§ 3001. | § 3002. | § 3003. | § 3004.
§ 3001. State Early Childhood Education Program.
(a) The Department of Education shall be authorized to provide early childhood educational services to eligible children, which shall include preschool age children who live in poverty, using such funds as are appropriated by the General Assembly for that purpose.
(b) The Department of Education shall provide the early childhood educational services by contracting with public and private providers, including, but not limited to, providers administering federal Head Start programs within the State; provided however, that state funds paid to such contracting providers shall not be used to supplant state and/or federally funded programs or to make a federal Head Start provider ineligible for a Head Start expansion grant. All contracts may be in place for a period not to exceed 3 years; provided that there is sufficient funding contained within the annual appropriations act and the contractor adheres to the required Head Start performance standards, which include parental involvement and receipt of acceptable monitoring results which will be completed at least once during the contract period.
(c) Each contracting provider will be required to establish written agreements within the provider's respective service area with their local Head Start and/or other Early Childhood Initiative contracting provider as well as the local school district, to address issues including, but not limited to, service areas, recruitment, transition of children and families and sharing resources and information.
(d) The Interagency Resource Management Committee (IRMC) shall have administrative responsibility for all appropriations made to the Department of Education pursuant to this section. Such administrative responsibility shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Determining unserved and underserved areas within the State, to be addressed in any given year. Such identified areas will be specified within the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued to prospective providers;
(2) Reviewing, recommending and disbursing grant awards for contracts to qualifying providers to deliver early childhood educational services to preschool-age children who live in poverty;
(3) Reallocating unobligated or unspent appropriations made to the Department of Education pursuant to this section; and
(4) Verifying that the contracting providers use state funds paid to them for the purposes specified in their contracts.
(e) All public and private providers contracting with the Department of Education pursuant to this section shall ensure that each and every employee receives a minimum of 1 hour of training every year in the detection and reporting of child abuse. Such training, and all materials used in such training, shall be prepared by the Division of Family Services. (69 Del. Laws, c. 351, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 132, § 336; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 144; 72 Del. Laws, c. 94, § 355; 72 Del. Laws, c. 173, § 3; 73 Del. Laws, c. 321, §§ 9, 10.)
§ 3002. Early Childhood Council.
The Interagency Resource Management Committee (IRMC) shall establish an Early Childhood Council (for the purposes of this chapter the "Council"), comprised of private sector members, who shall provide annual reports to the IRMC, the Governor and the General Assembly concerning early childhood services in Delaware consistent with the recommendations of the Early Success Report. (69 Del. Laws, c. 351, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 180, § 144; 76 Del. Laws, c. 53, § 1.)
§ 3003. Organization and composition.
The Council shall be appointed by the Interagency Resource Management Committee, shall represent the racial, economic and geographic diversity of the State, and shall consist of the following 17 members:
(1) Two center-based early care and education providers;
(2) One family-home-based early care and education provider;
(3) Two parents whose children receive care in a licensed home or center, 1 of whom shall be a parent of a child with special needs;
(4) One Delaware Head Start/Early Childhood Assistance Program Association representative;
(5) One representative of a state-wide early care and education resource and referral agency;
(6) Two representatives from child health and emotional health direct service and/or advocacy organizations;
(7) One representative from the Family Support Coordinating Council;
(8) One public school district representative;
(9) One Higher education representative;
(10) Two business community representatives;
(11) Two community members; and
(12) One chairperson. (76 Del. Laws, c. 53, § 2.)
§ 3004. Staffing and annual reporting.
The Delaware Early Care and Education Office in the Department of Education shall staff the Council with support from the Interagency Resource Management Committee (IRMC) as needed. The Council may establish subcommittees to assist in meeting its responsibilities. The Council may appoint ex officio members and advisors to assist them in meeting their responsibilities. The Council will report annually to the IRMC, the Governor, and the General Assembly regarding the status of its work. A summary of the Council's work shall be included in the IRMC's annual report. (76 Del. Laws, c. 53, § 3.)
NOTICE: The Delaware Code appearing on this site was prepared by the Division of Research of Legislative Council of the General Assembly with the assistance of the Government Information Center, under the supervision of the Delaware Code Revisors and the editorial staff of LexisNexis, includes all acts up to and including 76 Del. Laws, c. 214, effective May 1, 2008.
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