0140-SB 0170

CHAPTER 140

SB 170-FN-A - FINAL VERSION

AN ACT establishing a Parents as Teachers Program in Sullivan county and making an appropriation therefor.

SPONSORS: Sen. Wheeler, Dist 21; Sen. Disnard, Dist 8; Sen. McCarley, Dist 6; Rep. Allison, Sull 10; Rep. Durham, Hills 22; Rep. Estabrook, Straf 8; Rep. M. Smith, Straf 8

This bill creates a Parents as Teachers Program in New Hampshire. There shall be 2 school district based programs, one in an urban community and one in a rural community in Sullivan county. The commissioner of the department of health and human services shall establish rules for the implementation of the program in these 2 communities.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT establishing a Parents as Teachers Program in Sullivan county and making an appropriation therefor.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

140:1 New Subdivision; Parents as Teachers Program. Amend RSA 193 by inserting after section 33 the following new subdivision:

I. This act recognizes the importance of the early childhood years upon children's brain development. Given appropriate stimulation, babies develop critical cognitive and social skills from birth to age 3. These early years provide a window of opportunity to enrich a child's cognitive and social development. The least intrusive and most successful way to impact early childhood experiences is to educate parents as to how they can best teach their children. Studies have shown that parents who are trained as to how to interact with their children can help their children enter school ready to learn and are more likely to stay involved with their child's educational process throughout the school years.

II. The Parents as Teachers Program was established in 1981 and has a presence in 49 states, including New Hampshire. The New Hampshire program is operated at 8 sites in New Hampshire by the Parent Information Center with funds from Goals 2000. The Parents as Teachers Program creates a partnership between parents and early childhood development professionals. Early childhood development professionals conduct monthly home visits and group meetings to help parents understand what to expect from their children in each stage of development and to teach parents how to encourage learning, manage challenging behavior and strengthen parent-child relationships.

III. The purpose of this subdivision is to expand the Parents as Teachers Program in New Hampshire by developing 2 school district based programs, one of which shall be in a rural community and one in an urban community.

I. The department of health and human services shall establish the school district based Parents as Teachers Program for a rural community in Sullivan county in cooperation with School Administrative Unit 6 and the Parent Information Center. Sullivan county will be the rural site for the program because of its unique demographic profile, including the high number of risk factors affecting its children, the demonstrated interest of its public officials in the program, and the capacity to link the program to existing programs within the county including Good Beginnings, the Parent Information Center, and department of health and human services programs in Sullivan county. The department shall use the following criteria to measure the effectiveness of the program:

(a) Whether the pilot program was implemented according to the criteria established by the Parents as Teachers National Center.

(b) The number of families served, the number of contacts with each family, and family profile information for the families served, including the percentages of families served by town.

(d) The number of children identified with Parents as Teachers participants that were identified as having developmental delays who have received services during the pilot program to address these delays.

(e) The number of children identified with Parents as Teachers participants who were, during the pilot program, the subject of a founded report of abuse or neglect pursuant to RSA 169-C.

(f) The results of 3-year-old developmental screening for all children of appropriate age identified with Parents as Teachers participants.

(g) The level of parental participant knowledge and achievement including, but not limited to GED completion, employment, and volunteerism.

II. The department shall, consistent with available funding and the expressed commitment of an urban community, establish a school district based Parents as Teachers Program in an urban community on or before January 1, 2002.

III. The programs established by this subdivision shall serve parents of children aged birth through 3 years of age. The programs shall utilize at least 1/2 of the appropriated funds to serve areas with high concentrations of low income families in order to serve parents who are educationally or economically disadvantaged.

193:36 Rulemaking. The commissioner of health and human services shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, necessary to carry out the provisions of this subdivision.

193:37 Report and Recommendation. On or before October 1, 2004, the department of health and human services shall prepare and submit to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the chairpersons of the house and senate education committees an evaluation and report of the school district based Parents as Teachers Programs established pursuant to this subdivision, and recommendations for the expansion of the program statewide. The evaluation and report shall incorporate the criteria set forth in RSA 193:35, I and shall include an assessment of the program's effectiveness based on those criteria.

140:2 Appropriation. There is hereby appropriated from any additional federal medicaid funds received by the department, pursuant to 1999, 225:2, in fiscal years 2000 and 2001 the sum of $65,000 for the biennium ending June 30, 2001, to the department of health and human services to implement and administer the provisions of this act by establishing the school district based Parents as Teachers Program in Sullivan county.

AN ACT establishing a parents as teachers pilot program in Sullivan county and making an appropriation therefor.

The Department of Education indicates this bill, as amended by the Senate, will increase state expenditures by $54,000 in FY 2000, $66,000 in FY 2001, $79,000 in FY 2002 and $84,000 in FY 2003. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue or county and local expenditures.

This bill appropriates $54,000 in FY 2000, $66,000 in FY 2001, $79,000 in FY 2002 and $84,000 in FY 2003 in general funds to the Department of Education for the purposes of this bill.

The Department states this bill will fund a "parents as teachers" pilot program in Sullivan County for four years. Each year the program will serve approximately 180 families over the four-year period at a cost of approximately $1,572 per family.