An Act To Amend the Laws Concerning the Children's Cabinet and Its Advisory Councils
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1778
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: MILLETT, FARNSWORTH, CARSON, POULIOT, BRENNAN
Amends: 5 MRSA §12004-I, 5 MRSA §12004-J, 5 MRSA §19131, 5 MRSA §19132, 5 MRSA §24051, 5 MRSA §19133, 5 MRSA §19134, 20-A MRSA §10, 22 MRSA §3731, 22 MRSA §3739

Legislative Document
No. 1778
S.P. 602
In Senate, May 23, 2019
An Act To Amend the Laws Concerning the Children's Cabinet and 
Its Advisory Councils
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator MILLETT of Cumberland.  (GOVERNOR'S BILL)
Cosponsored by Representative FARNSWORTH of Portland and
Senators: CARSON of Cumberland, POULIOT of Kennebec, Representative: BRENNAN of 
Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §12004-I, sub-§35-B, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 158, §1, is 
repealed.
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §12004-J, sub-§16, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 683, Pt. A, §1, is 
repealed.
Sec. 3.  5 MRSA §12004-J, sub-§18 is enacted to read:
18.  
Sec. 4.  5 MRSA §19131, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 785, §3, is amended 
to read:
1.  Establishment.  The Children's Cabinet, referred to in this chapter as the 
"cabinet," is established to promote and support active, vigorous and frequent 
interdepartmental collaboration on children's children and youth policy development and 
program implementation and to support supporting the provision of services for Maine 
families and, children and youth that are planned, managed and delivered in a holistic and 
an integrated manner to improve their support and enhance educational opportunities, 
self-sufficiency, safety, economic stability, health and quality of life well-being.
Sec. 5.  5 MRSA §19131, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 785, §3, is amended 
to read:
3.  Chair.  The Governor shall appoint one of the members serving pursuant to 
subsection 2, paragraphs A to F to serve as chair of the cabinet.  The term of the chair is 2 
years one year.
Sec. 6.  5 MRSA §19131, sub-§4 is enacted to read:
4.  Meetings.  The cabinet shall meet at least 4 times per year.
Sec. 7.  5 MRSA §19132, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 785, §3, is amended to read:
§19132.  Duties of the cabinet
The cabinet shall collaborate to create, manage and promote coordinated policies, 
finances, programs and service delivery systems that to support children, youth and 
families and communities consistent with the purposes of this chapter.  To accomplish 
these purposes, the cabinet shall carry out the following duties:
Children
 Maine Children's 
Cabinet Early 
Childhood Advisory 
Council
Legislative Per 
Diem and Expenses 
for Legislators
MRSA §24051
1.  Regional children's cabinets.  Appoint regional children's cabinets to ensure that 
the purposes of this chapter are implemented at the regional and local levels;
2.  Subcommittees.  Appoint subcommittees, which may include members from any 
public or private agency, advisory committee or any citizen, who has appropriate interest 
and expertise, as may be necessary to carry out the work of the cabinet;
3.  Coordinated funding; collaboration.  Coordinate funding, grants and budgets 
among the departments of the cabinet related to child, youth and family services in order 
to carry out the purpose of this chapter, collaborate to share resources, remove barriers 
and support innovative initiatives, prevention and best practices that prevent address 
health and behavioral problems in children and youth;
4.  Data collection, planning and policy development.  Conduct Determine 
effective data sources to allow analysis leading to integrated and innovative approaches to 
identified priority areas of need of the cabinet and conduct long-range planning and 
policy development leading to a more effective public and private service delivery 
system;
5.  Coordinated service delivery.  Coordinate the delivery of residential and 
community-based children's services among the departments;
6.  Assessment.  Assess resource capacity and allocations;
7.  Policy and program review.  Improve Update policies, statutes, rules and 
programs through the review of specific case examples to ensure consistency across all 
departments in addressing the cabinet's priority areas; and
8.  Communication.  Broadly and transparently communicate the work of the 
cabinet. through a variety of mechanisms;
9.  Program implementation and oversight.  Initiate, implement and oversee 
programs, policies and services consistent with the purposes of this chapter; and
10.  Maine Children's Cabinet Early Childhood Advisory Council.  Oversee the 
Maine Children's Cabinet Early Childhood Advisory Council, established under section 
24051, and direct a representative of the cabinet to meet at least once yearly with the 
Maine Children's Cabinet Early Childhood Advisory Council and consult with one or 
more state-designated groups representing youth issues regarding goals selected by the 
Maine Children's Cabinet Early Childhood Advisory Council.
