2022 -- H 7637

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LC004695

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- ADULT EDUCATION

     Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, McGaw, Alzate, Carson, Speakman,
Caldwell, Diaz, Henries, Amore, and Potter

     Date Introduced: March 02, 2022

     Referred To: House Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 16-63-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-63 entitled "Adult

Education [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby

amended to read as follows:

     16-63-5. Categories of adult education programs and service.

     Programs and services constituting adult education, as defined in § 16-58-2, shall be

categorized and defined as follows:

     (1) Category 1. Basic education, which shall consist of efforts to alleviate illiteracy and

provide opportunities for academic achievement up to grade twelve (12) and to transition to post-

secondary education or training. and which Services shall include instruction in reading, writing,

arithmetic, literature, social studies, science, pre-vocational subjects, digital literacy, and other

knowledge and skills necessary to cope in contemporary life obtain, retain or advance in

employment that pays a family-sustaining wage; courses in Americanization civics and citizenship

for immigrants; teaching English to persons with no or limited ability with the language; and

preparation for the demonstration of competencies to qualify for the adult high school diploma or

for examinations to earn the general educational development or high school equivalency diploma.

The department shall support national best practices including the integrated education and training

model, known locally as "RI-BEST" to ensure success for lower skilled adults in postsecondary

and workforce pathways.

     (2) Category 2. Vocational training, which shall consist of the imparting of knowledge and

skills necessary to become gainfully employed, at least at entry level, in a recognized occupation,

and thus attain economic self-sufficiency, and which shall be conveyed by classroom instruction,

on the job training, apprenticeships, and other appropriate methods. The department shall support

"learn and earn" models that provide stipends to program participants in order that they can meet

basic needs during program participation.

     (3) Category 3. Higher education, consisting of opportunities for adults to enter or re-enter

universities and colleges, whether matriculating or nonmatriculating, at undergraduate and graduate

levels, and whether part-time or full-time.

     (4) Category 4. Continuing education in professional and technological occupations, which

shall consist of efforts to insure that minimum competencies are maintained by persons who are

employed in occupations which bear on the public health, safety, or general welfare, and for which

there are licensing, certification, or other credentialing provisions in the general laws, and in which

those persons shall participate, individually or in groups, by periodic reviews of fundamental and

up to date knowledge and skills, in-service experience, performance assessment, or other systematic

and ongoing methods, and which may involve earning continuing education units.

     (5) Category 5. General personal development, which shall consist of any formal or

informal activity in the pursuit and development of avocational, social, cultural, artistic,

enrichment, recreational, or other interests.

     (6) Category 6. Public service education, consisting of efforts, through mass media and by

other methods, to inform, educate, and motivate residents of the state on vital and timely subjects,

such as health, safety, civic affairs, and social concerns and behavior.

     (7) Category 7. Supportive services, which shall consist of various accommodations

intended to facilitate the pursuit of adult education in any of these specified categories, and which

shall include information, counseling, and other guidance services, financial aid, care of children

and other dependent persons, transportation, and other services.

     SECTION 2. Chapter 16-63 of the General Laws entitled "Adult Education [See Title 16

Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended by adding thereto the

following sections:

     16-63-19. Strategic plan.

     The department shall develop a strategic plan for adult education that includes a needs

assessment and lays out an equity-informed roadmap for adult learner services and opportunities.

The department shall ensure robust input from adult learners enrolled in current programs, as well

as those individuals who may benefit from such services and ensure input from residents in different

geographic areas of the state, as well as reflecting Rhode Islanders of different races and ethnicities.

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The department shall also seek input from members of the governor’s workforce investment board.

The strategic plan shall be completed by March, 2023, and revised every three (3) years. The

department shall use information from the strategic plan to inform the state plan for adult education

as required by § 16-63-8.

     16-63-20. Establishment of learning, intake, and assessment centers.

     (a) The department is authorized and directed to create a network of learning, intake and

assessment centers (LIAC) that are designed to support adults along the various stages of the

workforce continuum by meeting them where they were at and connecting them to educational and

training resources for a job, a better job, or a career.

     (b) The learning, intake and assessment centers, shall offer reliable intake, just-in-time

workforce development services; on-demand assessment; access to digital learning; targeted

tutoring; employment readiness and career coaching; and referrals to educational and workforce

training.

     (c) The department shall determine the number of learning, intake and assessment centers

that are necessary to meet adult learner needs, and where the centers will be located in order to

provide geographic access and access to learners of diverse backgrounds. The centers shall be

located at or staffed by current adult education provider organizations.

     (d) The department shall create an accountability system for the programs housing a LIAC

to report on adult learner use of the center and outcomes, but shall not require the program to use

federal performance indicators for LIAC accountability purposes.

     16-63-21. Appropriation to support and expand access to adult education services.

     (a) There is hereby appropriated nine hundred fifty thousand dollars ($950,000) in funds

available from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to enhance the digital literacy skills of adult

learners. Such funds may be used to enable providers to increase capacity and proficiency to teach

digital literacy skills and to enable learner participation through purchase of laptops or other devices

as well as access to broadband services.

     (b) There is hereby appropriated three million six hundred thousand dollars ($3,600,000)

in ARPA funds for expansion of integrated educational and training programs, as authorized in

chapter 102 of title 42 and five million seven hundred sixty thousand dollars ($5,760,000) to

provide stipends for learners participating in "learn and earn" programs to demonstrate the

effectiveness of these instructional models in enhancing participants’ success in increasing

economic security through employment.

     (c) There is hereby appropriated one hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000) in ARPA

funds for the development of the strategic plan authorized in §16-63-19.

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     (d) There is hereby appropriated eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000) in ARPA funds

for the creation of learning, intake and assessment centers as authorized in § 16-63-20 to

demonstrate the effectiveness of this service in assisting adult learners in making progress toward

a job, a better job or a career.

     (e) There is hereby appropriated an additional five hundred forty thousand dollars

($540,000) in general revenue to allow the department to provide an inflation-adjusted increase in

grants to adult education providers to meet the range of services authorized in § 16-63-5. These

funds shall supplement and not supplant any other state or federal funds proposed to be appropriated

to the department for FY 2023.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- ADULT EDUCATION

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     This act would modernize, expand access and provide additional funds to adult education

programs in the state, create a strategic plan for adult education and establish learning, intake and

assessment centers.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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