Page 217

_ 217 Item Details($) Appropriations($) ITEM 125.10. First Year Second Year First Year Second Year FY2025 FY2026 FY2025 FY2026 2. The Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Social Services, shall prepare an annual Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) report that reflects all CCDF expenditures from the previous fiscal year, current grant balances and obligation and liquidation deadlines, as well as all anticipated spending for the current and two subsequent fiscal years. Identified spending should, at a minimum, be broken down by subsidies (mandated and discretionary), administrative costs, and quality efforts. The plan also shall include a certification from the Department that the maximum amount of federal funds were drawn down in the preceding fiscal year. Should the Department be unable to certify that maximum federal funds were drawn down, the Department shall identify strategies for Virginia to obtain the maximum amount of federal funds in the following fiscal year(s) as part of this plan. In addition, this plan should report, by locality, the number of subsidies (mandated and discretionary) provided, number of providers receiving CCDF dollars, the overall number of child care providers, and the waitlist for services. This information should be provided the previous fiscal year, current fiscal year, and two subsequent fiscal years. The plan shall also include an appendix with the most recently completed CCDF annual report as required by the federal Office of Child Care. The department shall submit the report by October 1 of each year to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees. In addition, the department shall post this report on its website along with any reports from previous fiscal years. 3. Notwithstanding 8VAC-20-790, the Department of Education shall establish an annual target at the local level for the number of children that may be served by available funds and ensure that each locality has mechanisms in place for maintaining waitlists if family demand exceeds the targets. 4. Family copayment rates for the 2024-2026 biennium fiscal year 2025 shall not exceed those that were in effect at the beginning of fiscal year 2024. Family copayment rates for fiscal year 2026 shall be $5 per month for households whose income is below 100% of the federal poverty level and up to 5% of annual income for all other households with no household exceeding 5% of their income. 5. Parental work and job search requirements for the 2024-2026 biennium fiscal year 2025 shall not exceed those that were in effect at the beginning of fiscal year 2024. Parental work and job search requirements for fiscal year 2026 shall include a time limit of 90 days for job search. Households are eligible for up to one extension for extraordinary circumstances, which shall be defined and tracked by the Department of Education. 6. The Department of Education shall revise attendance requirements for the Child Care Subsidy Program, subject to review by the Early Childhood Care and Education Commission, to ensure participating children fully benefit and maximization of available resources. The Department shall report proposed changes to the General Assembly by December 1, 2025. C. Mixed Delivery Grant Program 1. A Mixed-Delivery initiative is established to support public-private delivery of early learning services for birth to five-year-old children. Programs must provide full-day or half-day services. The Department of Education is authorized to prorate payment for this program so as not to exceed available appropriation. Actual funding provided to the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation shall be based on the actual use of allocated slots. Lead agencies shall report to the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation on actual use of allocated slots, and any funds allocated but not used on the actual provision of early childhood services shall be returned to the Department of Education. a) The Department of Education shall establish academic standards that are in accordance with appropriate preparation for students to be ready to successfully enter kindergarten. These standards shall be established in such a manner as to be measurable for student achievement and success. Students shall be required to be evaluated in the fall and in the spring by each participating provider and grantees must certify that the Virginia Preschool Initiative standards are followed in order to receive the funding for quality preschool education and criteria for the service components. Such standards shall align with the Virginia Standards of Learning for Kindergarten.