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.