Sec. 8.  5 MRSA §19133, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 785, §3, is amended to read:
§19133.  Program implementation and oversight
The cabinet shall initiate, implement and oversee programs, policies and services 
consistent with the purposes of this chapter, which may include but are not limited to:.
1.  Communities for Children.  Supporting a collaborative effort between 
communities and State Government, known as Communities for Children, to effectively 
address problems facing the State's children and families by mobilizing the resources of 
State Government with resources and leadership at the community level;
2.  Effectiveness indicators.  Identifying indicators to measure child well-being to be 
used by Maine policy makers;
3.  Safe homes.  Working to ensure that all children have a safe and permanent home;
4.  Civil and caring school environments.  Providing civil and caring school 
environments in which violence is eliminated and the health needs of students are 
provided for;
5.  Supportive communities.  Focusing community members and resources to 
support goal-setting, counseling and mentoring for every child;
6.  Reducing suicide.  Reducing the incidence of suicide among Maine youth and 
improving access to appropriate prevention and intervention services;
7.  Access to information and referral.  Ensuring easy access to information and 
referral services regarding child and family services;
8.  Service coordination.  Coordinating social services to children and their families 
as an integrated whole and facilitating access to all services needed by family members;
9.  Ensuring services.  Ensuring coordination of services to parents of children birth 
to 5 years of age; and
10.  Local case review and resolution; pooled funds.  Providing services to children 
with multiple needs within the child's community by supporting case review and 
resolution at the local level using appropriate funds pooled from each department of the 
cabinet.
Sec. 9.  5 MRSA §19134, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 785, §3, is amended to read:
§19134.  Funds
The cabinet is authorized to solicit request, receive and pool funds from the Federal 
Government, any department, office or political subdivision of the State or any 
individual, foundation or corporation and may expend those funds for purposes that are 
consistent with this chapter.
Sec. 10.  5 MRSA c. 621, as amended, is repealed.
Sec. 11.  5 MRSA c. 623 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 623
MAINE CHILDREN'S CABINET EARLY CHILDHOOD ADVISORY COUNCIL
§24051.  Maine Children's Cabinet Early Childhood Advisory Council
1.  Definitions.  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A.  "Cabinet" means the Children's Cabinet established in section 19131.
B.  "Council" means the Maine Children's Cabinet Early Childhood Advisory 
Council established in subsection 2.
C.  "Young children" means children from birth until they complete grade 3.
2.  Establishment.  The Maine Children's Cabinet Early Childhood Advisory 
Council, as established in section 12004-J, subsection 18, is created to develop, maintain 
and evaluate under the direction of the cabinet a plan for sustainable social and financial 
investment in healthy development of the State's young children and their families.
3.  Membership.  The council consists of the members listed in this subsection, who 
must have a strong interest in early childhood and early care and education and must be 
influential in their communities:
A.  One member of the Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate;
B.  One member of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the 
House;
C.  The Governor or the Governor's designee;
D.  One person who is the parent of a young child, appointed by the Governor;
E.  Two persons with experience in public funding and philanthropy, appointed by 
the Governor;
F.  One person representing child abuse and neglect prevention, appointed by the 
Governor;
G.  One person representing postsecondary education, appointed by the Governor;
H.  Three persons representing statewide, membership or constituent organizations 
that advance the well-being of young children and their families, including early care 
and education programs, child care centers, Head Start programs, family child care 
providers, resource development centers, programs for school-age children, child 
development services, physicians and child advocates, nominated by their 
organizations and appointed by the cabinet;
I.  One person representing a business roundtable on early childhood investment, 
appointed by the Governor;
J.   One person with expertise in children's health or public health, appointed by the 
Governor;
K.  Two ex officio nonvoting members who are employees of the Department of 
Education and direct or work in programming that affects young children, appointed 
by the Commissioner of Education; and
L.  Two ex officio nonvoting members who are employees of the Department of 
Health and Human Services and direct or work in programming that affects young 
children, appointed by the Commissioner of Health and Human Services. 
