Florida Senate - 2021 CS for SB 414
By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and
Senators Perry and Boyd
586-03270-21 2021414c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to economic self-sufficiency; amending
3 s. 1002.81, F.S.; deleting obsolete language; amending
4 s. 1002.87, F.S.; revising the priority the early
5 learning coalition is required to give children for
6 participation in a school readiness program; requiring
7 the Office of Early Learning within the Department of
8 Education, in coordination with the University of
9 Florida Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early
10 Childhood Studies, to conduct an analysis of certain
11 assistance programs; providing requirements for the
12 analysis; requiring certain agencies to enter into a
13 data-sharing agreement with certain entities and
14 annually provide certain data by a specified date;
15 requiring the University of Florida Anita Zucker
16 Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies to
17 provide an annual report on the analysis to the Office
18 of Early Learning by a specified date; requiring the
19 Office of Early Learning to submit the annual report
20 to the Governor and the Legislature within a certain
21 timeframe; providing for the scheduled expiration of
22 the assistance program analysis project; providing an
23 effective date.
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27 Section 1. Subsections (6) and (15) of section 1002.81,
28 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
29 1002.81 Definitions.—Consistent with the requirements of 45
30 C.F.R. parts 98 and 99 and as used in this part, the term:
31 (6) “Earned income” means gross remuneration derived from
32 work, professional service, or self-employment. The term
33 includes commissions, bonuses, back pay awards, and the cash
34 value of all remuneration paid in a medium other than cash.
35 (15) “Unearned income” means income other than earned
36 income. The term includes, but is not limited to:
37 (a) Documented alimony and child support received.
38 (b) Social security benefits.
39 (c) Supplemental security income benefits.
40 (d) Workers’ compensation benefits.
41 (e) Reemployment assistance or unemployment compensation
42 benefits.
43 (f) Veterans’ benefits.
44 (g) Retirement benefits.
45 (h) Temporary cash assistance under chapter 414.
46 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
47 1002.87, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
48 1002.87 School readiness program; eligibility and
49 enrollment.—
50 (1) Each early learning coalition shall give priority for
51 participation in the school readiness program as follows:
52 (a) Priority shall be given first to a child younger than
53 13 years of age from a family that includes a parent who is
54 receiving temporary cash assistance under chapter 414 and
55 subject to the federal work requirements or a parent who has an
56 Intensive Service Account or an Individual Training Account
57 under s. 445.009.
58 Section 3. (1) The Office of Early Learning within the
59 Department of Education shall, in coordination with the
60 University of Florida Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in
61 Early Childhood Studies, conduct an analysis of, at a minimum,
62 recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
63 established under 7 U.S.C. ss. 2011 et seq., the temporary cash
64 assistance program established under chapter 414, Florida
65 Statutes, the Medicaid program under s. 409.963, Florida
66 Statutes, the school readiness program under part VI of chapter
67 1002, Florida Statutes, and the housing choice voucher program
68 established under 42 U.S.C. s. 1437.
69 (2) The analysis must include a review of eligibility
70 criteria, the manner in which each program establishes and
71 documents eligibility and disbursement policies, the frequency
72 of eligibility determinations, and the number of families
73 receiving multiple program services as compared to the total
74 number of eligible families.
75 (3) As part of the analysis, the University of Florida
76 Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies
77 shall develop participant profiles based on the number of
78 families receiving multiple program services which include
79 family composition and the most frequent program services or
80 combination of services families are accessing in each county or
81 geographic region.
82 (4) Each agency responsible for the administration of a
83 program that is required to be analyzed under subsection (1)
84 shall enter into a data-sharing agreement with the Office of
85 Early Learning and the University of Florida Anita Zucker Center
86 for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies by September 1, 2021.
87 Upon execution of the data-sharing agreement, each such agency,
88 by November 1, 2021, shall submit a program services data file
89 to the University of Florida Anita Zucker Center for Excellence
90 in Early Childhood Studies which contains program service data
91 from the preceding 10 federal fiscal years, as available. By
92 November 1, 2022, and each November 1 thereafter, each such
93 agency shall submit a supplemental data file to the University
94 of Florida Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood
95 Studies containing program service data from the preceding
96 federal fiscal year.
97 (5) By each June 30, the University of Florida Anita Zucker
98 Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies shall provide a
99 report to the Office of Early Learning based on the results of
100 the analysis required by this section.
101 (6) Within 30 days after receiving the report, the Office
102 of Early Learning shall submit it to the Governor, the President
103 of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
104 (7) This section shall expire on June 30, 2023, unless
105 reviewed and reenacted by the Legislature before that date.
106 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.