§ 4603. Powers and duties

The Council established by section 4602 of this title shall have the following powers and duties necessary and appropriate to effectuating the purposes of this chapter:

(1) Advise the Administration and General Assembly on the status and needs of the early care, health, and education system by conducting a review of the status of young children in Vermont and the care, health, and education services and systems that support them.

(2) Monitor overall system performance by regularly tracking and reporting system data on the well-being of young children and the performance of the system of care related to the Council's commitments to children and selected population-level indicators.

(3) Develop an early care, health, and education system plan for Vermont to serve as the basis for policy and funding recommendations.

(4) Review and formulate recommendations for amendments or revisions to policies, rules, or regulations that may impede the ability to address State and local priorities and the ability to ensure system effectiveness.

(5) Work with the Secretaries of Human Services, of Commerce and Community Development, and of Education to ensure the coordination of existing budgets and policies that affect the care, health, and education of young children.

(6) Identify and reduce duplication of services and of administrative approval processes and improve coordination across agencies.

(7) Work with the Agencies of Human Services, of Commerce and Community Development, and of Education, and the regional councils to coordinate and integrate the development of an early childhood budget recommendation that reflects alignment of funding with priorities identified in the system plan.

(8) Support the regional councils in their efforts to coordinate and implement services in accordance with identified priorities in system and regional plans.

(9) Contract with State agencies and departments to deliver services as agreed upon.

(10) Pursue and accept funding from diverse sources outside State government to sustain, expand, and enhance the early care, health, and education system according to the early care, health, and education system plan.

(11) Disburse funds raised through fund development activities in accordance with priorities defined in the system plan.

(12) Convene members of the child care community, medical community, education community, and other organizations, as well as State agencies serving young children, to ensure that families receive quality services in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.

(13) Select the key performance measures to be tracked in early childhood programs and identify priority strategies to improve results.

(14) Ensure children from birth to six years of age are included in statistical data systems developed by the Agency of Education and other state agencies and that all such systems are interoperable.

(15) Analyze data to assess progress in achieving the population-level outcomes relevant to children set forth in 3 V.S.A. § 2311 and make recommendations for any necessary adjustments.

(16) Report to the Governor, the Chief Performance Officer, and the legislative committees of jurisdiction during the first month of each legislative biennium on the Council's findings and recommendations, progress toward achieving the population-level outcomes relevant to children set forth in 3 V.S.A. § 2311, and recommendations for priorities for the biennium. The provisions of 2 V.S.A. § 20(d) (expiration of required reports) shall not apply to the report to be made under this subdivision. (Added 2009, No. 104 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 12, 2010; amended 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 299, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2013, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 71; 2015, No. 11, § 37.)