Bill Text: CA SB192 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Early learning and educational support services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-14 - Set, second hearing. Held under submission. [SB192 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB192-Amended.html
Bill Title: Early learning and educational support services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-14 - Set, second hearing. Held under submission. [SB192 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB192-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 192 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 12, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu
FEBRUARY 7, 2013
An act to amend Sections 8202, 8214, 8220.5, and 8352 of
the Education Code, relating to child care. Section
8385 of, to amend the heading of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
8200) of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of, to amend and renumber
Sections 8210, 8212, 8212.3, 8213, 8214, 8215, 8216, 8238, 8238.4, 8
264.5, 8265, 8265.1, 8265.5, 8265.7, 8266, 8266.1, 8266.5,
8268, 8271, 8275, 8276.5, 8277, 8277.1, 8277.2, 8277.3, 8277.4,
8277.5, 8277.6, 8277.65, 8277.66, 8277.7, 8277.8, 8278.3, 8279.1,
8279.4, 8279.5, 8279.6, 8279.7, 8320, 8321, 8322, 8324, 8326, 8327,
8329, 8330, 8331, 8335, 8335.1, 8335.2, 8335.3, 8335.4, 8335.5,
8335.6, 8335.7, 8340, 8341, 8341.5, 8342, 8343, 8344, 8345, 8346,
8351, 8352, 8353, 8354, 8355, 8356, 8356.1, 8358.5, 8359,
8359.1, 8362, 8363, 8363.5, 8368, 8369, 8402, 8403, 8404, 8405, 8406,
8406.6, 8406.7, 8406.9, 8407, 8408, 8409, 8441, 8442, 8444, 8445,
8447, 8447.5, 8450, 8493, 8494, 8495, 8495.1, 8496, 8498, 8499.3,
8499.5, and 8499.7 of, to amend and renumber the heading of Article
16.5 (commencing with Section 8385) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of
Division 1 of Title 1 of, to amend, renumber, and repeal Section
8350.5 of, to add Sections 8292 and 8293 to, to add the heading of
Article 8 (commencing with Section 8296) to, to add the heading of
Article 9 (commencing with Section 8300) to, to add the heading of
Article 10 (commencing with Section 8305) to, to add the heading of
Article 14 (commencing with Section 8365) to, to add the heading of
Article 18 (commencing with Section 8407) to, to add the heading of
Article 25 (commencing with Section 8490) to, and to add the heading
of Article 26 (commencing with Section 8492) to, Chapter 2 of Part 6
of Division 1 of Title 1 of, to add Article 2 (commencing with
Section 8210) to, to add Article 4 (commencing with
Section 8240) to, to add Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 8252)
to, to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 8260) to, to add
Article 6 (commencing with Section 8270) to, to add Article 11
(commencing with Section 8310) to, to add Article 12 (commencing with
Section 8325) to, to add Article 13 (commencing with Section 8350)
to, to add Article 14.5 (commencing with Section 8370) to, to add
Article 14.7 (commencing with Section 8377) to, and to add Article 15
(commencing with Section 8380) to, Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1
of Title 1 of, to repeal Sections 8350 and 8499 of, to
repeal the heading of Article 2 (commencing with Section 8210) of, to
repeal the heading of Article 6 (commencing with Section 8230) of,
to repeal the heading of Article 7 (commencing with Section 8235) of,
to repeal the heading of Article 12 (commencing with Section 8275)
of, to repeal the heading of Article 15 (commencing with Section
8320) of, to repeal the heading of Article 15.2 (commencing
with Section 8335) of, to repeal the heading of Article 15.3
(commencing with Section 8340) of, to repeal the heading of Article
15.5 (commencing with Section 8350) of, to repeal the heading of
Article 18 (commencing 8400) of, to repeal the heading of Article 20
(commencing with Section 8440) of, to repeal the heading of Article
21 (commencing with Section 8448) of, to repeal the heading of
Article 23 (commencing with Section 8485) of, and to repeal the
heading of Article 24 (commencing with Section 8493) of, Chapter 2 of
Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of, to repeal the heading of Article
1 (commencing with Section 8499) of, and to repeal the heading of
Article 2 (commencing with Section 8499.3) of, Chapter 2.3 of, and to
repeal the heading of Chapter 2.3 (commencing with Section 8499) of,
Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of, to repeal Article 8 (commencing
with Section 8240) of, to repeal Article 8.5 (commencing with Section
8245) of, to repeal Article 9 (commencing with Section 8250) of, to
repeal Article 10 (commencing with Section 8255) of, and to
repeal Article 14 (commencing with Section 8286) of, Chapter 2 of
Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of, to repeal and add Article 1
(commencing with Section 8200) of, and to repeal and add Article 3
(commencing with Section 8220) to, Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1
of Title 1 of, the Education Code, relating to early learning and
educational support services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 192, as amended, Liu. Child care: early
Early learning and school educational
support resources. services.
The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, requires the Superintendent to
administer child care and development programs that offer a full
range of services for eligible 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.
This bill would reorganize and recast those provisions as the
Early Learning and Educational Support Act, and would establish as
its purpose providing a comprehensive early learning and educational
support system that promotes access to safe, high-quality early
learning and educational support programs, as specified. The bill
would require the Superintendent to administer the early learning and
educational support program through direct classroom or alternative
payment services, and would require the Superintendent to develop
requirements for the implementation of high-quality early learning
and educational support programs based on certain indicia of quality,
including, but not limited to, effective educators that foster
school readiness and possess the appropriate and required educational
qualifications and experience, including any required credentials or
permits, as required by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, and
who meet applicable licensing standards. The bill, when expansion
funding is made available for direct classroom service programs,
would require priority for funding to be given to certain elementary
schools ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, on the Academic
Performance Index. The bill would delete obsolete provisions, make
conforming changes, and make nonsubstantive changes.
The Child Care and Development Services Act (act), administered by
the State Department of Education, provides that children from
infancy to 13 years of age and their parents are eligible, with
certain requirements, for child care and development services. The
act declares the intent of the Legislature that all families have
accesses to child care and development services through resource and
referral programs, as specified.
This bill would additionally declare the intent of the Legislature
that all children in California have access to high-quality early
learning and education support programs so that they thrive in their
early learning settings and succeed throughout kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as specified.
The act provides that child care resource and referral services
shall be provided to all persons requesting services and to all types
of child care providers, regardless of income level or other
eligibility criteria. The act provides for child care alternative
payment programs, the purpose of which is to provide for parental
choice in child care, and requires those programs to provide support
services to families, including information to parents to assist them
in making informed choices. Existing law also requires that child
care be provided in 3 stages to recipients of benefits under the
California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs)
program. The first stage of child care begins upon the entry of a
person into the CalWORKs program. The 2nd stage of child care begins
when a county determines that the work or approved work activity of
the recipient is stable or when a recipient is making the transition
off of aid and child care. The 3rd stage of child care, which is
administered by programs contracting with the department, begins when
a funded child care space becomes available for the child or
children of the eligible CalWORKs recipient.
This bill would require child care resource and referral programs
to provide information about certain child care services available
when a family is determined eligible for child care and development
services or recertified as eligible for those services under the
alternative payment program or stages 2 or 3 of the CalWORKs program.
The bill would require child care resource and referral agencies to
give priority to providing information about safe, caring, and
age-appropriate early learning and school support environments for
children as well as environments that support the parents' work
activity. The bill would require the department to develop and
certify a list of high-quality early learning and school support
resources and to post the list on its Internet Web site. The bill
would provide that in providing information about child care, child
care resource and referral agencies may use resources from the
department's certified list or local resources, as specified.
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. The heading of Chapter 2 (commencing
with Section 8200) of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
CHAPTER 2. CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
EARLY LEARNING AND EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT ACT
SEC. 2. Article 1 (commencing with Section 8200)
of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. Article 1 (commencing with Section 8200)
is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1
of the Education Code , to read:
Article 1. General Provisions
8200. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Early
Learning and Educational Support Act.
8201. The purpose of this chapter is as follows:
(a) To provide a comprehensive early learning and educational
support system that promotes access to safe, high-quality early
learning and educational support programs that will promote
comprehensive support for the development of the whole child that
includes all of the following:
(1) Developmentally appropriate curriculum with differentiated
instruction.
(2) Knowledgeable, caring, well-trained, and effective educators,
program staff, and providers.
(3) Promotion of healthy practices and activities.
(4) An educationally enriched environment that respects and
supports cultural, linguistic, and ability diversity.
(b) To encourage community-level coordination in support of early
learning and educational support services.
(c) Positive parenting through the understanding of healthy
development and the importance of high-quality early learning
opportunities for school readiness.
(d) The development of the ability to measure outcomes assessing
early learning and educational support programs.
(e) To establish a framework for the expansion of early learning
and educational support services.
8202. (a) To ensure that all children in California have access
to high-quality early learning and educational support programs so
that they thrive in their early learning settings and succeed
entering kindergarten through their school education and adult life,
it is the intent of the Legislature that:
(1) All families have access to safe, high-quality early learning
and educational support services that support the development of the
whole child, including healthy physical, cognitive, and social and
emotional growth and development of children, regardless of ethnic
status, cultural background, or special needs.
(2) Subsidized early learning and educational support services are
provided to persons meeting the eligibility criteria established
under this chapter to the extent funding is made available by the
Legislature and Congress.
(3) Community-level coordination between early learning and
educational support programs and other human services organizations
is encouraged.
(4) Parents and families are fully informed of their rights and
responsibilities to select safe and high-quality early learning and
educational support programs.
(5) Planning for expansion of early learning and educational
support programs be based on ongoing local needs assessments and
targeted to the catchment areas of the lowest performing schools
based on the most recent Academic Performance Index.
(6) Families achieve and maintain their personal, social,
economic, and emotional stability through an opportunity to attain
financial stability through employment and work support activities,
while maximizing the growth and development of their children, and
supporting parental participation in the educational development and
success of their children.
(7) Early learning and educational support staff be culturally and
linguistically diverse, and effectively foster and support school
readiness, healthy development, and improved child outcomes.
(b) Sustained support of professional development and preparation
shall focus on educator effectiveness with children and families in
their programs that include, but are not be limited to, the
following:
(1) Academic support.
(2) Higher education articulation.
(3) Career advancement.
(4) Evidence-based coaching and mentoring.
(5) Effective child-teacher interactions.
(6) Training on research-based tools and resources aligned to the
California foundations, frameworks, guidelines, and early childhood
educator competencies.
(7) Retention of high-quality educators.
(8) Adequate compensation and incentives for professional growth.
(9) Strong leadership and management practices.
(c) The Superintendent shall coordinate with the First 5
California and the First 5 county commissions and other federal,
state, and local agencies to support improved alignment and access,
including, but not limited to, support services, quality
enhancements, and additional training and resources in early learning
and educational support programs and staff.
(d) The department shall create, administer, and support a
comprehensive early learning and educational support infrastructure
that promotes and fosters school readiness, healthy development, and
improved child outcomes.
(e) The Superintendent, in providing funding to early learning and
educational support agencies, shall promote a range of services that
allow parents the opportunity to choose the type of care most suited
to their needs. The program scope may include the following:
(1) Programs located in centers, family day care homes, or in the
child's own home.
(2) Services provided part-day, full-day, and during nonstandard
hours, including weekend care, night and shift care, before and after
school care, and care during holidays and vacation.
(3) Early learning and educational support services provided for
infants and toddlers, preschool, and schoolage children.
(f) The Superintendent shall be responsible for the establishment
of a public hearing process or other public input process that
ensures the participation of those agencies directly affected by a
particular section or sections of this chapter.
(g) The department shall consolidate contracts for agencies
providing direct classroom services into a single contract in order
to ease administration, reduce reporting and auditing requirements,
and ensure that special populations continue to receive services and
supports.
(h) The department shall administer the alternative payment and
CalWORKs Stage 2 and Stage 3 voucher programs in order to maximize
and support parental choice in caregiver selection.
(i) The department shall review existing resources and
opportunities for consumer education in order to expose parents to a
variety of strategies and learning opportunities to support caregiver
choices. These resources shall include all of the following:
(1) The options that parents may select.
(2) The benefits of each option.
(3) The educational and socioemotional development of expectations
of children at various ages.
(j) The department shall annually review a variety of existing
requirements in order to consider alternatives that reduce
administrative burden and cost and streamline program administration.
(k) As additional funding becomes available, the department shall
review options to implement a statewide quality rating and
improvement system to obtain data on the effectiveness and success of
California's early learning and educational support programs,
including program quality improvements and early educator and child
outcomes.
8203. (a) The Superintendent shall ensure that each contract
under this chapter provides early learning and educational support
services and, to facilitate the provision of those services, promotes
children's school readiness and subsequent school success through
the delivery of appropriate high-quality educational services to the
children served pursuant to the contract.
(b) The Superintendent shall adopt rules and regulations on
eligibility, enrollment, and priority of services needed to implement
this chapter.
8205. It is the intent of the Legislature that, in providing
early learning and educational support programs, the Superintendent
shall do the following:
(a) Develop an early learning and educational support system that
allows maximum parental choice by providing both direct classroom and
alternative payment services.
(b) Give priority to children of families that qualify under
applicable federal statutes or regulations as recipients of public
assistance and other low-income and disadvantaged families. Federal
reimbursement shall be claimed for any child receiving services under
this chapter for whom federal funds are available.
8206. The Superintendent, with funds appropriated for this
purpose, shall administer early learning and educational support
programs through direct classroom or alternative payment services.
These programs shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Age and developmentally appropriate activities for children.
(b) Supervision.
(c) Parenting education and parent engagement.
(d) Developmental and health services.
(e) Nutrition.
(f) Family support services that include, but are not limited to,
assessment of child and family needs and referral to appropriate
human services organizations.
(g) Training, professional development, and career advancement
opportunities, documentation of which shall be provided to the
department.
8207. Programs operated pursuant to this chapter may be designed
to meet child-related needs identified by parents or guardians that
may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Care for schoolage children during nonschool hours.
(b) Weekend care.
(c) Nightshift care.
(d) Worksite care.
(e) Temporary emergency child care.
(f) Child care for ill children.
8208. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Administrative responsibility" means awareness of the
financial and business circumstances of the program, and, in
appropriate cases, supervision of administrative and support
personnel, and knowledge and authority to direct or modify
administrative practices and procedures to ensure compliance with
administrative and financial standards imposed by law. Additionally,
"administrative responsibility" includes acting as the representative
for the early learning and educational support program to the
department. For programs operated through family child care homes,
"administrative responsibility" includes ensuring that quality
services are provided in the family child care homes.
(b) "Alternative payments" includes payments that are made by one
agency to another agency or provider for the provision of early
learning and educational support services, and payments that are made
by an agency to a parent for the parent's purchase of early learning
and educational support services.
(c) "Alternative payment program" means an agency that has
contracted with the department pursuant to Section 8362 to provide
alternative payments and to provide support services to parents and
providers.
(d) "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.
(e) "Assigned reimbursement rate" is that rate established by the
contract with the agency and is derived by dividing the total dollar
amount of the contract by the minimum child day of average daily
enrollment level of service required.
(f) "Attendance" means the number of children present at a child
care and development facility where services are being provided.
(1) For purposes of reimbursement to direct classroom programs,
attendance includes excused absences of 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.
(2) For purposes of reimbursement to providers through an
alternative payment services program, "attendance" includes either of
the following:
(A) The hours of service provided that are consistent with
certified hours of need.
(B) In the case of license-exempt providers that provide part-time
services, the actual days and hours of attendance.
(g) "Block grant" means the block grant contained in the federal
Title VI of the Child Care and Development Fund, as established by
the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193).
(h) "California state preschool services" means part-day and
full-day educational services designed to facilitate the transition
to kindergarten for low-income or otherwise disadvantaged three- and
four-year-old children.
(i) "Capital outlay" means the amount paid for the renovation and
repair of child care and development facilities to comply with state
and local health and safety standards, and the amount paid for the
state purchase of relocatable child care and development facilities
for lease to qualifying contracting agencies.
(j) "Caregiver" means a person who provides direct care,
supervision, and guidance to children in a child care and development
facility.
(k) "Child care" means all licensed early learning and educational
support services and all license-exempt care, including but not
limited to, private for-profit programs, nonprofit programs, and
publicly funded programs, for all children from infancy to 13 years
of age, including children with exceptional needs and children from
all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
(l) "Child care and development facility" means a residence or
building or part thereof in which early learning and educational
support services are provided.
(m) "Child care provider" means a person who provides child care
services or who represents persons who provide child care services.
(n) "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.
(o) "Children with exceptional needs" means either of the
following:
(1) Infants and toddlers 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, shall
be receiving early intervention services, and shall be children who
require the special attention of adults in a child care setting.
(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,
shall be receiving early intervention services or appropriate
special education and related services, and shall be children who
require the special attention of adults in a child care setting.
These children include children with intellectual disabilities,
hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language
impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious
emotional disturbance (also referred to as emotional disturbance),
orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health
impairments, or specific learning disabilities, who need special
education and related services consistent with Section 1401(3)(A) of
Title 20 of the United States Code.
(p) "Closedown costs" means reimbursements for all approved
activities associated with the closing of operations at the end of
each growing season for migrant services only.
(q) "Community representative" means a person who represents an
agency or business that provides private funding for child care
services, or who advocates for child care services through
participation in civic or community-based organizations but is not a
child care provider and does not represent an agency that contracts
with the department to provide early learning and educational support
services.
(r) "Consumer" means a parent or person who receives, or who has
received within the past 36 months, child care services.
(s) "Cost" includes, but is not limited to, expenditures that are
related to the operation of early learning and educational support
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.
(t) "Department" means the State Department of Education.
(u) "Developmental and 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) Developmental and 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.
(v) "Early learning and educational support programs" means those
programs that offer a full range of services designed to meet a wide
variety of needs of children, from infancy to 13 years of age, and
their families. Services provided by an applicant or contracting
agency can be for any part of the day that a parent is working, in
training or seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite.
These services may include, but are not limited to, direct classroom
and alternative payment services.
(w) "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 early learning and educational support
programs, for the purpose of the cancellation provisions of loans to
students in institutions of higher learning.
(x) "Family child care home education network" means an entity
organized under law that contracts with the department pursuant to
Section 8229 to make payments to licensed family child care home
providers and to provide educational and support services to those
providers and to children and families eligible for state-subsidized
early learning and educational support services. A family child care
home education network may also be referred to as a family child care
home system.
(y) "Four-year-old children" means children who will have their
fourth birthday on or before the date specified in the fiscal year in
which they are enrolled in a California state preschool program, as
follows:
(1) November 1 of the 2012-13 fiscal year.
(2) October 1 of the 2013-14 fiscal year.
(3) September 1 of the 2014-15 fiscal year and each fiscal year
thereafter.
(z) "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.
(aa) "Intergenerational staff" means persons of various
generations.
(ab) A "limited-English-speaking-proficient child" or
"non-English-speaking-proficient child" means a child who is unable
to benefit fully from an English-only early learning and educational
support program as a result of either of the following:
(1) Having used a language other than English when the child first
began to speak.
(2) Having a language other than English predominantly or
exclusively spoken at home.
(ac) "Local educational agency" means a school district, a county
office of education, a community college district, or a school
district on behalf of one or more schools within the school district.
(ad) "Local planning council" means a local child care and
development planning council as described in Section 8300.
(ae) "Migrant agricultural worker family" means a family, with at
least one parent that has earned at least 50 percent of his or her
income from employment in fishing, agriculture, or agriculturally
related work during the 12-month period immediately preceding the
date of application for early learning and educational support
services.
(af) "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.
(ag) "Program director" means a person who, pursuant to Sections
8274 and 8275, is qualified to serve as a program director.
(ah) "Programmatic responsibility" means overall supervision of
curriculum and instructional staff, including instructional aides,
and the knowledge and authority to direct or modify program practices
and procedures to ensure compliance to applicable quality and health
and safety standards imposed by law. Additionally, "programmatic
responsibility" includes acting as the representative for the early
learning and educational support program to the department. For
programs operated through family child care homes, "programmatic
responsibility" includes ensuring quality services are provided in
the family child care homes.
(ai) "Proprietary agency" means an organization or facility
providing early learning and educational support services, which is
operated for profit.
(aj) "Public agency representative" means a person who represents
a city, county, city and county, or local government agency.
(ak) "Resource and referral programs" means an agency that has
contracted with the department, pursuant to 8288, to provide
information to parents, including referrals and coordination of
community resources for parents and public or private providers of
care. Services frequently include, but are not limited to, technical
assistance for providers, toy lending libraries, equipment lending
libraries, toy and equipment lending libraries, staff development
programs, health and nutrition education, and referrals to social
services.
(al) "Severely disabled children" 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. "Severely disabled children" 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.
(am) "Short-term respite child care" means child care service to
assist families whose children have been identified through written
referral from a legal, medical, or social service agency, or
emergency shelter as being neglected, abused, exploited, or homeless,
or at risk of being neglected, abused, exploited, or homeless. Child
care is provided for less than 24 hours per day in child care
centers, treatment centers for abusive parents, family child care
homes, or in the child's own home.
(an) "Site supervisor" means a person who, regardless of his or
her title, has operational program responsibility for an early
learning and educational support program at a single site. A site
supervisor shall hold a permit or credential issued by the Commission
on Teacher Credentialing that authorizes supervision of a child care
and development program operating in a single site. The
Superintendent may waive the requirements of this subdivision if the
Superintendent determines that the existence of compelling need is
appropriately documented.
(ao) "Standard reimbursement rate" means that rate established by
the Superintendent pursuant to Section 8371.
(ap) "Startup costs" means those expenses an agency incurs in the
process of opening a new or additional facility before the full
enrollment of children.
(aq) "Support services" means those services that, when combined
with early learning and educational support services, help promote
the healthy physical, mental, social, and emotional growth of
children. Support services 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.
(ar) "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.
(as) "Three-year-old child" means a child who will have his or her
third birthday on or before the date specified in the fiscal year in
which the child is enrolled in a California state preschool program,
as follows:
(1) November 1 of the 2012-13 fiscal year.
(2) October 1 of the 2013-14 fiscal year.
(3) September 1 of the 2014-15 fiscal year and each fiscal year
thereafter.
(at) "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 early learning
and educational support program services to the need for these
services is low, as determined by the Superintendent.
