Sec. 4-67x. Child Poverty and Prevention Council established. Duties. Ten-year plan. Prevention goals, recommendations and outcome measures. Protocol for state contracts. Agency reports. Council repor
Sec. 4-67x. Child Poverty and Prevention Council established. Duties. Ten-year plan. Prevention goals, recommendations and outcome measures. Protocol
for state contracts. Agency reports. Council report to General Assembly. Termination of council. (a) There shall be a Child Poverty and Prevention Council consisting
of the following members or their designees: The Secretary of the Office of Policy and
Management, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the speaker of the House of
Representatives, the minority leader of the Senate and the minority leader of the House
of Representatives, the Commissioners of Children and Families, Social Services, Correction, Developmental Services, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Transportation, Public Health, Education, Economic and Community Development and Health
Care Access, the Labor Commissioner, the Chief Court Administrator, the chairperson
of the Board of Governors of Higher Education, the Child Advocate, the chairperson
of the Children's Trust Fund and the executive directors of the Commission on Children
and the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. The Secretary of the Office
of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee, shall be the chairperson of the
council. The council shall (1) develop and promote the implementation of a ten-year
plan, to begin June 8, 2004, to reduce the number of children living in poverty in the
state by fifty per cent, and (2) within available appropriations, establish prevention goals
and recommendations and measure prevention service outcomes in accordance with
this section in order to promote the health and well-being of children and families.
(b) The ten-year plan shall contain: (1) An identification and analysis of the occurrence of child poverty in the state, (2) an analysis of the long-term effects of child poverty
on children, their families and their communities, (3) an analysis of costs of child poverty
to municipalities and the state, (4) an inventory of state-wide public and private programs
that address child poverty, (5) the percentage of the target population served by such
programs and the current state funding levels, if any, for such programs, (6) an identification and analysis of any deficiencies or inefficiencies of such programs, and (7) procedures and priorities for implementing strategies to achieve a fifty per cent reduction in
child poverty in the state by June 30, 2014. Such procedures and priorities shall include,
but not be limited to, (A) vocational training and placement to promote career progression for parents of children living in poverty, (B) educational opportunities, including
higher education opportunities, and advancement for such parents and children, including, but not limited to, preliteracy, literacy and family literacy programs, (C) housing
for such parents and children, (D) day care and after-school programs and mentoring
programs for such children and for single parents, (E) health care access for such parents
and children, including access to mental health services and family planning, (F) treatment programs and services, including substance abuse programs and services, for such
parents and children, and (G) accessible childhood nutrition programs.
(c) In developing the ten-year plan, the council shall consult with experts and providers of services to children living in poverty and parents of such children. The council
shall hold at least one public hearing on the plan. After the public hearing, the council
may make any modifications that the members deem necessary based on testimony
given at the public hearing.
(d) Funds from private and public sources may be accepted and utilized by the
council to develop and implement the plan and the provisions of this section.
(e) Not later than January 1, 2005, the council shall submit the plan, in accordance
with section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having
cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and human services and to the select
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children,
along with any recommendations for legislation and funding necessary to implement
the plan.
(f) (1) On or before January first of each year from 2006 to 2015, inclusive, the
council shall report, in accordance with section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees
of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and
human services and to the select committee of the General Assembly having cognizance
of matters relating to children on the implementation of the plan, progress made toward
meeting the child poverty reduction goal specified in subsection (a) of this section and
the extent to which state actions are in conformity with the plan. The council shall meet
at least two times annually for the purposes set forth in this section.
(2) On or before January first of each year from 2007 to 2015, inclusive, the council
shall, within available appropriations, report, in accordance with section 11-4a, to the
Governor and the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance
of matters relating to appropriations, education, human services and public health and
to the select committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating
to children, on the state's progress in prioritizing expenditures in budgeted state agencies
with membership on the council in order to fund prevention services. The report shall
include (A) a summary of measurable gains made toward the child poverty and prevention goals established in this section; (B) a copy of each such agency's report on prevention services submitted to the council pursuant to subsection (g) of this section; (C)
examples of successful interagency collaborations to meet the child poverty and prevention goals established in this section; and (D) recommendations for prevention investment and budget priorities. In developing such recommendations, the council shall consult with experts and providers of services to children and families.
(g) (1) On or before November first of each year from 2006 to 2014, inclusive,
each budgeted state agency with membership on the council that provides prevention
services to children shall, within available appropriations, report to the council in accordance with this subsection.
