(a) The Commissioner of Early Childhood shall develop and implement a performance-based evaluation system to evaluate licensed child care centers, within available appropriations. Such a performance-based evaluation system shall be similar to the Head Start Performance Standards in 45 CFR 1304.
(b) The commissioner shall conduct, within available appropriations, a longitudinal study that examines the developmental progress of children and their families both during and following participation in a child care program.
(c) The commissioner shall report to the General Assembly, in accordance with section 11-4a, on or before January 1, 2015, on the implementation of the performance-based evaluation system and on the longitudinal study, and annually thereafter on the cumulative results of the evaluations.
(P.A. 97-259, S. 11, 41; P.A. 14-39, S. 37; P.A. 15-227, S. 25.)
History: P.A. 97-259 effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 14-39 replaced references to Commissioner of Social Services with references to Commissioner of Early Childhood, amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provision re in consultation with Commissioner of Education and amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “1998” with “2015”, effective July 1, 2014; pursuant to P.A. 15-227, “child day care centers” and “child day care program” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “child care centers” and “child care program”, respectively, effective July 1, 2015.