HOUSE BILL NO. 630
INTRODUCED BY R. BUZZAS
A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT ESTABLISHING A CHILD AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE PURPOSE OF OFFERING COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE; REQUIRING THAT THE INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL FOR STATE PREVENTION PROGRAMS ADMINISTER THE GRANT PROGRAM; PROVIDING AN APPROPRIATION FROM MONEY RECEIVED THROUGH THE MONTANA TOBACCO SETTLEMENT; AMENDING SECTION 2-15-225, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
NEW SECTION. Section 1. Short title. [Sections 1 through 5] may be cited as "The Child and Youth Development Grant Program".
NEW SECTION. Section 2. Purpose -- intent for funding. (1) The purpose of [sections 1 through 5] is to offer competitive grant funds for community-based programs that prepare young people to meet the challenges of adolescence by providing positive experiences and relationships that assist in the development of skills necessary to become healthy and competent adults. The evidence shows that the most promising approaches to helping young people are those that foster positive youth development, build social and emotional competence, and link young people with mentors. These efforts involve all segments of the community, including families, schools, neighborhoods, congregations, and community members.
(2) It is the intent of the legislature that this program be funded in the future with interest income from any money received as a result of a claim against a tobacco company related to production, marketing, or use of tobacco products or from federal or state sources specific to child and youth development and prevention programs and services.
NEW SECTION. Section 3. Grant program -- eligibility criteria. (1) There is a child and youth development grant program administered by the interagency coordinating council for state prevention programs provided for in 2-15-225.
(2) Any community-based program may apply for a grant if the program meets the following criteria:
(a) The program must be community-based and serve children and youth.
(b) The program must provide for a coordinated approach that creates a strategy that considers a full range of prevention programs and provides opportunities to collaborate with other programs.
(c) The program must target efforts to develop assets or enhance protective factors and to reverse or reduce known risk factors and must focus on the areas of schools, community, family, and the individual.
(d) The program must design research programs based on demonstrated effectiveness and success, on the promise of effectiveness, and on established best practices and research.
(e) The program must assess needs and related problems based on objective data to identify trends and demographics.
(f) The program must set long-term goals, measurable short-term objectives based on community needs assessment, and benchmarks to measure the extent to which prevention efforts are effective.
(g) The program must evaluate progress toward goals and objectives and provide a basis to modify and strengthen the plan defined by the community.
NEW SECTION. Section 4. Applications. (1) A nonprofit organization may apply for a planning and implementation grant on a form prescribed by the interagency coordinating council for state prevention programs. The form must include but is not limited to:
(a) a detailed plan identifying specific activities for the programs receiving grants and their relationship to the purpose in [section 2], a timetable for the implementation and achievement of the activities in collaboration with existing resources of other community organizations and services that can have an immediate capacity for providing effective services that address the positive development of children and youth;
(b) a local match of cash, which may be redirected or an in-kind match as determined by the interagency coordinating council.
(2) At the end of each fiscal year, a grant recipient shall submit a program fiscal report that indicates the progress in meeting and achieving the detailed plan provided in the application under subsection (1). The report must also be submitted in subsequent applications, and past performance must be taken into account in reviewing new applications.
NEW SECTION. Section 5. Award of grants. (1) Grants must be awarded on a competitive basis by a formula determined by the interagency coordinating council for state prevention programs:
(a) to community boards that would oversee the planning, operation, and evaluation of local programs;
(b) to specific types of entities, including nonprofit organizations, school districts, local governments, and community coalitions; and
(c) for a 2-year period that is renewable based on successful achievement of program goals.
(2) (a) In granting funds, the following must be taken into consideration by the interagency coordinating council for state prevention programs:
(i) the population of children and youth who are 18 years of age and younger in a county or community that is seeking funds;
(ii) the extent to which the program has adopted a comprehensive and coordinated system to develop youth programs with the following general components:
(A) ongoing relationships with caring adults;
(B) safe places with structured activities;
(C) access to services that promote healthy lifestyles, including those designed to improve physical and mental health;
(D) opportunities for community service and civic participation; and
(E) opportunities to acquire marketable skills and competencies.
