Bill Text: CA AB233 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Child care and development services: alternative payment programs: reimbursement rates.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB233 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB233-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 233 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Lopez
FEBRUARY 4, 2015
An act to amend Sections 8220, 8221.5, 8222, 8225, 8263, 8269, and
8273 of the Education Code, relating to child care.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 233, as amended, Lopez. Child care and development services:
alternative payment programs: reimbursement rates.
The Child Care and Development Services Act has a purpose of
providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of
child care and development services for children from infancy to 13
years of age and their parents, including a full range of
supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time
programs. The act requires the State Department of Education to
contract with local contracting agencies for alternative payment
programs that are intended to allow for maximum parental choice in
child care. The act, to provide maximum parental choice, authorizes
alternative payment programs to include certain things, including a
subsidy that follows the family from one provider to another, as
provided. Existing law authorizes funds appropriated for the act to
be used for alternative payment programs to allow for maximum
parental choice, as provided.
This bill would, to provide maximum parental choice and access,
instead require alternative payment programs to include these certain
things, and to also include an eligibility determination
process of every 12 months. things. The bill
would authorize funds appropriated for the act to also be used to
allow for maximum parental access, as provided.
The act requires certain child care providers to submit to the
alternative payment program a monthly attendance record or invoice,
as provided, and requires the record or invoice to be maintained by
the child care provider in the unaltered original form in which it
was created.
This bill would delete the requirement that the child care
provider maintain the record or invoice in the unaltered original
form in which it was created.
The act requires an alternative payment program to verify
provider rates no less frequently than once a year, as provided, and
requires the department to develop regulations for addressing
discrepancies in provider rate levels identified through this
verification process. The act requires a child care
provider to post the provider's rates and discounts or scholarship
policies, if any.
This bill would delete these requirements.
this requirement.
The act requires, when making referrals, every agency operating
both a direct service program and an alternative payment program to
provide at least 4 referrals, as provided, to a family.
This bill would instead require a resource and referral agency to
provide at least 4 referrals to a family, as provided.
The act provides that a family enrolled in a state or federally
funded child care and development program whose services would
otherwise be terminated, as provided, may continue to receive child
development services, as provided.
This bill would also require that a family enrolled in a
state or federally funded child care and development program to be
considered eligible for services for 12 months from time of initial,
or annual, eligibility determination subsequent to
enrollment, a child be deemed eligible for services for a
period of 12 months .
The act requires a physical examination and evaluation, including
age-appropriate immunization, before, or within 6 weeks of,
enrollment, as provided. Existing law requires a child to be
temporarily excluded from the program if there is good cause to
believe the child is suffering from a recognized contagious or
infectious di sease, as provided.
This bill would delete this requirement.
instead specify that if the child care provider has good cause to
believe that a child is suffering from a recognized contagious or
infectious disease, the child would be temporarily excluded from the
program, as provided.
The act requires the Superintendent to adopt rules, regulations,
and guidelines to facilitate the funding and reimbursement
procedures.
This bill would require the Superintendent to adopt these rules,
regulations, and guidelines to facilitate the funding and
reimbursement procedures for contractors operating centers, family
child care homes, or both.
The act requires the Superintendent to establish a fee schedule
for families using preschool and child care and development services.
This bill would authorize the contractor to require a child care
provider to collect the family fee, as deducted from the child care
provider reimbursement, or to collect the family fee amount directly
from the parent. The bill would authorize specified contractors to
develop a written policy that directs parents to pay family fees
directly to the child care provider, as provided.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 8220 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8220. (a) Upon the approval of the State Department of Education,
funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter may be used for
alternative payment programs to allow for maximum parental choice and
access. Various methods of reimbursement for parental costs for
child care may be utilized. All payment arrangements shall conform to
the eligibility criteria and the parent fee schedule established
pursuant to Sections 8263 and 8265.
(b) To provide for maximum parental choice and access,
alternative payment programs shall include the following:
(1) An eligibility determination process of every 12 months.
(2)
(1) A subsidy that follows the family from one provider
to another within a given alternative payment program.
(3)
(2) Choices, when possible, among hours of service
including before and after school, evenings, weekends, and split
shifts.
(4)
(3) Child care and development services according to
parental choice, including use of family day care homes, general
center based programs, and other state-funded programs to the extent
that those programs exist in the general service area and are in
conformity with the purposes and applicable laws for which those
programs were established, but excluding state preschool programs.
