(a) "Early Learning Hub" means any entity designated by regional partners to coordinate early learning services, as determined by rules adopted by the Early Learning Council.

(b) "Regional partners" includes counties, cities, school districts, education service districts, community colleges, public universities, private educational institutions, faith-based organizations, nonprofit service providers and tribes.

(2) The council shall implement and coordinate a system that coordinates the delivery of early learning services to the communities of this state through the direction of Early Learning Hubs. The system may not include more than 16 Early Learning Hubs.

(3) The system implemented and coordinated by the council must ensure that:

(a) Providers of early learning services are accountable for outcomes;

(b) Services are provided in a cost-efficient manner; and

(c) The services provided, and the means by which those services are provided, are focused on the outcomes of the services.

(4) The council shall develop and implement a process for requesting proposals from entities to become Early Learning Hubs. Proposals submitted under this subsection must comply with criteria and requirements adopted by the council by rule, including:

(a) The entity will be able to coordinate the provision of early learning services to the community that will be served by the entity. An entity may meet the requirement of this paragraph by submitting evidence that local stakeholders, including but not limited to service providers, parents, community members, county governments, local governments and school districts, have participated in the development of the proposal and will maintain a meaningful role in the Early Learning Hub.

(b) The services coordinated by the entity will be in alignment with the services provided by the public schools of the community that will be served by the entity.

(c) The entity will be in alignment with, and make advantageous use of, the system of public health care and services available through local health departments and other publicly supported programs delivered through, or in partnership with, counties and coordinated care organizations.

(d) The entity will be able to integrate efforts among education providers, providers of health care, providers of human services and providers of other programs and services in the community.

(e) The entity will use coordinated and transparent budgeting.

(f) The entity will operate in a fiscally sound manner.

(g) The entity must have a governing body or community advisory body that:

(A) Has the authority to initiate audits, recommend the terms of a contract and provide reports to the public and to the council on the outcomes of the provision of early learning services to the community served by the entity.

(B) Has members selected through a transparent process and includes both public and private entities, locally based parents and service recipients, human social service providers, child care providers, health care providers and representatives of local governments from the service area.

(h) The entity will collaborate on documentation related to coordinated services with public and private entities that are identified by the council as providers of services that advance the early learning of children.

(i) The entity will serve a community that is based on the population and service needs of the community and will demonstrate the ability to improve results for at-risk children, including the ability to identify, evaluate and implement coordinated strategies to ensure that a child is ready to succeed in school.

(j) The entity will be able to raise and leverage significant funds from public and private sources and to secure in-kind support to support early learning services coordinated by the entity and operate in a fiscally sound manner.

(k) The entity meets any other qualifications established by the council.

(5) The council may adopt by rule requirements that are in addition to the requirements described in subsections (3) and (4) of this section that an entity must meet to qualify as an Early Learning Hub. When developing the additional requirements, the council must use a statewide public process of community engagement that is consistent with the requirements of the federal Head Start Act.

(6) When determining whether to designate an entity as an Early Learning Hub, the council shall balance the following factors:

(a) The entity’s ability to engage the community and be involved in the community.

(b) The entity’s ability to produce outcomes that benefit children.

(c) The entity’s resourcefulness.

(d) The entity’s use, or proposed use, of evidence-based practices.

(7) The council shall develop metrics for the purpose of providing funding to Early Learning Hubs designated under this section. The metrics must:

(a) Focus on community readiness, high capacity development and progress toward tracking child outcomes;

(b) Establish a baseline of information for the area to be served by the Early Learning Hub, including information about the inclusion of community partners in the governance structure of the Early Learning Hub, the availability of data on local programs and outcomes and the success in leveraging private, nonprofit and other governmental resources for early learning; and

(c) Include child performance metrics.

(8) The council may require that, as a condition of receiving funding as a designated Early Learning Hub under this section, the Early Learning Hub provide matching funding. The percentage of matching funding shall be determined by the council and may vary for each fiscal year. Any moneys received by an Early Learning Hub are subject to the restrictions of this section.

(9) For any community in this state that is not served by an Early Learning Hub, the council shall coordinate and administer the delivery of early learning services for that community and, to the extent practicable, shall regionalize service administration.

(10) The council may alter the lines of the territory served by an Early Learning Hub only to ensure that all children of this state are served by an Early Learning Hub.

(11) An entity designated as part of an Early Learning Hub may not use more than 15 percent of the moneys received by the entity from the council to pay administrative costs of the entity.

(12) The Department of Human Services or the Oregon Health Authority may not transfer any authority for determining eligibility for a state or federal program to an Early Learning Hub. [2012 c.37 §77; 2013 c.728 §19; 2015 c.736 §61; 2015 c.773 §1; 2017 c.399 §3; 2019 c.395 §10]