(au) "Workday" means the time that the parent requires temporary
care for a child for any of the following reasons:
(1) To undertake training in preparation for a job.
(2) To undertake or retain a job.
(3) To undertake other activities that are essential to
maintaining or improving the social and economic function of the
family, are beneficial to the community, or are required because of
health problems in the family.
SEC. 4. The heading of Article 2 (commencing with
Section 8210) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 2. Resource and Referral Programs
SEC. 5. Section 8210 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8210. 8285. Funds appropriated for
the purpose of this chapter may be used for child care resource and
referral programs which that may be
operated by public or private nonprofit entities.
SEC. 6. Article 2 (commencing with Section 8210) is
added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code, to read:
Article 2. Eligibility and Enrollment
8210. In order to be eligible for federal and state subsidized
early learning and educational support services, families shall meet
at least one requirement in each of the following areas:
(a) A family is (1) a current aid recipient, (2) income eligible,
(3) homeless, or (4) 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.
(b) A family needs the child care services (1) because the child
is identified by a legal, medical, or social services agency, or
emergency shelter as (A) a recipient of protective services or (B)
being neglected, abused, or exploited, or at risk of neglect, abuse,
or exploitation, or (2) because the parents are (A) engaged in
vocational training leading directly to a recognized trade,
paraprofession, or profession, (B) employed or seeking employment,
(C) seeking permanent housing for family stability, or (D)
incapacitated.
8211. (a) For purposes of this chapter, "income eligible" means
that a family's adjusted monthly income is at or below 70 percent of
the state median income, adjusted for family size, and adjusted
annually.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, for the 2012-13 fiscal year,
the income eligibility limits shall be 70 percent of the state median
income that was in use for the 2007-08 fiscal year, adjusted for
family size.
(c) 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 and
Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code shall not be included as income
for purposes of determining eligibility for child care under this
chapter.
8212. Except as provided in Article 4.5 (commencing with Section
8252), priority for federal and state subsidized early learning and
educational support services is as follows:
(a) (1) 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.
(2) A family who is receiving early learning and educational
support services on the basis of being a child at risk of abuse,
neglect, or exploitation, as defined in subdivision (n) of Section
8208, is eligible to receive services pursuant to paragraph (1) for
up to three months, unless the family becomes eligible pursuant to
paragraph (3).
(3) A family may receive child care services for up to 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.
(b) 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.
(c) 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.
8213. (a) 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
early learning and educational support 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. 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.
(b) 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 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 and areas with
disproportionately high numbers of seasonal agricultural jobs.
8214. (a) A physical examination and evaluation, including
age-appropriate immunizations, 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 an early
learning and educational support program of a child whose parent or
guardian files a letter with the governing board of the 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 there is 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 program is satisfied that the child is not
suffering from that contagious or infectious disease.
(b) 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.
(c) The Superintendent shall establish guidelines for the
collection of employer-sponsored child care benefit payments from a
parent whose child receives subsidized services. These guidelines
shall provide for the collection of the full amount of the benefit
payment, but not to exceed the actual cost of services provided,
notwithstanding the applicable fee based on the fee schedule.
(d) The Superintendent shall establish guidelines according to
which the director or a duly authorized representative of the program
will certify children as eligible for state reimbursement pursuant
to this section.
(e) 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.
8215. (a) The preferred placement for children who are 11 or 12
years of age and who are otherwise eligible for subsidized early
learning and education support services shall be in a before or after
school program.
(b) Children who are 11 or 12 years of age shall be eligible for
subsidized services only for the portion of care needed that is not
available in a before or after school program provided pursuant to
Article 22.5 (commencing with Section 8482) or Article 22.6
(commencing with Section 8484.7). Contractors shall provide each
family of an eligible child who is 11 or 12 years of age with the
option of combining care provided in a before or after school program
with subsidized care in another setting, for those hours within a
day when the before or after school program does not operate, in
order to meet the needs of the family.
(c) Children who are 11 or 12 years of age, who are eligible for
and who are receiving subsidized services, and for whom a before or
after school program is not available, shall continue to receive
subsidized services.
(d) A before or after school program shall be considered not
available when a parent certifies in writing, on a form provided by
the department that is translated into the parent's primary language
pursuant to Sections 7295.4 and 7296.2 of the Government Code, the
reason or reasons why the program would not meet the needs of the
family. The reasons why a before or after school program shall be
considered not available shall include, but not be limited to, any of
the following:
(1) The program does not provide services when needed during the
year, such as during the summer, school breaks, or intersession.
(2) The program does not provide services when needed during the
day, such as in the early morning, evening, or weekend hours.
(3) The program is too geographically distant from the child's
school of attendance.
(4) The program is too geographically distant from the parents'
residence.
(5) Use of the program would create substantial transportation
obstacles for the family.
(6) Any other reason that makes the use of before or after school
care inappropriate for the child or burdensome on the family.
(e) If a child who is 11 or 12 years of age and who is enrolled in
a subsidized early learning and educational support program becomes
ineligible for subsidized care under subdivision (b) and is
disenrolled from the before or after school program, or if the before
or after school program no longer meets the needs of the family, the
child shall be given priority to return to the subsidized early
learning and educational support services upon the parent's
notification of the contractor of the need for care.
(f) This section does not apply to a child who is 11 or 12 years
of age with a disability, including a child with exceptional needs
who has an individualized education program as required by the
federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec.
1400 et seq.), Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973
(29 U.S.C. Sec. 794), or Part 30 (commencing with Section 56000) of
Division 4 of Title 2.
(g) The savings generated each contract year by the implementation
of the changes made to former Section 8263.4 by the act amending
former Section 8263.4 during the 2005-06 Regular Session shall remain
with each alternative payment program, early learning and
educational support center, or other contractor for the provision of
services, except for care provided by programs pursuant to Article
4.5 (commencing with Section 8252). Each contractor shall report
annually to the department the amount of savings resulting from this
implementation, and the department shall report annually to the
Legislature the amount of savings statewide resulting from that
implementation.
8216. (a) The Superintendent shall establish a fee schedule for
families utilizing early learning and educational support services
pursuant to this chapter, including families receiving services under
subdivision (a) of Section 8212.
(1) Families receiving services under paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a) of Section 8212 may be exempt from these fees for up to three
months when the referral includes a fee waiver.
(2) Families receiving services under paragraph (3) of subdivision
(a) of Section 8212 may be exempt from these fees for up to 12
months when the referral includes a fee waiver.
(3) The cumulative period of time of exemption from these fees for
families receiving services under subdivision (a) of Section 8212
shall not exceed 12 months.
(b) 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 as income for purposes of determining the
amount of the family fee.
(c) Using the most recently approved family fee schedule pursuant
to Section 8332, families shall be assessed a flat fee based on
income and need for care.
(d) A family fee shall be assessed at initial enrollment and
reassessed at update of certification and recertification.
8217. (a) Agencies may require parents to provide diapers and may
charge a fee for field trips or diapers.
(b) Agencies charging a fee pursuant to subdivision (a) shall do
all of the following:
(1) Have a written policy adopted by the agency's governing board
that includes parents in the decionmaking process.
(2) Not charge additional fees in excess of twenty-five dollars
($25) for the contract year.
(3) Not deny field trip participation to a child due to the
parents' inability or refusal to pay.
(4) Not take adverse action against a parent for that inability or
refusal to pay.
(5) Inform parents, before enrolling the child, that a fee may be
charged and that no reimbursement will be available.
(c) Each contractor or provider shall establish a payment system
that prevents the identification of children based on whether or not
their parents have paid a field trip charge.
(d) The income received for field trips shall be reported to the
department specifically as restricted income.
SEC. 7. Section 8212 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8212. 8286. For purposes of this
article, child care resource and referral programs, established to
serve a defined geographic area, shall provide the following
services:
(a) Identification of the full range of existing child care
services through information provided by all relevant public and
private agencies in the areas of service, and the development of a
resource file of those services which shall be maintained and updated
at least quarterly. These services shall include, but not be limited
to, family day care homes, public and private day care programs,
full-time and part-time programs, and infant, preschool, and extended
care programs.
The resource file shall include, but not be limited to, the
following information:
(1) Type of program.
(2) Hours of service.
(3) Ages of children served.
(4) Fees and eligibility for services.
(5) Significant program information.
(b) (1) Establishment of a referral process which
that responds to parental need for information
and which that is provided with full
recognition of the confidentiality rights of parents. Resource and
referral programs shall make referrals to licensed child day care
facilities. Referrals shall be made to unlicensed care facilities
only if there is no requirement that the facility be licensed. The
referral process shall afford parents maximum access to all referral
information. This access shall include, but is not limited to,
telephone referrals to be made available for at least 30 hours per
week as part of a full week of operation. Every effort shall be made
to reach all parents within the defined geographic area, including,
but not limited to, any of the following:
(A) Toll-free telephone lines.
(B) Office space convenient to parents and providers.
(C) Referrals in languages which that
are spoken in the community.
Each child care resource and referral program shall publicize its
services through all available media sources, agencies, and other
appropriate methods.
(2) (A) Provision of information to any person who requests a
child care referral of his or her right to view the licensing
information of a licensed child day care facility required to be
maintained at the facility pursuant to Section 1596.859 of the Health
and Safety Code and to access any public files pertaining to the
facility that are maintained by the State Department of Social
Services Community Care Licensing Division.
(B) A written or oral advisement in substantially the following
form will comply with the requirements of subparagraph (A):
"State law requires licensed child day care facilities to make
accessible to the public a copy of any licensing report pertaining to
the facility that documents a facility visit or a substantiated
complaint investigation. In addition, a more complete file regarding
a child care licensee may be available at an office of the State
Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division. You
have the right to access any public information in these files."
(c) Maintenance of ongoing documentation of requests for service
tabulated through the internal referral process. The following
documentation of requests for service shall be maintained by all
child care resource and referral
programs:
(1) Number of calls and contacts to the child care information and
referral program or component.
(2) Ages of children served.
(3) Time category of child care request for each child.
(4) Special time category, such as nights, weekends, and swing
shift.
(5) Reason that the child care is needed.
This information shall be maintained in a manner that is easily
accessible for dissemination purposes.
(d) Provision of technical assistance to existing and potential
providers of all types of child care services. This assistance shall
include, but not be limited to:
(1) Information on all aspects of initiating new child care
services including, but not limited to, licensing, zoning, program
and budget development, and assistance in finding this information
from other sources.
(2) Information and resources that help existing child care
services providers to maximize their ability to serve the children
and parents of their community.
(3) Dissemination of information on current public issues
affecting the local and state delivery of child care services.
(4) Facilitation of communication between existing child care and
child-related services providers in the community served.
Services prescribed by this section shall be provided in order to
maximize parental choice in the selection of child care to facilitate
the maintenance and development of child care services and
resources.
(e) (1) A program operating pursuant to this article shall, within
two business days of receiving notice, remove a licensed child day
care facility with a revocation or a temporary suspension order, or
that is on probation from the program's referral list.
(2) A program operating pursuant to this article shall, within two
business days of receiving notice, notify all entities, operating a
program under Article 3 4 (commencing
with Section 8220) 8240) and Article
15.5 4.5 (commencing with Section
8350) 8252) in the program's
jurisdiction, of a licensed child day care facility with a revocation
or a temporary suspension order, or that is on probation.
SEC. 8. Section 8212.3 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8212.3. 8287. (a) In addition to
the services described in Section 8212 8286
, a child care resource and referral program, established to
serve a defined geographic area, may provide short-term respite child
care. "Short-term respite care," for purposes of this article, means
temporary child care services to do any of the following:
(1) Provide services to families identified and referred by child
protective agencies.
(2) Relieve the stress caused by child abuse, neglect, or
exploitation, or the risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
(3) Assist parents who, because of serious illness or injury,
homelessness, or family crisis, including temporary absence from the
home because of illness or injury, would be unable without assistance
to provide the normal care and nurture expected of parents.
(4) Provide temporary relief to parents from the care of children
with exceptional needs.
(b) Pursuant to the delivery of short-term respite child care
services, priority shall be given for the provision of services to
families identified and referred by child protective agencies, to
relieve the stress caused by child abuse, neglect, or exploitation,
or the risks thereof, as described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subdivision (a). Priority shall be given to assist parents and to
provide temporary relief to parents, as described in paragraphs (3)
and (4) of subdivision (a) to the extent that resources are
available.
SEC. 9. Section 8213 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8213. 8289. All child care resource
and referral services shall be provided in a manner which
that is responsive to the diverse cultural,
linguistic, and economic needs of a defined geographic area of
service.
SEC. 10. Section 8214 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8214. 8290. Child care resources
and referral shall be provided to all persons requesting services and
to all types of child care providers, regardless of income level or
other eligibility criteria. In addition to the services prescribed by
this section, child care resource and referral may provide a wide
variety of parent and provider support and educational services.
SEC. 11. Section 8215 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8215. 8295. (a) There is hereby
established a project known as the California Child Care Initiative
Project. It is the intent of the Legislature to promote and foster
the project in cooperation with private corporations and local
governments. The objective of the project is to increase the
availability of quality child care programs in the state.
(b) For purposes of this section, the California Child Care
Initiative Project means a project to expand the role and functions
of selected resource and referral agencies in activities including
needs assessment, recruitment and screening of providers, technical
assistance, and staff development and training, in order to aid
communities in increasing their capability in the number of child
care spaces available and the quality of child care services offered.
(c) The Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall allocate all state funds appropriated for the California Child
Care Initiative Project for the purpose of making grants to those
child care resource and referral agencies that have been selected as
pilot sites for the project.
(d) The project shall ensure that each dollar of state funds
allocated pursuant to subdivision (c) is matched by two dollars ($2)
from other sources, including private corporations, the federal
government, or local governments.
(e) The grants to the sites made available by the project shall be
comprised of a combination of state funds and other funds pursuant
to subdivision (d).
(f) The Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall develop a data base database for
the project.
SEC. 12. Section 8216 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8216. 8291. When making referrals,
every agency operating both a direct service program and a resource
and referral program 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 provider.
SEC. 13. Article 3 (commencing with Section 8220)
of Chapter 2 of Pa rt 6 of Division 1 of Title
1 of the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 14. Article 3 (commencing with Section 8220) is
added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code, to read:
Article 3. Direct Classroom Services
8220. The Superintendent shall administer early learning and
educational support programs through direct classroom services.
(a) The Superintendent shall streamline the delivery of early
learning and educational support direct classroom services through
the simplification of contracts that serve children from infancy to
13 years of age, including, but not limited to, services for:
(1) Infants and toddlers.
(2) Preschool age children.
(3) Schoolage children.
(4) Migrant children.
(b) Contractors providing direct classroom services pursuant to
this article shall:
(1) Provide high-quality educational services pursuant to Article
1 (commencing with Section 8200).
(2) Adhere to the administrative requirements of this article.
(c) Contractors shall continue to serve the same populations
specified in their 2013-14 contracts, unless they receive prior
approval from the department.
(1) Contractors that provide services to migrant populations shall
adhere to Sections 8225, 8226, 8227, and 8228.
(2) Contractors that provide services to California state
preschool populations shall adhere to Sections 8221, 8222, 8223, and
8224.
(d) All programs operating direct classroom services pursuant to
this article shall include plans or programs, or both, for the care
of children when they are sick. These plans shall be age appropriate
and parents shall be included in the planning and evaluation. The
Superintendent shall disseminate information regarding the effective
sick child care models to all early learning and educational support
programs.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow the
practice of medicine without a license.
8221. Contractors serving migrant populations shall adhere to the
requirements set forth in Sections 8225, 8226, 8227, and 8228. In
addition, the Superintendent shall support and encourage the
state-level coordination of all agencies that offer services to
migrant populations and state-level coordination of existing health
funds for migrants.
8222. (a) For the purpose of Sections 8225, 8226, 8227, and 8228,
priority for enrollment shall be given to children of migrant
agricultural worker families, as defined in subdivision (ae) of
Section 8208, in the following priority order:
(1) The family moves from place to place.
(2) The family has qualified under paragraph (1) within the past
five years and is currently dependent for its income on agricultural
employment, but is currently settled near agricultural areas.
(3) The family resides in a rural agricultural area and is
dependent upon seasonal agricultural work.
(b) Funding remaining after migrant families have been prioritized
for enrollment as specified in subdivision (a) may be used to enroll
children from otherwise eligible families pursuant to the priorities
set forth in Section 8212.
8223. In addition to the quality indicators developed pursuant to
Section 8260, the Superintendent shall develop quality indicators
for contractors that serve migrant populations, including the
following:
(a) Social services.
(1) Bilingual liaison between migrant parents and the center or
family child care home, or both.
(2) Liaison between the agency and the relevant community agencies
and organizations, including health and social services.
(3) Identification and documentation of family needs and followup
referrals as appropriate.
(b) Staffing.
(1) Bilingual health personnel shall be available to each program
site of an agency that serves a migrant population.
(2) Professional and nonprofessional staff shall reflect the
linguistic and cultural background of the children being served.
(3) Whenever possible, migrants shall be recruited, trained, and
hired in these programs. Documentation of training and career ladder
opportunities and of recruitment and hiring efforts shall be provided
to the department. Staff training shall include principles and
practices of early learning and educational support programs for the
age groups of children being served.
(c) Developmental and health services in agencies that serve
migrant populations shall include health and dental screening and
followup treatment. Health records for all migrant children shall
follow the child.
8224. (a) Cost for migrant population services may exceed the
standard reimbursement rate established by the Superintendent. In no
case shall the reimbursement exceed the cost of the services.
State-funded programs may be eligible for Title I federal funds (20
U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) to supplement state funding. These funds
shall not be contingent upon the provision of additional child days
or enrollment.
(b) The Superintendent shall annually reimburse agencies that
provide services for seasonal migrant populations pursuant to
Sections 8221, 8222, 8223, and this section for approvable startup
and closedown costs. Reimbursement for both startup and closedown
costs shall not exceed 15 percent of each agency's total contract
amount.
(c) Agencies that provide services for seasonal migrant
populations shall submit reimbursement claims for startup costs with
their first monthly reports, and reimbursement claims for closedown
costs with their final reports.
8225. (a) Contractors providing California state preschool
services for three-year-old children, as defined pursuant to
subdivision (as) of Section 8208, and four-year-old children, as
defined pursuant to subdivision (y) of Section 8208, shall adhere to
the requirements set forth in Sections 8221, 8222, 8223, and 8224.
(b) Preschool services for which federal reimbursement is not
available shall be funded as prescribed by the Legislature in the
Budget Act, and unless otherwise specified by the Legislature, shall
not use federal funds made available through Title XX of the federal
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1397 et. seq.).
(c) Three- and four-year-old children are eligible for part-day
California state preschool services if the family meets at least one
of the criteria specified in subdivision (a) of Section 8210.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a contractor providing part-day
California state preschool services may enroll children in families
whose income is no more than 15 percent above the income eligibility
threshold, as described in Sections 8210 and 8211, after all eligible
three- and four-year-old children have been enrolled. No more than
10 percent of the enrolled three- or four-year old children, may be
from families above the income eligibility threshold.
(e) Contractors providing part-day California state preschool
services shall operate for a minimum of (1) three hours per day,
excluding time for home-to-school transportation, and (2) a minimum
of 175 days per year, unless the contract specifies a lower number of
days of operation.
8226. (a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 8212, each contracting
agency providing services pursuant to Section 8225 shall give first
priority to three- or four-year-old neglected or abused children who
are recipients of child protective services, or who are at risk of
being neglected, abused, or exploited upon written referral from a
legal, medical, or social service agency. If an agency is unable to
enroll a child in this first priority category, the agency shall
refer the child's parent or guardian to local resource and referral
services so that services for the child can be located.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 8212, after children in the first
priority category set forth in paragraph (1) are enrolled, priority
shall be given to eligible four-year-old children before enrolling
eligible three-year-old children. Each agency shall certify to the
Superintendent that enrollment priority is being given to eligible
four-year-old children.
(b) For contractors that provide part-day California state
preschool services, at least one-half of the children enrolled at a
preschool site shall be four-year-old children. Any exception to this
requirement shall be approved by the Superintendent. The
Superintendent shall inform the Department of Finance of any
exceptions that have been granted and the reasons for granting the
exceptions.
8227. A contractor that provides part-day California state
preschool services has 120 calendar days before the first day of the
beginning of the new preschool year to certify eligibility and enroll
families into their program. Subsequent to enrollment, a child shall
be deemed eligible for a part-day California state preschool
services for the remainder of the program year.
8228. The Superintendent shall encourage applicants or
contracting agencies to offer full-day California state preschool
services through a combination of part-day preschool slots and
wraparound services. In order to facilitate a full-day of services,
all of the following shall apply:
(a) Part-day preschool services provided pursuant to this section
shall operate between 175 and 180 days.
(b) Wraparound services provided pursuant to this section shall
operate a minimum of 246 days per year unless the contract specifies
a lower minimum days of operation. Wraparound services may operate
full day for the remainder of the year after the completion of the
part-day preschool program services.
(c) Part-day preschool services combined with wraparound services
shall be reimbursed at no more than the full-day standard
reimbursement rate with adjustment factors, pursuant to Section 8371
and as determined in the annual Budget Act.
(d) Three- and four-year-old children are eligible for wraparound
services to supplement the part-day California state preschool
services if the family meets eligibility criteria specified in
Section 8210.
(e) Fees shall be assessed and collected for families with
children in part-day preschool programs, or families receiving
wraparound child care services, or both, pursuant to Section 8216.
(f) For purposes of this section, "wraparound services" means
services provided for the remaining portion of the day or remainder
of the year following the completion of part-day preschool services
that are necessary to meet the needs of parents eligible pursuant to
Section 8210. These services shall be provided consistent with the
early learning and educational support programs provided pursuant to
this article.
8229. (a) The Superintendent, with funds appropriated for this
purpose, shall contract with entities organized under law to operate
family child care home education networks that support educational
objectives for children in licensed family child care homes that
serve families eligible for subsidized child care.
(b) Contractors funded to operate family child care home education
networks shall reimburse network providers in accordance with
requirements set forth in Section 8244.
(c) Family child care home education network programs shall
include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Age and developmentally appropriate activities for children.
(2) Care and supervision of children.
(3) Parenting education.