SEC. 2. Section 8221.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8221.5. (a) Child care providers authorized to provide services
pursuant to this article shall submit to the alternative payment
program a monthly attendance record or invoice for each child who
received services that, at a minimum, documents the dates and actual
times care was provided each day, including the time the child
entered and the time the child left care each day. The information
shall be documented on a daily basis.
(b) The monthly attendance record or invoice shall, at a minimum,
be signed by the parent or guardian of the child receiving services
and the child care provider once per month to attest that the child's
attendance is accurately reflected. The verification of attendance
shall be made by signature at the end of each month of care and under
penalty of perjury by both the parent or guardian of the child
receiving services and the child care provider.
(c) The monthly attendance record or invoice shall be maintained
by the child care provider.
(d) The alternative payment program shall accept the monthly
attendance record or invoice as documentation of the hours of care
provided if the attendance record or invoice includes adequate
information documented on a daily basis, including, at a minimum, the
dates and actual times care was provided each day, including the
time the child entered and the time the child left care each day. The
alternative payment program shall reimburse child care providers
based upon the following criteria:
(1) The hours of service provided that are broadly consistent with
certified hours of need.
(2) For families with variable schedules, the actual days and
hours of attendance, up to the maximum certified hours.
(3) For license-exempt providers that provide part-time services,
the actual days and hours of attendance, up to the maximum certified
hours.
(e) For purposes of this section, a monthly attendance record or
invoice is defined as documentation that includes, at a minimum, the
name of the child receiving services, the dates and actual times care
was provided each day, including the time the child entered and the
time the child left care each day, that is signed under penalty of
perjury by both the parent or guardian and the child care provider,
attesting that the information provided is accurate.
SEC. 3. Section 8222 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8222. (a) Payments made by alternative payment programs shall not
exceed the applicable market rate ceiling. Alternative payment
programs may expend more than the standard reimbursement rate for a
particular child. However, the aggregate payments for services
reimbursed by the agency during the contract year shall not exceed
the assigned reimbursable amount as established by the contract for
the year. An agency shall not make payments in excess of the rate
charged to full-cost families. This section does not preclude
alternative payment programs from using the average daily enrollment
adjustment factor for children with exceptional needs as provided in
Section 8265.5.
(b) Alternative payment programs shall reimburse licensed child
care providers in accordance with a biennial market rate survey
pursuant to Section 8447, at a rate not to exceed the ceilings
established pursuant to Section 8357.
(c) An alternative payment program shall reimburse a licensed
provider for child care of a subsidized child based on the rate
charged by the provider to nonsubsidized families, if any, for the
same services, or the rates established by the provider for
prospective nonsubsidized families. A licensed child care provider
shall submit to the alternative payment program a copy of the
provider's rate sheet listing the rates charged, and the provider's
discount or scholarship policies, if any, along with a statement
signed by the provider confirming that the rates charged for a
subsidized child are equal to or less than the rates charged for a
nonsubsidized child.
(d) An alternative payment program shall maintain a copy of the
rate sheet and the confirmation statement.
(e) A licensed child care provider shall submit to the local
resource and referral agency a copy of the provider's rate sheet
listing rates charged, and the provider's discount or scholarship
policies, if any, and shall self-certify that the information is
correct.
(f) A licensed child care provider may alter rate levels for
subsidized children once per year and shall provide the alternative
payment program and resource and referral agency with the updated
information pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (e), to reflect any
changes. An alternative payment program may implement an altered rate
level once per year.
(g) An alternative payment program shall verify provider rates no
less frequently than once a year by randomly selecting 10 percent of
licensed child care providers serving subsidized families. The
purpose of this verification process is to confirm that rates
reported to the alternative payment programs reasonably correspond to
those reported to the resource and referral agency and the rates
actually charged to nonsubsidized families for equivalent levels of
services. It is the intent of the Legislature that the privacy of
nonsubsidized families shall be protected in implementing this
subdivision.
(h) The department shall develop regulations for addressing
discrepancies in the provider rate levels identified through the rate
verification process in subdivision (g).
SEC. 4. Section 8225 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8225. When making referrals, a resource and referral agency shall
provide at least four referrals, at least one of which shall be a
provider over which the agency has no fiscal or operational control,
as well as information to a family on the family's ability to choose
a license exempt license-exempt
provider.
