{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-200.703","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 200.703","heading":"Duties of Early Childhood Advisory Council -- Implementation of","body":"programs  -- Plan for identification of early childhood  development\nfunding priorities -- Disbanding or suspension of councils -- Expiration of\nauthority, councils, and initiatives --  Requests for proposals.\n(1) The Early Childhood Advisory Council is responsible for the following:\n(a) Promoting the vision for Kentucky's early childhood system;\n(b) Advocating for improved quality of early childhood services;\n(c) Promoting the definition of school readiness and the expanded  and\nappropriate use of the early childhood standards;\n(d) Strengthening state, regional, and  local level coordination and\ncollaboration among  the various sectors and settings of early childhood\nprograms in the state;\n(e) Identifying opportunities and strategies to reduce barriers to coordination\nand collaboration among  existing private, federal, and state-funded early\nchildhood programs;\n(f) Developing and implementing recommendations for:\n1. Increasing overall participation of children in existing federal, state,\nand  local child care and  early education programs, including\noutreach to underrepresented and special populations;\n2. Establishing or improving core elements of the state early childhood\nsystem;\n3. Enhancing the professional development system and career ladder\nfor early childhood educators and caregivers; and\n4. Promoting  high-quality state early learning standards  and\nundertaking efforts to ensure  the development  and  use  of\nhigh-quality comprehensive early learning standards, as appropriate;\n(g) Assessing the capacity and effectiveness of institutes of higher education\nin the state toward supporting the development of early childhood\neducators;\n(h) Facilitating the development or enhancement of high-quality systems of\nearly childhood care and education designed to improve school readiness\nthrough one (1) or more of the following activities:\n1. Promoting  school preparedness of children from birth through\nschool entry;\n2. Supporting professional development, recruitment, and retention\ninitiatives for early childhood educators and caregivers;\n3. Enhancing  existing early childhood education and development\nprograms and services;\n4. Carrying out other activities consistent with the state's plan and\napplication; and\n5. Establishing priorities for programs and the expenditure of funds\nthat include but are not limited to the following:\na. Implementation of public health initiatives identified by the\nGeneral Assembly, including those listed in KRS  211.690 and\n199.8945;\nb. Provision of preconception and prenatal vitamins, with priority\nfor folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects;\nc. Voluntary immunization for children not covered by public or\nprivate health insurance;\nd. Expanding  availability of  high-quality, affordable early\nchild-care and education options; and\ne. Increasing public awareness of the importance of the early\nchildhood years for the well-being of all of Kentucky's citizens;\n(i) Requesting reports and issuing progress updates on state and federally\nfunded services that impact the quality of Kentucky's early childhood\nsystem;\n(j) Receiving, requesting, and utilizing, consistent with this section, federal,\nstate, and private funds, including from philanthropic sources;\n(k) Involving the corporate community, county judge/executives, and mayors\nin supporting issues of importance to working families with young children\nin the Commonwealth;\n(l) Collecting and  disseminating information about the various ways\nbusiness and local government can become  involved in supporting early\nchildhood; and\n(m) Other duties and responsibilities as designated by the Governor.\n(2) The council shall develop a state plan on a biennial basis that identifies early\nchildhood development funding priorities. Every two (2) years the council shall\nreview its priorities and make necessary adjustments to its state plan. The state\nplan  shall incorporate priorities included in  the  final report and\nrecommendations  of the Governor's Task  Force  on  Early Childhood\nDevelopment and Education, November 2010, and recommendations identified\nby the community early childhood councils. The council shall file a report on the\nstate plan with the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission by July\n15 of odd-numbered years.\n(3) Programs  funded by the council shall be implemented by the appropriate\nagencies within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the Education and\nLabor Cabinet, the Finance and Administration Cabinet, or other appropriate\nadministrative agency.\n(4) The  council shall assure that a public hearing is held on the expenditure of\nfunds. Advertisement of the public hearing shall be published at least once but\nmay  be published two (2) more times, if one (1) publication occurs not less than\nseven (7) days nor more than twenty-one (21) days before the scheduled date\nof the public hearing.\n(5) The  council shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with\nKRS  Chapter 13A to:\n(a) Coordinate  and  improve  early childhood development  services,\noutcomes, and policies;\n(b) Establish procedures that relate to its governance;\n(c) Designate service areas of the Commonwealth  where the community\nearly childhood councils may be established to identify and address the\nearly childhood development needs of young children and their families\nfor the communities that they serve;\n(d) Establish procedures that relate to the monitoring of grants, services, and\nactivities of the community early childhood councils and their governance;\n(e) Establish procedures for accountability and measurement of the success\nof programs that receive funds from the council; and\n(f) Establish standards for the payment of funds to a designated service\nprovider and grantee of a community early childhood council. These\nstandards shall include requirements relating to:\n1. The financial management  of funds paid to grantees;\n2. The maintenance of records; and\n3. An independent audit of the use of grant funds.\n(6) The council may disband or suspend a community early childhood council, and\nmay  remove one (1) or more members  for nonperformance or malfeasance.\nThe council may also recover funds that have been determined by the council\nto have been misappropriated or misspent in relation to a grant award.\n(7) An appeal to the council may be made by a community early childhood council\nas to a decision made  by the council on the disbanding or suspension of a\ncommunity  early childhood council, service provider, or grantee on  a\ndetermination that funds have been misappropriated or misspent and are\nsubject to recovery. The appeal shall be conducted in accordance with KRS\nChapter 13B.\n(8) The  council, community early childhood councils established by the council,\nand initiatives funded by the council with expenditures from the early childhood\ndevelopment fund shall expire when:\n(a) Funds  are no longer designated to the Commonwealth  from the master\nsettlement agreement  signed on November  22, 1998, between  the\nparticipating tobacco manufacturers and the forty (40) settling states or\nrelated federal legislation; or\n(b) Funds are no longer designated to the early childhood development fund\nfrom gifts, grants, or federal funds to fund the council, the community\nearly childhood councils established by the council, or any programs that\nhad  been  funded by the council with expenditures from the early\nchildhood development fund.\n(9) The council shall develop a request for proposal process by which local early\nchildhood councils may request any funding appropriated to the council for use\nby the councils.","path":["KRS Chapter 200"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=52410","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:57Z","sha256":"7e8596df0b449937a917803ecff8df02de8c4646b9a64daaf093d6cc38fce9b7","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-200.700","next":"us-ky/krs-200.705"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}