State of Florida
Relevant Statutes
The Early Learning Coalition of Duval was created, aong with the other 31 Early Learning Coalitions, by Florida State Statute 411.01, to cover Florida's 67 counties.
In addition to providing School Readiness child care financial assistance, the ELC of Duval is statutorily required to build a coalition of partners and advocates to coordinate local services for children from birth through kindergarten. This includes, but are not limited to:
- Providing Child Care Resource & Referral services
- Providing Inclusion Warm-Line services
- Determining child care financial assistance eligibility procedures
- Determining child performance standards
- Providing Child developmental health and/or academic development screening and assessment
- Determining developmentally appropriate curricula
- Ensuring health and safety requirements
- Coordinating with statewide data system requirements
- Building and implementing an optional quality rating and improvement systems (in Duval, Guiding Stars of Duval)
Subsequently in 2005, State of Florida voters approved a Constitutional Ammendment to provide a high-quality Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten experience for children who reside in Florida and are 4-years-old by September 1st of the program year.
This program was implemented by Florida Statute 1002.5.