EVALUATION REQUIREMENT FOR ISD 0-5 GRANTS

House Bill SB 885, As Passed the Senate

Sponsor:  Senator Brown

Committee:  Appropriations

First Analysis (4/6/04)

BRIEF SUMMARY:

SB 885 would amend the State School Aid Act to eliminate the requirement that intermediate school districts (ISDs) receiving parenting grants under Section 32j use a portion of those grants to perform an evaluation to determine the program’s effectiveness.  According to language in Section 32j of the School Aid Act, ISDs are required to conduct an evaluation to measure the impact of the program on “improving school readiness and fostering the maintenance of stable families”.  In addition, current law requires that ISDs include a data collection system to determine the number of children in families with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level that received services under this program, as well as the total number of children served under this program. The bill would eliminate the evaluation requirement but leave in place the data collection system requirement.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The bill would have no fiscal impact on the State. As a result of the elimination of the evaluation requirement, ISDs would be able to use more of the $3.3 million grant funding on actual program costs, potentially resulting in more families being served.

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Laurie Cummings

                                                                                                                           Mary Ann Cleary

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.