(4) Identification of child and family social or health needs and
referral of the child or the family to the appropriate social or
health services.
(5) Nutrition.
(6) Training and support for the family child care home education
network's family home providers and staff.
(7) Assessment of each family child care home provider to ensure
that services are of high-quality and are educationally and
developmentally appropriate.
(8) Developmental profiles for children enrolled in the program.
(9) Parent involvement.
8230. Each family child care home education network contractor,
in addition to the requirements set forth in subdivision (c) of
Section 8229, shall do all of the following:
(a) Recruit, enroll, and certify eligible families.
(b) Recruit, train, support, and reimburse licensed family home
providers.
(c) Collect family fees in accordance with contract requirements.
(d) Assess, according to standards set by the department, the
educational quality of the program offered in each family child care
home in the network.
(e) Ensure that a developmental profile is completed for each
child based upon observations of network staff, in consultation with
the provider.
(f) Monitor requirements, including quality standards, and conduct
periodic assessments of program quality in each family child care
home affiliated with the network.
(g) Ensure that basic health and nutrition requirements are met.
(h) Provide data and reporting in accordance with contract
requirements.
8231. (a) The Superintendent shall ensure that eligible children
with exceptional needs are given equal access to all early learning
and educational support programs. Available federal and state funds
for children with exceptional needs above the standard reimbursement
amount shall be used to assist agencies in developing and supporting
appropriate programs for these children.
(b) To provide children with exceptional needs with additional
access to early learning and educational support programs, the
Superintendent shall establish alternate appropriate placements, such
as self-contained programs and innovative programs using the least
restrictive environment. These programs shall be started as expansion
funds become available and shall be expanded throughout the
implementation of the plan. The Superintendent shall use existing
program models and input from program specialists to develop new
program criteria and guidelines for programs serving children with
exceptional needs. These programs may serve children with exceptional
needs up to 21 years of age.
(c) Any child with exceptional needs served in early learning and
educational support programs shall be afforded all rights and
protections guaranteed in state and federal laws and regulations for
individuals with exceptional needs.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the
Superintendent may develop unique reimbursement rates for, and make
reimbursements to, early learning and educational support programs
that received state funding for the 1980-81 fiscal year and serve
severely disabled children, as defined in subdivision (al) of Section
8208, when all of the following conditions exist:
(1) Eligibility for enrollment of a severely disabled child in the
program is the sole basis of the child's need for service.
(2) Services are provided to severely disabled children from birth
to 21 years of age.
(3) No fees are charged to the parents of the severely disabled
children receiving the services.
(e) The Superintendent shall include providers in all personnel
development for persons providing services for children with
exceptional needs.
8232. The Superintendent may, with funds appropriated for that
purpose, enter into agreements with school districts or community
college districts or county superintendents of schools for the
establishment and maintenance of early learning and educational
support programs for infants, and the training of students in their
roles as parents, as part of the high school program.
8233. The state board shall adopt rules and regulations for the
administration of the programs described in Section 8232.
8234. Infant early learning and educational support services
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Supervision and group care, providing for the physical and
emotional needs of the infant in a manner that conveys concern and
engenders trust.
(b) Educational stimulation from the earliest development stages
onward.
(c) Developmental and health screening and treatment.
8235. Services available to parents, in which other students may
participate on an elective basis, shall include, but are not limited
to, the following:
(a) Providing supervised infant care, designed to facilitate
completion of the parents' high school program.
(b) The teaching of parenthood education by staff and trained
volunteers.
(c) The teaching of family planning.
(d) The development in student parents, and in other participating
students, of reasonable expectations regarding infant behavior in
order to minimize parental frustration and consequent child abuse.
8236. In school districts maintaining more than one high school,
the governing board, after soliciting the opinions of student parents
and other interested persons, shall determine the location of the
infant center. Infant centers shall be located within high school
buildings or within that proximity to high school buildings as would
ensure convenient access by student parents and other students.
8237. To the extent funds are available, federal reimbursement
shall be claimed for any child receiving services in the infant early
learning and educational support program.
8238. The department may accept funds from school districts or
county superintendents of schools as matching funds to maximize the
funds available for the program.
8239. (a) Infants whose parent or parents are high school
students may attend infant centers while their parents attend high
school.
(b) The Superintendent may enter into an agreement pursuant to
Section 8232 permitting infants whose parent or parents
are students in grades 7 and 8 to
attend infant centers while their parents attend school.
SEC. 15. The heading of Article 6 (commencing with
Section 8230) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 6. Migrant Child Care and Development Programs
SEC. 16. The heading of Article 7 (commencing with
Section 8235) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 7. California State Preschool Programs
SEC. 17. Section 8238 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8238. 8296. As a condition of
receipt of funds pursuant to Section 8238.4
8297 , a participating part-day preschool program shall
coordinate the provision of all of the following:
(a) Opportunities for parents and legal guardians to work with
their children on interactive literacy activities. For purposes of
this subdivision, "interactive literacy activities" means activities
in which parents or legal guardians actively participate in
facilitating the acquisition by their children of prereading skills
through guided activities such as shared reading, learning the
alphabet, and basic vocabulary development.
(b) Parenting education for parents and legal guardians of
children in participating classrooms to support the development by
their children of literacy skills. Parenting education shall include,
but not be limited to, instruction in all of the following:
(1) Providing support for the educational growth and success of
their children.
(2) Improving parent-school communications and parental
understanding of school structures and expectations.
(3) Becoming active partners with teachers in the education of
their children.
(c) Referrals, as necessary, to providers of instruction in adult
education and English as a second language in order to improve the
academic skills of parents and legal guardians of children in
participating classrooms.
(d) Staff development for teachers in participating classrooms
that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Development of a pedagogical knowledge, including, but not
limited to, improved instructional strategies.
(2) Knowledge and application of developmentally appropriate
assessments of the prereading skills of children in participating
classrooms.
(3) Information on working with families, including the use of
onsite coaching, for guided practice in interactive literacy
activities.
SEC. 18. Section 8238.4 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8238.4. 8297. (a) A family literacy
supplemental grant shall be made available and distributed to
qualifying California state preschool classrooms, as determined by
the Superintendent, at a rate of two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500) per class. The Superintendent shall distribute the family
literacy supplemental grant funds according to the following
priorities:
(1) First priority shall be assigned to California state preschool
programs that contract to receive this funding before July 1, 2012.
These programs shall receive this funding until their contract is
terminated or the California state preschool program no longer
provides family literacy services.
(2) Second priority shall be assigned to California state
preschool programs operating classrooms located in the attendance
area of elementary schools in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, based on the
most recently published Academic Performance Index pursuant to
Section 52056. The Superintendent shall use a lottery process in
implementing this paragraph.
(b) A family literacy supplemental grant distributed pursuant to
this section shall be used for purposes specified in Section 8238.
(c) Implementation of this section is contingent upon funding
being provided for family literacy supplemental grants for California
state preschool programs in the annual Budget Act or other statute.
SEC. 19. Article 8 (commencing with Section 8240)
of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 20. Article 4 (commencing with Section 8240)
is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1
of the Education Code , to read:
Article 4. Alternative Payment Services
8240. The Superintendent shall contract with public or private
agencies to provide alternative payment services pursuant to this
article.
8241. Alternative payment programs shall serve an identifiable
geographic area approved by the department. The service area may be
delineated by jurisdictional city or county boundaries, by natural
geographic barriers, streets, roads, or Zip Codes.
8242. (a) Alternative payments may be made for services provided
in licensed centers and family care homes, for care provided in the
child's home, and for other types of care that conform to applicable
law.
(b) Care exempt from licensure is a valid parental choice of care
for all programs provided under this chapter, and no provision of
this chapter shall be construed to exclude or discourage the exercise
of that choice.
8243. (a) Payments made by programs contracted to operate
pursuant to this article shall be the lesser of the applicable
regional market rate ceiling, established pursuant to Section 8244,
or the provider's published rate.
(b) A program contracted to operate pursuant to this article shall
reimburse a licensed provider for 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 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.
(c) Contractors shall maintain a copy of the rate sheet and the
confirmation statement.
(d) Each licensed child care provider may update its published
rate once per year and shall provide the contractor and resource and
referral agency with the updated information pursuant to subdivisions
(c) and Section 8292, to reflect any changes.
(e) A licensed provider shall post in a prominent location
adjacent to the provider's license at the child care facility the
provider's rates and discounts or scholarship policies, if any.
(f) An alternative payment program shall verify provider rates no
less frequently than once a year by randomly selecting 10 percent of
licensed 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.
(g) The department shall develop regulations for addressing
discrepancies in the provider rate levels identified through the rate
verification process in subdivision (f).
8244. (a) The cost of services provided under this article shall
be governed by regional market rates. Recipients of services provided
pursuant to this article shall be allowed to choose the services of
licensed providers or providers who are, by law, not required to be
licensed, and the cost of that care shall be reimbursed by counties
or agencies that contract with the department if the cost is within
the regional market rate. For purposes of this section, "regional
market rate" means care costing no more than 1.5 market standard
deviations above the mean cost of care for that region. The regional
market rate ceilings shall be established at the 85th percentile of
the 2005 regional market rate survey for that region.
(b) Reimbursement to license-exempt providers shall not exceed 60
percent of the family child care home rate established pursuant to
subdivision (a), effective July 1, 2011.
(c) Reimbursement to providers shall not exceed the fee charged to
private clients for the same service.
(d) Reimbursement shall not be made for services when care is
provided by parents, legal guardians, or members of the assistance
unit.
(e) A provider located on an Indian reservation or rancheria and
exempted from state licensing requirements shall meet applicable
tribal standards.
(f) For purposes of this section, "reimbursement" means a direct
payment to the provider of services, including license-exempt
providers. If care is provided in the home of the recipient, payment
may be made to the parent as the employer, and the parent shall be
informed of his or her concomitant legal and financial reporting
requirements. To allow time for the development of the administrative
systems necessary to issue direct payments to providers, for a
period not to exceed six months from the effective date of this
article, a county or an alternative payment agency contracting with
the department may reimburse the cost of services through a direct
payment to a recipient of aid rather than to the provider.
(g) Counties and alternative payment programs shall not be bound
by the rate limits described in subdivision (a) when there are, in
the region, no more than two providers of the type needed by the
recipient of services provided under this article.
(h) Notwithstanding any other law, reimbursements to providers
based upon a daily rate may only be authorized under either of the
following circumstances:
(1) A family has an unscheduled but documented need of six hours
or more per occurrence, such as the parent's need to work on a
regularly scheduled day off, that exceeds the certified need for
care.
(2) A family has a documented need of six hours or more per day
that exceeds no more than 14 days per month. In no event shall
reimbursements to a provider based on the daily rate over one month's
time exceed the provider's equivalent full-time monthly rate or
applicable monthly ceiling.
(3) This subdivision shall not limit providers from being
reimbursed for services using a weekly or monthly rate, pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 8243.
8245. The reimbursement for programs providing alternative
payment services pursuant to this article shall include the cost of
care paid to providers plus the administrative and support services
costs of the program. The total cost for administration and support
services shall not exceed an amount equal to 17.5 percent of the
total contract amount. The administrative costs shall not exceed the
costs allowable for administration under federal requirements.
8246. (a) Contractors providing alternative payment services
pursuant to this article shall provide information to parents
regarding their right to view the licensing information of a licensed
child day care facility required to be maintained at the facility
pursuant to Section 1596.859 of the Health and Safety Code and to
access any public files pertaining to the facility that are
maintained by the Community Care Licensing Division of the State
Department of Social Services.
(b) A written or oral advisement in substantially the following
form will comply with the requirements of subdivision (a):
"State law requires licensed child day care facilities to make
accessible to the public a copy of any licensing report pertaining to
the facility that documents a facility visit or a substantiated
complaint investigation. In addition, a more complete file regarding
a child care licensee may be available at an office of the Community
Care Licensing Division of the State Department of Social Services.
You have the right to access any public information in these files."
(c) Every program operating pursuant to this article shall, within
two days of receiving notice, remove from the program's referral
list the name of any licensed child day care facility with a
revocation or a temporary suspension order or that is on probation.
(d) A program operating pursuant to this article shall, within two
business days of being notified of a revocation or a temporary
suspension order for a licensed child day care facility, do both of
the following:
(1) Terminate payment to the facility.
(2) Notify each parent and the facility in writing that payment
has been terminated and the reason for the termination.
(e) Programs providing alternative payment services pursuant to
this article shall, upon being notified that a licensed child day
care facility has been placed on probation, provide written notice to
each parent utilizing the facility that the facility has been placed
on probation and that the parent has the option of selecting a
different provider or remaining with the facility without risk of
subsidy payments to the provider being terminated. The Legislature
urges each agency operating pursuant to this section to provide the
written notice required by this subdivision in the primary language
of the parent, to the extent feasible.
8247. (a) The department and the State Department of Social
Services shall do both of the following:
(1) Design a standard process for complaints by parents about the
provision of care that is exempt from licensure.
(2) Design, in consultation with local planning councils, a single
application for all early learning and educational support programs
and all families.
(b) (1) County welfare departments and alternative payment
programs shall encourage all providers who are licensed or who are
exempt from licensure and who are providing care under Section
8253.5, 8254.5, or 8255, to secure training and education in basic
child development.
(2) Provider job training provided to CalWORKs recipients that is
funded by either the department or the State Department of Social
Services shall include information on becoming a licensed provider.
(c) The department shall increase consumer education and consumer
awareness activities so that parents will have the information needed
to seek high-quality services. High-quality services shall include
both licensed and license-exempt care.
8248. (a) Upon the approval of the department, funds appropriated
for purposes of this chapter may be used for alternative payment
programs to allow for maximum parental choice. Various methods of
reimbursement for parental costs for care may be used. All payment
arrangements shall conform to the eligibility criteria and the parent
fee schedule established pursuant to Sections 8216 and 8371.
(b) To provide for maximum parental choice, alternative payment
programs may include the following:
(1) A subsidy that follows the family from one provider to another
within a given alternative payment program.
(2) Early learning and educational support services according to
parental choice, including use of family 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.
8249. To offer maximum support for parents and providers,
alternative payment programs shall have access to resource and
referral services. Funding shall be adequate to purchase care at the
fee charged to the private client for the same service as well as to
provide locally designed support services for parents and providers.
Alternative payment programs shall, in collaboration with the
resource and referral agency in the county, provide the following
support services:
(a) (1) At the time the family is determined eligible for services
and at recertification, provide information for parents to assist
them in making informed choices about available types of care that
would both offer a safe, caring, and age-appropriate early learning
and educational support environment for children as well as support
the parents' work activities, including, but not limited to,
information about high-quality early learning and educational support
resources pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 8290.
(2) Where available, provide information on quality rating and
improvement systems.
(3) The department shall make informational resources available to
both resource and referral and alternative payment programs pursuant
to subdivision (c) of Section 8290.
(b) Professional and technical assistance and information for
providers.
(c) Parenting information.
8250. Out of funds appropriated for alternative payment programs,
the department shall reallocate funds as necessary to reimburse
alternative payment programs, excluding programs operating pursuant
to Section 8252, 8253, or 8253.5, for actual and allowable costs
incurred for additional services. An alternative payment program may
apply for reimbursement of up to 3 percent of the contract amount, or
for a greater amount subject to the discretion of the department
based on the availability of funds. The department shall approve or
deny applications submitted pursuant to this section, but shall not
consider applications received after September 30 of the current
calendar year. The department shall distribute reimbursement funds
for each approved application within 90 days of receipt of the
application if it was filed between May 1 and July 20, inclusive, of
the current calendar year. Applications received after July 20 are
not subject to the 90-day requirement for the distribution of funds.
If requests for reimbursement pursuant to this section exceed
available funds, the department shall assign priority for
reimbursement according to the order in which it receives
applications. Funds received by an alternative payment program
pursuant to this section that are not substantiated by the program's
annual audit shall be returned to the department.
SEC. 21. Article 8.5 (commencing with Section
8245) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of
the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 22. Article 9 (commencing with Section 8250)
of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 23. Article 4.5 (commencing with Section
8252) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code , to
read:
Article 4.5. Alternative Payment Services: CalWORKs
8252. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
article to ensure that recipients of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing
with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, or any successor program, and former recipients
who have left aid for employment, are connected as soon as possible
to local child care resources, make stable child care arrangements,
and continue to receive subsidized child care services after they no
longer receive aid as long as they require those services and meet
the eligibility requirements set forth in Sections 8210 and 8211.
(b) This article establishes three stages of child care services
through which a recipient of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, or any successor program, will pass. Further, as
families' child care needs are met by county welfare departments and
later by other local child care and development contractors, it is
the intent of the Legislature that families experience no break in
their child care services due to a transition between the three
stages of child care services.
8252.5. It is the intent of the Legislature to fully fund the
third stage of child care for former CalWORKS recipients.
SEC. 24. Article 10 (commencing with Section 8255)
of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 25. Article 5 (commencing with Section 8260)
is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1
of the Education Code , to read:
Article 5. Infrastructure to Support the System
8260. The Superintendent shall develop requirements for the
implementation of high-quality early learning and educational support
programs. Indicators of quality shall include, but not be limited
to:
(a) A physical environment that is safe and appropriate to the
ages and developmental needs of the children, and that meets
applicable licensing standards.
(b) Program activities and services that are age appropriate and
meet the developmental needs of each child, and utilize the
California foundations, frameworks, guidelines, and early childhood
educator competencies.
(c) Program activities and services that meet the cultural and
linguistic needs of children and families.
(d) Family and community engagement.
(e) Parent education.
(f) Efficient and effective local program administration.
(g) Effective educators that:
(1) Foster school readiness, healthy development, and improved
child outcomes.
(2) Are culturally and linguistically diverse and reflect the
makeup of children and families in the program.
(3) Possess the appropriate and required educational
qualifications and experience, including any required credentials or
permits, as required by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and
who meet applicable licensing standards .
(4) Meet children's instructional and developmental needs.
(5) Provide positive teacher-child interactions.
(h) Program activities and services meet the needs of children
with exceptional needs, diverse abilities, and their families.
(i) Support services for children, families, and early learning
educators.
(j) Provision for nutritional needs and physical activity of
children.
(k) Social services that include, but are not limited to, child
abuse prevention, identification of child and family needs, and
referral to appropriate agencies.
(l) Developmental and health services, as defined in Section 8208,
that include referral of children to appropriate agencies for
services.
8261. The departmental shall maintain the California foundations,
frameworks, guidelines, and early childhood educator competencies
that identify developmental milestones, basic skills, and methods for
teaching these skills to support early learning and subsequent
school success. In future expenditure plans for quality improvement
activities, the department shall include funding for periodically
updating these resources consistent with academic and performance
standards and relevant research, broadly distributing the guidelines,
and providing education, outreach, and training services to
implement the foundations, frameworks, and guidelines.
8262. (a) The Superintendent shall ensure that all contracts for
early learning and educational support programs operating pursuant to
____ include a requirement that each public or private provider
maintain a developmental profile to appropriately identify the
emotional, social, physical, and cognitive growth of each child
served in order to promote the child's success in the public schools.
To the extent possible, the department shall provide, promote, and
support a developmental profile to all contracted providers. The
provider of any program operated pursuant to a contract under Section
8326 shall be responsible for maintaining developmental profiles
upon entry through exit from an early learning and educational
support program.
(b) This section is not
subject to Part 34 (commencing with Section 62000) of Division 4 of
Title 2.
8263. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the state makes
a substantial, annual investment in preschool, infant and toddler,
and schoolage early learning and educational support programs for
eligible families. It is in the best interests of children and their
families, and the taxpayers of California, to have information about
the development and learning abilities of children developed in these
settings, and health and other information transferred to, or
otherwise available to, the pupil's elementary school.
(b) When a child in a state-funded preschool or infant and toddler
program will be transferring to a local public school, the preschool
or infant and toddler program shall provide the parent or guardian
with information from the previous year deemed beneficial to the
pupil and the public school teacher, including, but not limited to,
development issues, social interaction abilities, health background,
and diagnostic assessments, if any. The preschool or infant and
toddler program may, with the permission of the parent or guardian,
transfer this information to the pupil's elementary school.
(c) Any child who has participated in a state subsidized preschool
that maintains results-based standards, including the desired
results accountability system, may have the performance information
transferred to any subsequent or concurrent public school setting.
Any transferred information shall be in summary form and only
accomplished with the permission of the parent or guardian.
8264. In recognition of the demonstrated relationship between
food and good nutrition and the capacity of children to develop and
learn, it is the policy of this state that no child shall be hungry
while in attendance in early learning and educational support
facilities as defined in Section 8208 and that child development
facilities have an obligation to provide for the nutritional needs of
children in attendance.
8265. The State Department of Health Care Services shall annually
provide a mechanism for the delivery of health screening and
followup services for children enrolled in early learning and
educational support programs for whom there are no appropriate health
services accessible by referral.
SEC. 26. Section 8264.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8264.5. 8298. The Superintendent
may waive or modify child development requirements
in order to enable child development early
learning and educational support programs to serve combinations
of eligible children in areas of low population. The child
development early learning and educational support
programs for which the Superintendent may grant waivers shall
include, but need not be limited to, California state preschool
full-day programs services ,
child care services provided by the California
School Age Families Education Program (Article 7.1 (commencing with
Section 54740) of Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2),
infant care and development and toddler
services, migrant child care and development programs
services , and general child care and
development early learning and developmental support
programs.
SEC. 27. Section 8265 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8265. 8371. (a) The Superintendent
shall implement a plan that establishes reasonable standards and
assigned reimbursement rates, which vary with the length of the
program year and the hours of service.
(1) Parent fees shall be used to pay reasonable and necessary
costs for providing additional services.
(2) When establishing standards and assigned reimbursement rates,
the Superintendent shall confer with applicant agencies.
(3) The reimbursement system, including standards and rates, shall
be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
(4) The Superintendent may establish any regulations he or she
deems advisable concerning conditions of service and hours of
enrollment for children in the programs.
(b) The standard reimbursement rate shall be three thousand five
hundred twenty-three dollars ($3,523) per unit of average daily
enrollment for a 250-day year, increased by the cost-of-living
adjustment granted by the Legislature beginning July 1, 1980.
(c) The plan shall require agencies having an assigned
reimbursement rate above the current year standard reimbursement rate
to reduce costs on an incremental basis to achieve the standard
reimbursement rate.
