Imperial County Municipal Code Ch. 2.108 Children and Families First Commission

The board of supervisors of the county of Imperial establishes the Imperial County Children and Families First Commission pursuant to provisions of the California Children and Families First Act of 1998, popularly known as Proposition 10 on the November 1998 State-wide Election Ballot (hereinafter, the "Act"), as contained in the California Health and Safety Code, at Sections 130100 et seq. The Imperial County Children and Families First Commission (hereafter, the "commission") shall have those powers and duties herein provided in this chapter. Pursuant to Health & Safety Code section 130140.1(a)(1), the Commission shall be a legal public entity separate from the County.

(Ord. 1301 § 5, 1999: prior code § 60950)

(Ord. No. 1489, § 1, 6-18-2013)

A. It is the intent of the county to create a program in the county of Imperial for the purposes of promoting, supporting, and improving the early development of children from the prenatal stage to five years of age. These purposes shall be accomplished through the establishment, institution, and coordination of appropriate standards, resources, and integrated and comprehensive programs emphasizing community awareness, education, nurturing, child care, social services, health care, and research.

It is the intent of the county to facilitate the creation and implementation of an integrated, comprehensive, and collaborative system of information and services to enhance optimal early childhood development. This system should function as a network that promotes accessibility to all information and services from any entry point into the system. It is further the county's intent to emphasize local decision-making, to provide for greater local flexibility in designing delivery systems, and to eliminate duplicate administrative systems.

B. Further purposes of this chapter are to:

1. Establish community-based programs to provide parental education and family support services relevant to effective childhood development. These services shall include education and skills training and nurturing and in avoidance of tobacco, drugs, and alcohol during pregnancy. Emphasis will be on services not provided by existing programs and on the consolidation of existing programs and new services provided pursuant to this chapter into an integrated system from the consumer's perspective;

2. Educate the public, using mass media, on the importance and the benefits of nurturing, health care, family support, and child care; and inform involved professionals and the general public about programs that focus on early childhood development;

3. Educate the public, using mass media, on the dangers caused by smoking and other tobacco use by pregnant women to themselves and to infants and young children, and the dangers of secondhand smoke to all children;

4. Encourage pregnant women and parents of young children to quit smoking.

C. The programs authorized by this chapter, shall be administered by the Imperial County Children and Families First Commission. In administering the programs of this chapter, the commission shall use outcome-based accountability to determine future expenditures.

(Ord. 1301 § 5, 1999: prior code § 60951)

A. The board of supervisors of the county of Imperial, pursuant to the Act, shall appoint the membership of the commission. The board of supervisors herein determines that the commission shall be comprised of nine members, as follows: (1) a member of the county board of supervisors to be appointed annually by the chairperson of the Imperial County board of supervisors; (2) the Imperial County director of public health or his or her designee; (3) the Imperial County social services director or his or her designee; and six members who represent any of the following categories: (a) recipients of project services included in the county strategic plan; (b) educators specializing in early childhood development; (c) representatives of a local child care resource or referral agency or a local child care coordinating group; (d) representatives of a local organization for prevention or early intervention for families at risk; (e) representatives of community-based organizations that have the goal of promoting nurturing and early childhood development; (f) representatives of local school districts; and (g) representatives of local medical, pediatric or obstetric associations or societies.

B. Commission members shall serve at the pleasure of the board of supervisors. Initially, as designated by the board of supervisors, four members of the commission shall serve two-year terms and four members of the commission shall serve four-year terms. Thereafter, all such members shall serve four-year terms, on a staggered basis. There shall be no limit on the number of terms that can be served.

C. Each member of the commission may designate an alternate to attend commission meetings. The alternate must be designated in writing in advance of the meeting and have the authority to speak for the organization that he or she has been designated to represent.

D. Members of the commission shall not be compensated for their services, except that they shall be paid reasonable per diem and reimbursement of reasonable expenses for attending meetings and discharging other official responsibilities, as authorized by the commission.

E. A vacancy on the commission shall occur automatically on the happening of any of the following events before the expiration of the term: (a) removal of the incumbent by the board of supervisors for any reason; (b) death or resignation of the incumbent; (c) ceasing to be a representative from the various categories provided for hereinabove; (d) if any member or his or her alternate does not attend three meetings of the commission in any twelve-month period.

The secretary of the commission shall certify the happening of any vacating event to the board of supervisors. The board of supervisors may waive any vacating event for any member of the commission by majority vote of the board of supervisors.

