411.232  Children's Early Investment Program.--

(1)  CREATION.--There is hereby created the Children's Early Investment Program for young children who are at risk of developmental dysfunction or delay and for their families. This program shall coordinate a variety of resources to program participants through a responsible agent for the child and the child's family. The services and assistance provided shall focus on the family and shall be comprehensive. The programs and services offered shall enhance family independence and shall provide social and educational resources needed for healthy child development.

(2)  GOALS.--The goal of the Children's Early Investment Program is to encourage and assist an effective investment strategy for the at-risk young children in this state and their families so that they will develop into healthy and productive members of society. The Children's Early Investment Program is designed to provide intensive early intervention to at-risk expectant mothers, young children, and their families in order that this state will invest now for a future in which the workforce is skilled and stable; in which crime rates are reduced; and in which the social and economic costs of high-risk pregnancies and low birthweight babies are reduced. The objectives of the Children's Early Investment Program are to increase the percentage of children entering the school system who are ready and able to learn; to reduce teenage pregnancies among this at-risk population; to reduce the numbers of cocaine babies born in this state; to reduce the crime rate among these children as they grow up; to reduce the rate of school dropouts in this state and to increase the basic skills and ability of the future workforce. It is anticipated the efforts targeted now to expectant mothers and young children will show their greatest results in the years when these at-risk children enter school and when they are teenagers and young adults. Benefits are also anticipated, however, as the families of these children are assisted in addressing their own needs, and corresponding reductions in foster care placements, low birthweight babies, teen pregnancy, economic instability and dependence, and other signs of dysfunction are anticipated.

(3)  ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS.--

(a)  Initially, the program shall be directed to geographic areas where at-risk young children and their families are in greatest need because of an unfavorable combination of economic, social, environmental, and health factors, including, without limitation, extensive poverty, high crime rate, great incidence of low birthweight babies, high incidence of alcohol and drug abuse, and high rates of teenage pregnancy. The selection of a geographic site shall also consider the incidence of young children within these at-risk geographic areas who are cocaine babies, children of mothers who participate in the WAGES Program, children of teenage parents, low birthweight babies, and very young foster children. To receive funding under this section, an agency, board, council, or provider must demonstrate:

1.  Its capacity to administer and coordinate the programs and services in a comprehensive manner and provide a flexible range of services;

2.  Its capacity to identify and serve those children least able to access existing programs and case management services;

3.  Its capacity to administer and coordinate the programs and services in an intensive and continuous manner;

4.  The proximity of its facilities to young children, parents, and other family members to be served by the program, or its ability to provide offsite services;

5.  Its ability to use existing federal, state, and local governmental programs and services in implementing the investment program;

6.  Its ability to coordinate activities and services with existing public and private, state and local agencies and programs such as those responsible for health, education, social support, mental health, child care, respite care, housing, transportation, alcohol and drug abuse treatment and prevention, income assistance, employment training and placement, nutrition, and other relevant services, all the foregoing intended to assist children and families at risk;

7.  How its plan will involve project participants and community representatives in the planning and operation of the investment program;

8.  Its ability to participate in the evaluation component required in this section; and

9.  Its consistency with the strategic plan pursuant to s. 411.221.

(b)  While a flexible range of services is essential in the implementation of this act, the following services shall be considered the core group of services:

1.  Adequate prenatal care;

2.  Health services to the at-risk young children and their families;

3.  Infant and child care services;

4.  Parenting skills training;

5.  Education or training opportunities appropriate for the family; and

6.  Economic support.

Additional services may include, without limitation, alcohol and drug abuse treatment, mental health services, housing assistance, transportation, and nutrition services.

(4)  IMPLEMENTATION.--

(a)  The ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services or its designee shall implement the Children's Early Investment Program using the criteria provided in this section. The department or its designee shall evaluate and select the programs and sites to be funded initially. The initial contract awards must be made no later than January 15, 1990. No more than one of each of the following prototypes may be selected among the first sites to be funded:

1.  A program based in a county health department;

2.  A program based in an office of the ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services;

3.  A program based in a local school district;

4.  A program based in a local board or council that is responsible for coordinating and managing community resources from revenue sources earmarked for helping children and meeting their needs;

5.  A program based in a local, public or private, not-for-profit provider of services to children and their families; and

6.  A program based in a local government.

(b)  By January 1, 1993, the Children's Early Investment Program shall be available in all communities meeting the criteria in paragraph (3)(a) of this section. While the program will serve at-risk children at various ages, it is intended that the program will identify and expand to infants and their families as new participants and assist them in an intensive and continuous manner until age 3.

(5)  EVALUATION.--There shall be an independent third-party evaluation of the prototypes as specified in s. 411.204. The contract for the third-party evaluation shall be entered into pursuant to s. 411.204 prior to the prototype selection to ensure integrity of the evaluation design, ongoing monitoring and periodic review of progress, and a timely, comprehensive evaluation report. The evaluation shall be submitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and appropriate substantive committees and subcommittees of the Legislature by January 1, 1991, and biennially thereafter. The first longitudinal report on participant outcomes shall be due by January 1, 1995, or 5 years after the startup of the prototypes, whichever is later.

(6)  RULES FOR IMPLEMENTATION.--The ¹Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

History.--s. 3, ch. 89-379; s. 100, ch. 96-175; s. 204, ch. 97-101.