§ 483-G — Early childhood advisory council

§ 483-g. Early childhood advisory council. 1. There is hereby\nestablished within the council an early childhood advisory council to\npromote a comprehensive and high quality early childhood system. Members\nof the early childhood advisory council shall be appointed by the\ngovernor and shall include, but not be limited to, to the maximum extent\npossible:\n (a) a representative of the office of children and family services;\n (b) a representative of the state education department;\n (c) a representative of local educational agencies;\n (d) a representative of institutions of higher education in the state;\n (e) a representative of local providers of early childhood education\nand development services;\n (f) a representative of head start agencies, including migrant and\nseasonal head start programs and Indian head start programs;\n (g) the director of the head start collaboration office;\n (h) a representative from the department of health;\n (i) a representative of the office of temporary and disability\nassistance;\n (j) a representative of the office of mental health;\n (k) a representative of the office for people with developmental\ndisabilities;\n (l) a representative of the empire state development corporation;\n (m) a representative of the division of the budget;\n (n) at least five representatives of the business community; and\n (o) representatives of other entities determined to be relevant by the\ngovernor.\n 2. The governor shall also designate the two chairpersons to the early\nchildhood advisory council.\n 3. The early childhood advisory council shall, in addition to any\nresponsibilities assigned by the governor:\n (a) conduct a periodic statewide needs assessment concerning the\nquality and availability of early childhood education and development\nprograms and services for children from birth to school entry, including\nan assessment of the availability of high-quality pre-kindergarten\nservices for low-income children in the state;\n (b) identify opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration and\ncoordination among federally funded and state funded child development,\nchild care, and early childhood education programs and services,\nincluding collaboration and coordination among state agencies\nresponsible for administering such programs;\n (c) develop recommendations for increasing the overall participation\nof children in existing federal, state, and local child care and early\nchildhood education programs, including outreach to underrepresented and\nspecial populations;\n (d) develop recommendations regarding the establishment of a unified\ndata collection system for public early childhood education and\ndevelopment programs and services throughout the state;\n (e) develop recommendations regarding statewide professional\ndevelopment and career advancement plans for early childhood educators\nin the state;\n (f) assess the capacity and effectiveness of two-year and four-year\npublic and private institutions of higher education in the state toward\nsupporting the development of early childhood educators, including the\nextent to which such institutions have in place articulation agreements,\nprofessional development and career advancement plans, and practice or\ninternships for students to spend time in a head start or\npre-kindergarten program;\n (g) develop and implement strategies to engage business and civic\nleaders and organizations in early learning planning and advocacy at the\nstate and local level;\n (h) increase business, civic and public awareness of the importance of\nearly childhood education, including, but not limited to, the\ndistribution of literature through mail or online, organizing of\nmeetings and events to promote the cost benefit of investments in\nlearning and the hosting of an annual economic summit on early childhood\ninvestment;\n (i) develop recommendations for increasing public-private investments\nin early childhood and strategies for maximizing resources; and\n (j) make recommendations for improvements in state early learning\nstandards and undertake efforts to develop high-quality comprehensive\nearly learning standards, as appropriate.\n 4. Members of the early childhood advisory council shall serve on\nworkgroups tasked with implementing the duties required pursuant to\nsubdivision three of this section. Such workgroups may be established as\nneeded, provided however that there shall be a permanent early learning\ninvestment workgroup focused on implementation of, at a minimum, the\nduties described in paragraphs (g), (h) and (i) of subdivision three of\nthis section. Membership of the early learning investment workgroup\nshall include, but not be limited to, representatives of the business\ncommunity appointed to the council in accordance with paragraph (n) of\nsubdivision one of this section.\n 5. The early childhood advisory council shall hold public hearings and\nprovide an opportunity for public comment on the activities described in\nsubdivision three of this section.\n 6. The early childhood advisory council shall submit a statewide\nstrategic report addressing the activities described in subdivision\nthree of this section to the director of the head start collaboration\noffice, the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary\npresident of the senate. After submission of a statewide strategic\nreport, the early childhood advisory council shall meet periodically to\nreview any implementation of the recommendations in such report and any\nchanges in state and local needs.\n