The board of supervisors shall make interim appointments to fill unexpired terms in the event of vacancies occurring during the term of members of the commission. The board of supervisors shall act within sixty (60) days to fill a vacancy.

(Ord. 1301 § 5, 1999: prior code § 60952)

A. The commission shall adopt an adequate and complete county strategic plan for the support and improvement of early childhood development within the county of Imperial. The county strategic plan shall be consistent with, and in furtherance of the purposes of, this chapter and any guidelines adopted by the California Children and Families First Commission (hereinafter, the "State Commission") pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 130125 of the Act that are in effect at the time the plan is adopted. The commission shall conduct at least one public hearing on its proposed county strategic plan before the plan is adopted.

B. The county strategic plan shall, at a minimum, include the following: a description of the goals and objectives proposed to be attained; a description of the programs, services, and projects proposed to be provided, sponsored, or facilitated; and a description of how measurable outcomes of such programs, services, and projects will be determined by the commission using appropriate reliable indicators. No county strategic plan shall be deemed adequate or complete until and unless the plan describes how programs, services, and projects relating to early childhood development within the county will be integrated into a consumer-oriented and easily accessible system.

C. The commission shall, on at least an annual basis, review its county strategic plan and revise the plan as may be necessary or appropriate. The commission shall conduct at least one public hearing on its periodic review of the county strategic plan before any revisions to the plan are adopted.

D. The county commission shall measure the outcomes of county funded programs through the use of applicable, reliable indicators and review that information on a periodic basis as part of the public review of its county strategic plan.

(Ord. 1407 § 1, 2006; Ord. 1301 § 5, 1999: prior code § 60953)

All meetings of the commission are subject to the open meeting laws contained in the Ralph M. Brown Act.

(Ord. 1301 § 5, 1999: prior code § 60954)

A. The board of supervisors of the county of Imperial establishes a local children and families first trust fund pursuant to Subparagraph (A) of Paragraph (2) of Subdivision (d) of Section 130150 of the Act. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, no moneys made available to the commission shall be expended to provide, sponsor, or facilitate any programs, services, or projects for early childhood development until and unless the commission has first adopted an adequate and complete county strategic plan that meets all the requirements of this chapter.

B. All moneys raised pursuant to taxes imposed by the Act and deposited into the local children and families first trust fund shall be appropriated and extended only for the purposes expressed in the Act, and shall be used only to supplement existing levels of service and not to fund existing levels of service, no moneys in the trust fund shall be used to supplant local general fund money for any purpose.

C. All grants, gifts, or bequests of money made to or for the benefit of the commission from public or private sources to be used for early childhood development programs shall be deposited in the local children and families first trust fund and expended for the specific purpose for which the grant, gift, or bequest was made.

(Ord. 1301 § 5, 1999: prior code § 60955)

The commission shall establish one or more advisory committees to provide technical and professional expertise and support for any purposes that would be beneficial in accomplishing the purposes of this chapter. Each advisory committee shall meet and shall make recommendations and reports as deemed necessary or appropriate by the commission.

(Ord. 1301 § 5, 1999: prior code § 60956)

A. On or before October 15th of each year, the commission shall conduct an audit of, and issue a written report on the implementation and performance of, the commission's functions during the preceding fiscal year, including, at a minimum, the manner in which funds were expended, the progress toward, and the achievement of, program goals and objectives, and the measurement of specific outcomes through appropriate reliable indicators. The audits and reports shall be transmitted to the state commission which shall prepare a written report that consolidates, summarizes, analyzes, and comments on the annual audits and reports of all county commissions for the preceding fiscal year. The commission shall make copies of its annual audits and reports available to members of the general public on request and at no cost. The audits and reports shall also be transmitted to the Imperial County Auditor-Controller.

B. The commission shall conduct at least one public hearing prior to adopting any annual audit and report. The commission also shall conduct at least one public hearing on each annual report of the state commission transmitted to the commission pursuant to Subdivision (b) of Section 130150 of the Act.

(Ord. 1301 § 5, 1999: prior code § 60957)

(Ord. No. 1489, § 2, 6-18-13)

Editor's note— Section 3 of Ord. No. 1489, adopted June 18, 2013, repealed § 2.108.090, which pertained to Fiscal controls—Special requirements of board of supervisors, and derived from the prior code, § 60958; and Ord. No. 1301, 1999.