(a)As part of Early Start CT, the state, acting by and in the discretion of the Commissioner of Early Childhood, may enter into direct or third-party contracts to provide financial assistance to municipalities, local and regional boards of education, regional educational service centers, family resource centers, Head Start programs, preschool programs, nonprofit organizations, child care centers, group child care homes, family child care homes, as such terms are described in section 19a-77, and any other programs that meet standards established by the commissioner for the purpose of operating early care and education programs that focus on providing early childhood services based on economic, social or environmental conditions, including in regions with insufficient access to child care.
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
(a) As part of Early Start CT, the state, acting by and in the discretion of the Commissioner of Early Childhood, may enter into direct or third-party contracts to provide financial assistance to municipalities, local and regional boards of education, regional educational service centers, family resource centers, Head Start programs, preschool programs, nonprofit organizations, child care centers, group child care homes, family child care homes, as such terms are described in section 19a-77, and any other programs that meet standards established by the commissioner for the purpose of operating early care and education programs that focus on providing early childhood services based on economic, social or environmental conditions, including in regions with insufficient access to child care. At least sixty per cent of the eligible children enrolled in an early care and education program receiving financial assistance under Early Start CT shall be members of a family that is at or below seventy-five per cent of the state median income. No such financial assistance shall be available to (1) any such child care center, group child care home or family child care home unless such center or home has been licensed by the Commissioner of Early Childhood pursuant to section 19a-80 or 19a-87b, or (2) any such local or regional board of education or regional educational service center unless the preschool program is approved by the Department of Education. The commissioner shall ensure that the majority of such early care and education programs receiving such financial assistance shall serve children that reside in or attend early care and education programs located in priority school districts pursuant to section 10-266p, former priority school districts or towns with schools deemed severe need schools because forty per cent or more of the lunches served are served to students who are eligible for free or reduced price lunches pursuant to federal law. In determining whether to enter into a contract for financial assistance under this section, the commissioner may consider (A) a community's participation in the state's subsidized child care subsidy program established pursuant to section 17b-749, and (B) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's social vulnerability index determined by census tract. (b) Any contract for financial assistance entered into under this section shall be contingent upon available funding and a successful application submitted to the office and which has been informed by the appropriate local or regional governance partner's needs assessment and community plan, as described in section 10-550c . (c) The office, in operating and administering Early Start CT, may allocate an amount up to ten per cent of the total financial assistance under the contract with each local or regional governance partner established pursuant to section 10-550c , but not more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars, for coordination, program evaluation and administration. Such amount shall be increased by an amount equal to local funding provided for early childhood education coordination, program evaluation and administration, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars. Each local or regional governance partner shall designate a staff person to be responsible for such coordination, program evaluation and administration and to act as a liaison between the town or towns and the commissioner. (d) Any early care and education program receiving financial assistance under Early Start CT shall not discriminate based on ancestry, race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, learning, physical, intellectual or mental disability or any other protected class described in chapter 814c. (e) No financial assistance received as part of Early Start CT under this section shall be used to supplant federal, state or local funding received for early care and education on behalf of children in an early care and education program. (f) (1) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the office may pay, in an individual contract entered into under this section, a per-child rate or an amount per classroom that has been determined by the commissioner. (A) The per-child rate paid by the office under this section for each eligible child enrolled in a program under Early Start CT who is three or four years of age and each child who is five years of age and not eligible to enroll in school, pursuant to section 10-15c , shall be at least ten thousand five hundred dollars for each such child. The amount per classroom for such children described in this subparagraph shall be at an equivalent rate per child multiplied by the total capacity of the classroom as determined by the commissioner on a case by case basis and established in the contract. (B) The per-child rate paid by the office under this section for each eligible child enrolled in a program under Early Start CT who is under the age of three and enrolled in an infant or toddler classroom and not in a preschool classroom shall be at least thirteen thousand five hundred dollars for each such child. The amount per classroom for such children described in this subparagraph shall be at an equivalent rate per child multiplied by the total capacity of the classroom as determined by the commissioner on a case by case basis and established in the contract. (2) For purposes of implementing the provisions of this subsection, the commissioner shall develop policies and procedures governing classroom sizes, payments and required enrollment rates. The commissioner shall use data-driven, outcomes-based contract provisions to facilitate and incentivize full enrollment. (g) The office may use up to three per cent of funds allocated to the early care and education appropriation to evaluate program effectiveness and impact on participating children, families and programs, including, but not limited to, child outcomes, later school performance, quality standards, professional development and preparation, and parent engagement impact. (h) Any Early Start CT facility that has been approved to operate an early care or education program financed through the Connecticut Health and Education Facilities Authority and has received a commitment for debt service from the Department of Social Services, pursuant to section 17b-749i , on or before June 30, 2014, and on or after July 1, 2014, from the office shall be exempt from the requirement for issuance of requests for proposals.