Bill Text: CA SB163 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Senate Bill 163

Bill Title: Early learning and childcare.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Passed) 2024-07-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 73, Statutes of 2024. [SB163 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB163-Chaptered.html

Senate Bill No. 163

CHAPTER 73

An act to amend Section 8320 of, to amend, repeal, and add Sections 8205, 8207, 8208, 8210, 8211, and 8244 of, to add Section 8334 to, and to add, repeal, and add Section 8207.1 of, the Education Code, to amend Section 7927.305 of the Government Code, to amend Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Sections 10227.6 and 10267.5 of, and to add Sections 10212.6, 10244, and 10602.1 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to early learning and childcare, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget.

[ Approved by Governor July 02, 2024. Filed with Secretary of State July 02, 2024. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 163, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. Early learning and childcare.

(1) The Early Education Act, among other things, requires the Superintendent to administer all California state preschool programs, including, but not limited to, part-day and full-day age and developmentally appropriate programs for 3- and 4-year-old children. The act establishes eligibility criteria for those children.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to develop and implement a streamlined request for application process for existing California state preschool program contractors to be awarded new California state preschool program slots and would require the State Department of Education to collaborate with the State Department of Social Services to ensure the request for application process is, where applicable, similar to the streamlined request for application process in the general childcare and development program. The bill would make certain contractors ineligible for the streamlined request for application process if any of specified conditions are met.

(2) Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in collaboration with the State Department of Social Services, to implement a reimbursement system plan that establishes reasonable standards and assigned reimbursement rates, which vary with the length of the program year and the hours of service, for California state preschool program contractors, as provided. Existing law requires each applicant or contracting agency to give priority for part-day and full-day California state preschool programs according to a specified priority order. Existing law establishes adjustment factors applicable to the reimbursement a contractor receives in order to reflect the additional expense of serving full-day and part-day preschool children who meet certain criteria and requires the adjustment factor for children who are 47 months or younger to be 1.8, as provided.

This bill, until July 1, 2027, would authorize, but not require, a California state preschool contractor operating a part-day, full-day, or both part- and full-day California state preschool program to enroll interested eligible 2-year-old children, as defined, and would make conforming changes. The bill, on or after July 1, 2027, would prohibit a contractor from serving any 2-year-old children, unless the contractor was serving those 2-year-old children before July 1, 2027, as provided. The bill, until July 1, 2027, would instead require the adjustment factor for 2-year-old and 3-year-old children to be 1.8, as provided. The bill would provide that children enrolled in kindergarten who meet other specified criteria are eligible for a part-day California state preschool program.

(2) The act, until June 30, 2025, requires at least 5% of part-day and full-day California state preschool program contracting agency’s funded enrollment to be reserved for children with exceptional needs. The act requires, commencing July 1, 2025, at least 7.5% and, commencing July 1, 2026, at least 10% of a part-day and full-day preschool program contracting agency’s funded enrollment to be reserved for children with exceptional needs, as provided.

This bill would delete the above provisions relating to the 7.5% and 10% reservations for children with exceptional needs in part-day and full-day California state preschool programs and would instead indefinitely extend the provision relating to the 5% reservation for children with exceptional needs in part-day and full-day California state preschool programs. The bill would also make conforming changes.

(3) The act requires each applicant or contracting agency to give priority for part-day and full-day California state preschool programs according to a specified priority order, including, as the 4th priority category, children from low-income families, as provided.

This bill would revise and recast the above provisions relating to the 4th priority category for part-day and full-day California state preschool programs to, among other things, provide that within the 4th priority category for children from low-income families, after children with exceptional needs are enrolled, 3- and 4-year-old children without exceptional needs shall be enrolled in income ranking order, as provided. The bill would, until July 1, 2027, establish a new 4th priority category for certain 2-year-old children, as provided.

