(1) There is created in the department, in the office within the department that is responsible for adult education, the workforce diploma pilot program to provide performance payments to qualified providers for eligible students enrolled in a qualified provider's programs who attain certain outcomes, as described in subsection (5) of this section.
On or before August 15 in any fiscal year in which the general assembly appropriatesmoney for the program, the department shall issue a request for qualifications for providers to participate in the program as qualified providers.
The criteria necessary to be a qualified provider includes:
Experience providing dropout recovery services, as provided in section 22-10.3-102
(4);
The ability to provide academic skill intake assessment and transcript evaluations;
The ability to develop a learning plan that integrates academic requirements andcareer goals;
The ability to provide all instruction necessary to meet or exceed the state board ofeducation's high school graduation guidelines to achieve a high school diploma;
The ability to provide remedial course work in literacy and numeracy;
The ability to provide a research-validated academic resiliency assessment and intervention;
The ability to provide employability skills development aligned to employer needs;
The ability to provide career pathways course work;
The ability to provide preparation for industry-recognized credentials;
The ability to provide career placement services; and
High school diploma accreditation by a recognized regional accrediting body or aconsolidation of one or more regional accrediting bodies.
(4) (a) The department shall review qualifications from providers submitted pursuant to subsection (2) of this section to determine whether the provider meets the criteria to be a qualified provider under the program. Within sixty days after submission of qualifications pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, the department shall publish a list of providers that meet the criteria for a qualified provider pursuant to subsection (3) of this section. A qualified provider is eligible for program payments for outcomes achieved thirty or more days after the department publishes the list of qualified providers.
(b) Once the department determines that a provider is a qualified provider under the program, the provider remains a qualified provider without the need to reapply annually, unless the provider is removed by the department from the list of qualified providers pursuant to subsection (7) of this section.
(5) (a) Except as provided in subsection (5)(b) of this section, in any fiscal year in which the general assembly appropriates money for the program, the department shall disburse payments to qualified providers in the following amounts for each eligible student's completion or attainment of the following outcomes:
Two hundred fifty dollars for completion of each half-credit;
One thousand dollars for completion of an accredited high school diploma;
Two hundred fifty dollars for completion of an employability skills certificationprogram equal to at least one Carnegie unit;
Two hundred fifty dollars for attainment of an industry-recognized credential requiring up to fifty hours of training;
Five hundred dollars for attainment of an industry-recognized credential requiringbetween fifty-one and one hundred hours of training; and
Seven hundred fifty dollars for attainment of an industry-recognized credential requiring more than one hundred hours of training.
(b) (I) The total amount of payments disbursed to one or more qualified providers must not exceed seven thousand dollars for an individual eligible student.
(II) A qualified provider that receives tuition or other payment from or on behalf of an eligible student shall not also receive a payment from the program on behalf of the eligible student for the same course or program.
(6) (a) Qualified providers shall submit invoices on an ongoing basis to the department for payments for student completion or attainment of goals set forth in subsection (5) of this section. The department shall determine the submission dates for the invoices. Subject to available appropriations, qualified providers who submit invoices on or before the dates determined by the department shall receive payments. If available appropriations are insufficient to satisfy all invoices received by the submission date, the department shall reduce all payments by the same percentage until the money is exhausted.
(b) The department shall publish monthly reports for qualified providers indicating the total amount of payments disbursed pursuant to the program and the total number of students enrolled in the program.
(7) (a) (I) The department shall review data from each qualified provider to ensure the programs offered by each qualified provider are meeting minimum program performance standards, including a minimum fifty percent high school graduation rate from the qualified provider's programs, calculated one year in arrears.
(II) For purposes of subsection (7)(a)(I) of this section:
The high school graduation rate for a qualified provider is determined by dividingthe total number of high school graduates for the cohort year by the total number of all students for the cohort year for which the qualified provider has received payments; and
The qualified provider's cost per graduate is not more than seven thousand dollars,determined by dividing the total payments received by the qualified provider for the cohort year divided by the total number of students earning a high school diploma.
The department shall place a qualified provider that does not meet the program performance standards established in this section on probationary status for the remainder of the state fiscal year.
The department shall remove a qualified provider from the list of qualified providersif the provider does not meet the performance standards for two consecutive years.
(8) The state board of education may adopt rules for the implementation of the program.
Source: Entire article added, (HB 19-1236), ch. 410, p. 3610, § 1, effective June 1.