SEC. 5. Section 8263 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8263. (a) The Superintendent shall adopt rules and regulations on
eligibility, enrollment, and priority of services needed to
implement this chapter. In order to be eligible for federal and state
subsidized child development services, families shall meet at least
one requirement in each of the following areas:
(1) A family is (A) a current aid recipient, (B) income eligible,
(C) homeless, or (D) one whose children are recipients of protective
services, or whose children have been identified as being abused,
neglected, or exploited, or at risk of being abused, neglected, or
exploited.
(2) A family needs the child care services (A) because the child
is identified by a legal, medical, or social services agency, or
emergency shelter as (i) a recipient of protective services or (ii)
being neglected, abused, or exploited, or at risk of neglect, abuse,
or exploitation, or (B) because the parents are (i) engaged in
vocational training leading directly to a recognized trade,
paraprofession, or profession, (ii) employed or seeking employment,
(iii) seeking permanent housing for family stability, or (iv)
incapacitated.
(b) Subsequent to enrollment, a child shall be deemed eligible for
services for a period of 12 months.
(b)
(c) Except as provided in Article 15.5 (commencing with
Section 8350), priority for federal and state subsidized child
development services is as follows:
(1) (A) First priority shall be given to neglected or abused
children who are recipients of child protective services, or children
who are at risk of being neglected or abused, upon written referral
from a legal, medical, or social services agency. If an agency is
unable to enroll a child in the first priority category, the agency
shall refer the family to local resource and referral services to
locate services for the child.
(B) A family who is receiving child care on the basis of being a
child at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, as defined in
subdivision (k) of Section 8208, is eligible to receive services
pursuant to subparagraph (A) for up to three months, unless the
family becomes eligible pursuant to subparagraph (C).
(C) A family may receive child care services for 12 months on the
basis of a certification by the county child welfare agency that
child care services continue to be necessary or, if the child is
receiving child protective services during that period of time, and
the family requires child care and remains otherwise eligible. This
time limit does not apply if the family's child care referral is
recertified by the county child welfare agency.
(2) Second priority shall be given equally to eligible families,
regardless of the number of parents in the home, who are income
eligible. Within this priority, families with the lowest gross
monthly income in relation to family size, as determined by a
schedule adopted by the Superintendent, shall be admitted first. If
two or more families are in the same priority in relation to income,
the family that has a child with exceptional needs shall be admitted
first. If there is no family of the same priority with a child with
exceptional needs, the same priority family that has been on the
waiting list for the longest time shall be admitted first. For
purposes of determining order of admission, the grants of public
assistance recipients shall be counted as income.
(3) The Superintendent shall set criteria for, and may grant
specific waivers of, the priorities established in this subdivision
for agencies that wish to serve specific populations, including
children with exceptional needs or children of prisoners. These new
waivers shall not include proposals to avoid appropriate fee
schedules or admit ineligible families, but may include proposals to
accept members of special populations in other than strict income
order, as long as appropriate fees are paid.
(c)
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, in order to promote
continuity of services, a family enrolled in a state or federally
funded child care and development program whose services would
otherwise be terminated because the family no longer meets the
program income, eligibility, or need criteria may continue to receive
child development services in another state or federally funded
child care and development program if the contractor is able to
transfer the family's enrollment to another program for which the
family is eligible before the date of termination of services or to
exchange the family's existing enrollment with the enrollment of a
family in another program, provided that both families satisfy the
eligibility requirements for the program in which they are being
enrolled. These families shall be considered eligible for
services for 12 months from time of initial, or annual, eligibility
determination. The transfer of enrollment may be to another
program within the same administrative agency or to another agency
that administers state or federally funded child care and development
programs.
(d)
(e) In order to promote continuity of services, the
Superintendent may extend the 60-working-day period specified in
subdivision (a) of Section 18086.5 of Title 5 of the California Code
of Regulations for an additional 60 working days if he or she
determines that opportunities for employment have diminished to the
degree that one or both parents cannot reasonably be expected to find
employment within 60 working days and granting the extension is in
the public interest. The scope of extensions granted to all
contractors pursuant to this subdivision shall be limited to the
necessary geographic areas and affected persons, which shall be
described in the Superintendent's order granting the extension. It is
the intent of the Legislature that extensions granted pursuant to
this subdivision improve services in areas with high unemployment
rates or areas with disproportionately high numbers of seasonal
agricultural jobs, or both.