(4) The act establishes the California Universal Preschool Planning Grant Program with the goal of expanding access universally to preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-old children, as provided. The act requires the Superintendent to develop and administer a grant process and award grant funds to each county that applies, as provided. The act provides, to the extent funds are available in the annual Budget Act for the 2023–24 and 2024–25 fiscal years, that existing grantees shall be eligible to apply for a renewal grant, as provided.

This bill would also provide that newly formed consortia of current grantees or individual counties who participated as a grantee in a former consortium for the grant are eligible to apply for a renewal grant, as provided.

(5) The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. Existing law exempts information regarding childcare providers from the disclosure exemptions of the act, except as specified.

This bill would make technical and conforming changes to these provisions as they pertain to family childcare providers.

(6) Existing law generally requires the State Department of Social Services to license and regulate various types of child daycare facilities, including, among others, child daycare facilities. Under existing law, a willful or repeated violation of those provisions is a crime.

Existing law requires the director of the State Department of Social Services to annually publish and make available to interested persons a list or lists covering all child daycare facilities, other than small family childcare homes, and the services for which each facility has been licensed or issued a special permit. To encourage the recruitment of small family childcare homes and protect their personal privacy, existing law requires the department to prevent the use of lists containing names, addresses, and other identifying information of facilities identified as small family childcare homes, except as necessary for administering the licensing program, facilitating the placement of children in these facilities, and providing the names and addresses to specified programs. Existing law also authorizes parents seeking local daycare services to receive the names and telephone numbers of local small family childcare providers.

This bill would make a technical conforming change to replace the term “small family childcare homes” with “small family daycare homes.” The bill would revise the provisions described above by instead authorizing the department to disclose specified information relating to small family daycare homes to individuals and entities, including, but not limited to, consumer education internet websites available to the public and parents, legal guardians, and caregivers seeking daycare services for purposes of facilitating the placement of children in small family daycare homes. The bill would authorize the department to require an individual or entity to maintain the confidentiality of any information provided pursuant to these provisions and would also authorize the department to deny any individual or entity that violates those regulations access to information on small family daycare homes. The bill would require the department to report any violating individuals or entities to the appropriate funding or licensing agency. By expanding the definition of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(7) Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, requires the State Department of Social Services to administer childcare and development programs that offer a full range of services to eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, inclusive. Existing law appropriates $739,025,000 in federal funds to the State Department of Education to, upon order of the Department of Finance, be transferred to the State Department of Social Services for the purpose of expanding childcare access by funding additional slots under the alternative payment program and the general childcare and development program in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 fiscal years.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to add approximately 206,800 new childcare slots above the slot levels funded during the 2020–21 fiscal year, in accordance with a specified distribution. The bill would state that funding to programs has been added by the state as of May 15, 2024, resulting in an award of an estimated 118,800 new slots, as specified. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the remaining slots that have not been added and awarded as of January 1, 2024, may follow a specified distribution in certain fiscal years. The bill would require, subject to appropriation, that any unawarded slots be distributed in each subsequent fiscal year.

The bill would require the department to release at least one request for applications, and to announce awards, as specified. The bill would require the department to annually revise the number of added and awarded slots based on final awardee data. To the extent that updated slot estimates fall below the listed total slot levels, and subject to appropriation, the bill would require the department to add, award, and put into contract additional slots to maintain total slot levels, to the extent requested.

(8) Existing law authorizes, for purposes of implementation of state or federal legislation to expand childcare services, the department to waive regulations regarding the point qualifications for, and the process and scoring of, interviews of contract applicants, or the time limitations for scheduling and notification of appeal hearings and their results.

This bill would additionally authorize the department to utilize an alternative application process to evaluate the ability and standing of existing contractors in determining allocation methodology and eligibility for funding.

The bill would require the department to develop and implement a streamlined request for application process for current childcare and development program contractors to award new childcare and development program contracts. The bill would specify that certain current contractors are ineligible to participate in that streamlined process, including contractors who are on conditional status because of fiscal or programmatic noncompliance. The bill would also authorize the department to consider scoring criteria as necessary to award contracts.

