APPROVED CHAPTER
MAY 2, 2022 679
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO
_____
S.P. 220 - L.D. 533
An Act To Expand the Statewide Voluntary Early Childhood Consultation
Program
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 34-B MRSA §15011, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 481, §1, is amended to read:
§15011. Statewide voluntary early childhood consultation program
Beginning September 1, 2020 January 1, 2023, the commissioner shall implement a
statewide voluntary early childhood consultation program to provide support, guidance and
training to improve the abilities and skills of early care and education teachers and
providers working in public elementary schools, child care facilities as defined in Title 22,
section 8301‑A, subsection 1‑A, paragraph B, family child care settings and Head Start
programs serving infants and children who are 8 years of age or younger who are
experiencing challenging behaviors that put the infants or children at risk of learning
difficulties and removal from early learning and education settings, and to improve the
abilities and skills of families and foster parents with infants or children who are 8 years of
age or younger in the home who are experiencing challenging behaviors that put the infants
or children at risk of learning difficulties and removal from early learning and education
settings. Any record about a child created as a result of a consultation under this section
must be made available to the parents or guardians of that child and may not become part
of that child's education record. Fifty percent of the costs related to the program
implemented under this section must be paid from funds provided to the department under
the federal child and development block grant authorized under the federal Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990. The department shall seek and apply for available
federal funds or funds from any other source to fund the program implemented under this
section.
No later than January 1, 2023 and annually thereafter, the department shall submit a
report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and
human services matters and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having
jurisdiction over education matters relating to the status of implementing the program under
this section, the ability of the program to provide support and guidance to families,
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educators and providers working with children and the department's progress in seeking
and applying for additional funding to support the program.
Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and
allocations are made.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
Early Childhood Consultation Program Z280
Initiative: Provides ongoing funds for one Social Services Manager I position and one
Social Services Program Specialist II position and related All Other funding necessary for
the statewide voluntary early childhood consultation program, beginning on January 1,
2023.
GENERAL FUND 2021-22 2022-23
POSITIONS - LEGISLATIVE COUNT 0.000 2.000
Personal Services $0 $102,643
All Other $0 $9,537
__________ __________
GENERAL FUND TOTAL $0 $112,180
Early Childhood Consultation Program Z280
Initiative: Provides ongoing funding to continue the statewide voluntary early childhood
consultation program, beginning on January 1, 2023.
GENERAL FUND 2021-22 2022-23
All Other $0 $1,345,560
__________ __________
GENERAL FUND TOTAL $0 $1,345,560
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
DEPARTMENT OF
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 2021-22 2022-23
GENERAL FUND $0 $1,457,740
__________ __________
DEPARTMENT TOTAL - ALL FUNDS $0 $1,457,740
Page 2 - 130LR1779(05)


Statutes affected:
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 679: 34-B.15011