(f) A physical examination and evaluation, including
age-appropriate immunization, shall be required before, or within six
weeks of, enrollment. A standard, rule, or regulation shall not
require medical examination or immunization for admission to a child
care and development program of a child whose parent or guardian
files a letter with the governing board of the child care and
development program stating that the medical examination or
immunization is contrary to his or her religious beliefs, or provide
for the exclusion of a child from the program because of a parent or
guardian having filed the letter. However, if the child care provider
has good cause to believe that a child is suffering from a
recognized contagious or infectious disease, the child shall be
temporarily excluded from the program until the governing board of
the child care and development program is satisfied that the child is
not suffering from that contagious or infectious disease.
(e)
(g) Regulations formulated and promulgated pursuant to
this section shall include the recommendations of the State
Department of Health Care Services relative to health care screening
and the provision of health care services. The Superintendent shall
seek the advice and assistance of these health authorities in
situations where service under this chapter includes or requires care
of children who are ill or children with exceptional needs.
(f)
(h) The Superintendent shall establish guidelines for
the collection of employer-sponsored child care benefit payments from
a parent whose child receives subsidized child care and development
services. These guidelines shall provide for the collection of the
full amount of the benefit payment, but not to exceed the actual cost
of child care and development services provided, notwithstanding the
applicable fee based on the fee schedule.
(g)
(i) The Superintendent shall establish guidelines
according to which the director or a duly authorized representative
of the child care and development program will certify children as
eligible for state reimbursement pursuant to this section.
(h)
(j) Public funds shall not be paid directly or
indirectly to an agency that does not pay at least the minimum wage
to each of its employees.
SEC. 6. Section 8269 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8269. The Superintendent shall adopt rules, regulations, and
guidelines to facilitate the funding and reimbursement procedures for
contractors operating centers, family child care homes, or both,
required by this chapter.
SEC. 7. Section 8273 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8273. (a) The Superintendent shall establish a fee schedule for
families using preschool and child care and development services
pursuant to this chapter, including families receiving services
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 8263. It is
the intent of the Legislature that the new fee schedule shall be
simple and easy to implement.
(b) The family fee schedule shall retain a flat monthly fee per
family. The schedule shall differentiate between fees for part-time
care and full-time care.
(c) A contractor operating pursuant to Section 8220 may develop a
written policy that directs parents to pay family fees directly to
the child care provider.
(1) The contractor shall provide written notification of the
assessed fee to both the parent and the child care provider.
(2) The contractor shall deduct the amount of the family fee
assessed to the parent when calculating the payment due to the child
care provider.
(3) The contractor shall report its payment to the child care
provider plus the assessed family fees as an expense on the
attendance and expenditure reports as required by regulation.
(4) A contractor with a written policy directing parents to pay
family fees directly to the child care provider are exempt from all
of the following:
(A) Requiring families to pay family fees in advance of child care
services.
(B) Requiring any record or proof that the family paid any
applicable family fees to the child care provider.
(C) Notification of delinquent fees or termination for delinquent
fees.
(d) The contractor is authorized to require child care providers
to collect the family fee, which shall be deducted from the
reimbursement to the child care provider, or to collect the family
fee amount directly from the parent.
(e) Using the most recently approved family fee schedule pursuant
to subdivision (f) of Section 8447, families shall be assessed a flat
monthly fee based on income, certified family need for full-time or
part-time care services, and enrollment, and shall not be based on
actual attendance. A recalculation of a family fee shall not occur if
attendance varies from enrollment unless a change in need for care
is assessed.
(f) The Superintendent shall design the new family fee schedule
based on the state median income data that was in use for the 2007-08
fiscal year, adjusted for family size. The revised family fee
schedule shall begin at income levels at which families currently
begin paying fees. The revised fees shall not exceed 10 percent of
the family's monthly income. The Superintendent shall first submit
the adjusted fee schedule to the Department of Finance for approval.
(g) The income of a recipient of federal supplemental security
income benefits pursuant to Title XVI of the federal Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1381 et seq.) and state supplemental program
benefits pursuant to Title XVI of the federal Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 1381 et seq.) and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section
12000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
shall not be included in total countable income for purposes of
determining the amount of the family fee.
(h) Family fees shall be assessed at initial enrollment and
reassessed at update of certification or recertification.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that the new family fees
shall be cost neutral to the state and generate roughly the same
amount of revenue as was generated under the previous family fee
schedule.
