The superintendent shall award grants to a local educational agency or consortium to pay the costs of planning and operating, on behalf of one or more qualifying schools within the local educational agency or consortium, programs that provide support services to pupils and their families at or near the school, as follows:

(a) Grants shall be awarded by the superintendent based upon the recommendations of the council and pursuant to this section.

(b) Two types of grants may be awarded to applicant local educational agencies or consortia, depending upon the level of readiness of that applicant to implement a program pursuant to this chapter. The superintendent shall issue requests for applications for awarding the grants, which shall specify maximum dollar amounts for which each type of grant may be awarded. The requests for applications also shall specify other criteria, as required by this article. The superintendent shall award those grants as follows:

(1) Planning grants may be awarded to local educational agencies or consortia that have demonstrated a need to implement a program, but that are not ready to begin the operation of the program, or that are in need of additional planning to expand existing support services programs. Planning grants shall be no more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) and shall be awarded for a period not to exceed two years. Upon completion of the planning phase, the local educational agency or consortium shall be eligible to apply for and may receive an operational grant.

(2) Operational grants may be awarded to local educational agencies or consortia that have demonstrated readiness to begin operation of a program or to expand existing support services programs. Operational grants shall supplement, not supplant, existing services and funds, and shall be awarded for a period not to exceed five years.

(A) Operational grants shall be awarded for no more than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000). No more than 50 percent of each grant shall be available for expenditure on direct services, as long as the grant application contains a three-year plan to significantly reduce or to eliminate agency reliance on funding provided under this article for direct services. Direct services do not include salaries for staff who are developing or implementing the program.

(B) Recipients of operational grants may also receive one-time startup grants, which may be used, among other things, for purchasing equipment, hiring staff, designing a program evaluation, or hiring a consultant. Startup grants shall be awarded for not more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

(3) If a local educational agency or consortium submits an application for an operational grant on behalf of a school that does not meet the criteria specified in subdivision (g), (h), (i), or (j), the superintendent may offer the applicant a planning grant, provided that the local educational agency or consortium has not received previously a planning grant on behalf of that school.

(c) All grants awarded under this article shall be matched by the participating local educational agency or consortium and its cooperating agencies with one dollar ($1) for each four dollars ($4) awarded. The match shall be contributed in cash or as services or resources of comparable value. It is the intent of the Legislature that participants seek and utilize private funds or resources for this purpose. The superintendent may waive the match requirement upon verifying that the local educational agency or consortium made a substantial effort to secure a match but was unable to secure the required match.

(d) The superintendent shall award grants pursuant to this article to local educational agencies or consortia in northern, central, and southern California, in urban, suburban, and rural areas. To the extent possible, the grants shall be awarded for programs representative of the ethnic and linguistic diversity of schoolage pupils and their families. Further, to the extent possible, 50 percent of the grants shall be awarded to schools serving elementary school pupils and 50 percent to schools serving junior and senior high school pupils.

(e) Of the schools that receive grants each year, not more than 10 percent may be selected based on the criteria identified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (g) of Section 8802.

(f) A local educational agency or consortium is eligible for a grant under this article, on behalf of one or more schools operated by the agency or consortium, if it demonstrates in its program plan that it:

(1) Will give priority for services provided under this chapter to pupils from low-income families.

(2) Will assist families in responding to support services needs of pupils.

(3) Has established the local agency collaboration process described in Article 4 (commencing with Section 8806), including a mechanism for sharing governance with cooperating agencies and entities, and for integrating or redirecting existing resources and other school support services.

(4) Has submitted or is submitting an application to the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health Services for certification as a Medi-Cal provider, pursuant to Section 14000, and following, of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(5) Involves parents or guardians and teachers in the process of identifying pupils’ service needs and in the planning for and provision of support services.

(g) For purposes of this chapter, support services shall include case-managed health, mental health, social, and academic support services benefiting children and their families, and may include, but are not limited to:

(1) Health care, including:

(A) Immunizations.

(B) Vision and hearing testing and services.

(C) Dental services.

(D) Physical examinations, diagnostic, and referral services.

