Bill Text: CA AB273 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Child care and development services: California
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB273 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB273-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 273 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Rendon
FEBRUARY 7, 2013
An act to add Section 8242 to the Education Code, relating to
child care and development services, and making an appropriation
therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 273, as amended, Rendon. Child care and development services:
California Partnership for Infants and Toddlers Act of 2013.
The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, establishes a 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.
Existing law requires the Superintendent to administer general child
care and development programs, as specified.
This bill would enact the California Partnership for Infants and
Toddlers Act of 2013, and would require the Superintendent, by March
1, 2014, to apply to the California Children and Families Commission
for funding from the funds moneys
received by the commission from pursuant to
the federal Quality Early Learning for Our Youngest
Children program California Children and Families
Program . The bill would continuously appropriate
these funds moneys to the
Superintendent, who would be required to expend those moneys by
making supplemental grants available to qualifying general child care
and development infant and toddler contracting agencies that
serve infants and toddlers from birth to 3 years of age for purposes
of offering to enrolled children and families support services, as
specified . The Superintendent, in consultation from
with the California Children and Families
Commission, would be required to determine the agencies and
support services that qualify for funding and establish
standards to ensure quality child care .
The bill would require the Superintendent, by January 1,
2018 March 1, 2017 , to submit a report to the
Legislature evaluating the act.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The first three years of life are a period of dynamic and
unparalleled brain development in which children acquire the ability
to think, speak, learn, and reason. During these first 36 months,
children need good health, strong families, and positive early
learning experiences to lay the foundation for later school success.
Low-income infants and toddlers are at greater risk for a variety of
poorer outcomes and vulnerabilities, such as later school failure,
learning disabilities, behavior behavioral
problems, developmental delay, and health impairments.
(b) Existing state law requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to administer child care and development
early learning and care programs, including
the General Child Care and Development program
general child care and development programs that
provides provide services to eligible low-income
children from birth to 12 years of age , inclusive . For
children from birth to three years old of age
, the General Child Care and Development program
funds general child care and development programs fund
centers and family child care home networks to provide
full-day, full-year child care and development
early learning and care services that meet the State
Department of Education's California Infant/Toddler Learning and
Development Foundations.
(c) The federal Early Head Start program serves low-income infants
and toddlers with a flexible comprehensive
program model intended to meet the varied needs of families,
including child care and development early
learning and care services, home visitation services, health
services, and family engagement. Research shows that children who
participated in Early Head Start had a significantly
larger vocabularies vocabulary and
scored higher on standardized measures of cognitive development, that
those children and their parents had more
positive interactions, and that the parents provided more
support for learning. Many different home visitation programs have
been shown to significantly reduce the occurrence of child
maltreatment and abuse , and improve children's
health and school success.
(d) President Barack Obama, in his 2013 State of the Union
address, announced a major new initiative to increase federal funding
for early childhood education. This initiative includes a
competitive federal grant for states and local communities to
establish partnerships between Early Head Start and quality child
care.
(e) To improve the healthy development and school readiness of
California's most vulnerable children and to increase California's
competitiveness for federal funding, it is the intent of the
Legislature to enact legislation to establish the California
Partnership for Infants and Toddlers supplemental grant. The
Partnership for Infants and Toddlers supplemental grant will provide
voluntary funding for the contracting agencies of the
General Child Care and Development program general
child care and development programs who serve infants and
toddlers.
(f) The funds authorized by this act will be used to offer
enrolled children and families with support services, including, but
not limited to, health and nutrition, home visitation, early
childhood mental health, family engagement, and supplemental early
learning services.
(g) This act will provide local contractors with flexibility to
tailor which support services to offer based on the unique needs of
their community, families, and children.
(h) By having the Superintendent of Public Instruction administer
the grant, administrative and reporting requirements by contracting
agencies will be both minimized and simplified.
SEC. 2. Section 8242 is added to the Education Code, to read:
8242. (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Partnership for Infants and Toddlers Act of 2013.
(b) On or before March 1, 2014, the The
Superintendent shall apply to the California Children and
Families Commission from for the
funding moneys received by the
commission from the federal Quality Early Learning for Our
Youngest Children program, as authorized pursuant to Section 9840a of
Title 42 of the United States Code pursuant to the
California Children and Families Program (Division 108 (commencing
with Section 130100) of the Health and Safety Code) , to
provide funds moneys to eligible
agencies for purposes of the California Partnership for Infants and
Toddlers Act of 2013. The Superintendent shall apply for funding
on or before March 1, 2014, with the option of renewing the grant
funding on an annual basis, that would implement the
supplemental grant program authorized by this section
for a period of not less than three years .
(c) The funds (1)
Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the moneys
received by the Superintendent pursuant to subdivision (b) are
hereby continuou sly appropriated to the
Superintendent, who shall expend those moneys by making supplemental
grants available to qualifying general child care and development
infant and toddler contracting agencies, as determined by
the Superintendent, agencies that serve infants and
toddlers from birth to three years of age at an amount of not
less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) annually
per child.
(2) The moneys received pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be used
to offer to enrolled children and families support services,
including, but not limited to, health and nutrition, home visitation,
early childhood mental health, parental involvement, and
supplemental early learning services.
(d) The Superintendent, in consultation from
with the California Children and Families Commission,
shall determine which general child care and development infant and
toddler contracting agencies and support services qualify
for funding pursuant to this section, and shall establish standards
to ensure quality child care , based on the federal Early
Head Start program model, and other evidence based
evidence-based services provided to infants and toddlers.
(e) (1) Contracting agencies shall have the flexibility to tailor
which support services to offer based on the unique needs of their
community, families, and children.
(2) The Superintendent shall minimize and simplify the
administrative and reporting requirements for contracting agencies.
(e)
(f) (1) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the
Government Code, on or before January 1, 2018
March 1, 2017 , the Superintendent shall submit a report to
the Legislature evaluating the effectiveness of the supplemental
grants provided by the California Partnership for Infants and
Toddlers Act of 2013 with regard to supporting the healthy
development and school readiness of children.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
