HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 1319 School Readiness Program
SPONSOR(S): Nixon and others
TIED BILLS: None IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 1918
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Early Learning & Elementary Education 18 Y, 0 N Sleap Brink
Subcommittee
2) PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee
3) Education & Employment Committee
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Established in 1999, Florida’s School Readiness Program provides subsidies for child care services and early
childhood education for children of low-income families; children in protective services who are at risk of abuse,
neglect, abandonment, or homelessness; foster children; and children with disabilities. The bill makes the
following changes to the School Readiness Program:
Revises the definition of “economically disadvantaged” to include a family income that does not exceed
150 percent of the federal poverty level or 70 percent of the state median income, whichever is greater.
Revises the duties of an Early Learning Coalition (ELC) to set minimum provider reimbursement rates
for each provider type and care level.
Requires each ELC to reimburse the minimum payment rate to each contracted school readiness
program provider, by provider type and care level, regardless of the provider’s private pay rate.
Revises the data collected and reported by the Department of Education (DOE) based on the revised
definition of economically disadvantaged.
Additionally, the bill requires the Division of Early Learning (DEL) within Florida’s DOE to amend its Child Care
and Development Fund Plan, which serves as the states’ application for federal School Readines s Program
funds, to identify child care personnel as essential workers so their children will be eligible to participate in the
School Readiness Program. The bill requires DEL to annually collect data and report on:
The total number of child care personnel whose children were determined eligible for the program, by
county.
The total number of eligible children of child care personnel served by the program, disaggregated by
age.
The total cost to serve eligible children of child care personnel.
Whether providing eligibility for the program for children of child care personnel led to employee
retention.
Provisions relating to identifying child care personnel as essential workers expire on September 30, 2024,
unless reenacted by the Legislature.
The bill does not appear to have a fiscal impact.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2022.
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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DATE: 2/7/2022
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
School Readiness Program
Present Situation
Overview
Established in 1999,1 Florida’s School Readiness Program provides subsidies for child care services
and early childhood education for children of low-income families; children in protective services who
are at risk of abuse, neglect, abandonment, or homelessness; foster children; and children with
disabilities.2 The School Readiness Program offers financial assistance for child care to these families
while supporting children in the development of skills for success in school. Additionally, the program
provides developmental screening and referrals to health and education specialists where needed.
These services are provided in conjunction with other programs for young children such as Head Start,
Early Head Start, Migrant Head Start, Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) and the Voluntary
Prekindergarten Education (VPK) Program.3
The School Readiness Program is a state-federal partnership between Florida’s Department of
Education (DOE) and the Office of Child Care of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services (OCCHHS).4 It is administered by early learning coalitions (ELC) at the county or regional
level.5 The DOE, through its Division of Early Learning (DEL), administers the program at the state
level. 6
Student enrollment in the School Readiness Program for the 2020-2021 school year, the most recent
year measured, was 209,801 with a wait list of 12,609. 7
Early Learning Coalition Responsibilities
In order to participate in the School Readiness Program, each ELC must submit a school readiness
plan to the DOE for approval.8 The plan must include, among other things:9
The minimum number of children to be served by care level.
A detailed budget outlining the estimated expenditures for state, federal, and local matching
funds.
A detailed accounting of all revenues and expenditures during the previous state fiscal year. 10
1 Section 1, ch. 99-357, L.O.F.
2 Sections 1002.81 and 1002.87, F.S.
3 Florida Department of Education, Division of Early Learning, Financial Assistance-School Readiness Program,
http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/parents/family -resources/financial-assistance (last visited Feb. 2, 2022).
4 See U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Care, Child Care and Development Fund Final Rule Frequently
Asked Questions, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/faq/child-care-and-development-fund-final-rule-frequently-asked-questions (last visited
Feb. 2, 2022).
5 Section 1002.83, F.S.
6 In 2021, the Legislature removed the Office of Early Learning from the DOE’s Office of Independent Education and Parental Cho ice
and established it as the Division of Early Learning within the DOE, under the direction of the Commissioner of Education and
oversight authority of the State Board of Education. See, e.g., ss. 2, 22, and 23, ch. 2021-010, L.O.F., codified at ss. 20.15(3)(c),
1001.03(8), and 1001.11, F.S. (2021)
7 Florida Department of Education, Division of Early Learning, Division of Early Learning Annual Report (2021), at 12, available at
http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/ Content/Uploads/floridaearlylearn ing.com/ files/DEL_Annual_Report_2020-
21_FINAL_ADA.pdf.