(9) Existing federal law establishes the Child Care and Development Fund authorized under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 and administered by states to provide assistance to low-income families who need childcare due to specified reasons. Existing federal regulations require a portion of those funds to be used on specified activities to improve the quality of childcare.

This bill would require the department to provide, no later than May 14, 2025, and no later than May 14 every year thereafter, specified committees with a proposed list of the quality improvement activities, including funding totals by activity, that will be funded in the next fiscal year with the funds from the federal Child Care and Development Fund.

(10) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, in collaboration with the State Department of Education, to implement a reimbursement system plan that establishes reasonable standards and assigned reimbursement rates. Existing law requires the state and Child Care Providers United - California to establish a Joint Labor Management Committee to develop recommendations for a single reimbursement rate structure that addresses quality standards for equity and accessibility while supporting positive learning and developmental outcomes for children, as specified. Existing law also requires the department, in collaboration with the State Department of Education, to develop and conduct an alternative methodology, as specified, in order to set reimbursement rates for state-subsidized childcare and development services.

Existing law requires the department to, by no later than July 1, 2024, submit necessary information to support use of a single rate structure utilizing the alternative methodology to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families in the Child Care and Development Fund state plan or an amendment to the state plan. Within 60 days of federal approval of the single rate structure utilizing the alternative methodology, existing law requires the department to provide specified committees of the Legislature and the Legislative Analyst’s Office with an outline of the implementation components for the approved single rate structure.

This bill would instead require the department to provide the Assembly and Senate Budget Committees and Legislative Analyst’s Office with a report that outlines the implementation components for the approved single rate structure. The bill would require the report to include the department’s plan to set new reimbursement rates under the alternative methodology by no later than July 1, 2025, and the estimated costs and estimated timelines associated with the implementation components, as specified. The bill would also require the department to, beginning October 1, 2024, until January 1, 2026, provide the Assembly and Senate Budget Committees and the Legislative Analyst’s Office with quarterly updates on the implementation of the new reimbursement rates, as specified. The bill would require the Governor and the Legislature to, by no later than July 1, 2025, establish reimbursement rates based on the alternative methodology. If the new reimbursement rates established by the Governor and the Legislature do not take effect on July 1, 2025, the bill would require the department to provide the Legislature with a timeline for transitioning from the rates that are in effect on July 1, 2025, to the new reimbursement rates, as specified. The bill would also prohibit the new reimbursement rates established by the Governor and the Legislature, or any temporary reimbursement established by the department as part of a transition timeline, from being reduced from reimbursement rates that were in effect on June 30, 2024, as specified.

(11) The bill would appropriate $328,000 in specified funds from the Federal Trust Fund to allow the State Department of Social Services to assist the California Health and Human Services Agency with the administration of the Preschool Development Grant.

(12) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

(13) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 8205 of the Education Code is amended to read:

8205.

As used in this chapter:

(a) “Applicant or contracting agency” means a school district, community college district, college or university, county superintendent of schools, county, city, public agency, private nontax-exempt agency, private tax-exempt agency, or other entity that is authorized to establish, maintain, or operate services pursuant to this chapter. Private agencies and parent cooperatives, duly licensed by law, shall receive the same consideration as any other authorized entity with no loss of parental decisionmaking prerogatives as consistent with the provisions of this chapter.

(b) “Assigned reimbursement rate” is that rate established by the contract with the agency in accordance with Section 8242.

(c) “Attendance” means the number of children present at a preschool facility. “Attendance,” for purposes of reimbursement, includes excused absences by children because of illness, quarantine, illness or quarantine of their parent, family emergency, or to spend time with a parent or other relative as required by a court of law or that is clearly in the best interest of the child.

(d) “Capital outlay” means the amount paid for the renovation and repair of childcare and development and preschool facilities to comply with state and local health and safety standards, and the amount paid for the state purchase of relocatable childcare and development and preschool facilities for lease to qualifying contracting agencies.

