2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 26.5 - EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS AND SERVICES (§§ 26.5-1-101 — 26.5-6-103) › Article 3 - FAMILY AND CHILD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING (§§ 26.5-3-101 — 26.5-3-904) › Part 6 - SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAMS (§§ 26.5-3-601 — 26.5-3-603) › Section 26.5-3-603 - Social-emotional learning programs grant program - created - implementation partner - application - selection - funding - rules

(1)
The social-emotional learning programs grant program is created in the department. The department shall administer the grant program in collaboration with an implementation partner selected pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. Subject to annual appropriations, the department shall award grants to entities that apply pursuant to subsection (3) of this section to provide social-emotional learning programs for young children and their parents in communities throughout the state. The executive director is authorized to promulgate rules as necessary to implement the grant program.
(2)
As soon as practicable after July 1, 2022, the department shall initiate a formal request for proposals process to select and contract with a Colorado-based private, nonprofit organization to serve as an implementation partner. The implementation partner shall:
(a)
Assist the department in selecting from among applicants those entities that receive grants to provide social-emotional learning programs pursuant to this part 6;
(b)
Perform community readiness assessments and provide training, coaching, and monitoring for the implementation of social-emotional learning programs by the entities that receive grants;
(c)
Provide ongoing quality assessments and improvement recommendations for the selected entities to ensure high-quality implementation and sustainability of social-emotional learning programs;
(d)
Provide to the department site-specific and statewide process and outcomes evaluations of social-emotional learning programs and the grant program as described in this section;
(e)
Assist the department with the financial administration of grants pursuant to this part 6 and work with the office of the state auditor as required;
(f)
Annually provide to each entity that receives money through the grant program a detailed data report of the entity's implementation of the social-emotional learning programs that includes an assessment of the program's success in achieving positive outcomes for children and their families and identification of areas for practice improvement; and
(g)
Annually prepare and submit to the department an evaluation of the outcomes of the social-emotional learning programs that entities implement using money received through the grant program.
(3)
An entity that seeks grant money to implement or expand a social-emotional learning program must submit an application to the department in accordance with department rules and procedures. At a minimum, the application must:
(a)
Identify the social-emotional learning program curriculum that the entity will use, which must:
(I)
Include components that provide a curriculum for parents, teachers, and preschool- and kindergarten-age children;
(II)
Be identified by the university of Colorado as a proven, evidence-based intervention to support healthy youth development; and
(III)
Have been previously implemented with success by early childhood program providers in Colorado; and
(b)
Specify whether the entity has previously provided social-emotional learning programs and, if so, the demographics of the children and families served. An applicant that has not previously provided social-emotional learning programs must work with the implementation partner to complete a community readiness assessment before submitting an application or within three months after submitting the application.
(4)
The department shall work with the implementation partner to review and select grantees from among the applying entities. In addition to any other selection criteria that may be identified in rules of the department, the department shall base selection of grantees on the applicant's use of a curriculum that meets the requirements specified in subsection (3)(a) of this section and on the applicant's service to under-resourced children and families who have a clearly identified need or the outcome of the community readiness assessment. The department shall pay the grants awarded through the program from money appropriated for the program pursuant to subsection (5) of this section.
(5)
The general assembly shall annually appropriate money to the department to implement the grant program. The general assembly may appropriate money for the grant program from the marijuana tax cash fund created in section
39-28.8-501
. The department may expend a portion of the amount appropriated pursuant to this subsection (5) to pay the costs incurred in implementing the grant program, including the costs incurred in contracting with the implementation partner.
Added by 2022 Ch. 123, §3, eff. 7/1/2022.