Sec. 10-4o. (Formerly Sec. 17-605). Family resource center program. Guidelines for programs. Study. Grants. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 10-4o. (Formerly Sec. 17-605). Family resource center program. Guidelines for programs. Study. Grants. (a) The Department of Education, in conjunction with the Department of Social Services, shall coordinate a family resource center program to provide comprehensive child care services, remedial educational and literacy services, families-in-training programs and supportive services to parents who are recipients of temporary family assistance and other parents in need of such services. The family resource centers shall be located in or associated with public schools, and any family resource center established on or after July 1, 2000, shall be located in a public elementary school unless the Commissioner of Education waives such requirement. The commissioner shall determine the manner in which the grant recipients of such program, such as municipalities, boards of education and child care providers shall be selected. The family resource center shall provide: (1) Quality full-day child care and school readiness programs for children age three and older who are not enrolled in school and child care for children enrolled in school up to the age of twelve for before and after regular school hours and on a full-day basis during school holidays and school vacation, in compliance with all state statutes and regulations governing child day care and, in the case of the school readiness programs, in compliance with the standards set for such programs pursuant to section 10-16p; (2) support services to parents of newborn infants to ascertain their needs and provide them with referrals to other services and organizations and, if necessary, education in parenting skills; (3) support and educational services to parents whose children are participants of the child care services of the program and who are interested in obtaining a high school diploma or its equivalent. Parents and their preschool age children may attend classes in parenting and child learning skills together so as to promote the mutual pursuit of education and enhance parent-child interaction; (4) training, technical assistance and other support by the staff of the center to family day care providers in the community and serve as an information and referral system for other child care needs in the community or coordinate with such systems as may already exist in the community; (5) a families-in-training program to provide, within available appropriations, community support services to expectant parents and parents of children under the age of three. Such services shall include, but not be limited to, providing information and advice to parents on their children's language, cognitive, social and motor development, visiting a participant's home on a regular basis, organizing group meetings at the center for neighborhood parents of young children and providing a reference center for parents who need special assistance or services. The program shall provide for the recruitment of parents to participate in such program; and (6) a sliding scale of payment, as developed in consultation with the Department of Social Services, for child care services at the center. The center shall also provide a teen pregnancy prevention program for adolescents emphasizing responsible decision-making and communication skills.

      (b) The Department of Education, in consultation with representatives from family resource centers, within available appropriations, shall develop guidelines for family resource center programs. The guidelines shall include standards for program quality and design and identify short and long-term outcomes for families participating in such programs. The Department of Education, within available appropriations, shall provide a copy of such guidelines to each family resource center. Each family resource center shall use the guidelines to develop a program improvement plan for the next twelve-month period and shall submit the plan to the department. The plan shall include goals to be used for measuring such improvement. The department shall use the plan to monitor the progress of the center. Family resource centers in existence on July 1, 1997, shall be given a preference for grants for school readiness awarded by the Department of Education or the Department of Social Services and for financing pursuant to sections 10a-194c, 17b-749g and 17b-749h.

      (c) The Department of Education, within available appropriations, shall provide for a longitudinal study of family resource centers every three years.

      (d) The Commissioner of Education may provide grants to municipalities, boards of education and child care providers to carry out the purposes of subsection (a) of this section. Each family resource center shall have a program administrator who has at least two years of experience in child care, public administration or early childhood education and a master's degree in child development, early childhood education or a related field.

      (e) The Commissioner of Education may accept and receive on behalf of the department or any family resource center, subject to section 4b-22, any bequest, devise or grant made to the department or any family resource center for the purpose of establishing a new family resource center or expanding an existing center, and may hold and use such property for the purpose specified in such bequest, devise or gift.

      (P.A. 88-331, S. 1, 2; P.A. 89-55; P.A. 90-128, S. 1; P.A. 92-49; P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; 93-353, S. 45, 52; 93-435, S. 59, 95; P.A. 97-259, S. 21, 41; P.A. 00-220, S. 2, 43; P.A. 01-173, S. 6, 67; P.A. 03-76, S. 38.)

      History: P.A. 89-55 required that family resource center provide a families-in-training program and added new Subsec. (a)(5) re components of such a program, renumbering former Subdiv. (5) as (6); P.A. 90-128 added Subsec. (c) authorizing the commissioner to accept grants or gifts made for the purpose of establishing or expanding a family resource center; Sec. 17-31tt transferred to Sec. 17-605 in 1991; P.A. 92-49 amended Subsec. (a) to remove the requirement that there be at least three centers and that they be located in particular areas, to provide that the centers shall be associated with public schools rather than in public schools, and to remove the requirement that only first-time parents be served by the program and amended Subsec. (b) to modify the qualifications required for a program administrator; P.A. 93-262 and P.A. 93-435 authorized substitution of department of social services for department of human resources in new language added by P.A. 93-353, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-353 transferred the authority for the program from the department of human resources to the department of education, effective July 1, 1993; Sec. 17-605 transferred to Sec. 10-4o in 1995; P.A. 97-259 amended Subsec. (a) to substitute temporary family assistance for aid to families with dependent children, amended Subdiv. (1) to add school readiness programs and Subdiv. (6) to add consultation with the Department of Social Services, added new Subsecs. (b) and (c) re program guidelines and longitudinal study, and redesignated existing Subsecs. (b) and (c) as Subsecs. (d) and (e), effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 00-220 amended Subsec. (a) to add requirement for location in a public elementary school and for school readiness programs to be in compliance with the standards set pursuant to Sec. 10-16p, effective July 1, 2000; P.A. 01-173 amended Subsec. (a) to make a technical change, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 03-76 made technical changes in Subsec. (a), effective June 3, 2003.

      See Sec. 4b-31a re plan for colocation of family resource centers and school-based health clinics.