MN SF529

Commissioner of education must contract with the Search Institute to help local communities develop tools, training, and resources for positive child and youth development.

Search Institute must use competitive grant process to select five new Minnesota communities for healthy community-healthy youth initiatives and provide at least four existing initiatives with added resources to expand youth engagement efforts.

Search Institute must strengthen networking and information-sharing among all healthy community-healthy youth initiatives statewide, including sharing best practices and peer learning opportunities.

Commissioner must evaluate program effectiveness and recommend to legislature by February 15, 2011, whether to make the program available statewide.

$250,000 appropriated for fiscal year 2010 and $250,000 for fiscal year 2011 from general fund, with up to 5 percent available for program evaluation.