(a) The director, in consultation with the State Department of Education, shall develop a competitive grant program to assist state parks, state conservancies in existence as of January 1, 2003, urbanized and heavily urbanized local agencies, and community-based organizations within those jurisdictions, working in collaboration, to provide outdoor educational opportunities to children.

(1) Applicant entities shall provide a 25-percent matching contribution in community resources. The matching contributions may be in the form of money, including funds from other state or local assistance programs, gifts of real property, equipment, and consumable supplies, volunteer services, free or reduced-cost use of land, facilities, or equipment, and bequests and income from wills, estates, and trusts. The department may establish findings for hardships to waive the matching requirement when an applicant cannot meet the requirement.

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(2) The department may give additional consideration to applicant entities collaborating with other entities, including, but not limited to, school districts, faith-based groups and others providing outreach programs to identify and attract urbanized youth most in need of organized, constructive recreational activities.

(b) The department shall make one-third of any funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter available to give special priority to providing increased access for elementary schoolage children in grades 2 to 8, inclusive, to conservancy or state, community, and regional park properties and, in addition, shall give priority, in awarding a grant pursuant to this section, to all of the following:

(1) Programs that use curriculum tied to the science content standards and science framework adopted by the State Board of Education.

(2) Applicants that serve children with family incomes below the statewide average, based on the most recent figures computed and established by the Department of Finance.

(3) Applicants that provide access to children who are underserved or lack access to parks or other outdoor venues suitable to conduct appropriate environmental education instruction.

(4) Applicants that have developed working collaboratives to develop environmental education partnerships.

(5) Applicants working in collaboration with local educational agencies to identify those children lacking adequate opportunities to access outdoor environmental education curriculum or innovative or alternative recreation programming.

(c) The amount of a grant awarded pursuant to this section may not be less than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) or more than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). A grant may be expended for any of the following purposes:

(1) Staffing that is directly associated with the programming.

(2) Staff training or development directly associated with the programming.

(3) Costs associated with transporting youth between a community or school and the proposed environmental education venue.

(4) Medical insurance for the participants, only if the insurance is a requirement pursuant to the activity.

(5) Operational costs, such as the rental equipment, food, and supplies.

(6) Applicants that can demonstrate that the administrative costs associated with this activity will not exceed more than 7.5 percent of the amount of the grant.

(d) The department may gather information from the applicants as to the effectiveness of these programs in meeting program objectives. The department shall summarize this information and report to the appropriate budget and fiscal committees of both houses of the Legislature as to the number of children served, the educational objectives met, and the level of demand.

(e) Applicant agencies may enter into contracts with other public agencies or entities to provide unique interpretive skills or to present authentic, curriculum-based programs in units of conservancy properties or state, community, or regional park systems for services not otherwise provided. The purpose of this subdivision is to authorize the applicants to provide programming services, equipment, and materials that assist in the curriculum program or provide educational activities that assist in the presentation of cultural traditions.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 975, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2003.)