8 Section 1002.85(2), F.S.
9 Section 1002.85(2)(a)-(j), F.S.
10 Section 1002.85(2)(f), F.S.
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In addition to submitting a school readiness plan, each ELC has specific responsibilities for
implementing the plan, including:
Establishing a uniform waiting list to track eligible children.
Coordinating professional development.
Determining child and provider eligibility.
Establishing a parent sliding fee scale.
Monitoring School Readiness Program providers.
Adopting a provider rate payment schedule.11
School Readiness Eligibility
Federal regulations governing the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), 12 the primary funding
source for the School Readiness Program, authorize states to use grant funds for services, if: 13
the child is under 13 years of age or, at the state’s option, under age 19 if the child is physically
or mentally incapable of caring for himself or herself or under court supervision;
the child’s family income does not exceed 85 percent of the state’s median income for a family
of the same size; and
the child:
o resides with a parent or parents who work or attend job training or educational programs; or
o receives, or needs to receive, protective services.
Within these broad federal eligibility categories, Florida law specifies that ELCs must admit children into
the School Readiness Program according to the following priorities:
First priority is a child under 13 years of age from families in which an adult is receiving
temporary cash assistance and subject to federal work requirements. 14
Second priority is a child under the age of 9 who is “at-risk.”15
Subsequent priority is based on a local ELC’s assessment based on the needs of families and
provider capacity for the following:
o A child, birth to beginning of the school year for which the child is eligible for
kindergarten, from a working family that is economically disadvantaged and may include
such a child’s eligible siblings who are eligible to enter kindergarten through the summer
before sixth grade, provided that the ELC uses local revenues first.
o A child of a parent who transitions from the work program into employment from birth
through the summer before kindergarten.
o An at-risk child, ages 9 – 13. Such a child is given priority over other children if his or her
sibling is enrolled in the School Readiness Program under eligibility priorities 1 or 2 or
the first bullet of this section.
o A child younger than 13 years of age from a working family that is economically
disadvantaged.
11 See s. 1002.84(2)-(18), F.S.
12 45 C.F.R. parts 98 and 99.
13 45 C.F.R. s. 98.20(a). Florida does not provide school readiness funding for children 13-18 years of age who are physically or
mentally incapable of self-care or under court supervision. See Florida’s Office of Early Learning, Florida Child Care Development
Fund (CCDF) Plan with Conditional Approval Letter for FY 2019‐2021, at 53, available at
http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/ Content/Uploads/floridaearlylearn ing.com/ files/CCDBG_FY2019 -
2021CCDFPlanFINA L_FINAL_ 4.9.19.pdf. [hereinafter CCDF State Plan].
14 Recipients of assistance under a state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant must meet Federal work
requirements. These work requirements require a state to meet or exceed minimum rates of recipients participating in “work
activities,” e.g., employment, education, job search, community service, and vocational training. 42 U.S.C. s. 607(a)-(d). Under
Florida law, the maximu m number of hours a recipient of subsidized child care, who is not otherwise exempt from work activity , may
be required to work is 40 hours per week. Section 445.024(2), F.S.
15 At-risk children include, among other things, children who are homeless or who may be experiencing abuse, neglect, abandonment
or exploitation, children under the supervision of DCF or a contracted provider, or children placed in court -ordered, long term custody
or under the guardianship of a relative after termination of supervision by DCF or its contracted provider. Section 1002.81(1), F.S.
(definition of “at-risk child”).
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o A child younger than 13 years of age whose parent transitions from the work program
into employment.
o A child who is not younger than 3 years of age who has a current individual education
plan with a Florida school district. Such a child is eligible until he or she is old enough for
kindergarten admission.
o A child who is also concurrently enrolled in the Head Start program and the VPK
Program.16
Under current law, a working family that is economically disadvantaged is defined as a family whose
income does not exceed 150 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) for family size.17 Based on the
2021 Federal Poverty Guidelines, 150 percent of the FPL for a household of four is an annual gross
income of $39,750.18
An economically disadvantaged family is eligible to receive subsidies for child care under the School
Readiness Program as long as the family size income is at or below 150 percent of the FPL for initial
eligibility and at or below 85 percent of the state median income for continued eligibility. 19 For a
household of four, 85 percent is an annual gross income of $65,703.20
In 2021, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and
Families (HHS) issued guidance to states administering CCDF discretionary funds appropriated in the
Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act.21 The CRRSA Act
authorized states to use funds to provide child care assistance to health care sector employees,
emergency responders, sanitation workers, farmworkers, and other workers deemed essential. 22 Each
state could define which workers were to be considered essential.23 Florida provided child care and
early learning services to 28,000 children of first responders and health care workers, regardless of
income, at free or reduced rates.24 The program ended on March 31, 2021.