(b) Funds must be prioritized for youth programs that address specific, urgent areas of need, such as the lack of sufficient access to positive and constructive opportunities as provided in subsection (2)(a)(ii), based on a community prevention needs assessment.
(3) Grant funds may not be used to supplant local funds currently being used to support the activities proposed in the application.
Section 6. Section 2-15-225, MCA, is amended to read:
"2-15-225. Interagency coordinating council for state prevention programs. (1) There is an interagency coordinating council for state prevention programs consisting of the following members:
(a) the attorney general provided for in 2-15-501;
(b) the director of the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201;
(c) the superintendent of public instruction provided for in 2-15-701;
(d) the presiding officer of the Montana children's trust fund board;
(e) two persons appointed by the governor who have experiences related to the private or nonprofit provision of prevention programs and services;
(f) the administrator of the board of crime control provided for in 2-15-2006;
(g) the commissioner of labor and industry provided for in 2-15-1701;
(h) the director of the department of corrections provided for in 2-15-2301; and
(i) the state coordinator of Indian affairs provided for in 2-15-217.
(2) The coordinating council shall perform the following duties:
(a) develop, through interagency planning efforts, a comprehensive and coordinated prevention program delivery system that will strengthen the healthy development, well-being, and safety of children, families, individuals, and communities;
(b) develop appropriate interagency prevention programs and services that address the problems of at-risk children and families and that can be provided in a flexible manner to meet the needs of those children and families;
(c) study various financing options for prevention programs and services;
(d) ensure that a balanced and comprehensive range of prevention services is available to children and families with specific or multiagency needs;
(e) assist in development of cooperative partnerships among state agencies and community-based public and private providers of prevention programs;
(f) administer the child and youth development grant program provided for in [sections 1 through 5];
(f)(g) prepare and present to the legislature and to the appropriate standing and interim legislative committees a unified
budget for state prevention programs, which must be published in the governor's executive budget; and
(g)(h) develop, maintain, and implement benchmarks for state prevention programs. As used in this subsection,
"benchmark" means a specified reference point in the future that is used to measure the state of affairs at that point in time
and to determine progress toward or the attainment of an ultimate goal, which is an outcome reflecting the desired state of
affairs.
(3) The coordinating council shall cooperate with and report to any standing or interim legislative committee that is assigned to study the policies and funding for prevention programs or other state programs and policies related to children and families.
(4) The coordinating council must be compensated, reimbursed, and otherwise governed by the provisions of 2-15-122.
(5) The coordinating council is attached for administrative purposes only to the governor's office, which may assist the council by providing staff and budgetary, administrative, and clerical services that the council or its presiding officer requests.
(6) Staffing and other resources may be provided to the coordinating council only from state and nonstate resources donated to the council and from direct appropriations by each legislature."
NEW SECTION. Section 7. Appropriation. There is appropriated $2 million for each year of the biennium beginning July 1, 2001, to an account in the state special revenue fund to the credit of the department of public health and human services from the general fund to be allocated from money received by the state of Montana from any judgment, settlement, or fine received as a result of a civil or criminal claim against a tobacco company related to the production, marketing, or use of tobacco products. The appropriation is for the purpose of funding the child and youth development grant program provided for in [sections 1 through 5]. Costs for administration of the program by the department and the interagency coordinating council for state prevention programs may not exceed 5% of the appropriation.
NEW SECTION. Section 8. Codification instruction. [Sections 1 through 5] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 41, chapter 7, and the provisions of Title 41, chapter 7, apply to [sections 1 through 5].
NEW SECTION. Section 9. Effective date. [This act] is effective July 1, 2001.
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Latest Version of HB 630 (HB0630.01)
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