(d) The plan shall provide for adjusting reimbursement on a
case-by-case basis, in order to maintain service levels for agencies
currently at a rate less than the standard reimbursement rate.
Assigned reimbursement rates shall be increased only on the basis of
one or more of the following:
(1) Loss of program resources from other sources.
(2) Need of an agency to pay the same child care
reimbursement rates as those prevailing in the
local community.
(3) Increased costs directly attributable to new or different
regulations.
(4) Documented increased costs necessary to maintain the prior
year's level of service and ensure the continuation of threatened
programs.
Child care agencies funded at the lowest rates shall be given
first priority for increases.
(e) The plan shall provide for expansion of child
development early learning and educational support
programs at no more than the standard reimbursement rate for
that fiscal year.
(f) The Superintendent may reduce the percentage of reduction for
a public agency that satisfies any of the following:
(1) Serves more than 400 children.
(2) Has in effect a collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Has other extenuating circumstances that apply, as determined
by the Superintendent.
SEC. 28. Section 8265.1 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8265.1. 8372. Rate increases
authorized by paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section
8265 8371 shall be in effect from July 1 of the
contract year for which the rate increase is requested. The
State Department of Education department shall
develop a rate increase process, for alternative payment and other
similar program types, between October 1 and March 30. Decisions
regarding rate increases shall be made within 60 days by the
State Department of Education department .
SEC. 29. Section 8265.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8265.5. 8373. (a) In order to
reflect the additional expense of serving children who meet any of
the criteria outlined in paragraphs (1) to (7), inclusive, of
subdivision (b) the provider agency's reported child days of
enrollment for these children shall be multiplied by the adjustment
factors listed below.
(b) The adjustment factors shall apply to those programs for which
assigned reimbursement rates are at or below the standard
reimbursement rate. In addition, the adjustment factors shall apply
to those programs for which assigned reimbursement rates are above
the standard reimbursement rate, but the reimbursement rate, as
adjusted, shall not exceed the adjusted standard reimbursement rate.
(1) For infants who are 0 to 18 months of age and are served in a
child day care center, the adjustment factor shall be 1.7.
(2) For toddlers who are 18 to 36 months of age and are served in
a child day care center, the adjustment factor shall be 1.4.
(3) For infants and toddlers who are 0 to 36 months of age and are
served in a family child care home, the adjustment factor shall be
1.4.
(4) For children with exceptional needs who are 0 to 21 years of
age, the adjustment factor shall be 1.2.
(5) For severely disabled children who are 0 to 21 years of age,
the adjustment factor shall be 1.5.
(6) For a child at risk of neglect, abuse, or exploitation who are
0 to 14 years of age, the adjustment factor shall be 1.1.
(7) For limited-English-speaking and non-English-speaking children
who are 2 years of age through kindergarten age, the adjustment
factor shall be 1.1.
(c) Use of the adjustment factors shall not increase the provider
agency's total annual allocation.
(d) Days of enrollment for children having more than one of the
criteria outlined in paragraphs (1) to (7), inclusive, of subdivision
(b) shall not be reported under more than one of the above
categories.
(e) The difference between the reimbursement resulting from the
use of the adjustment factors outlined in paragraphs (1) to (7),
inclusive, of subdivision (b) and the reimbursement that would
otherwise be received by a provider in the absence of the adjustment
factors shall be used for special and appropriate services for each
child for whom an adjustment factor is claimed.
SEC. 30. Section 8265.7 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8265.7. 8374. Notwithstanding
Section 8265 8371 , programs above the
standard reimbursement rate may be considered on a case-by-case basis
for rate adjustments due to documented increases in insurance costs.
SEC. 31. Section 8266 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8266. 8375. (a)
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 8265
8371 , the assigned reimbursement rate of a
center-based child care agency (a) contracting with the
Department of Education, (b) operating under licensing standards for
child care and development facilities specified by Section 1500 et
seq. of the Health and Safety Code and by Title 22 of the California
Administrative Code, and (c) direct classroom services
program operating pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section
8220) with less than a majority of subsidized children enrolled
in the facility, shall be equivalent to the fee paid for the same
service by families of nonsubsidized children.
It
(b) It is not the intent of the
Legislature to preclude an agency with a contract with the department
from adjusting the fees charged to nonsubsidized children during the
contract year. In no event shall the assigned reimbursement rate
exceed the standard reimbursement rate established pursuant to
Section 8265 8371 .
These
(c) These agencies shall provide
documentation to the department that subsidized children, as
necessary and appropriate, shall receive supportive services through
county welfare departments, resource and referral programs, or other
existing community resources, or all of them.
SEC. 32. Section 8266.1 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8266.1. 8376. Commencing
with the 1995-96 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, for the
For purposes of this chapter, reimbursement
rates shall be adjusted by the following reimbursement factors for
child care and development early learning and
educational support programs with a standard reimbursement
rate, but shall not apply to the Resource and Referral Programs set
forth in Article 2 7 (commencing with
Section 8210) 8285) , the Alternative
Payment Programs Services set forth in
Article 3 4 (commencing with Section
8220) 8240) , the part-day California
state preschool programs set forth in Article 7
3 (commencing with Section 8235)
8240) , the schoolage community child care services programs
set forth in Article 22 (commencing with Section 8460), or to the
schoolage parent and infant development programs:
(a) For child care and development early
learning and educational support providers serving children for
less than four hours per day, the reimbursement factor is 55 percent
of the standard reimbursement rate.
(b) For child care and development early
learning and educational support program providers serving
children for not less than four hours per day, and less than six and
one-half hours per day, the reimbursement factor is 75 percent of the
standard reimbursement rate. For providers operating under the At
Risk Child Care Program set forth in Article 15.5
4.5 (commencing with Section 8350)
8252) and serving children for not less than four hours per
day, and less than seven hours per day, the reimbursement factor is
75 percent of the standard reimbursement rate.
(c) For child care and development early
learning and educational support program providers serving
children for not less than six and one-half hours per day, and less
than 10 and one-half hours per day, the reimbursement factor is 100
percent of the standard reimbursement rate. For providers operating
under the At Risk Child Care Program set forth in Article
15.5 4.5 (commencing with Section 8350)
8252) and serving children for not less than
seven hours per day, and less than 10 hours per day, the
reimbursement factor is 100 percent of the standard reimbursement
rate.
(d) For child care and development early
learning and educational support program providers serving
children for 101/2 hours or more per day, the reimbursement factor is
118 percent of the standard reimbursement rate.
(e) Part-day California state preschool services shall be
reimbursed on a per capita basis, as determined by the
Superintendent, and contingent on funding being provided for the
part-day preschool services in the annual Budget Act.
SEC. 33. Section 8266.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8266.5. 8379. (a)
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 8265
8371 , the payment made to a child care facility
(a) (1) with authorization for payments
from an alternative payment services program or
a county welfare department operating pursuant to
Article 4 (commencing with Section 8240) , (b)
(2 ) operating under licensing
standards for child day care facilities specified by Sections 1500 et
seq. of the Health and Safety Code and by Title 22 of the California
Administrative Code, and (c) (3) with
less than a majority of subsidized children enrolled in the facility,
shall be the same as the fee paid for the same service by families
of nonsubsidized children.
Each
(b) Each alternative payment
system or county welfare department services
program shall provide documentation that subsidized children,
as necessary and appropriate, shall receive supportive services
through county welfare departments, resource and referral programs,
other existing community resources, or all of them.
SEC. 34. Section 8268 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8268. 8365. The Superintendent
of Public Instruction and the State
Controller shall establish the necessary plans to advance
child care funds to contracting agencies.
SEC. 35. Article 6 (commencing with Section 8270)
is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1
of the Education Code , to read:
Article 6. Early Educators and Administrative Support of
Healthy Development
8270. The Legislature recognizes the importance of a culturally
and linguistically diverse and effective early educator workforce in
our early learning and educational support programs that support
school readiness and improved child outcomes. Sustained support of
the field's professional development and preparation shall focus on
educator effectiveness with children and families in their programs
and include, but not be limited to:
(a) Academic support.
(b) Higher education articulation.
(c) A career ladder with periodic updates.
(d) Evidence-based coaching and mentoring.
(e) Effective child-teacher interaction.
(f) Training on research-based tools and resources aligned to
California foundations, frameworks, guidelines, and early childhood
educator competencies.
(g) Retention of high-quality educators.
(h) Adequate compensation and incentives for professional growth.
(i) Efficient program administration.
8271. (a) The Superintendent shall establish rules and
regulations for the staffing of all direct classroom early learning
and educational support programs operated pursuant to Article 3
(commencing with Section 8220).
(b) Priority shall be given by the department to the employment of
persons in early learning and educational support programs with
ethnic backgrounds that are similar to those of the child for whom
child development services are provided.
(c) For purposes of staffing early learning and educational
support programs, the role of a teacher in child supervision means
direct supervision of the children as well as supervision of aides
and groups of children.
(d) Family child care homes shall operate pursuant to adult to
child ratios prescribed in Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 86001)
of Division 6 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
(e) Approval by the Superintendent of any ongoing or new programs
seeking to operate under the ratios and standards established by the
Superintendent under this chapter shall be based upon the following
considerations:
(1) The type of facility in which care is being or is to be
provided.
(2) The ability of the Superintendent to implement a funding
source change.
(3) The proportion of nonsubsidized children enrolled or to be
enrolled by the agency.
(4) The most cost-effective ratios possible for the type of
services provided or to be provided by the agency.
(f) The Superintendent shall apply for waivers of federal
requirements as are necessary to carry out this section.
8272. All direct classroom early learning and educational support
programs shall maintain at least the following minimum ratios:
(a) Infants, birth to 18 months old--1:3 adult-child ratio, 1:18
teacher-child ratio.
(b) Toddlers, 18 months up to their third birthday--1:4
adult-child ratio, 1:16 teacher-child ratio.
(c) Preschool, at least 30 months to kindergarten eligibility--1:8
adult-child ratio, 1:24 teacher-child ratio.
(d) Schoolage, enrolled in kindergarten to their 13th
birthday--1:14 adult-child ratio, 1:28 teacher-child ratio.
(e) Compliance with these ratios shall be determined based on
actual attendance.
8273. (a) Early learning and educational support programs shall
include a career ladder for instructional staff. The governing board
of each contracting agency shall be encouraged to provide
instructional staff and aides with salary increases for the
successful completion of early childhood education or child
development unit-based coursework and degrees.
(b) Any person who meets the following criteria is eligible to
serve in an instructional capacity in an early learning and
educational support program:
(1) Possesses a current credential issued by the Commission on
Teacher Credentialing authorizing teaching service in elementary
school or a single subject credential in home economics, or possesses
a permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing
authorizing service in the care, development, and instruction of
children in early learning and educational support programs.
(2) Twelve units in early childhood education or child
development, or both, or two years' experience in early childhood
education or an early learning and educational support program.
(3) Persons who are 18 years of age and older may be employed as
aides and may be eligible for salary increases upon the completion of
additional semester units in early childhood education or child
development.
8274. (a) Any entity operating programs pursuant to ____
providing direct classroom services to children at two or more sites,
including through more than one contract or subcontract funded
pursuant to this chapter, shall employ a program director, as defined
in subdivision (ag) of Section 8208.
(b) The program director also may serve as the site supervisor at
one of the sites, provided that he or she both fulfills the duties of
a "day care center director," as set forth in Section 101215.1 of
Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, and meets the
qualifications for a site supervisor as set forth in subdivision (an)
of Section 8208.
(c) The Superintendent may waive the qualifications for program
director described in Sections 8275 and 8276 upon a finding of one of
the following circumstances:
(1) The applicant is making satisfactory progress toward securing
a permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing
authorizing supervision of a child care and development program
operating in two or more sites or fulfilling the qualifications for
program directors in severely handicapped programs, as specified in
Section 8276.
(2) The place of employment is so remote from institutions
offering the necessary coursework as to make continuing education
impracticable and the contractor has made a diligent search but has
been unable to hire a more qualified applicant.
(d) The Superintendent, upon good cause, may by rule identify and
apply grounds in addition to those specified in subdivision (c) for
granting a waiver of the qualifications for program director.
8275. Any entity operating early learning and educational support
programs providing direct classroom services to children, pursuant
to ____, at two or more sites, shall employ a program director who
possesses a permit or credential issued by the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing authorizing supervision of a child care and development
program, including, but not limited to:
(a) An administrative credential with a preschool endorsement.
(b) A children's center supervision permit.
(c) A program director permit.
(d) A waiver issued by the Superintendent pursuant to Section
8274.
8276. Notwithstanding Sections 8273 and 8275, any person serving
as a teacher or program director in a child care and development
program that provides service to severely disabled children, as
defined in subdivision (al) of Section 8208, pursuant to subdivision
(d) of Section 8231, shall hold an appropriate child care and
development permit, be deemed to hold that permit pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 8273 or Section 8275, or meet one or more
of the following options:
(a) Is a teacher meeting one of the following criteria:
(1) Has completed all the following:
(A) Twenty-four semester units of coursework, with a "C" or better
average, from an accredited institution in any one or a combination
of the following areas: psychology, sociology, special education,
physical education, recreation therapy, vocational education, early
childhood education, and child development.
(B) Sixteen semester units of coursework in general education,
including one course in each of the following areas: humanities,
social sciences, math or science, or both, and English.
(C) Completed one of the following:
(i) Two experience periods as a paid aide or assistant in a
program serving children with exceptional needs or severely disabled
children.
(ii) Three experience periods as a volunteer in an instructional
capacity in a program serving children with exceptional needs or
severely disabled children.
(iii) Two or more semester units of supervised field coursework in
a child care and development program at an accredited institution,
plus one experience period in a program serving children with
exceptional needs or severely disabled children.
For purposes of this subparagraph, "experience period" means paid
or volunteer services in a program serving children with exceptional
needs or severely disabled children for not less than 200 hours.
Those services shall have been provided for a minimum of two hours
per day during not more than 36 consecutive months.
(2) Holds a California special education credential.
(b) Is a program director meeting one of the following criteria:
(1) Holds a California special education credential.
(2) Holds a professional credential, license, or master's degree
in psychology, social work, special education, physical education,
recreation therapy, vocational education, counseling, early childhood
education, or child development, and has completed six semester
units of administration and supervision of early childhood education
or child development programs, or both.
(c) Was employed before January 1, 1993, as a teacher or program
director in a child care and development program that provides
services to severely disabled children.
8277. Not later than 95 days after the governing board of a
public agency sets the date a person employed by that board shall
begin service in a position requiring a permit or credential, that
person shall file, on or
before that date, with the county superintendent of schools a valid
permit issued on or before that date, authorizing him or her to serve
in a position for which he or she was employed. Upon renewal of that
permit, that person shall file that renewal with the county
superintendent of schools no later than 95 days after the renewal.
8278. The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall establish
standards for the issuance of the permits. The standards may be
changed from time to time, but changes shall not affect current valid
permits issued to persons.
8279. Notwithstanding any other law, a high school pupil or any
other adult shall be selected by the governing board of a public or
private agency to serve as nonteaching personnel to perform
noninstructional work. A career ladder shall be utilized in the
employment and promotion of noninstructional personnel. Each person
shall have had a health examination made within the 12-month period
preceding the date of employment. Each person shall also submit
duplicate personal identification cards upon which shall appear
legible fingerprints and a personal description of the applicant.
8280. (a) A person employed by a public or private agency in a
position requiring a child development permit for the supervision and
instruction of children, or for service as a physician, dentist, or
nurse, or in the supervision of the early learning and educational
support program, shall be deemed to be employed in a position
requiring certification qualifications. All other persons employed by
an agency in a child development program under the provisions of
this chapter shall be deemed for all purposes, including retirement,
to be a person employed by the agency in a position not requiring
certification qualifications.
(b) A school district may lay off an employee required to have a
permit at any time during the school year for lack of work or lack of
funds or may provide for his or her employment for not to exceed 90
days in any one school year on an intermittent basis which shall not
be deemed probationary service. The order of layoff shall be
determined by length of service. The employee who has served the
shortest time shall be laid off first, except that no permanent
employee shall be laid off ahead of a probationary employee. A
permanent employee who has been laid off shall hold reinstatement
rights for a period of 39 months from the date of layoff.
(c) Service performed before September 18, 1959, shall not be
included in computing the service required as a prerequisite for
attainment of, or eligibility to, classification as a permanent child
development employee.
(d) A person who is employed by an agency as a probationary
employee in a position requiring a child development permit for the
supervision and instruction of children, or for service as a
physician, dentist, or nurse, or in the supervision of the children's
program and who has served in such a position for three complete
consecutive school years as defined in Section 44908 or 87468 and
Section 44975 or 87776 immediately before September 18, 1959, may be
dismissed only in accordance with the provisions of Section 44949 or
87740. All other persons who are employed as probationary employees
in positions requiring those permits on or after September 18, 1959,
may be dismissed in accordance with the provisions of Section 44949
or 87740.
8281. (a) Any city, county, or city and county charter provision
to the contrary notwithstanding, each person employed by an agency on
July 1, 1955, and each person employed by an agency on September 11,
1957, who was excluded, solely by reason of the provisions of the
predecessor of Section 8366 in effect before July 1, 1955, or who was
excluded solely by reason of the provisions of the predecessor of
this section before September 11, 1957, from membership in any
retirement system in which the agency participates or to which it
contributes for the purpose of providing retirement rights and
benefits for employees of the agency not employed in a status
requisite for membership in the State Teachers' Retirement System,
shall become a member of the retirement system from which he or she
was excluded, on July 1, 1955, or on September 11, 1957, if excluded
solely by reason of the provisions of the predecessor of this section
in effect before that date. Every member shall be entitled to credit
for service in child development programs rendered before July 1,
1955, or before September 11, 1957, if excluded, and before he or she
became a member of the system, in the same manner as if he or she
had not been excluded from membership in the retirement system,
except that he or she shall not be required to make any contributions
to the retirement system in respect to service rendered before his
or her membership, and all contributions necessary to provide
benefits on account of that service shall be paid to the retirement
system by the agency by which the member is employed. For the purpose
of computing benefits for services rendered before July 1, 1955, as
provided in this section, the average monthly salary earned by the
employee in the 1954-55 fiscal year shall be used, and for the
purpose of computing benefits for service rendered between July 1,
1955, and September 11, 1957, for members receiving credit for
service between those dates under the provisions of the predecessor
of this section as amended by Chapter 1238 of the Statutes of 1957,
the average monthly salary earned by those employees in the 1956-57
fiscal year shall be used.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, for the
purpose of computing benefits for any person retired on and after
January 1, 1958, for services rendered before July 1, 1955, as
provided in this section, and for the purpose of computing benefits
for services rendered between July 1, 1955, and September 11, 1957,
for members receiving credit for service between those dates under
the provisions of this section, the "final compensation" of the
person shall be computed in the same manner as for other employees
who are included in the same retirement system and in the same class
of retirement system members and who are not affected by this
section. The amendment to this section enacted at the 1963 session
shall be applied to increase the allowances, payable subsequent to
October 1, 1963, in respect to those members who retired on or after
July 1, 1955.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section no
increased allowance shall be paid, as authorized by this section, to
any person who has retired between July 1, 1955, and October 1, 1963,
unless the person to whom the increase would otherwise be payable
mails written application for the increase to the appropriate
retirement system before April 1, 1964.
SEC. 36. Section 8271 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8271. 8366. In the event that
operating agencies are unable to operate due to incomplete
renovations authorized by administrating state agencies, or due to
circumstances beyond the control of the operating agency, including
, but not limited to, earthquakes, floods, or fire, such
programs shall not be penalized for incurred program expenses nor in
subsequent annual budget allocations.
SEC. 37. The heading of Article 12 (commencing
with Section 8275) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 12. Allocations and Expenditures
SEC. 38. Section 8275 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8275. 8367. (a) The Superintendent
may reimburse approvable startup costs of child development agencies
or facilities in an amount not to exceed 15 percent of the expansion
or increase of each agency's total contract amount. Under no
circumstances shall reimbursement for startup costs result in an
increase in the agency's total contract amount. These funds shall be
available for all of the following:
(1) The employment and orientation of necessary staff.
(2) The setting up of the program and facility.
(3) The finalization of rental agreements and the making of
necessary deposits.
(4) The purchase of a reasonable inventory of materials and
supplies.
(5) The purchase of an initial premium for insurance.
(b) Agencies shall submit claims for startup costs with their
first quarterly reports.
(c) The Legislature recognizes that allowances for startup costs
are necessary for the establishment and stability of new
child development early learning and educational
support programs. Programs initially funded in the
1978-79 fiscal year and 1979-80 fiscal year are included in this
section.
SEC. 39. Section 8276.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8276.5. 8496. (a)
The Legislature recognizes the shortage of child care and
development facilities which that meet
state and local health and safety standards, and the lack of other
sources of funding for renovations and repairs necessary to upgrade
facilities for licensing in order to accommodate major child care
expansion. It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature that funds
be appropriated for the purpose of providing small grants, as
provided in Section 8277.1 8 389
, to family day care homes, and revolving
loans with no interest, as provided in Section 8277.2
8390 , to all other types of child care and
development facilities, in order to provide sufficient child care and
development facilities meeting licensing standards to accommodate
the level of child care expansion provided in this chapter.
It
(b) It is further the intent of
the Legislature that funds be appropriated for the state purchase of
relocatable child care and development facilities as provided in
Section 8277.7 8396 , for lease to
qualifying contracting agencies in geographic areas with no available
child care and development facilities.
SEC. 40. Section 8277 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277. 8399. (a)
The Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall establish regulations for the allocation of capital outlay
funds provided pursuant to Section 8277.1
8389 to Section 8277.4 8392 ,
inclusive, to benefit children most needing child care and
development programs. The first priority for all capital outlay shall
be given to facilities located in geographic areas with no other
available enrollment slots in existing subsidized and nonsubsidized
child care and development facilities. All such capital outlay
funding shall be used solely for purposes of renovation and repair of
existing buildings.
The
(b) The Superintendent of
Public Instruction shall establish qualifications
for determining the eligibility of contracting agencies and
day care homes to apply for capital outlay funds.
