(1) LEGISLATIVE INTENT; PURPOSE. The Legislature recognizes that the years of a child's life between birth and the third birthday are critical for fostering intellectual ability, language competence, physical development, and social skills. The Florida First Start Program is intended as a home-school partnership designed to give children with disabilities and children at risk of future school failure the best possible start in life and to support parents in their role as the children's first teachers. The purpose of the program is to assist parents to achieve their own goals for education and self-sufficiency and to teach parents how to foster their child's development in the crucial early years of life. The program must assist school districts in providing early, high-quality parent education and support services that enable the parents to enhance their children's intellectual, language, physical, and social development, thus maximizing the children's overall progress during the first 3 years of life, laying the foundation for future school success, and minimizing the development of disabilities and developmental problems which interfere with learning.

(2) PROGRAM. There is hereby created the Florida First Start Program for children from birth to 3 years of age and their parents. The program must be administered, implemented, and conducted by school districts pursuant to a plan developed and approved as provided in this section.

(3) PLAN. Each school board may submit to the Commissioner of Education a plan for conducting a Florida First Start Program. Each plan and subsequent amended plan shall be developed in cooperation with the district interagency coordinating council on early childhood services established pursuant to s. 230.2305 and the Interagency Prekindergarten Council for Children with Disabilities, and shall be approved by the commissioner. A district school board's plan must be designed to serve children from birth to 3 years of age who are disabled or at risk of future school failure and to serve their parents. For the purposes of this section, the term "children with disabilities or at risk of future school failure" includes any child who has one or more of the characteristics described in s. 411.202(9).

(4) PLAN APPROVAL. To be considered for approval, each plan, or amendment to a plan, must be based on current research findings regarding the growth and development of infants and young children and must include the following program components:

(a) The establishment of parent resource centers located in neighborhood schools. Parent resource centers may be established in cooperation with and jointly funded through the community education program established pursuant to s. 239.401.

(b) Visits, at least once a month, by trained parent educators from the parent resource center, who shall inform the parents about stages of child development and suggest methods for parents to encourage children's intellectual, language, physical, and social development. Parent educators shall also offer guidance on home safety, nutrition, effective discipline, constructive play activities, and other topics.

(c) Monthly group meetings for parents with similarly aged children held at the parent resource centers.

(d) Periodic formal educational and medical screening for the children.

(e) A procedure to help parents identify their goals for education and self-sufficiency and to monitor their progress toward achievement of their goals. The program must provide a referral network to help parents who need special assistance, for themselves or their children, that is beyond the scope of this program.

(f) Assurances that each school parent resource center shall be staffed by a coordinator trained in parent education and holding a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution with a major in early childhood education, child development, child psychology, home economics, social work, or nursing.

(g) A method for training parent educators and for recruiting parent educators from among the families in the school's attendance zone. Training for parent educators shall include, but not be limited to, child growth and development, health, safety, nutrition, identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect, developmentally appropriate activities for young children, and avoidance of income-based, race-based, and gender-based stereotyping.

(h) An inservice staff development component, including arrangements for staff access to child development associate certificate training or its equivalent, coordination with local teacher education centers established under [Footnote 1] s. 231.603, and integration with district master inservice plans required under s. 236.0811.

(i) Coordination with district prekindergarten early intervention programs and other programs serving preschool children and their families.

(5) EVALUATION. Each school district shall conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program. This evaluation must include assessment of the children's behavior, growth and development, and achievement; the parents' success in meeting their own goals for education and self-sufficiency; and the parents' continued involvement with the education of their children. The results of this evaluation must be maintained by the school district and made available to the public upon request.

(6) MONITORING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. The commissioner shall monitor each district program at least annually to determine compliance with the district plan and the provisions of this section. The department shall develop manuals and guidelines for the development of district plans and shall provide technical assistance to ensure that each district program maintains high standards of quality and effectiveness. The department shall identify exemplary programs in the state to serve as model Florida First Start Programs and shall disseminate information on these programs to all districts.

(7) ANNUAL REPORT. Each district school board that implements a program under this section shall, with the assistance of the district interagency coordinating council on early childhood services, submit an annual report of its program to the commissioner. The report must describe the overall program operations, activities of the district interagency coordinating council, expenditures, the number of children served, staff training and qualifications, and evaluation findings.

(8) COORDINATION.

(a) The Florida First Start Program shall be included under the jurisdiction of the State Coordinating Council for Early Childhood Services established pursuant to s. 411.222. The council shall make recommendations for effective implementation of the program and shall advise the Department of Education on needed legislation, rules, and technical assistance to ensure the continued implementation of an effective program.

(b) Each school district shall develop, implement, and evaluate its program in cooperation with the district interagency coordinating council established under s. 230.2305.

(9) FUNDING. Funding for the Florida First Start Program must be determined annually in the General Appropriations Act. History: s. 13, ch. 89-379; ss. 1, 2, ch. 90-288; s. 36, ch. 92-136; s. 3, ch. 94-303; ss. 1, 4, ch. 95-192; s. 62, ch. 95-280; s. 3, ch. 95-321. [Footnote 1] Note. Repealed by s. 2, ch. 95-236.