(e) “Preschool facility” means a residence or building or part thereof in which preschool services are provided.

(f) “Early childhood programs” means those programs that offer a full range of services for children from infancy to 13 years of age, for any part of a day, by a public, private, or proprietary agency, in centers and family childcare homes.

(g) “Children at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation” means children who are so identified in a written referral from a legal, medical, or social service agency, or emergency shelter.

(h) “Children with exceptional needs” means either of the following:

(1) Children under three years of age who have been determined to be eligible for early intervention services pursuant to the California Early Intervention Services Act (Title 14 (commencing with Section 95000) of the Government Code) and its implementing regulations. These children include an infant or toddler with a developmental delay or established risk condition, or who is at high risk of having a substantial developmental disability, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 95014 of the Government Code. These children shall have active individualized family service plans and shall be receiving early intervention services.

(2) Children 3 to 21 years of age, inclusive, who have been determined to be eligible for special education and related services by an individualized education program team according to the special education requirements contained in Part 30 (commencing with Section 56000) of Division 4 of Title 2, and who meet eligibility criteria described in Section 56026 and, Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 56333) of Chapter 4 of Part 30 of Division 4 of Title 2, and Sections 3030 and 3031 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. These children shall have an active individualized education program and shall be receiving early intervention services or appropriate special education.

(i) “Cost” includes, but is not limited to, expenditures that are related to the operation of preschool programs. “Cost” may include a reasonable amount for state and local contributions to employee benefits, including approved retirement programs, agency administration, and any other reasonable program operational costs. “Cost” may also include amounts for licensable facilities in the community served by the program, including lease payments or depreciation, downpayments, and payments of principal and interest on loans incurred to acquire, rehabilitate, or construct licensable facilities, but these costs shall not exceed fair market rents existing in the community in which the facility is located. “Reasonable and necessary costs” are costs that, in nature and amount, do not exceed what an ordinary prudent person would incur in the conduct of a competitive business.

(j) “Elementary school,” as contained in former Section 425 of Title 20 of the United States Code (the National Defense Education Act of 1958, Public Law 85-864, as amended), includes early childhood education programs and all child development programs, for the purpose of the cancellation provisions of loans to students in institutions of higher learning.

(k) “Family childcare home education network” means an entity organized under law that contracts with the department to make payments to licensed family childcare home providers and to provide educational and support services to those providers and to children and families eligible for California state preschool program services.

(l) “Health services” include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Referral, whenever possible, to appropriate health care providers able to provide continuity of medical care.

(2) Health screening and health treatment, including a full range of immunization recorded on the appropriate state immunization form to the extent provided by the Medi-Cal Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) and the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program (Article 6 (commencing with Section 124025) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code), but only to the extent that ongoing care cannot be obtained utilizing community resources.

(3) Health education and training for children, parents, staff, and providers.

(4) Followup treatment through referral to appropriate health care agencies or individual health care professionals.

(m) “Higher educational institutions” means the Regents of the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and the governing bodies of any accredited private nonprofit institution of postsecondary education.

(n) “Intergenerational staff” means persons of various generations.

(o) “Dual language learner children” means children whose first language is a language other than English or children who are developing two or more languages, one of which may be English.

(p) “Parent” means a biological parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, foster parent, caretaker relative, or any other adult living with a child who has responsibility for the care and welfare of the child.

(q) “Program director” means a person who, pursuant to Section 8298, is qualified to serve as a program director.

(r) “Proprietary agency” means an organization or facility providing preschool, which is operated for profit.

(s) “Children with severe disabilities” are children with exceptional needs from birth to 21 years of age, inclusive, who require intensive instruction and training in programs serving pupils with the following profound disabilities: autism, blindness, deafness, severe orthopedic impairments, serious emotional disturbances, or severe intellectual disabilities. “Children with severe disabilities” also include those individuals who would have been eligible for enrollment in a developmental center for handicapped pupils under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 56800) of Part 30 of Division 4 of Title 2 as it read on January 1, 1980.