SEC. 41. Section 8277.1 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.1. 8389. (a)
The Superintendent of Public Instruction may
allocate to family day care homes based on need, an amount from the
appropriation in Section 23 of the chapter of the Statutes of 1980 by
which this section was enacted, not to exceed one thousand dollars
($1,000) per home, for minor capital outlay purchases for the repair
and renovation of homes for the purpose of insuring compliance with
state and local health and safety standards.
It
(b) It is the intent of the
Legislature that capital outlay moneys be accessible to family day
care homes through the auspices of the contract agency or a family
day care association, which may include resource and referral
agencies.
SEC. 42. Section 8277.2 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.2. 8390. The Superintendent
of Public Instruction shall establish a revolving
loan fund to provide loans to child care and development contracting
agencies for capital outlay not to exceed 2 percent or two thousand
dollars ($2,000), whichever is greater, of the agency's contract
amount. These loans shall be available with no interest and shall be
used to renovate and repair child care facilities to meet state and
local health and safety standards.
SEC. 43. Section 8277.3 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.3. 8391. (a)
Repayments on loans made pursuant to Section 8277.2
8390 shall commence within one year after
allocation of the loan to the contracting agency. In lieu of payments
by the contracting agency, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction shall annually reduce the agency's contract
amount for child care services by at least the level of normal
depreciation allowance on the renovation or repair, calculated by the
straight line method of depreciation.
The
(b) The entire balance of a loan
made pursuant to this section shall be payable to the Superintendent
of Public Instruction immediately if the
contracting agency ceases operation of services to children
subsidized pursuant to this chapter, or if the Superintendent
of Public Instruction fails to renew the agency's
contract, or if 10 years have elapsed from the date of the
allocation.
The
(c) The Superintendent
of Public Instruction shall deposit all revenue derived
from loan payments made by contracting agencies, or reductions made
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in
agencies' contracts in lieu of payments, into the revolving loan fund
for allocation to other contracting agencies for capital outlay
projects pursuant to this section.
SEC. 44. Section 8277.4 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.4. 8392. The state shall hold
a security interest in all renovations and repairs funded pursuant to
Section 8277.2 8390 .
SEC. 45. Section 8277.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.5. 8398. (a) For purposes of
this section "department" means the Department of Housing and
Community Development.
(b) Subject to appropriation in the annual Budget Act, the Child
Care and Development Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund and the Child Care
and Development Facilities Direct Loan Fund are hereby established
in the State Treasury. The Superintendent of Public
Instruction may transfer state funds appropriated for child
care facilities enhancement and the proceeds derived from any future
sales of tax-exempt child care and development facilities bonds into
these funds.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all
moneys in the Child Care and Development Facilities Loan Guaranty
Fund and the Child Care and Development Facilities Direct Loan Fund,
including any interest on loans made from the fund, or loan
repayments to the fund, are hereby continuously appropriated to the
department for carrying out the purposes of this section and Section
8277.6 8399 , respectively. Any loan
repayment or interest resulting from investment or deposit of moneys
in these funds shall be deposited in the applicable fund,
notwithstanding Section 16305.7 of the Government Code. Moneys in the
funds shall not be subject to transfer to any other fund pursuant to
Part 2 (commencing with Section 16300) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code, except the Surplus Money Investment Fund.
(d) (1) Moneys deposited in the Child Care and Development
Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund shall be used for the purpose of
guaranteeing private sector loans to sole proprietorships,
partnerships, proprietary and nonprofit corporations, and local
public agencies for the purchase, development, construction,
expansion, or improvement of licensed child care and development
facilities, and for the purpose of administering the guarantees of
these loans. The loan guarantees shall be made by the department or
by a public or private entity approved by the department, in
accordance with the priorities established by the department, as
described in Section 8277.6 8399 . The
full faith and credit of the State of California is not pledged to
the Child Care and Development Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund and the
state is not liable for loan defaults that exceed the amount of funds
deposited with the Child Care and Development Facilities Loan
Guaranty Fund.
(2) A loan guarantee made pursuant to this section may not exceed
80 percent of the principal and interest amount of a private sector
loan guaranteed by the fund and shall be used only to guarantee a
private sector loan for the purchase, development, construction,
expansion, or improvement of facilities described in Section
8277.6 8399 and for related equipment and
fixtures, but shall not be used primarily to refinance an existing
loan or for working capital, supplies, or inventory. A loan guarantee
for improvements shall be limited to those improvements necessary,
as determined by the department, for any of the following purposes:
(A) To obtain, maintain, renew, expand, or revise a child care
license.
(B) To make necessary health and safety improvements.
(C) To make seismic improvements.
(D) To provide access for disabled children.
(E) To expand upon or preserve existing child care operations.
(3) The aggregate amount of outstanding loan guarantees shall not
exceed four times the amount in the Child Care and Development
Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund.
(4) A loan guarantee made pursuant to this section shall be for
the term of the loan or 20 years, whichever is less. Security for the
guaranteed loan may include a deed of trust, personal guarantees of
shareholders and partners in the case of proprietary borrowers, or
other reasonably available collateral. These liens may be
subordinated to other liens. Default provisions and other terms shall
be reasonable and designed to obtain prompt and full repayment of
the guaranteed loan by the borrower. Reasonable loan guarantee fees
and points may be charged to applicants and borrowers by any public
or private entity approved by the department, as described in
regulations adopted by the department.
(5) A loan guarantee made pursuant to this section shall only be
granted if the applicant agrees to provide child care in a facility
for a period of 20 years or the term of the guaranteed loan,
whichever is less.
(6) A loan guarantee made pursuant to this section terminates 120
days after the lender's receipt of notice that the recipient has
either ceased making payments or providing child care in the facility
for which the loan was made, or both, unless the lender takes action
to accelerate the loan. If a family day care provider ceases to
operate, but retains its three-year license, the provider shall give
notice to the department and the lending institution of its intention
to resume offering child care services for the term of its license,
or shall provide notice of its intention to cease providing child
care services. The Child Care and Development Facilities Loan
Guaranty Fund is not liable for a default occurring after the loan
guarantee has ended.
(e) (1) Moneys deposited in the Child Care and Development
Facilities Direct Loan Fund shall be used for the purpose of making
subordinated loans directly or through a public or private entity
approved by the department to sole proprietorships, partnerships,
proprietary and nonprofit corporations, and local public agencies for
the purchase, development, construction, expansion, or improvement
of licensed child care and development facilities, and for the
purpose of administering these loans. Loans shall be made in
accordance with the priorities established by the department as set
forth in Section 8277.6 8399 . The full
faith and credit of the State of California is not pledged to the
Child Care and Development Facilities Direct Loan Fund and the state
is not liable for loan defaults that exceed the amount of funds
deposited in the Child Care and Development Facilities Direct Loan
Fund.
(2) A loan made pursuant to this section may not exceed 75 percent
of the total amount of investment for the purchase, development,
expansion, or improvement of eligible child care and development
facilities as described in Section 8277.6
8399 and for related equipment and fixtures, but may not be
used primarily to refinance an existing loan, for working capital,
for supplies, or for inventory. A loan made pursuant to this section
may not exceed 20 percent of the total amount of investment if the
same facility is also utilizing a loan guarantee pursuant to
subdivision (c). Investment for purposes of this paragraph means the
total cost paid or incurred by the applicant in constructing,
renovating, or acquiring a facility. A loan for improvements shall be
limited to those improvements necessary, as determined by the
department, for any of the following purposes:
(A) To obtain, maintain, renew, expand, or revise a child care
license.
(B) To make necessary health and safety improvements.
(C) To make seismic improvements.
(D) To provide access for disabled children.
(E) To expand upon or preserve existing child care operations.
(3) The term of a loan made pursuant to this section may not
exceed 30 years. Security for the loan may include a deed of trust,
personal guarantees of shareholders and partners in the case of
proprietary borrowers, or other reasonably available collateral.
These liens may be subordinated to other liens. The payment
provisions, late charges, and other terms may vary based on the
ability of the borrower to repay the loan, but shall be reasonable
and designed to obtain prompt and full repayment of the loan by the
borrower. A direct loan shall bear simple interest at the rate of 3
percent per annum on the unpaid principal balance. Reasonable loan
fees and points may be charged to applicants and borrowers, as
described in regulations adopted by the department. The department
may permit a loan to be assumed by an otherwise qualified borrower
who agrees to continue to provide child care for the balance of the
original term of the loan.
(f) Funds appropriated for the purposes of this
section and Section 8277.6 8399 shall
be made from funds that are not designated as meeting the state's
minimum funding obligation under Section 8 of Article XVI of the
California Constitution.
SEC. 46. Section 8277.6 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.6. 8399. (a) For purposes of
this section "department" means the Department of Housing and
Community Development.
(b) The department shall administer the Child Care and Development
Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund and the Child Care and Development
Facilities Direct Loan Fund. The department may administer the funds
directly, through interagency agreements with other state agencies,
through contracts with public or private entities, or through any
combination thereof. If the department determines that a public or
private entity is capable of making child care and development
facilities loans or loan guarantees, the department may delegate the
authority to review and approve those loans or guarantees to the
public or private entity. The department is authorized to enter into
interagency agreements to carry out the purposes of this section and
Section 8277.5 8398 by utilizing the
services of small business financial development corporations
established pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 14000) of
Part 5 of Division 3 of the Corporations Code. Toward this end, the
department is authorized to transfer funds from the Child Care and
Development Facilities Direct Loan Fund to the California Economic
Development Grant and Loan Fund established by Section 15327 of the
Government Code and to transfer funds from the Child Care and
Development Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund to the Small Business
Expansion Fund established by Section 14030 of the Corporations Code.
Those funds shall be deposited into a Child Care Direct Loan Fund
Account and a Child Care Loan Guaranty Fund Account hereby
established in the respective funds. Notwithstanding anything to the
contrary in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 15310) of Part 6.7 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code and Chapter 1
(commencing with Section 14000) of Part 5 of Division 3 of the
Corporations Code, the funds in these accounts shall be administered
in compliance with the requirements of this section and Section
8277.5 8398 .
(c) Eligible applicants for the loan guaranty program and the
direct loan program shall include, but not be limited to, sole
proprietorships, partnerships, proprietary and nonprofit
corporations, and local public agencies that are responsible for
contracting with or providing licensed child care and development
services. Eligible facilities shall include licensed full-day and
part-day child care and development facilities and licensed large
family day care homes as described in Section 1597.465 of the Health
and Safety Code, and licensed small family day care homes as
described in Section 1597.44 of the Health and Safety Code.
(d) Loan guarantees and direct loans for family child care homes
shall not be made for the purpose of purchasing a home or any real
property.
(e) The State Department of Education shall provide input
regarding program priorities that shall be considered in the funding
of applications by the department. These priorities shall
include, but are not limited to,
the following:
(1) Geographic priorities based on the extent of need for child
care and development supply-building efforts in different parts of
the state.
(A) Not less than 30 percent of the loan guarantee and direct loan
obligations shall benefit providers located in rural areas, as
defined in subparagraph (B). If the amount of qualified applications
from rural providers is insufficient to satisfy this requirement, the
excess capacity reserved for rural providers may be made available
to other qualified applications according to the policies and
procedures of the department. The remaining 70 percent of funds shall
be available to rural or urban areas and other priorities in
accordance with this subdivision.
(B) For purposes of subdivision (a), rural communities are defined
by any county with fewer than 400 residents per square mile.
(2) Age priorities based on the extent of need for child care and
development supply-building efforts for children of different age
groups.
(3) Income priorities shall include families transitioning to work
or other lower income families. For purposes of this section, "lower
income" shall have the same meaning as "income eligible" as set
forth in Section 8263.1 8211 .
(4) Program priorities based on the extent of facilities needs
among specific kinds of providers, including those that contract to
administer state and federally funded child care and development
programs administered by the State Department of Education, providers
who have lost classrooms due to class size reduction or other state
or local initiatives, or providers that need to expand to meet the
needs of a child care initiative for recipients of aid under Chapter
3 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, or any successor program.
(f) The program priorities shall reflect input from
representatives of diverse sectors of the child care and development
field, financial institutions, local planning councils, the Child
Development Programs Advisory Committee, and the State Department of
Social Services for purposes of identifying communities with high
percentages of recipients of aid under Chapter 3 (commencing with
Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, or any successor program, who need child care to
meet work requirements. As part of its annual report to the
Legislature, required pursuant to Section 50408 of the Health and
Safety Code, the department shall assess and report, after
consultation with the State Department of Education, on the
performance, effectiveness, and fiscal standing of the Child Care and
Development Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund and the Child Care and
Development Facilities Direct Loan Fund. The report shall include
information on the number of defaults, the types of facilities in
default, and a review of the adequacy of the set-aside for rural
areas specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e).
(g) The department shall adopt regulations and establish
priorities, forms, policies and procedures for implementing and
managing the Child Care and Development Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund
and the Child Care and Development Facilities Direct Loan Fund and
making the loan guarantees and direct loans authorized hereunder
consistent with priorities provided by the State Department of
Education. To the extent feasible, the department shall use applicant
fees and points to cover its administrative costs. The department
may utilize an amount of money from the Child Care and Development
Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund and the Child Care and Development
Facilities Direct Loan Fund, as appropriate, for reasonable
administrative costs in any given fiscal year. Unless an
appropriation for administrative costs is made in the annual Budget
Act that exceeds the following limits, administrative expenditures
shall not exceed 3 percent of the amount appropriated to each fund in
the Budget Act of 1997.
(h) (1) The department shall adopt regulations to efficiently and
effectively implement the microenterprise loan program described in
this subdivision, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) Making loans available from the Child Care and Development
Facilities Direct Loan Fund to local microenterprise loan funds and
other lenders who may relend the funds in appropriate amounts to
eligible small family day care home providers described in Section
1597.44 of the Health and Safety Code, large family day care home
providers described in Section 1597.465 of the Health and Safety
Code, and licensed child care and development facilities that serve
up to 35 children.
(B) Authorizing a specified amount of guarantees of small loans by
local microenterprise loan funds and other lenders serving eligible
small family day care home providers described in Section 1597.44 of
the Health and Safety Code, large family day care home providers
described in Section 1597.465 of the Health and Safety Code, and
licensed child care and development facilities that serve up to 35
children.
(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section or
Section 8277.5 8398 , a loan made
pursuant to this subdivision shall not be made for less than five
thousand dollars ($5,000) or for more than fifty thousand dollars
($50,000) and shall not be subject to the 75-percent investment
restriction contained in paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section
8277.5 8398 .
(i) The department may adopt regulations for the purposes of this
section as emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code. For the purposes of the Administrative
Procedure Act, including Section 11349.6 of the Government Code, the
adoption of the regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health
and safety, or general welfare, notwithstanding subdivision (e) of
Section 11346.1 of the Government Code. Notwithstanding subdivision
(e) of Section 11346.1, any regulation adopted pursuant to this
section shall not remain in effect more than 180 days unless the
department complies with all provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code, as required by subdivision (e) of Section 11346.1 of
the Government Code.
SEC. 47. Section 8277.65 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.65. 8400. The Child Care and
Development Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund, the Child Care and
Development Facilities Direct Loan Fund, and the Child Care Loan
Guaranty Fund Account in the Small Business Expansion Fund are
abolished. All moneys remaining in the Child Care and Development
Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund, the Child Care and Development
Facilities Direct Loan Fund, and the Child Care Loan Guaranty Fund
Account in the Small Business Expansion Fund shall revert to the
General Fund. The Department of Housing and Community Development
shall deposit all subsequent loan repayments to the Treasurer to the
credit of the General Fund. The abolishment of the Child Care and
Development Facilities Loan Guaranty Fund, the Child Care and
Development Facilities Direct Loan Fund, and the Child Care Loan
Guaranty Fund Account in the Small Business Expansion Fund does not
terminate any of the following rights, obligations, or authorities,
or any provision necessary to carry out those rights, obligations, or
authorities:
(a) The repayment of loans due and payable to the department or
the relevant financial company.
(b) The obligation of the state to pay claims arising from the
default of outstanding loans that have been guaranteed.
(c) Payment to lenders for default of any outstanding guaranteed
loans secured by those moneys.
(d) The resolution of any cost recovery action.
SEC. 48. Section 8277.66 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.66. 8401. Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, up to one hundred
thirty-nine thousand dollars ($139,000) may be transferred from the
General Fund to the Small Business Expansion Fund upon the order of
the Director of Finance if funds are needed to pay a loan guarantee
made from the Small Business Expansion Fund pursuant to Sections
8277.5 8398 and 8277.6
8399 . This authority shall expire on the date
upon which all loan guarantees outstanding as of July 1, 2008, are
retired, or January 1, 2020, whichever occurs first.
SEC. 49. Section 8277.7 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.7. 8396. (a) As used in this
section:
(1) "Board" means the State Allocation Board.
(2) "Lessee" means a child care and development contracting agency
to whom the board has leased a relocatable facility pursuant to this
section.
(b) The board, with the advice of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction , may do all of the following:
(1) Establish any qualifications that it deems will best serve the
purposes of this section for determining the eligibility of child
care and development contracting agencies to lease relocatable
facilities under this section.
(2) Establish any procedures and policies in connection with the
administration of this section that it deems necessary.
(3) Adopt any rules and regulations for the administration of this
section requiring such procedure, forms, and information that it may
deem necessary.
(4) Have constructed, furnished, equipped, or otherwise require
whatever work is necessary to place relocatable child care and
development facilities where needed.
(5) Own, have maintained, and lease relocatable classrooms to
qualifying child care and development contracting agencies.
(c) The board shall lease relocatable facilities to qualifying
child care and development contracting agencies and shall charge rent
of one dollar ($1) per year. The board shall require lessees to
undertake all necessary maintenance, repairs, renewal, and
replacement to ensure that a project is at all times kept in good
repair, working order, and condition. All costs incurred for this
purpose shall be borne by the lessee.
(d) The board shall require lessees to insure at their own expense
for the benefit of the state, any leased relocatable facility which
is the property of the state, against any risks, including liability
from the use thereof, in the amounts the board may deem necessary to
protect the interest of the state.
(e) The board shall have authority to adopt rules establishing
priorities for the acquisition and leasing of facilities to
contracting agencies which that will
most benefit children needing child care and development programs.
The board shall require each lessee to demonstrate that relocatable
facilities are utilized solely for operation of child care and
development programs.
(f) No relocatable facilities shall be made available to a
contracting agency unless the agency furnishes evidence, satisfactory
to the board, that the contracting agency has no other facility
available for rental, lease, or purchase in the geographic service
area that is economically or otherwise feasible.
(g) The board shall have prepared for its use, performance
specifications for relocatable facilities and bids for their
construction that can be solicited from more than one responsible
bidder. The board shall from time to time solicit bids from, and
award to, the lowest responsible competitive bidder, contracts for
the construction or purchase of relocatable facilities that have been
approved for lease to eligible child care and development
contracting agencies.
(h) If at any time the board determines that a lessee's need for
particular relocatable facilities which that
were made available to the lessee pursuant to this chapter has
ceased, the board may take possession of the relocatable facilities
and may lease them to other eligible contracting agencies or, if
there is no longer a need for the relocatable facilities, the board
may dispose of them to public or private parties in the manner it
deems to be in the best interests of the state.
Any
(i) Any revenue which
that is derived from a lease or other
disposition of the relocatable facilities pursuant to this section is
continuously appropriated to the board for the purposes of this
section to fund the purchase of other relocatable facilities for
child care and development programs.
SEC. 50. Section 8277.8 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8277.8. 8407. In the event that a
school district elects to discontinue its contract for child
development services, the facilities owned by the school district and
constructed through the provisions of the local tax override for
child development purposes shall be made available to the local
contractor whose bid is accepted for continuation of the services.
The rent for such facilities shall not exceed the prevailing
rental rate for such facilities.
SEC. 51. Section 8278.3 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8278.3. 8394. (a) (1) The Child
Care Facilities Revolving Fund is hereby established in the State
Treasury to provide funding for the renovation, repair, or
improvement of an existing building to make the building suitable for
licensure for child care and development
early learning and educational support services and for the
purchase of new relocatable child care facilities for lease to school
districts and contracting agencies that provide child care
and development early learning and educational support
services, pursuant to this chapter. The Superintendent may
transfer state funds appropriated for child care facilities into this
fund for allocation to school districts and contracting agencies, as
specified, for the purchase, transportation, and installation of
facilities for replacement and expansion of capacity. School
districts and contracting agencies using facilities made available by
the use of these funds shall be charged a leasing fee, either at a
fair market value for those facilities or at an amount sufficient to
amortize the cost of purchase and relocation, whichever amount is
lower, over a 10-year period. Upon full repayment of the purchase and
relocation costs, title shall transfer from the State of California
to the school district or contracting agency. The Superintendent
shall deposit all revenue derived from the lease payments into the
Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all
moneys in the fund, including moneys deposited from lease payments,
are continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, to the
Superintendent for expenditure pursuant to this article.
(b) On or before August 1 of each fiscal year, the Superintendent
shall submit to the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst'
s Office a report detailing the number of funding requests received
and their purpose, the types of agencies that received funding from
the Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund, the increased capacity that
these facilities generated, a description of the manner in which the
facilities are being used, and a projection of the lease payments
collected and the funds available for future use.
(c) A school district or county office of education that provides
child care pursuant to the California School Age Families Education
Program (Article 7.1 (commencing with Section 54740) of Chapter 9 of
Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2) is eligible to apply for and
receive funding pursuant to this section.
SEC. 52. Section 8279.1 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8279.1. 8368. (a)
The Legislature recognizes that child
care programs have made valuable contributions towards ensuring that
public assistance recipients will be able to accept and maintain
employment or employment-related training. Therefore, it is
the intent of the Legislature that the Superintendent ensure that
counties comply with the requirements of Section 8279.
(b) The Superintendent shall ensure each county's compliance with
Section 8279 by not issuing funds to a local child care contractor
within a county until the Superintendent has received written
certification from that county that the level of expenditure for
child care services provided by the county has been maintained at the
1970-71 fiscal year level pursuant to Section 8279. Funding provided
by a county to a local child care contractor shall not adversely
affect the reimbursement received by the agency from the
Superintendent pursuant to Section 8265, 8265.5, or 8266.
SEC. 53. Section 8279.4 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8279.4. 8388. The Legislature finds
and declares the following:
(a) There is a serious shortage of quality child day care
facilities throughout the state.