The HHS requires states to amend their CCDF Plan for substantial program changes such as changes
in program eligibility.25 Florida’s draft 2022-2024 CCDF State Plan does not define essential workers for
the purpose of providing eligibility for services.26
16 Section 1002.87(1)(c), F.S.
17 Section 1002.81(6), F.S. Economically disadvantaged also includes being a child of a working migratory family or an agricultural
worker who is employed by more than one agricultural employer during the course of a year, and whose income varies according to
weather conditions and market stability.
18 Florida Department of Education, Office of Early Learning, Memo-2021 Sliding Fee Schedule, Program Guidance 400.01 Federal
Poverty Guidelines and State Median Income Estimates- OEL 2021-006 (March 11, 2021), available at
http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/ Content/Uploads/floridaearlylearn ing.com/ files/SlidingFeeScaleOEL2021 -006Final_ADA.pdf;
Florida Department of Education, Office of Early Learning, 2021 Sliding Fee Scale Model (March 11, 2021), available at
http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/ Content/Uploads/floridaearlylearn ing.com/ files/2021%20SlidingFeeScaleModel_2021-
22%20Final_ADA_Revised.pdf.
19 Rule 6M-4.200(2)(b)3.a., F.A.C.
20 Florida Department of Education, Office of Early Learning, Memo-2021 Sliding Fee Schedule, Program Guidance 400.01 Federal
Poverty Guidelines and State Median Income Estimates- OEL 2021-006 (March 11, 2021), available at
http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/ Content/Uploads/floridaearlylearn ing.com/ files/SlidingFeeScaleOEL2021 -006Final_ADA.pdf;
Florida Department of Education, Office of Early Learning, 2021 Sliding Fee Scale Model (March 11, 2021), available at
http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/ Content/Uploads/floridaearlylearn ing.com/ files/2021%20SlidingFeeScaleModel_2021-
22%20Final_ADA_Revised.pdf.
21 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CCDF-ACF-IM-2021 (April 14, 2021), available at
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/occ/CCDF-ACF-IM-2021-01.pdf.
22 Id. at 4
23 Id.
24 Florida Department of Education, Division of Early Learning, COVID-19 Resources, http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/covid-
19-resources (last visited Feb. 3, 2022).
25 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CCDF-ACF-IM-2021 (April 14, 2021), at 14, available at
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/occ/CCDF-ACF-IM-2021-01.pdf.
26 See Florida Department of Education, Division of Early Learning, 2022-2024 Draft Child Care Development Fund Plan, available
at http://www.floridaearlylearning.com/ Content/Uploads/floridaearlylearning.co m/files/2022 -
2024_Draft_Child CareDevelop mentFundStatePlan(CCDF).pdf.
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Effect of Proposed Changes
The bill requires the DEL to amend its CCDF Plan, which serves as the states’ application for School
Readiness Program funds to the OCCHHS, to identify Florida’s child care personnel as essential
workers so their children will be eligible for the School Readiness Program. Child care personnel would
still be subject to statutorily required priority of service27 and family income requirements.28
The bill requires DEL to annually collect and report on:
The total number of child care personnel whose children were determined eligible for the
program, by county.
The total number of eligible children of child care personnel served by the program,
disaggregated by age.
The total cost to serve eligible children of child care personnel.
Whether providing eligibility for the program for children of child care personnel led to employee
retention.
Under the bill, the requirements to amend the CCDF and collect and report on providing School
Readiness Program services to children of child care personnel expires on September 30, 2024, unless
reenacted by the Legislature.
The bill revises the definition of “economically disadvantaged” to include a family income that does not
exceed 150 percent of the federal poverty level or 70 percent of the state median income, whichever is
greater. Under the revised definition, using 2021 guidelines, a household of four would be eligible to
receive subsides for child care under the School Readiness Program if their income does not exceed
$54,108.60, which is 70 percent of the state median income for that size household. 29 The c