(t) (1) “Site supervisor” means a person who, regardless of their title, has operational program responsibility for an early childhood program at a single site.

(2) A site supervisor shall satisfy one of the following:

(A) Hold a permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing that authorizes supervision of a childcare and development program operating in a single site.

(B) Hold an administrative credential or an administrative services credential issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

(3) The Superintendent may waive the requirements of this subdivision if the Superintendent determines that the existence of compelling need is appropriately documented.

(u) “Standard reimbursement rate” means the reimbursement rate applicable to California state preschool programs pursuant to Section 8242.

(v) “Startup costs” means those expenses an agency incurs in the process of opening a new or additional facility before the full enrollment of children.

(w) “California state preschool program” means those programs that offer part-day or full-day, or both, educational programs for eligible two-, three-, and four-year-old children. These programs may be offered by a public, private, or proprietary agency, and operated in childcare centers or family childcare homes operating through a family childcare home education network.

(x) “Support services” means those services that, when combined with preschool services, help promote the healthy physical, mental, social, and emotional growth of children. Support services may include, but are not limited to: protective services, parent training, provider and staff training, transportation, parent and child counseling, child development resource and referral services, and child placement counseling.

(y) “Teacher” means a person with the appropriate permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing who provides program supervision and instruction that includes supervision of a number of aides, volunteers, and groups of children.

(z) “Underserved area” means a county or subcounty area, including, but not limited to, school districts, census tracts, or ZIP Code areas, where the ratio of publicly subsidized preschool program services to the need for these services is low, as determined by the Superintendent.

(aa) “Three-year-old children” means children who will have their third birthday on or before December 1 of the fiscal year in which they are enrolled in a California state preschool program. Children who have their third birthday on or after December 2 of the fiscal year, may be enrolled in a California state preschool program on or after their third birthday. Any child under four years of age shall be served in a California state preschool program facility, licensed in accordance with Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

(ab) “Two-year-old children” means children who have had their second birthday and do not otherwise meet the definition of “three-year-old children.”

(ac) “Four-year-old children” means children who will have their fourth birthday on or before December 1 of the fiscal year in which they are enrolled in a California state preschool program, or a child whose fifth birthday occurs after September 1 of the fiscal year in which they are enrolled in a California state preschool and whose parent or guardian has opted to retain or enroll them in a California state preschool program.

(ad) “Homeless children and youth” has the same meaning as defined in Section 11434a(2) of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.).

(ae) “Local educational agency” means a school district, a county office of education, a community college district, or a school district acting on behalf of one or more schools within the school district.

(af) “Funded enrollment” means the number of subsidized children funded to be enrolled, based on the maximum reimbursable amount, contract rate, inclusive of any adjustment factors, and approved program calendar, by a California state preschool program contractor.

(ag) (1) Effective no later than March 1, 2024, “part-time” means preschool services certified for a child for fewer than 25 hours per week.

(2) Effective no later than March 1, 2024, “full-time” means preschool services certified for a child for 25 or more hours per week.

(3) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) and Section 33308.5, until regulations are filed with the Secretary of State to implement this subdivision, the department may implement this subdivision through management bulletins or similar letters of instruction on or before December 31, 2023.

(4) The department shall initiate a rulemaking action to adopt regulations to implement this subdivision no later than July 1, 2026.

(5) If the provisions of this subdivision are in conflict with the provisions of a memorandum of understanding reached pursuant to Section 10426 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the memorandum of understanding shall be controlling without further legislative action, except that if such provisions of a memorandum of understanding require the expenditure of funds, the provisions shall not become effective unless approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act.

(ah) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2027, and, as of January 1, 2028, is repealed.

SEC. 2.

Section 8205 is added to the Education Code, to read: