| 1 | Representative(s) Pickens and Ausley offered the following: |
| 2 |
|
| 3 | Amendment (with title amendment) |
| 4 | Between lines 1939 and 1940 insert: |
| 5 | Section 37. State-level governance of early learning |
| 6 | programs and child care regulation.--By December 31, 2007, the |
| 7 | Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability |
| 8 | shall submit a report to the Governor, the President of the |
| 9 | Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the |
| 10 | state-level governance structure for the state's early learning |
| 11 | programs and child care regulation, including, but not limited |
| 12 | to, the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program, school |
| 13 | readiness programs, and child care resource and referral. |
| 14 | (1) The report shall: |
| 15 | (a) Evaluate the current state-level governance structure, |
| 16 | which is divided among the Department of Education, the Office |
| 17 | of Early Learning of the Agency for Workforce Innovation, and |
| 18 | the Child Care Services Program Office of the Department of |
| 19 | Children and Family Services. |
| 20 | (b) Identify whether duplication of functions, duties, or |
| 21 | activities exists among the three state agencies and, if |
| 22 | duplication does exist, describe the nature and extent of the |
| 23 | duplication. |
| 24 | (c) Examine the coordination efforts among the three state |
| 25 | agencies and their efforts to minimize duplication of functions, |
| 26 | duties, and activities. |
| 27 | (d) Review the state-level governance structure, and the |
| 28 | sources and levels of funding, for early learning programs and |
| 29 | child care regulation in other states. |
| 30 | (e) Identify and evaluate options, and make specific |
| 31 | recommendations, for the state-level governance structure to |
| 32 | provide effective and efficient administration of early learning |
| 33 | programs and child care regulation, including, but not limited |
| 34 | to: |
| 35 | 1. Maintaining the current governance structure, including |
| 36 | specific options for improving state-level governance. |
| 37 | 2. Reorganizing parts of the current governance structure. |
| 38 | 3. Consolidating the governance structure within a new or |
| 39 | existing state agency or department. The report shall identify |
| 40 | and evaluate options as to which state agency or department is |
| 41 | most appropriate for administrative placement of the governance |
| 42 | structure. |
| 43 | (2) The report may include recommendations on the state- |
| 44 | level governance for other programs in this state that relate to |
| 45 | early learning and child care, including, but not limited to: |
| 46 | (a) Child Care Food Program administered by the Department |
| 47 | of Health. |
| 48 | (b) Florida Infants and Toddlers Early Intervention |
| 49 | Program administered by the Department of Health under part C of |
| 50 | the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. |
| 51 | (c) Special programs for prekindergarten children with |
| 52 | disabilities administered by the Department of Education under |
| 53 | part B of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education |
| 54 | Act. |
| 55 |
|
| 56 | ======= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ======= |
| 57 | Remove line 91 and insert: |
| 58 | to after-school programs, gifted student education, and state- |
| 59 | level governance of early learning programs and child care |
| 60 | regulation; |