(b) It is in the interest of the state's children and families,
and the state's economic growth, to encourage the expansion of
existing child day care facilities by assisting communities and
interested government and private entities to finance child day care
facilities.
(c) In addition to regional resource centers described in
Provision 7(d) of Item 6110-196-0001 of the Budget Act of 1999, which
focus on developing child care capacity in underserved areas of the
state, there is a need to access capital for facilities on a
systematic basis, especially to use limited public sector funds to
leverage a greater private sector role in financing child day care
facilities. The Legislature finds and declares that a financial
intermediary could fill this role and support the regional resource
centers and other local entities that work with potential providers
by functioning as a centralized repository of training, best
practices, and expertise on facilities financing.
SEC. 54. Section 8279.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8279.5. 8393. (a) The
Superintendent of Public Instruction shall
contract with a nonprofit organization to serve as a financial
intermediary. The nonprofit organization shall have staff who have
expertise in financing and capital expansion, are knowledgeable about
the child care field, and have the ability to develop and implement
a plan to increase the availability of financing to renovate, expand,
and construct child day care facilities, both in day care centers
and family day care homes.
(b) The financial intermediary selected by the Superintendent
of Public Instruction shall undertake activities
designed to increase funds available from the private and public
sectors for the financing of child day care facilities. These
activities shall include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Soliciting capital grants and program-related investments from
foundations and corporations.
(2) Building partnerships with foundations and corporations.
(3) Developing lending commitments, linked deposits, and other
financing programs with conventional financial institutions.
(4) Coordinating private sources of capital with existing public
sector sources of financing for child day care facilities, including,
but not limited to, the Department of Housing and Community
Development and the California Infrastructure and Economic
Development Bank.
(5) Coordinating financing efforts with the technical assistance
provided by the regional resource centers described in Provision 7(d)
of Item 6110-196-0001 of the Budget Act of 1999, and other local
entities that work with potential providers.
(c) This section shall only be implemented to the extent that
funds are appropriated for this purpose in the annual Budget Act.
SEC. 55. Section 8279.6 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8279.6. 8395. (a) Pursuant to
funding made available in subdivision (d) of Provision 7 of Item
6110-196-001 of the Budget Act of 2000, the Superintendent
of Public Instruction shall contract for a financial
intermediary, pursuant to Section 8290.1, by January 1, 2001.
(b) The financial intermediary, during its first six months of
operation, shall do all of the following:
(1) Create and publicize an 800 technical assistance telephone
service number.
(2) Provide financial development training for agencies at the
local level including, but not limited to, Regional Resource Centers,
Resource and Referral Agencies, and local child care planning
councils that are assisting existing and potential providers
renovate, expand, build , or purchase facilities.
(3) Determine the financing barriers and impediments to the
development of child care facilities, especially in underserved areas
of the state.
(4) Identify funding sources that may be leveraged by the state,
and partnerships with the philanthropic and corporate sectors that
may be established, with the goal of increasing funding available for
child care facilities for California's CalWORKs and low-income
families.
SEC. 56. Section 8279.7 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8279.7. 8303. (a) The Legislature
recognizes the importance of providing quality child care
early learning and educational support services.
It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature to assist counties
in improving the retention and instructional effectiveness
of qualified child care instructional
employees who work directly with children who receive
state-subsidized child care early learning
and educational support services.
(b) It is further the intent of the Legislature, in amending this
section during the 2009-10 Regular Session, to address the unique
challenges of the County of Los Angeles, in which an estimated 60,000
low-income children receive subsidized child care in nonstate-funded
child care settings and an additional 50,000 eligible children are
waiting for subsidized services.
(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the funds
appropriated for the purposes of this section by paragraph (11) of
Schedule (b) of Item 6110-196-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act
of 2000 (Chapter 52 of the Statutes of 2000), and that are described
in subdivision (i) of Provision 7 of that item, and any other funds
appropriated for purposes of this section, shall be allocated to
local child care and development planning councils based on the
percentage of state-subsidized, center-based child care
direct classroom early learning and educational
support program funds received in that county, and shall be
used to address the retention of qualified child care
instructional employees in state-subsidized
child care early learning and educational
support centers.
(2) Of the funds identified in paragraph (1), funds qualified
pursuant to subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, may also be used to
address the retention and instructional effectiveness of
qualified persons working in licensed child care
early learn ing and educational support
programs and that serve a majority of children who receive
direct classroom subsidized child care
services pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to,
family day care homes as defined in Section
1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code. To qualify for use pursuant to
this paragraph, the funds shall meet all of the following
requirements:
(A) The funds are allocated for use in the County of Los Angeles.
(B) The funds are appropriated in the annual Budget Act.
(C) The funds are unexpended after addressing the retention of
qualified child care employees in state-subsidized
child care centers and family child care home education networks.
(d) The department shall develop guidelines for use by local
child care and development planning councils in
developing county plans for the expenditure of funds allocated
pursuant to this section. These guidelines shall be consistent with
the department's assessment of the current needs of the subsidized
child care workforce, and shall be subject to the approval of the
Department of Finance. Any county plan developed pursuant to these
guidelines shall be approved by the department prior to
before the allocation of funds to the local
child care and development planning council.
(e) Funds provided to a county for the purposes
of this section shall be used in accordance with the plan approved
pursuant to subdivision (d). A county with an approved plan may
retain up to 1 percent of the county's total allocation made pursuant
to this section for reimbursement of administrative expenses
associated with the planning process.
(f) The Superintendent shall provide an annual report, no later
than April 10 of each year, to the Legislature, the Department of
Finance, and the Governor that includes, but is not limited to, a
summary of the distribution of the funds by county and a description
of the use of the funds.
SEC. 57. The heading of Article 7 (commencing with
Section 8285) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division
1 of Title 1 of the Education Code , to read:
Article 7. Resource and Referral Programs
SEC. 58. Article 14 (commencing with Section 8286)
of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 59. Section 8292 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
8292. A licensed 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.
SEC. 60. Section 8293 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
8293. (a) A program operating pursuant to this article shall,
within two business days of receiving notice, remove a licensed child
care facility with a revocation or a temporary suspension order or
that is on probation from the agency's referral list.
(b) A program operating pursuant to this article shall, within two
business days of receiving notice, notify all entities operating a
program pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 8240) and
Article 4.5 (commencing
with Section 8252), in the program's jurisdiction, of a licensed
child care facility with a revocation or a temporary suspension
order, or that is on probation.
SEC. 61. The heading of Article 8 (commencing with
Section 8296) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division
1 of Title 1 of the Education Code , to read:
Article 8. Family Literacy
SEC. 62. The heading of Article 9 (commencing with
Section 8300) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division
1 of Title 1 of the Education Code , to read:
Article 9. Local Planning Councils
SEC. 63. The heading of Article 10 (commencing
with Section 8305) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of
Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code ,
to read:
Article 10. Child Development Permits
SEC. 64. Article 11 (commencing with Section 8310)
is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1
of the Education Code , to read:
Article 11. Administration
8310. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the
effectiveness of early learning and educational support programs can
be increased through improved state administration, technical
assistance to provider agencies, and monitoring.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature:
(1) That the department develops clear, consistent, and
appropriate regulations for early learning and educational support
programs.
(2) That the department makes better use of staff with direct
field experience in early learning and educational support programs.
(3) That criteria be developed for the awarding, evaluating, and
renewal of early learning and educational support contracts.
(4) That improvements be made in the method of reimbursing
providers.
(5) That increased effort be made to provide program operators
with technical assistance in meeting their contractual obligations.
8311. (a) The department is hereby designated as the single state
agency responsible for the promotion, development, and provision of
care of children in the absence of their parents during the workday
or while engaged in other activities that require assistance of a
third party or parties. The department shall administer the federal
Child Care and Development Fund.
(b) For purposes of this article, "Child Care and Development Fund"
has the same meaning as in Section 98.2 of Title 45 of the Code of
Federal Regulations.
8312. (a) The Superintendent shall collaborate with the Secretary
of California Health and Human Services in the development of the
Child Care and Development Fund plan pursuant to federal regulations,
before submitting or reporting on that plan to the United States
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(b) As required by federal law, the department shall develop the
Child Care and Development Fund plan that sets forth the final
priorities for child care. The department shall coordinate with
applicable state agencies including, but not limited to, the State
Department of Social Services, the California Children and Families
Commission, the Department of Finance, and other stakeholders, to
develop the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plan.
(c) On or before February 1 of the year that the CCDF Plan is due
to the federal government, the department shall release a draft of
the plan. The department shall then commence a 30-day comment period
that shall include at least one hearing and the opportunity for
written comments.
(d) Before the May Revision to the budget, the department shall
provide the revised CCDF Plan to the chairs of the committees of each
house of the Legislature that consider appropriations, and shall
provide a report on the plan to the committees in each house of the
Legislature that consider the annual Budget Act appropriation.
8313. The Superintendent shall consult with the Commission on
Teacher Credentialing and the office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges in development of the state plan, where
appropriate.
8314. For purposes of meeting state and federal reporting
requirements and for the effective administration of early learning
and educational support programs, the Superintendent is authorized to
require the collection and submission of social security numbers of
heads of households, and other information as required, from public
and private agencies contracting with the department pursuant to this
chapter, including local educational agencies.
8315. (a) To the extent that funding is made available for this
purpose through the annual Budget Act, the alternative payment agency
in each county shall design, maintain, and administer a system to
consolidate local child care waiting lists so as to establish a
countywide centralized eligibility list. In those counties with more
than one alternative payment agency, the agency that also administers
the resource and referral program shall have the responsibility of
developing, maintaining, and administering the countywide centralized
eligibility list. In those counties with more than one alternative
payment agency and more than one resource and referral program, the
department shall establish a process to select an agency to develop,
maintain, and administer the countywide centralized eligibility list.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), in those counties in which a
countywide centralized eligibility list exists, as of the date that
the act adding this section is enacted, the entity administering that
list may receive funding, instead of the entity specified under
subdivision (a).
(c) Each centralized eligibility list shall include all of the
following:
(1) Family characteristics, including ZIP Code of residence, ZIP
Code of employment, monthly income, and size.
(2) Child characteristics, including birth date and whether the
child has special needs.
(3) Service characteristics, including reason for need, whether
full-time or part-time service is requested, and whether after hours
or weekend care is requested.
(d) Information collected for the centralized eligibility list
shall be reported to the Superintendent on an annual basis on the
date and in the manner determined by the department.
(e) (1) To be eligible to enter into an agreement with the
department to provide subsidized child care, a contractor shall
participate in and use the centralized eligibility list.
(2) A contractor with a campus child care and development program
operating pursuant to Section 66060, program operating on a seasonal
basis providing services to a migrant population pursuant to Sections
8221 to 8224, inclusive, or program serving severely disabled
children pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 8230 and who has a
local site waiting list shall submit eligibility list information to
the centralized eligibility list administrator for any parent seeking
subsidized services for whom these programs are not able to provide
services. A contractor or program described in this paragraph may use
any waiting lists developed at its local site to fill vacancies for
its specific population. Families enrolled from a local site waiting
list shall be enrolled pursuant to Section 8212.
8316. (a) No person employed by the department in a policymaking
position in the area of early learning and educational support
programs shall serve as a member of the board of directors, advisory
council, or advisory committee for any agency receiving funds
pursuant to this chapter.
(b) No retired, dismissed, separated, or formerly employed person
of the department employed under the State Civil Service or otherwise
appointed to serve in the department may enter into a contract
pursuant to Section 8326 in which he or she engaged in any of the
negotiations, transactions, planning, arrangements, or any part of
the decisionmaking process relevant to the contract while employed in
any capacity by the department. The prohibition contained in this
subdivision shall apply to the person only during the two-year period
beginning on the date the person left state employment.
(c) For a period of 12 months following the date of his or her
retirement, dismissal, or separation from state service, no person
employed under State Civil Service or otherwise appointed to serve in
the department may enter into a contract pursuant to Section 8326 if
he or she was employed by the department in a policymaking position
in the area of early learning and educational support programs within
the 12-month period before his or her retirement, dismissal, or
separation.
(d) For a period of 12 months following the date of his or her
retirement, dismissal, or separation from state service, no person
employed under State Civil Service or otherwise appointed to serve in
the department may be employed by a contractor pursuant to Section
8326 if he or she engaged in any of the negotiations, transactions,
planning, arrangements, or any part of the decisionmaking process
relevant to the contract while employed in any capacity by the
department.
8317. The Superintendent may provide outreach services and
technical assistance to new applicants or contracting agencies and to
those providing services during nontraditional times, in underserved
geographic areas, and for children with special child care needs,
including infants and toddlers less than three years of age.
8318. (a) If a state of emergency is declared by the Governor,
the Superintendent may waive any requirements of this code or
regulations adopted pursuant to this code relating to early learning
and educational support and child nutrition programs operated
pursuant to this chapter only to the extent that enforcement of the
regulations or requirements would directly impede disaster relief and
recovery efforts or would disrupt the current level of service in
early learning and educational support programs.
(b) A waiver granted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not exceed
45 calendar days.
(c) For purposes of this section, "state of emergency" includes
fire, flood, earthquake, or a period of civil unrest.
(d) If a request for a waiver pursuant to subdivision (a) is for
an early learning and educational support program or child nutrition
program that receives federal funds and the waiver may be
inconsistent with the state plan or any federal law or regulations
governing the program, the Superintendent shall seek and obtain
approval of the waiver from the appropriate federal agency before
granting the waiver.
8319. (a) The Superintendent shall adopt rules and regulations
pursuant to this chapter. The rules and regulations shall include,
but not be limited to, provisions that do all of the following:
(1) Provide clear guidelines for the selection of agencies when
early learning and educational support contracts are let, including,
but not limited to, a specification that any agency headquartered in
the proposed service area on January 1, 1985, will be given priority
for a new contract in that area, unless the department makes a
written determination that (A) the agency is not able to deliver the
level of services specified in the request for proposal, or (B) the
department has notified the agency that it is not in compliance with
the terms of its contract.
(2) Provide for a contract monitoring system to ensure that
agencies expend funds received pursuant to this chapter in accordance
with the provisions and program narratives of their contracts.
(3) Specify adequate standards of agency performance.
(4) Establish reporting requirements for service reports,
including provisions for varying the frequency with which these
reports are to be submitted on the basis of agency performance.
(5) Specify standards for withholding payments to agencies that
fail to submit required fiscal reports.
(6) Set forth standards for department site visits to contracting
agencies, including, but not limited to, specification as to the
purpose of the visits, the personnel that will perform these visits,
and the frequency of these visits that shall be as frequently as
staff and budget resources permit. By September 1 of each year, the
department shall report to the Senate Education, Senate Health,
Senate Human Services, Assembly Education, and Assembly Human
Services Committees on the number of visits conducted during the
previous fiscal year pursuant to this paragraph.
(7) Permit reimbursement for interest paid by contractors on
private sector debt financing for purchase, lease-purchase, repair,
or renovation of facilities owned or leased by contractors operating
direct classroom service, pursuant to Section ____.
(8) Facilitate the funding and reimbursement procedures required
by Sections ____ and ____.
(b) The Superintendent shall consult with the State Department of
Social Services with respect to rules and regulations adopted
relative to the disbursal of federal funds under Title XX of the
federal Social Security Act.
(c) For purposes of expediting the implementation of state or
federal legislation to expand child care services, the Superintendent
may waive (1) the regulations regarding the point qualifications
for, and the process and scoring of, interviews of contract
applicants pursuant to Section 18002 of Title 5 of the California
Code of Regulations, or (2) the time limitations for scheduling and
notification of appeal hearings and their results pursuant to Section
18003 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. The
Superintendent shall ensure that the appeal hearings provided for in
Section 18003 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations are
conducted in a timely manner.
(d) Early learning and educational support programs operated under
contract from funds made available pursuant to the federal Child
Care and Development Fund, shall be administered according to
Division 19 (commencing with Section 17906) of Chapter 1 of Title 5
of the California Code of Regulations, unless provisions of these
regulations conflict with federal regulations. If state and federal
regulations conflict, the federal regulations shall apply unless a
waiver of federal regulations is authorized.
SEC. 65. The heading of Article 15 (commencing
with Section 8320) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of
Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code is
repealed.
Article 15. Local Programs
SEC. 66. Section 8320 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8320. 8408. The governing board of
any school district or a county superintendent of schools with the
approval of the county board of education is authorized to establish
and maintain child development early learning
and educational support programs and centers upon
the approval of, and subject to the regulations of the Superintendent
of Public Instruction .
SEC. 67. Section 8321 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8321. 8409. (a)
The county superintendent of schools in each county, with the
approval of the county board of education and the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, shall have the authority to establish and
maintain child development early learning and
educational support programs and centers in the same manner
and to the same extent as governing boards of school or community
college districts, except that nothing in this section shall be
construed as vesting in the county superintendents of schools any
authority to alone effect the levy and collection of any county,
school, or other local taxes for the support of any child
development early learning and educational support
programs and centers.
The
(b) The establishment and
maintenance of any child development early
learning and educational support program and center by the
county superintendent of schools shall be undertaken, subject to the
prior approval of both the county board of education and the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, upon the application of one or
more school districts under his or her jurisdiction.
SEC. 68. Section 8322 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8322. 8416. The governing board of
any school district or the county superintendent of schools may do
the following:
(a) Accommodate in a child development facility maintained by it
children residing in another district, upon terms and under
conditions agreed upon by the governing boards of both districts.
(b) Permit the use of, and furnish maintenance for, buildings,
grounds, and equipment, and the use of existing administrative
personnel for the purposes of this chapter.
(c) Adopt reasonable rules and regulations governing the child
development services or facilities maintained by it that are not in
conflict with law or the standards and regulations established for
child development services by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
SEC. 69. Section 8324 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8324. 8411. The employees of school
districts or community college districts, or county superintendents
of schools in preschool and other types of child development services
under this division shall have the same rights and privileges as are
granted to employees of the same agencies in children's centers.
SEC. 70. Article 12 (commencing with Section 8325)
is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1
of the Education Code , to read:
Article 12. Contract Administration
8325. The department shall do all of the following in
administering the provisions of this chapter:
(a) Apply sanctions against contracting agencies that have serious
licensing violations, as defined and reported by the State
Department of Social Services.
(b) Provide 90 days' written notification to any contractor whose
agreement is being terminated, except if there is imminent danger to
the health and welfare of children if agency operation is not
terminated more promptly. Notwithstanding Sections 8337 to 8348,
inclusive, the department shall establish procedures for placing a
contractor whose agreement is being terminated into receivership.
Action to initiate receivership shall be at the discretion of the
department, and may be taken against a contractor whose agreement is
being terminated either immediately or within 90 days. The receiver
shall not be a department employee. The receiver shall have
sufficient experience in the administration of early learning and
educational support programs to ensure compliance with the terms of
the receivership.
8326. Notwithstanding Sections 14616 and 14780 of the Government
Code, the Superintendent may enter into and execute local contractual
agreements with any public or private entity or agency for the
delivery of early learning and educational support services or the
furnishing of property, facilities, personnel, supplies, equipment,
and administrative services related to the delivery of early learning
and educational support services.
8327. A contractor providing services pursuant to this chapter is
subject to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.).
8328. (a) In contract transfer situations in programs funded
pursuant to this chapter, the Superintendent may grant a certificate
of operation to child care and development facilities pursuant to
this section.
(b) For purposes of maintaining continuity of services to children
and receipt of state and federal child nutrition and child
development funding, the Superintendent may grant a certificate of
operation to any child care and development facility that meets all
of the following conditions:
(1) The Superintendent, or his or her designee, has visited the
facility and verified, in writing, to the State Department of Social
Services licensing agency that the facility has no deficiencies at
the time of granting the certificate of operation that would endanger
the physical health, mental health, safety, or welfare of the
children.
(2) Without a certificate of operation in lieu of a license from
the State Department of Social Services, the facility would be
ineligible to receive state and federal child nutrition or child
development funds.
(c) A facility issued a certificate of operation pursuant to this
section shall be deemed to be operating under licensing standards for
child care and development facilities specified by Chapters 3.4
(commencing with Section 1596.70), 3.5 (commencing with Section
1596.90), and 3.6 (commencing with Section 1597.30) of Division 2 of
the Health and Safety Code and by Title 22 of the California Code of
Regulations for the term specified on the certificate.
(d) A facility granted a certificate of operation shall submit a
completed license application to the State Department of Social
Services or other designated local agency within 15 working days of
the issuance of the certificate of operation. Failure to meet this
requirement will result in the cancellation of the certificate of
operation. The certificate of operation shall expire upon the
issuance or denial of a license by the State Department of Social
Services.
8329. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, effective July 1, 2011,
the department shall reduce the maximum reimbursable amounts of the
contracts for the Preschool Education Program, the General Child Care
Program, the Migrant Day Care Program, the Alternative Payment
Program, the CalWORKs Stage 3 Program, and the Allowance for
Handicapped Program by 11 percent or by whatever proportion is
necessary to ensure that expenditures for these programs do not
exceed the amounts appropriated for them, including any reductions
made subsequent to the adoption of the annual Budget Act. The
department may consider the contractor's performance or whether the
contractor serves children in underserved areas as defined in
subdivision (at) of Section 8208 when determining contract
reductions, provided that the aggregate reduction to each program
specified in this subdivision is 11 percent or by whatever proportion
is necessary to ensure that expenditures for these programs do not
exceed the amounts appropriated for them, including any reductions
made subsequent to the adoption of the annual Budget Act.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, effective July 1, 2011,
families shall be disenrolled from subsidized child care services,
consistent with the priorities for services specified in Section
8212. Families shall be disenrolled in the following order:
(1) Families whose income exceeds 70 percent of the state median
income (SMI) adjusted for family size, except for families whose
children are receiving child protective services or are at risk of
being neglected or abused.
(2) Families with the highest income below 70 percent of the SMI,
in relation to family size.
(3) Families that have the same income and have been enrolled in
child care services the longest.
(4) Families that have the same income and have a child with
exceptional needs.
(5) Families whose children are receiving child protective
services or are at risk of being neglected or abused, regardless of
family income.
