Pupil support services: COVID-19 Support Services and Resiliency for Children Program.

The Healthy Start Support Services for Children Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to award grants to local educational agencies or consortia to fund programs in qualifying schools that provide support services, which include case-managed health, mental health, social, and academic support services, to eligible pupils and their families. The act establishes the Healthy Start Support Services for Children Program Council, specifies the members of the council, and provides for the duties of the council, which include assisting a local educational agency or consortium with local technical assistance, as provided. The act authorizes a local educational agency or consortium to contract with other entities, including county agencies and private nonprofit organizations or private partners, to provide services to pupils and their families. This bill would establish the COVID-19 Support Services and Resiliency for Children Program, under which the Superintendent would be required to award grants to qualifying entities, defined to include schools, local educational agencies, and consortia that meet specified criteria, to pay the costs of planning and operating programs that provide support services related to COVID-19 to pupils and their families. The bill would require grants to be awarded for no more than $500,000 each and to be matched by the grantee with $1 for each $2 awarded, as specified. The bill would require the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health Care Services to establish the Children's Coordinated Services Emergency Response Team with specified membership and duties, including providing recommendations to the Governor, the Legislature, and the State Department of Education regarding the program. The bill would prescribe criteria for the application for and awarding of grants, including requiring a qualifying entity applying for a grant to establish procedures to ensure ongoing consultation and collaboration with local agencies. The bill would impose additional program requirements on a participating qualifying entity that is located within a county that has established an interagency children's services coordinating council. The bill would make implementation of its provisions contingent on funds being appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another statute, or being made available from federal sources, for its purposes.