4.  Terms of appointment.  Except for ex officio members, members of the council 
are appointed for terms of 3 years.  Members who are Legislators are appointed for the 
duration of the legislative terms in which they were appointed. Members who are not 
Legislators may serve beyond their designated terms until their successors are appointed.
5.  Chair. The Governor shall appoint a chair for the council.
6.  Staffing; funding.  The council may hire staff as necessary for its work and as 
resources permit.  The council may accept grant funding and other funding as may be 
available for the work of the council from the Federal Government, any department, 
office or political subdivision of the State or any individual, foundation or corporation.
§24052.  Duties
1.  Duties.  The duties of the council include, but are not limited to:
A.  Reviewing and addressing recommendations of the cabinet regarding young 
children in the following areas:
(1)  Early childhood policy implementation to ensure an effective public and 
private service delivery system and reporting recommendations based upon the 
review to the cabinet; and
(2)  The delivery of early childhood services by the departments of the cabinet 
and recommending improvements to increase efficiencies in the delivery of 
services;
B.  Advising the Department of Health and Human Services regarding:
(1)  The coordination of child care services in the State; and
(2)  The preparation of any application, amendment, waiver request, plan or other 
document submitted by the department to the Federal Government regarding 
child care funding or other early childhood services grants;
C.  Reviewing and commenting on initiatives and plans of the cabinet related to early 
childhood;
D.  Submitting annually to the cabinet recommendations for changes to laws and 
rules to reduce barriers to collaboration and coordination among federally funded and 
state-funded programs and services for young children and the children's families and 
to improve the quality of programs and services for young children statewide.  
Recommendations must include, but are not limited to, methods to:
(1)  Promote the availability of services and programs for young children and the 
children's families across the State;
(2)  Promote innovative programs for young children and the children's families 
including funding models for early childhood and education programs and 
services; and
(3)  Enhance and improve quality and outcomes of early childhood and education 
programs and services, including child development services, home visitation, 
child care, education services, supervision services, health services and social 
services; and
E.  Developing and periodically updating a process for evaluating the council's 
effectiveness in performing the council's duties, including advising the cabinet.
Sec. 12.  20-A MRSA §10, sub-§2, ¶G, as amended by PL 2009, c. 540, §2, is 
further amended to read:
G.  The Maine Municipal Association; and
Sec. 13.  20-A MRSA §10, sub-§2, ¶H, as amended by PL 2009, c. 540, §3, is 
further amended to read:
H.  The Maine Principals Association; and.
Sec. 14.  20-A MRSA §10, sub-§2, ¶I, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 540, §4, is 
repealed.
Sec. 15.  22 MRSA §3731, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 158, §2, is amended 
to read:
2.  Council.  "Council" means the Child Care Maine Children's Cabinet Early 
Childhood Advisory Council established pursuant to Title 5, section 12004-I 12004-J, 
subsection 35-B 18.
Sec. 16.  22 MRSA §3739, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §79, is repealed.
SUMMARY
This bill:
1.  Amends certain provisions governing the Children's Cabinet;
2.  Eliminates the Maine Children's Growth Council;
3.  Eliminates the Child Care Advisory Council; and
4.  Establishes the Maine Children's Cabinet Early Childhood Advisory Council to 
develop and evaluate under the direction of the Children's Cabinet a plan for the healthy 
development of the State's young children and their families.