8330. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, and in addition to any
reductions applied pursuant to Section 8329, effective July 1, 2012,
the department shall reduce the maximum reimbursable amounts of the
contracts for the General Child Care Program, the Migrant Day Care
Program, the Alternative Payment Program, the CalWORKs Stage 3
Program, and the Allowance for Handicapped Program by 8.7 percent or
by whatever proportion is necessary to ensure
that expenditures for these programs do not
exceed the amounts appropriated for them, as adjusted for any
reductions in appropriations made subsequent to the adoption of the
annual Budget Act. The department may consider the contractor's
performance or whether the contractor serves children in underserved
areas as defined in subdivision (at) of Section 8208 when determining
contract reductions, provided that the aggregate reduction to each
program specified in this subdivision is 8.7 percent or whatever
proportion is necessary to ensure that expenditures for these
programs do not exceed the amounts appropriated for them, as adjusted
for any reductions in appropriations made subsequent to the adoption
of the annual Budget Act.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, effective July 1, 2012,
families shall be disenrolled from subsidized child care services,
consistent with the priorities for services specified in Section
8212. Families shall be disenrolled in the following order:
(1) Families with the highest income in relation to family size.
(2) Families that have the same income and have been enrolled in
child care services the longest.
(3) Families that have the same income and have a child with
exceptional needs.
(4) Families whose children are receiving child protective
services or are at risk of being neglected or abused, regardless of
family income.
8331. (a) The rules, regulations, and guidelines adopted by the
Superintendent pursuant to Sections 8319 and 8352 shall permit
reimbursement for interest paid by contractors on private sector debt
financing for the purchase, lease-purchase, repair, or renovation of
child care and development facilities owned or leased by contractors
providing center-based care.
(b) The Superintendent shall adopt regulations requiring
contractors to demonstrate that the amount of interest paid in a year
on private sector debt financing for the purposes identified in
subdivision (a) does not exceed the value obtained by the state in
the use of the facilities during the year for the early learning and
educational support programs. The regulations shall include, but not
be limited to, the following methods of making this demonstration:
(1) Amortization of a loan or lease-purchase contract on a
straight-line basis for the purchase price of a portable building,
including any transportation charges, installation charges, loan
fees, taxes, points, or other fees associated with the purchase, over
a period of 15 years or more.
(2) Amortization of a loan or lease-purchase contract on a
straight-line basis for the purchase price of a permanent building
and real estate, including any loan fees, taxes, points, or other
fees associated with the purchase, over a period of 15 years or more.
(3) Evidence acceptable to the Superintendent that loan payments
for the purchase of a portable building or permanent building and
real estate, including principal and interest, do not exceed the fair
market rental cost that the contractor would have paid if the
property was not purchased.
(c) Loans or lease-purchase agreements amortized over the number
of years designated in subdivision (b), but due in a fewer number of
years, shall not be disallowed because of the shorter due date.
SEC. 71. Section 8326 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8326. 8412. Notwithstanding any
other provisions of this chapter, a public or private agency, a
school district, a community college district or a county
superintendent of schools operating child development facilities may
enter into an agreement with the Employment Development Department
which that will provide an opportunity
to participants in work incentive programs under Division 2
(commencing with Section 5000) of the Unemployment Insurance Code for
training in child development facilities. Training pursuant to such
agreement shall have the objective of preparation for a career in the
field of child development.
SEC. 72. Section 8327 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8413. 8410. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this chapter, the governing board of a school
district or community college district, county superintendent of
schools, or other unit of local general purpose government may enter
into agreements with any city, city and county, or other public
agency, or with a private foundation, nonprofit corporation, or
proprietary agency as defined in subdivision (ah)
(ai) of Section 8208 for the furnishing to, or use by, the
governing board, county superintendent of schools, or other unit of
local general purpose government in carrying out the provisions of
this chapter, of property, facilities, personnel, supplies, equipment
and other necessary items and such city, county, city and county,
other public agency, or private foundation or nonprofit corporation,
is authorized to enter into such agreements.
SEC. 73. Section 8329 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8329. 8413. The governing board of
any school district maintaining a child development
an early learning and educational support
program may include in its budget the amount necessary to initiate,
operate, and maintain a child development program
pursuant to this chapter and the board of supervisors shall levy a
school district tax necessary to raise that amount. The tax shall be
in addition to any other school district tax authorized by law to be
levied.
SEC. 74. Section 8330 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8330. 8414. Community college
districts that levied child development permissive override taxes
pursuant to Section 8329 8413 of the
Education Code and former Section 8330 of the Education Code in the
1977-78 fiscal year and received fiscal relief pursuant to Chapter
282 of the Statutes of 1979 to compensate for the loss of permissive
override taxes shall not receive reimbursement for child care
services from the Superintendent of Public Instruction
in excess of 75 percent of the standard reimbursement rate
for campus child care programs. Campus child care programs operated
by the University of California, the California State University, and
community colleges that did not levy a permissive override tax in
the 1977-78 fiscal year shall receive reimbursement from the
Superintendent of Public Instruction that equals
100 percent of the standard reimbursement rate for campus child care
and development programs.
SEC. 75. Section 8331 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8331. 8415. Sections 8329
8413 and 8330 8414
shall not apply to the part-day preschool programs
described in subdivision (f) of Section 8211 .
SEC. 76. The heading of Article 15.2 (commencing
with Section 8335) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 15.2. Child Care Subsidy Plan for the City and County
of San Francisco
SEC. 77. Section 8335 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8335. 8490. The City and County of
San Francisco may, as a pilot project, develop and implement an
individualized county child care subsidy plan. The plan shall ensure
that child care subsidies received by the city and county are used to
address local needs, conditions, and priorities of working families
in the community.
SEC. 78. Section 8335.1 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8335.1. 8490.1. Prior to
Before implementing the local subsidy plan, the
City and County of San Francisco, in consultation with the
department, shall develop an individualized county child care subsidy
plan for the city and county that includes the following four
elements:
(a) An assessment to identify the city and county's goal for its
subsidized child care system. The assessment shall examine whether
the current structure of subsidized child care funding adequately
supports working families in the city and county and whether the city
and county's child care goals coincide with the state's requirements
for funding, eligibility, priority, and reimbursement. The
assessment shall also identify barriers in the state's child care
subsidy system that inhibit the city and county from meeting its
child care goals. In conducting the assessment, the city and county
shall consider all of the following:
(1) The general demographics of families who are in need of child
care, including employment, income, language, ethnic, and family
composition.
(2) The current supply of available subsidized child care.
(3) The level of need for various types of subsidized child care
services including, but not limited to, infant care, after-hours
care, and care for children with exceptional needs.
(4) The city and county's self-sufficiency income level.
(5) Income eligibility levels for subsidized child care.
(6) Family fees.
(7) The cost of providing child care.
(8) The regional market rates, as established by the department,
for different types of child care.
(9) The standard reimbursement rate or state per diem for centers
operating under contracts with the department.
(10) Trends in the county's unemployment rate and housing
affordability index.
(b) Development of a local policy to eliminate state-imposed
regulatory barriers to the city and county's achievement of its
desired outcomes for subsidized child care.
(1) The local policy shall do all of the following:
(A) Prioritize lowest income families first.
(B) Follow the family fee schedule established pursuant to
subdivision (f) of Section 8263 Section 8216
for those families that are income eligible, as defined by
Section 8263.1 8211 .
(C) Meet local goals that are consistent with the state's child
care goals.
(D) Identify existing policies that would be affected by the city
and county's child care subsidy plan.
(E) (i) Authorize any agency that provides child care and
development services in the city and county through a contract with
the department to apply to the department to amend existing contracts
in order to benefit from the local policy once it is adopted.
(ii) The department shall approve an application to amend an
existing contract if the child care subsidy plan is approved pursuant
to subdivision (b) of Section 8335.3 8490.3
, or modified pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
8335.3 8490.3 .
(iii) The contract of a department contractor who does not elect
to request an amendment to its contract remains operative and
enforceable.
(2) (A) The city and county shall, by the end of the first fiscal
year of operation under the approved child care subsidy plan,
demonstrate an increase in the aggregate child days of enrollment in
the county as compared to the enrollment in the final quarter of the
2004-05 fiscal year.
(B) The amount of the increase shall be at least equal to the
aggregate child days of enrollment in the final quarter of the
2004-05 fiscal year for all contracts amended as provided in
subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1), under which the contractor
receives an increase in its reimbursement rate, times 2 percent.
(3) The local policy may supersede state law concerning child care
subsidy programs with regard only to the following factors:
(A) Eligibility criteria including, but not limited to, age,
family size, time limits, income level, inclusion of former and
current CalWORKs participants, and special needs considerations,
except that the local policy may not deny or reduce eligibility of a
family that qualifies for child care pursuant to Section
8353 8254.5 . Under the local policy, a family
that qualifies for child care pursuant to Section 8354
8255 shall be treated for purposes of
eligibility and fees in the same manner as a family that qualifies
for subsidized child care on another basis pursuant to the local
policy.
(B) Fees including, but not limited to, family fees, sliding scale
fees, and copayments for those families that are not income
eligible, as defined by Section 8263.1 8211
.
(C) Reimbursement rates.
(D) Methods of maximizing the efficient use of subsidy funds,
including, but not limited to, multiyear contracting with the
department for center-based child care, and interagency agreements
that allow for flexible and temporary transfer of funds among
agencies.
(c) Recognition that all funding sources utilized by direct
service contractors that provide child care and development services
in the city and county are eligible to be included in the child care
subsidy plan of the city and county.
(d) Establishment of measurable outcomes to evaluate the success
of the plan to achieve the city and county's child care goals and to
overcome any barriers identified in the state's child care subsidy
system. The State Department of Social Services shall have an
opportunity to review and comment on the proposed measurable outcomes
before they are submitted to the local child care planning council
for approval pursuant to Section 8335.3
8490.3 .
SEC. 79. Section 8335.2 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8335.2. 8490.2. To ensure that the
annual and final reports required pursuant to Section 8335.4
8490.4 provide useful comparative information,
the Legislative Analyst and the Senate Office of Research shall
review the evaluation design, the baseline data, and the data
collection proposed in the child care subsidy plan of the City and
County of San Francisco before the plan is submitted to the local
planning council as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 8499, for
approval pursuant to Section 8335.3 8490.3
.
SEC. 80. Section 8335.3 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8335.3. 8490.3. (a) The plan shall
be submitted to the local planning council as defined in subdivision
(g) of Section 8499, for approval. Upon approval of the plan by the
local planning council, the Board of Supervisors of the City and
County of San Francisco shall hold at least one public hearing on the
plan. Following the hearing, if the board of supervisors votes in
favor of the plan, the plan shall be submitted to the Child
Development Division of the department for review.
(b) Within 30 days of receiving the plan, the Child Development
Division shall review and either approve or disapprove the plan.
(c) Within 30 days of receiving any modification to the plan, the
Child Development Division shall review and either approve or
disapprove that modification to the plan.
(d) The Child Development Division may disapprove only those
portions of the plan or modifications to the plan that are not in
conformance with this article or that are in conflict with federal
law.
SEC. 81. Section 8335.4 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8335.4. 8490.4. (a) Upon approval
of the plan by the Child Development Division of the department, the
City and County of San Francisco shall annually prepare and submit to
the Legislature, the State Department of Social Services, and the
department a report that summarizes the success of the pilot project
and the city and county's ability to maximize the use of funds and to
improve and stabilize child care in the city and county.
(b) The City and County of San Francisco shall submit an interim
report to the Legislature, the State Department of Social Services,
and the department on or before December 31, 2010, and shall submit a
final report to those entities on or before June 30, 2014,
summarizing the impact of the plan on the child care needs of working
families in the city and county.
SEC. 82. Section 8335.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8335.5. 8490.5. The City and County
of San Francisco may implement an individualized child care subsidy
plan until July 1, 2014, at which date the city and county shall
terminate the plan. Between July 1, 2014, and July 1, 2016, the city
and county shall phase out the individualized county child care
subsidy plan and, as of July 1, 2016, shall implement the state's
requirements for child care subsidies. A child enrolling for the
first time for subsidized child care in the city and county after
July 1, 2014, shall not be enrolled in the pilot program established
pursuant to this article and is subject to existing state laws and
regulations regarding child care eligibility and priority.
SEC. 83. Section 8335.6 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8335.6. 8490.6. A participating
contractor shall receive any increase or decrease in funding that the
contractor would have received if the contractor had not
participated in the local subsidy plan established by this article.
SEC. 84. Section 8335.7 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8335.7. 8490.7. This article shall
become inoperative on July 1, 2016, and as of January 1, 2017, is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2017, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes
inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 85. The heading of Article 15.3 (commencing
with Section 8340) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 15.3. Individualized County Child Care Subsidy Plan
SEC. 86. Section 8340 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8340. 8492. The County of San Mateo
may, as a pilot project, develop and implement an individualized
county child care subsidy plan. The plan shall ensure that child care
subsidies received by the county are used to address local needs,
conditions, and priorities of working families in the community.
SEC. 87. Section 8341 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8341. 8492.1. Prior to
Before implementing the local subsidy plan, the
County of San Mateo, in consultation with the department, shall
develop an individualized county child care subsidy plan that
includes the following four elements:
(a) An assessment to identify the county's goal for its subsidized
child care system. The assessment shall examine whether the current
structure of subsidized child care funding adequately supports
working families in the county and whether the county's child care
goals coincide with the state's requirements for funding,
eligibility, priority, and reimbursement. The assessment shall also
identify barriers in the state's child care subsidy system that
inhibit the county from meeting its child care goals. In conducting
the assessment, the county shall consider all of the following:
(1) The general demographics of families who are in need of child
care, including employment, income, language, ethnic, and family
composition.
(2) The current supply of available subsidized child care.
(3) The level of need for various types of subsidized child care
services including, but not limited to, infant care, after-hours
care, and care for children with exceptional needs.
(4) The county's self-sufficiency income level.
(5) Income eligibility levels for subsidized child care.
(6) Family fees.
(7) The cost of providing child care.
(8) The regional market rates, as established by the department,
for different types of child care.
(9) The standard reimbursement rate or state per diem for centers
operating under contracts with the department.
(10) Trends in the county's unemployment rate and housing
affordability index.
(b) Development of a local policy to eliminate state-imposed
regulatory barriers to the county's achievement of its desired
outcomes for subsidized child care.
(1) The local policy shall do all of the following:
(A) Prioritize lowest income families first.
(B) Follow the family fee schedule established pursuant to
subdivision (f) of Section 8263
8216 for those families that are income eligible, as
defined by Section 8263.1 8211 .
(C) Meet local goals that are consistent with the state's child
care goals.
(D) Identify existing policies that would be affected by the
county's child care subsidy plan.
(E) (i) Authorize any agency that provides child care and
development services in San Mateo County through a contract with the
department to apply to the department to amend existing contracts in
order to benefit from the local policy once it is adopted.
(ii) The department shall approve an application to amend an
existing contract if the child care subsidy plan is approved pursuant
to subdivision (b) of Section 8342 84
92.3 , or modified pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
8342 8492.3 .
(iii) The contract of a department contractor who does not elect
to request an amendment to its contract remains operative and
enforceable.
(2) (A) The County of San Mateo shall, by the end of the first
fiscal year of operation under the approved child care subsidy plan,
demonstrate an increase in the aggregate child days of enrollment in
the county as compared to the enrollment in the final quarter of the
2002-03 fiscal year.
(B) The amount of the increase shall be at least equal to the
aggregate child days of enrollment in the final quarter of the
2002-03 fiscal year for all contracts amended as provided in
subparagraph (E) of paragraph 1, under which the contractor receives
an increase in its reimbursement rate, times 2 percent.
(3) The local policy may supersede state law concerning child care
subsidy programs with regard only to the following factors:
(A) Eligibility criteria including, but not limited to, age,
family size, time limits, income level, inclusion of former and
current CalWORKs participants, and special needs considerations,
except that the local policy may not deny or reduce eligibility of a
family that qualifies for child care pursuant to Section
8353 8254.5 . Under the local policy, a family
that qualifies for child care pursuant to Section 8354
8255 shall be treated for purposes of
eligibility and fees in the same manner as a family that qualifies
for subsidized child care on another basis pursuant to the local
policy.
(B) Fees including, but not limited to, family fees, sliding scale
fees, and copayments for those families that are not income
eligible, as defined by Section 8263.1 8211
.
(C) Reimbursement rates.
(D) Methods of maximizing the efficient use of subsidy funds,
including, but not limited to, multiyear contracting with the
department for center-based child care, and interagency agreements
that allow for flexible and temporary transfer of funds among
agencies.
(c) Recognition that all funding sources utilized by direct
service contractors that provide child care and development services
in San Mateo County are eligible to be included in the child care
subsidy plan of the county.
(d) Establishment of measurable outcomes to evaluate the success
of the plan to achieve the county's child care goals and to overcome
any barriers identified in the state's child care subsidy system. The
Department of Social Services shall have an opportunity to review
and comment on the proposed measurable outcomes before they are
submitted to the local child care planning council for approval
pursuant to Section 8342 8492.3 .
SEC. 88. Section 8341.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8341.5. 8492.2. To ensure that the
annual and final reports required pursuant to Section 8343
8392.4 provide useful comparative information,
the Legislative Analyst and the Senate Office of Research shall
review the evaluation design, the baseline data, and the data
collection proposed in the child care subsidy plan of the county
before the plan is submitted to the local child care planning council
for approval.
SEC. 89. Section 8342 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8342. 8492.3. (a) The plan shall be
submitted to the local child care planning council for approval.
Upon approval of the plan by the local child care planning council,
the county board of supervisors shall hold at least one public
hearing on the plan. Following the hearing, if the county board of
supervisors votes in favor of the plan, the plan shall be submitted
to the Child Development Division of the department for review.
(b) Within 30 days of receiving the plan, the Child Development
Division shall review and either approve or disapprove the plan.
(c) Within 30 days of receiving any modification to the plan, the
Child Development Division shall review and either approve or
disapprove that modification to the plan.
(d) The Child Development Division may disapprove only those
portions of the plan or modifications to the plan that are not in
conformance with this article or that are in conflict with federal
law.
SEC. 90. Section 8343 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8343. 8392.4. (a) Upon approval of
the plan by the Child Development Division, the County of San Mateo
shall annually prepare and submit to the Legislature, the Department
of Social Services, and the department a report that summarizes the
success of the pilot project and the county's ability to maximize the
use of funds and to improve and stabilize child care in the county.
(b) On or before December 31, 2008, the County of San Mateo shall
submit a final report to the Legislature, the Department of Social
Services, and the department summarizing the impact of the plan on
the child care needs of working families.
SEC. 91. Section 8344 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8344. 8492.5. The County of San
Mateo may implement its individualized county child care subsidy plan
until January 1, 2014, at which date the
County of San Mateo shall terminate the plan. Between
January 1, 2014, and January 1, 2016, the County of San Mateo shall
phase out the individualized county child care subsidy plan and, as
of January 1, 2016, shall implement the state's requirements for
child care subsidies. A child enrolling for the first time for
subsidized child care in San Mateo County after January 1, 2014,
shall not be enrolled in the pilot program established pursuant to
this article and is subject to existing state laws and regulations
regarding child care eligibility and priority.
SEC. 92. Section 8345 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8345. 8492.6. A participating
contractor shall receive any increase or decrease in funding that the
contractor would have received if the contractor had not
participated in the local subsidy plan.
SEC. 93. Section 8346 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8346. 8492.7. This article shall
remain in effect only until January 1, 2016, and as of that date is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted before
January 1, 2016, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 94. The heading of Article 15.5 (commencing
with Section 8350) of Cha pter 2 of Part 6 of
Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code is
repealed.
Article 15.5. Child Care for Recipients of the CalWORKs
Program
SEC. 95. Section 8350 of the Education
Code is repealed.
8350. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
article to ensure that recipients of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing
with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, or any successor program, and former recipients
who have left aid for employment, are connected as soon as possible
to local child care resources, make stable child care arrangements,
and continue to receive subsidized child care services after they no
longer receive aid as long as they require those services and meet
the eligibility requirements set forth in Sections 8263 and 8263.1.
(b) This article establishes three stages of child care services
through which a recipient of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, or any successor program, will pass. Further, as
families' child care needs are met by county welfare departments and
later by other local child care and development contractors, it is
the intent of the Legislature that families experience no break in
their child care services due to a transition between the three
stages of child care services.
SEC. 96. Article 13 (commencing with Section 8350)
is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1
of the Education Code , to read:
Article 13. Allocation and Expenditures
8350. The department shall develop and coordinate resources,
provide technical assistance, monitor program implementation,
generate maximum federal reimbursement wherever possible for the
federally eligible children, and facilitate alternative funding for
those children for whom federal funds are not available.
8351. It is the intent of the Legislature that federal funds
received pursuant to the federal Child Care and Development Fund be
allocated according to federal regulations pursuant to this article.
8352. The department shall annually monitor funding used in early
learning and educational support programs for infants and toddlers,
and hours of service provided in California state preschool services,
and shall annually report to the Department of Finance and to the
Legislature a statewide summary identifying the estimated funding
used for infants and toddlers, and the number of preschool age
children receiving part-day preschool and wraparound services, as
defined in subdivision (f) of Section 8228. The annual report shall
include a comparison to the prior year on a county-by-county basis.
8353. The Superintendent shall adopt rules, regulations, and
guidelines to facilitate the funding and reimbursement procedures
required by this chapter.
8354. (a) The Superintendent shall support the coordination of
resources available to state and local agencies serving children,
youth, and their families.
(b) Federal Head Start Funds used to provide services to families
receiving California state preschool services shall be deemed
nonrestricted funds.
8355. The department shall promote full utilization of state and
federal funds and match available unused funds with identified
service needs. Notwithstanding the requirements of Part 2 (commencing
with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, the
department shall arrange interagency adjustments between different
contractors with the same type of contract when both agencies
mutually agree to a temporary transfer of funds for the balance of
the fiscal year.
8356. (a) The Superintendent shall develop a plan and procedures
for the allocation of expansion funding balances resulting from the
prorata allocation of expansion for the partial year operations of
new agencies.
(b) The plan shall provide for the distribution of funds among
provider agencies whose enrollments include children with special
needs, and shall limit provider agencies' use of funds to the purpose
of department-approved equipment or materials or one-time-only
services that directly benefit children with special needs.
