GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY-BASED COLLABORATIVE SERVICES TO CHILDREN 0-3 YEARS OF AGE
House Bill 4607 (H-2)
Sponsor: Rep. Brenda Clack
Committee: Families and Children's Services
Complete to 7-20-07
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4607 (H-2) AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON 6-27-07
The bill would amend the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Act (MCL 722.601, et al) by adding Section 9a to allow the State Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board, upon legislative appropriations or interdepartmental transfer, to fund grants for community-based collaborative prevention services and secondary prevention programs.
Essentially, the bill's provisions reflect existing boilerplate within the Department of Human Services budget act regarding this program (Section 517 of Article 10, 2006 PA 345). The provisions are also very similar to existing Section 32c of the School Aid Act (MCL 388.1632c), except that the School Aid section also references marriage promotion as a fundable service.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The state budget already contains appropriations of just over $6.1 million for the Zero to Three Secondary Prevention program within three separate state budget acts: $3.84 million in the Department of Human Services budget; $1.75 million in the School Aid Act, and $524,000 within the Department of Community Health budget.
Since the bill does not substantively change the scope of the current program or make any additional appropriations for the program, it would have no fiscal impact on the State or on local units of government.
DETAILED SUMMARY:
The following is a more detailed description of the bill.
Program Design
Under the bill, the programs must be designed to foster positive parenting skills, especially for parents of children under 3 years of age; improve parent and child interaction; improve school readiness; promote access to community services; increase local capacity to serve families at risk; improve school readiness; and support healthy family environments that discourage alcohol, tobacco, and drug use.
Fund Distribution
The State Board would be required to distribute funds through a request for proposals process it would establish in conjunction with the State Human Services Directors. Projects funded with awarded grants would have to do all of the following: be secondary prevention initiatives and voluntary to consumers, demonstrate that the planned services are part of a community's integrated comprehensive family support strategy endorsed by the local community collaborative, and provide a twenty-five percent local match—of which not more than ten percent could be in-kind services—unless the maximum percentage is waived by the Board and the State Human Services Directors.
The bill would define "State Human Services Directors" to mean the directors of the departments of Community Health, Education, Human Resources, and the chief executive officer of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation.
Report to Legislature
The Board would be to prepare and submit, not later than 122 days following the end of the fiscal year in which funds were disbursed, to the Governor, the State Human Services Directors, and the Legislature, an annual report of the outcomes achieved by the providers of the community-based collaborative prevention services for the previous year.
POSITIONS:
Department of Education supports the bill as amended. (6-27-07)
Citizen's Alliance to Uphold Special Education (CAUSE) supports the bill. (6-27-07)
A representative of Fight Crime: Invest In Kids testified in support of the bill. (6-27-07)
A representative of Michigan's Children testified in support of the bill. (6-27-07)
Children's Trust Fund of Michigan has not taken a position on the bill (7-18-07)
Fiscal Analyst: Bob Schneider
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.