(2) Each agency report shall include at least two prevention services not to exceed
the actual number of prevention services provided by the agency. For each prevention
service reported by the agency, the agency report shall include (A) a statement of the
number of children and families served, (B) a description of the preventive purposes of
the service, (C) for reports due after November 1, 2006, a description of performance-based standards and outcomes included in relevant contracts pursuant to subsection (h)
of this section, and (D) any performance-based vendor accountability protocols.
(3) Each agency report shall also include (A) long-term agency goals, strategies
and outcomes to promote the health and well-being of children and families, (B) overall
findings on the effectiveness of prevention within such agency, (C) a statement of
whether there are methods used by such agency to reduce disparities in child performance and outcomes by race, income level and gender, and a description of such methods,
if any, and (D) other information the agency head deems relevant to demonstrate the
preventive value of services provided by the agency. Long-term agency goals, strategies
and outcomes reported under this subdivision may include, but need not be limited to,
the following:
(i) With respect to health goals, increasing (I) the number of healthy pregnant
women and newborns, (II) the number of youths who adopt healthy behaviors, and (III)
access to health care for children and families;
(ii) With respect to education goals, increasing the number of children who (I) are
ready for school at an appropriate age, (II) learn to read by third grade, (III) succeed
in school, (IV) graduate from high school, and (V) successfully obtain and maintain
employment as adults;
(iii) With respect to safety goals, decreasing (I) the rate of child neglect and abuse,
(II) the number of children who are unsupervised after school, (III) the incidence of
child and youth suicide, and (IV) the incidence of juvenile crime; and
(iv) With respect to housing goals, increasing access to stable and adequate housing.
(h) Not later than July 1, 2006, the Office of Policy and Management shall, within
available appropriations, develop a protocol requiring state contracts for programs
aimed at reducing poverty for children and families to include performance-based standards and outcome measures related to the child poverty reduction goal specified in
subsection (a) of this section. Not later than July 1, 2007, the Office of Policy and
Management shall, within available appropriations, require such state contracts to include such performance-based standards and outcome measures. The Secretary of the
Office of Policy and Management may consult with the Commission on Children to
identify academic, private and other available funding sources and may accept and utilize
funds from private and public sources to implement the provisions of this section.
(i) For purposes of this section, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee, shall be responsible for coordinating all necessary
activities, including, but not limited to, scheduling and presiding over meetings and
public hearings.
(j) The council shall terminate on June 30, 2015.
(P.A. 04-238, S. 1; P.A. 05-244, S. 1; P.A. 06-179, S. 3; 06-196, S. 27; P.A. 07-47, S. 1; 07-73, S. 2(b); 07-166, S. 1;
07-217, S. 6.)
History: P.A. 04-238 effective June 8, 2004; P.A. 05-244 made technical changes, added executive director of Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities as council member in Subsec. (a), specified mandatory minimum number of
meeting times and reporting requirements in Subsec. (f) and required development and implementation of state contract
protocol in new Subsec. (g), redesignating existing Subsecs. (g) and (h) as Subsecs. (h) and (i), respectively, effective July
11, 2005; P.A. 06-179 amended Subsec. (a) to insert Subdiv. designators and substitute "Child Poverty and Prevention
Council" for "Child Poverty Council", to add the Chief Court Administrator, to delete the chairperson of the State Prevention
Council, to add "promote the implementation of" re ten-year plan, and to add Subdiv. (2) re establishing prevention goals
and recommendations and measuring outcomes, amended Subsecs. (b) and (c) to add "ten-year" re plan, amended Subsec.
(f) to insert Subdiv. (1) designator and provide that meetings held at least twice annually shall be for the purposes set forth
in the section, inserted new Subsecs. (f)(2) and (g) re council and agency reports, and redesignated existing Subsecs. (g)
to (i) as Subsecs. (h) to (j) (Revisor's note: In Subsec. (f)(2) the word "this" in the phrase "this subsection (g) of this section"
was deleted editorially by the Revisor's for accuracy); P.A. 06-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (g), effective June
7, 2006; P.A. 07-47 amended Subsec. (f)(2) to extend the council's annual reporting requirement re funding of prevention
services to the Governor and the General Assembly to January 1, 2015, amended Subsec. (g)(1) to extend the annual
reporting requirement of budgeted agencies to the council to November 1, 2014, and made technical and conforming
changes in Subsecs. (f) and (g); pursuant to P.A. 07-73 "Commissioner of Mental Retardation" was changed editorially
by the Revisors to "Commissioner of Developmental Services", effective October 1, 2007; P.A. 07-166 amended Subsec.
(a) to make technical changes, effective June 19, 2007; P.A. 07-217 made technical changes in Subsec. (a), effective July
12, 2007.