Appropriates funds to establish Families for R.E.A.L. programs at various sites throughout the state.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. Parents are a child's first and most significant teachers. Brain research reveals that the development of neutral patterns that promote or inhibit learning throughout life are dependent on the person's environment and experiences in the early years. Therefore, one of the best approaches to a child's physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development is to empower parents in their role of providing a caring and intellectually stimulating environment in the early years. Families for R.E.A.L. (Resources for Early Access to Learning), based on Minnesota's statewide early childhood/family education model, has achieved this.

Families for R.E.A.L. is a public school early childhood/family education program for parents of children, ages birth to five, from all socioeconomic backgrounds. The program operates in trimesters, each consisting of nine weeks. Parents and children attend classes once a week for nine weeks on the week day designated for their children's age group. Parents learn developmentally appropriate parenting and teaching skills. The program also offers parents an opportunity to network with each other and learn how to access community resources even after they leave the program. The children learn social, physical, early literary, and numeric skills and most importantly, gain a stronger and more confident teacher at home.

Currently, there are three Families for R.E.A.L. program sites: Pearl City Highlands elementary school in the Leeward district, Kapunahala elementary school in the Windward district, and Wailuku Union Church in the Maui district. Each Families for R.E.A.L. site serves three hundred fifty to five hundred families per year. Kindergarten teachers consistently report that children who attend Families for R.E.A.L. come to school ready to learn and parents report great satisfaction and more self-confidence in helping their children learn. Not surprisingly, each site has a wait list of five hundred families. The legislature finds that the Families for R.E.A.L. program prepares both parents and children for a smooth transition into kindergarten and also that parents remain actively involved in their children's elementary schools.

The legislature further finds that the state family support section of the department of education and the existing Families for R.E.A.L. site teams produced content and performance standards for parent participants of the program and shared their experiences with others in the early childhood/family field. In addition, thousands of parents have been sent to Families for R.E.A.L. by parent alumnae, educators, courts, and other health, social, and educational agencies. However, the legislature finds that one center in each district is not sufficient due to heavy populations in certain areas or districts where distance isolates families from easily accessing early childhood/family services.

The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to:

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $880,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2005-2006, to fund and expand the Families for R.E.A.L. program as follows:

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2005.