(Suspended through June 30, 2025 – See note) 1.     a.    The department of commerce shall receive applications for and distribute grants under this section to eligible members, including governing board members, of a consortium formed in accordance with section 15.1-37-05, in the amount of two thousand dollars for each child enrolled in a program of early childhood education, if the child is eligible for free lunches under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. § 1751, et seq.], and one thousand dollars for each child enrolled in a program of early childhood education, if the child is eligible for reduced lunches under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act [42 U.S.C. § 1751, et seq.], provided:

Terms Used In North Dakota Code 15.1-37-06

(1) The child is a resident of this state; (2) The child has reached four years of age before August first in the year of enrollment; and

    (3) The program has a duration of at least four hundred hours over a period of at least thirty-two consecutive weeks.

b.    A child enrolled in a federally funded head start program may not be counted for the purpose of determining grant eligibility under this section.

2.     a.    Once each calendar quarter, at the time and in the manner required by the department of commerce, any provider receiving a grant under this section shall forward to the parent of each child receiving services a notice indicating the total amount of the grant that was awarded to the provider for the quarter, the pro rata amount attributable to the parent’s child, and the source of the grant. The department of commerce shall standardize the notification required by this subdivision.

b.    If a provider fails to meet the notification requirements of this subsection, the department of commerce shall reduce the amount of the provider’s next grant payment by fifty percent. If a provider fails to meet the notification requirements of this section a second time, the department of commerce shall determine that the provider is ineligible to participate in the grant program for a period of one year.