction with the emergent literacy instruction, if any. (9) The Office of Early Learning shall allocate funds for implementation of the pilot project pursuant to this section. Expenditures of state funds pursuant to this section must be verified by affidavit submitted to the office in a procedure and format determined by the office. Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.