(E) Prenatal care.

(2) Mental health services, including primary prevention, crisis intervention, assessments, and referrals, and training for teachers in the detection of mental health problems.

(3) Substance abuse prevention and treatment services.

(4) Family support and parenting education, including child abuse prevention and schoolage parenting programs.

(5) Academic support services, including tutoring, mentoring, employment, and community service internships, and inservice training for teachers and administrators. However, grants for these purposes shall supplement, not supplant, existing resources in these areas.

(6) Counseling, including family counseling and suicide prevention.

(7) Services and counseling for children who experience violence in their communities.

(8) Nutrition services.

(9) Youth development services, including tutoring, mentoring, recreation, career development, and job placement.

(10) Case management services.

(11) Provision of onsite Medi-Cal eligibility workers.

(h) A local educational agency or consortium may contract with other entities, including county agencies and private nonprofit organizations or private partners, to provide services to pupils and their families.

(i) Each local educational agency or consortium seeking a grant under this article shall submit an application to the superintendent at a time and manner, and with any appropriate information, as the superintendent may reasonably require.

Each grant application submitted shall include all of the following:

(1) A description of the proposed programs, including four or more support services expected to be provided at the schoolsite or at a site near, or adjacent to, the school.

(2) Documentation of need for participation in the Healthy Start Support Services for Children Grant Program.

(3) Documentation of need for planning assistance, program operation support, or both.

(4) As to any operational grant application, a description of the objectives of the program, the amount and sources of required funding, the existing resources to be used or redirected, the priorities for development and timing of the program, the agencies responsible for the implementation of the program, and the procedures for the evaluation of the program.

The program plan submitted with an operational grant application shall include all of the following:

(A) Provisions for data collection and recordkeeping, including records of the population served, the components of the service, the results of the service, and costs, including startup, direct, and indirect costs, including those to other agencies, and cost savings.

(B) A service evaluation component, including input, process, and outcome indicators, quality assessment, and the process by which these measures will be taken. In addition, the plan shall include specific targets and outcome measures.

(C) A specific governing mechanism by which the plan will be implemented, including local decisionmaking responsibilities, organizational needs, anticipated problems and procedures to solve them, and incentives for collaboration and participation incentives to personnel.

(D) A specific system for the provision of case management services, including procedures for implementation, identification of the target population, anticipated outcomes, and a list of existing services, resources, and programs that will be used as components of the program.

(5) In the case of a consortium, a list of its members.

(6) The grant application also shall document any procedures that have been, or will be, taken to designate the local educational agency as a Medi-Cal provider pursuant to Section 14000, and following, of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(7) A description of technical assistance, professional growth, and development needs, if any.

(8) A description of the proposed plan for family involvement in the program.

(9) A description of the population anticipated to be served.

(10) As to any planning grant application, a plan describing how the proposed program will be implemented after the grant has expired.

(j) Grants awarded pursuant to this article may be used for salaries of staff responsible for developing or implementing the program plan and administrative support staff, equipment and supplies, training, and insurance, pursuant to subdivision (b).

(k) No more than 10 percent of the amount appropriated in a fiscal year for the purposes of this chapter may be used by the superintendent for state-level administration of this chapter, including evaluation and technical assistance. Technical assistance includes, but is not limited to, establishing interagency collaboration, providing information dissemination and referrals, including information about appropriate program models, conducting site visits, and convening workshops to assist in the implementation of a program developed pursuant to this chapter.

(1) Of the amount provided in the annual Budget Act for state-level administration, up to 75 percent may be used for the purpose of outreach and technical assistance to local educational agencies. The remainder shall be used for state-level program administration.

(2) The superintendent shall ensure that adequate resources are available to conduct an evaluation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 8805.

(l) Commencing in the 1992 calendar year, and each subsequent year for which funding is available, grants shall be awarded according to the following schedule:

(1) The superintendent shall issue requests for applications on or before November 1.

(2) Grant applications shall be submitted to the superintendent on or before March 1.

(3) The superintendent shall award grants on or before May 15.

(Amended by Stats. 1997, Ch. 172, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1998.)