House Bill 216

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-1-4, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ESTABLISH THE MISSISSIPPI EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION INCENTIVE PROGRAM BY REQUIRING THE OFFICE OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES AND THE OFFICE OF YOUTH SERVICES WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A VOLUNTARY QUALITY RATING SYSTEM (QRS) FOR THE PURPOSE OF IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF ALL LICENSED EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS AND FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME SETTINGS; TO REQUIRE THE OFFICE OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES AND THE OFFICE OF YOUTH SERVICES TO DEVELOP AND ADMINISTER FUNDS TO CREATE CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL (CCR&R) AGENCIES THROUGH A STATEWIDE NETWORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES AND/OR NON-PROFIT COMMUNITY ENTITIES; TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A TEACHER WAGE INCENTIVE PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 43-1-4, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-1-4. The Department of Human Services shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To provide basic services and assistance statewide to needy and disadvantaged individuals and families.

(b) To promote integration of the many services and programs within its jurisdiction at the client level thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery and providing easier access to clients.

(c) To develop a statewide comprehensive service delivery plan in coordination with the Board of Health, the Board of Mental Health, and the Department of Finance and Administration. Such plan shall be developed and presented to the Governor by January 1, 1990.

(d) To employ personnel and expend funds appropriated to the department to carry out the duties and responsibilities assigned to the department by law.

(e) To fingerprint and perform a criminal history record check on every employee or volunteer (i) who has direct access to clients of the department who are children or vulnerable adults, or (ii) who are in a position of fiduciary responsibility. Every such employee and volunteer shall provide a valid current social security number and/or driver's license number which shall be furnished to conduct the criminal history record check. If no disqualifying record is identified at the state level, fingerprints shall be forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check.

(f) To establish the Mississippi Early Childhood Education Incentive Program by requiring the Office of Family and Children's Services and the Office of Youth Services to develop and implement a voluntary Quality Rating System (QRS) for the purpose of improving the quality of all licensed early childhood education and after school programs and family child care home settings to be phased in over the next five (5) years beginning with October 1, 2006. The QRS criteria will be the basis for the QRS and shall address the following components: program standards, accountability, practitioner outreach, support and training, parent/consumer education around quality early childhood programs, program incentives to increase quality and credentials of teaching staff.

In addition, the Office of Family and Children's Services and the Office of Youth Services shall develop and administer funds to create Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies through a statewide network in partnership with community colleges, universities and/or non-profit community entities. The CCR&R agencies shall: provide training to teachings specific to the QRS criteria to enable early childhood program quality to improve as measured by the QRS system; offer parent education information and training on what a quality early childhood program comprises and how to identify one, assist parents in locating child care programs that would meet the family's needs with regard to hours and days of operation, ages of children served, type of curriculum used by the program and other pertinent data related to program quality; and provide a site from which monitoring components of the QRS could operate. This program shall begin July 1, 2006.

SECTION 2. The Mississippi Department of Education shall develop and implement a teacher wage incentive program to allow participating early childhood programs in the Quality Rating System (QRS) to access funds to provide wage incentives to teachers that make nationally recognized educational advancements in the field per an incremental formula and criteria developed by the department. This program shall begin October 1, 2006.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.