8357. Unless specifically exempted by the Legislature, the
administrative cost for all state-funded programs and all federal
programs administered by the state shall not exceed 15 percent of the
funds provided for those programs. Eighty-five percent of these
funds shall be used to provide direct services in accordance with
rules and regulations, or contractual funding terms and conditions
prescribed by the Superintendent.
8358. The Superintendent shall publish the methodology and data
used, including county-specific data if such data is used, for the
allocation of all child care funds. The Superintendent shall make
available to the public, within 90 days of an allocation, the
accounting information for the allocation. It is the intent of the
Legislature to expedite the allocation of funds to the field as
quickly as possible. Nothing in this section shall create a
requirement for a public hearing on the allocation methodology before
the issuance of a request for proposal.
8359. (a) The department shall disburse augmentations to the base
allocation for the expansion of early learning and educational
support programs to promote equal access to child development
services across the state.
(b) The Superintendent shall use the formula developed pursuant to
subdivision (c) and the priorities identified by local planning
councils, unless those priorities do not meet the requirements of
state or federal law, as a guide in disbursing augmentations pursuant
to subdivision (a).
(c) The Superintendent shall develop a formula for prioritizing
the disbursement of augmentations pursuant to this section. The
formula shall give priority to allocating funds to underserved areas.
The Superintendent shall develop the formula by using the definition
of "underserved area" in subdivision (at) of Section 8208 and direct
impact indicators of need for services in the county or subcounty
areas. For purposes of this section, "subcounty areas" include, but
are not limited to, school districts, census tracts, or ZIP Code
areas that are deemed by the Superintendent to be most appropriate to
the type of program receiving an augmentation. Direct impact
indicators of need may include, but are not limited to, the teenage
pregnancy rate, the unemployment rate, area household income, or the
number or percentage of families receiving public assistance,
eligible for Medi-Cal, or eligible for free or reduced-price school
meals, and any unique characteristics of the population served by the
type of program receiving an augmentation.
(d) To promote equal access to services, the Superintendent shall
include in guidelines developed for use by local planning councils
pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 8301 guidance on identifying
underserved areas and populations within counties. This guidance
shall include reference to the direct impact indicators of need
described in subdivision (c).
8360. (a) Any entity operating an early learning and educational
support program funded pursuant to this chapter shall establish in
the county treasury a fund to be known as the "child development fund"
into which shall be paid all funds received by the district or the
county for, or from the operation of, services under this chapter.
The costs incurred in the maintenance and operation of child
development services shall be paid from the fund, with accounting to
reflect specific funding sources.
(b) Funds of a district derived from the receipt of district taxes
or derived from moneys apportioned to the district for the support
of schools thereof, in addition to state moneys appropriated for the
support of early learning and educational support services, fees, and
federal funds, may be expended for, or in connection with, services.
8361. (a) The following provisions apply to the award of Direct
Classroom Services Programs that are appropriated by the Legislature
for that purpose in any fiscal year:
(1) (A) When expansion funding is made available, priority for
funding shall be given to programs operating in the catchment area of
an elementary school ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, on the
Academic Performance Index, based on the school's most recent
Academic Performance Index score.
(B) Each applicant or contracting agency funded pursuant to
Section 8225 shall give first priority to three- or four-year-old
neglected or abused children who are recipients of child protective
services, or who are at risk of being neglected, abused, or exploited
upon written referral from a legal, medical, or social services
agency. If an agency is unable to enroll a child in this first
priority category, the agency shall refer the child's parent or
guardian to local resource and referral services so that services for
the child can be located.
(2) In an application for those expansion funds, an agency shall
furnish the Superintendent with an estimate of the number and ages of
children that it plans to serve in the following fiscal year with
those expansion funds. The agency also shall furnish documentation
that indicates the basis of those estimates.
(3) In awarding contracts for expansion, the Superintendent shall
take into account the geographic criteria established pursuant to
Section 8358, and the headquarters preferences and eligibility
criteria relating to fiscal or programmatic noncompliance established
pursuant to Section 8319.
(b) This section does not prevent eligible children who are
currently receiving services from continuing to receive those
services in future years pursuant to this chapter.
8362. (a) In awarding contracts for expansion to programs
operating pursuant to this subdivision, the Superintendent shall give
priority to applicant agencies that, in expending the expansion
funds, will be serving the highest percentage of four-year-old
children.
(b) This section does not preclude a local educational agency from
subcontracting with an appropriate public or private agency to
operate a California state preschool program and to apply for funds
made available for the purposes of this section. If a school district
chooses not to operate or subcontract for a California state
preschool program, the Superintendent shall work with the county
office of education and other eligible agencies to explore possible
opportunities in contracting or alternative subcontracting to provide
a California state preschool program.
8363. (a) The department shall contract with local contracting
agencies for alternative payment services, pursuant to Article 4
(commencing with Section 8240) so that services will be provided
throughout the state. The department shall expand existing
alternative payment programs and fund new alternative payment
programs to the extent that funds are provided by the Legislature.
(b) Funding for the new programs pursuant to this section shall be
allocated to programs that meet all of the following requirements:
(1) Applicants shall conform to the requirements of this article.
(2) Applicants shall demonstrate that an alternative payment
program is an appropriate method of delivering services within the
county or service area at the level requested in the application by
doing either of the following:
(A) Demonstrating the availability of sufficient licensed or
exempt providers.
(B) Providing a plan for the development of sufficient licensed
providers working in cooperation with the local resource and referral
agency.
(3) Applicants shall demonstrate the administrative viability of
the alternative payment agency and its capacity to meet performance
requirements.
(4) Existing alternative payment programs receiving funds for
expansion into a new service area shall be funded at a documented
rate appropriate to that community and may contract separately as
appropriate.
SEC. 97. Section 8350.5 of the Education
Code , as added by Section 3 of Chapter 329 of the
Statutes of 1998, is amended and renumbered to read:
8350.5. 8253. Current CalWORKs
recipients are eligible for all child care services under this
article as long as they continue to receive aid under Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, or any successor program. Family size
and income, for purposes of calculating family fees, shall be
determined pursuant to Section 8263 8216
.
SEC. 98. Section 8350.5 of
the Education Code , as added by Section 4 of
Chapter 330 of the Statutes of 1998, is repealed.
8350.5. Current CalWORKs recipients are eligible for all child
care services under this article as long as they continue to receive
aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of
Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any successor
program. Family size and income, for purposes of calculating family
fees, shall be determined pursuant to Section 8263.
SEC. 99. Section 8351 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8351. 8253.5. (a) The county
welfare department shall manage the first stage during which a family
shall receive a child care subsidy for any legal care chosen by the
parent. The first stage begins upon the entry of a person into the
program prescribed by Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of
Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(b) A county shall move recipients out of this first response
stage as quickly as possible after the county determines that the
need for child care is stable. A recipient may be served in this
stage for a maximum of six months. The six-month time limit may be
extended if the county determines that the recipient's situation is
too unstable to be shifted to the second stage or if no funds are
available to provide child care services in the second stage.
(c) Former CalWORKs recipients who cannot be transitioned from the
first stage of child care because no funded slot is available are
eligible to receive the first stage and any subsequent stage two
child care services for up to a total of 24 months after they leave
cash aid, or until they are otherwise ineligible within that 24-month
period. Family size and income for purposes of determining
eligibility and family fee shall be determined pursuant to Sections
8263 and 8263.1 8211 and 8216 .
(d) The county welfare department shall also begin the first stage
of child care when an individual who applies for aid under the
program described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of
Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
participating as a volunteer pursuant to Article 3.2 (commencing with
Section 11320) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code.
(e) A county may contract with public or private child care
providers to provide any or all of the services during the first
stage. If the county welfare department elects to contract with any
child care provider that is also under contract with the
State Department of Education department , these
contracts shall be consistent with state law.
SEC. 100. Section 8352 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8352. 8254. (a) As soon as
appropriate, a county welfare department shall refer families needing
child care services to the local child
care resource and referral program funded pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 8210)
Sections 8285, 8286, 8287, 8290, 8291, and 8294 .
Resource and referral program staff shall colocate with a county
welfare department's case management offices for aid under Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, or any successor program, or arrange
other means of swift communication with parents and case managers of
this aid. The local child care resource and referral program shall
assist families to establish stable child care arrangements as soon
as possible. These child care arrangements may include licensed and
license-exempt care.
(b) The resource and referral agency in the county shall provide
information regarding high-quality early learning and educational
support options, pursuant to Section 8290, to alternative payment
programs in the county to offer support services pursuant to Section
8249, and, where available, provide information on quality rating and
improvement systems.
(c) The department shall make informational resources available to
both resource and referral and alternative payment programs pursuant
to Section 8290.
(b)
(d) A program operating pursuant to this article shall,
within two business days of being notified of a revocation or a
temporary suspension order for a licensed child day care facility, do
both of the following:
(1) Terminate payment to the facility.
(2) Notify each parent and the facility in writing that payment
has been terminated and the reason for the termination.
(c)
(e) A program operating pursuant to this article shall,
upon being notified that a licensed child care facility has been
placed on probation, provide written notice to each parent utilizing
the facility that the facility has been placed on probation and that
the parent has the option of selecting a different child day care
provider or remaining with the facility without risk of subsidy
payments to the provider being terminated. The Legislature urges each
agency operating pursuant to this section to provide the written
notice required by this subdivision in the primary language of the
parent, to the extent feasible.
SEC. 101. Section 8353 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8353. 8254.5. (a) The second stage
of child care begins when the county determines that the recipient's
work or approved work activity is stable or when a recipient is
transitioning off of aid and child care is available through a local
stage two program. Second stage child care may be provided to a
family who elects to receive a lump-sum diversion payment or
diversion services under Section 11266.5 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code when a funded space is not immediately available
for the family in third stage. The local stage two agency shall
assist in moving families to stage three as quickly as feasible.
Former CalWORKs recipients are eligible to receive child care
services in stage one and stage two for up to a total of no more than
24 months after they leave cash aid, or until they are otherwise
ineligible within that 24-month period. Family size and income for
purposes of determining eligibility and calculating the family fee
shall be determined pursuant to Sections 8263 and 8263.1.
8211 and 8216. A family leaving cash aid under
the CalWORKS program shall receive up to two years of child care, if
otherwise eligible, as needed to continue the family's employment.
The provision of the two-year time limit is not intended to limit
eligibility for child care under Section 8354
8255 .
(b) The second stage shall be administered by agencies contracting
with the State Department of Education
department . These contractors may be either agencies that have
an alternative payment contract pursuant to Section 8220.1
8362 or county welfare departments that choose
to administer this stage in order to continue to provide child care
services for recipients or former recipients of aid. If the county
chooses to contract with the department to provide alternative
payment services, this contract shall not displace, or result in the
reduction of an existing contract of, a current alternative payment
program.
SEC. 102. Section 8354 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8354. 8255. (a) The third stage of
child care begins when a funded space is available. CalWORKs
recipients are eligible for the third stage of child care. Persons
who received a lump-sum diversion payment or diversion services and
former CalWORKs participants are eligible if they have an income that
does not exceed 70 percent of the state median income pursuant to
Section 8263.1 8211 . The third stage
shall be administered by programs contracting with the State
Department of Education department .
Parents' eligibility for child care and development
services will be governed by Section 8263
8210 and regulations adopted by the
State Department of Education department .
(b) In order to move welfare recipients and former recipients from
their relationship with county welfare departments to relationships
with institutions providing services to working families, it is the
intent of the Legislature that families that are former recipients of
aid, or are transitioning off aid, receive their child care
assistance in the same fashion as other low-income working families.
Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that families no
longer rely on county welfare departments to obtain child care
subsidies beyond the time they are receiving other services from the
welfare department.
(c) A county welfare department shall not administer the third
stage of child care for CalWORKs recipients except to the extent to
which it delivered those services to families receiving, or within
one year of having received, Aid to Families with Dependent Children
prior to before the enactment of this
section.
(d) This article does not preclude county welfare departments from
operating an alternative payment program under contract with the
State Department of Education department
to serve families referred by child protective services.
SEC. 103. Section 8355 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8255. 8255.5. Child care during the
third stage may be funded with moneys dedicated to current and
former recipients of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
or any successor program, including the federal funds appropriated to
alternative payment program contractors in the 1996-97 fiscal year
using the Budget Act's Section 28 process as described in subdivision
(b). Nothing shall prevent child care services
provided under stage three from being funded with moneys from other
federal or state sources. Nothing in this article shall preclude
current and former recipients of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, or any successor program, from receiving child
care services pursuant to other provisions of this chapter.
SEC. 104. Section 8356 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8356. 8256. It is the intent of the
Legislature that the State Department of Education
department work with Head Start and state
preschool programs to generate extended-day and evening care for
recipients of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of
Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any
successor program, through recruiting and training parents to be
licensed and license-exempt care providers and shall facilitate
connections between Head Start and state preschool contractors and
child care certificate administrators, including counties
and other alternative payment
programs, so that funds available for Sections 8351, 8353,
and 8354 8253.5, 8254.5, and 8255 cover the cost
of this care.
SEC. 105. Section 8356.1 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8356.1. 8256.5 It is the intent of
the Legislature that each county receive funding for child care
services provided in stage two that is at least equivalent to the
amount of funding received in the 1996-97 fiscal year for income
disregard pursuant to Section 11451.6 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code and supplemental child care pursuant to Section 11451.7 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
SEC. 106. Section 8358.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8358.5. 8257. Notwithstanding any
other confidentiality requirement, the government or private agency
administering subsidized child care services shall
share information necessary for the administration of the
child care programs pursuant to this article and the
CalWORKs program pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
for the time period for which the person receives child care
services .
SEC. 107. Section 8359 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8359. 8257.5. (a) County welfare
departments and alternative payment programs shall provide to the
State Department of Education or the State Department of Social
Services, whichever is appropriate, and the local planning council,
on a monthly basis, data about child care usage and demand in each of
the three stages. The State Department of Education and the State
Department of Social Services shall forward this data quarterly to
the Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee
for fiscal planning.
(b) By January 10 of each year, the Department of Finance shall
present to the respective legislative budget committees an estimate
of the cost of funding the expected demand for child care as
described in subdivision (a) of Section 8351
8253.5 and Sections 8353 8254.5
and 8354 8255 .
SEC. 108. Section 8359.1 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8359.1. 8258. (a) It is the intent
of the Legislature in enacting this article to provide sufficient
funding through an appropriation in the annual Budget Act to fund the
estimated cost of providing child care for all
individuals who are anticipated to need child care to participate in
the welfare-to-work programs and to transition to work.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that child care and
development contracts in existence on the effective date of this
section be allowed to continue until the end of the 1997-98 fiscal
year.
(c)
(b) Funding for purposes of implementing this article
shall be appropriated in the annual Budget Act.
SEC. 109. Section 8362 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8362. 8305. The same fee as that
prescribed for a credential provided in Section 44235 shall be
charged for either the issuance or renewal of each child development
permit authorizing service in the supervision and instruction of
children in child development programs or authorizing service as a
supervisor in a program.
SEC. 110. Section 8363 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8363. 8306. The Commission on
Teacher Credentialing shall by rule or regulation establish the
requirements for the following:
(a) The issuance and the renewal of permits authorizing service in
the care, development, and instruction of children in child care and
development programs, as well as the issuance of emergency permits
for this purpose.
(b) The issuance and renewal of permits authorizing supervision of
a child care and development program, as well as the issuance of
emergency permits for this purpose.
(c) The periods of duration of the permits set forth in this
section.
SEC. 111. Section 8363.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8363.5. 8307. (a) A special child
development permit shall be issued to any person employed as a
supervisor, head teacher, or teacher by an agency conducting a child
care and development program under contract with a county who did not
meet the requirements for an emergency instructional permit
authorizing service in children's centers or a supervisor's permit
with postponement of requirements authorizing service in a children's
center in effect on October 15, 1974. A special child development
permit issued pursuant to this section shall be valid for 36 months
after its date of issuance. Within the 36-month period following the
date of issuance of the permit, the following shall apply:
(1) A person employed as a head teacher or teacher who has
completed 30 semester hours of coursework taken in an approved
institution, including 12 semester hours of coursework in subject
fields related to early childhood education, shall be issued an
emergency instructional permit authorizing service in a children's
center and be subject to the term and renewal regulations in effect
on October 15, 1974.
(2) A person employed as a supervisor who has obtained a bachelor'
s degree from an approved institution and completed at least 12
semester hours of coursework in subject fields related to early
childhood education shall be issued a supervision permit with
postponement of requirements authorizing service in children's
centers and be subject to the term and renewal regulations in effect
on October 15, 1974.
(b) It is the intention of the Legislature that this section be
liberally interpreted to ensure that those experienced and qualified
persons employed in county contract day care centers prior to July 1,
1974, maintain their positions and be given ample opportunity to
upgrade their skills to meet revised educational standards.
SEC. 112. The heading of Article 14 (commencing
with Section 8365) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of
Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code ,
to read:
Article 14. Reimbursement: General
SEC. 113. Section 8368 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8368. 8417. Any person who is
employed in a child development program on October
1, 1965, and who was brought into membership in a retirement system
on October 1, 1963, notwithstanding his or her prior
election pursuant to Section 8367 or the predecessor of such
Section 8367 as it read prior to October 1, 1963, not to
be a member of such system, shall have the same rights under such
system with respect to his or her service in
child development programs as he or she would
have had under Section 8367 or the predecessor of such
that section had he elected thereunder to be a
member of such system.
SEC. 114. Section 8369 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8369. 8418. Every employee of a
child development program who before his employment in such program
was employed by the agency maintaining such program in a position
entitling him to membership in, and who was a member of, the
retirement system maintained by such district, and if such employee's
contributions to such retirement system were returned to him when he
was employed in the program, such employee shall have the right to
elect, by written document filed with the Board of Administration,
Public Employees' Retirement System, at any time within 90 days after
the date upon which the notice of the right to make such election is
mailed by such system, either to the member's latest address on file
in the office of such system, or to the office of the governing
board of such agency or agencies, and prior to
before the date of retirement, to contribute to such
system, subject to minimum payments fixed by the Board of
Administration, and in one or more sums, or in not to exceed 60
monthly payments, an amount which, when added to his accumulated
contributions, including interest, transferred as required in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 24810, will make a total
amount equal to the accumulated contributions, including interest,
which would have been credited to him in such plan, if he had never
had his contributions returned to him. Such employee shall pay to the
Public Employees' Retirement System interest on the unpaid balance
of the amount payable to such system, beginning with the date of
transfer, at the rate of interest currently used from time to time
under the system. If such employee elects to make, and makes, such
contributions and pays such interest, but not otherwise, he shall
receive credit under such employees' system, as state service, for
all prior service rendered while he was not a member of such plan.
SEC. 115. Article 14.5 (commencing with Section
8370) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code , to read:
Article 14.5. Reimbursement: Direct Classroom Services
8370. The reimbursement rate pursuant to this article shall apply
to applicants and contract agencies operating programs pursuant to
Article 3 (commencing with Section 8220).
SEC. 116. Article 14.7 (commencing with Section
8377) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code , to read:
Article 14.7. Reimbursement: Alternative Payment Services
8377. The reimbursement rate established pursuant to this article
shall apply to applicants and contract agencies operating pursuant
to Article 4 (commencing with Section 8240).
8378. Alternative payment services operating pursuant to Article
4 (commencing with Section 8240) shall be subject to the rates
established by the Regional Market Rate Survey of California Child
Care Providers for provider payments. The department shall contract
to conduct and complete a Regional Market Rate Survey no more
frequently than once every two years, consistent with federal
regulations, with a goal of completion by March 1.
SEC. 117. Article 15 (commencing with Section
8380) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code , to read:
Article 15. Audits
8380. As used in this article:
(a) "Financial and compliance audit" means a systematic review or
appraisal to determine each of the following:
(1) Whether the financial statements of an audited organization
fairly present the financial position and the results of financial
operations in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles.
(2) Whether the organization has complied with laws and
regulations that may have a material effect upon the financial
statements.
(b) "Public accountant" means a certified public accountant or a
state-licensed public accountant.
(c) "Independent auditor" means a public accountant who has no
direct or indirect relationship with the functions or activities
being audited or with the business conducted by any of the officials
or contractors being audited.
(d) "Generally accepted auditing standards" means the auditing
standards set forth in the financial and compliance element of the
"Government Auditing Standards" issued by the Comptroller General of
the United States and incorporating the audit standards of the
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
(e) "Direct service contract" means a contract with any public or
private entity for early learning and educational support programs,
resource and referral programs, and programs contracting to provide
support services as defined in Section 8208.
(f) "Nonprofit organization" means an organization described in
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 that is exempt
from taxation under Section 501(a) of that code, or any nonprofit,
scientific, or educational organization qualified under Section
23701d of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
8381. (a) Annually, there shall be a single independent financial
and compliance audit of organizations that contract with the state
under a direct service contract. The audit shall include an
evaluation of the accounting and control systems of the direct
service contractor and of the activities by the contractor to comply
with the financial requirements of direct service contracts received
by the contractor from the state agency. The financial and compliance
requirements to be reviewed during the audit shall be those
developed and published by the department in consultation with the
Department of Finance. Audits carried out pursuant to this section
shall be audits of the contractor rather than audits of individual
contracts or programs. In the case of any contractor that receives
less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per year from any
state agency, the audit required by this section shall be conducted
biennially, unless there is evidence of fraud or other violation of
state law in connection with the direct service contract. The cost of
the audit may be included in direct service contracts.
(b) The organization receiving funds from the state shall be
responsible for obtaining the required financial and compliance
audits of the organization and any subcontractors, except for direct
service subcontracts and other subcontracts exempt from department
review, as agreed to by the Departments of Finance and General
Services. The audit shall be performed by an independent auditor in
accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. The audit
shall be completed by the 15th day of the fifth month following the
end of the contractor's fiscal year. A copy of the audit shall be
filed with the department upon its completion. In the event an audit
is not filed, the department shall notify the organization of the
contract violation. The audit report filed shall be an integral part
of the direct service contract file.
(c) (1) Nothing in this article limits the authority of the
department to make audits of direct service contracts. However, if
independent audits arranged for by direct service contractors meet
generally accepted auditing standards, the department shall rely on
those audits, and any additional audit work shall build upon the work
already done.
(2) Nothing in this article precludes the state from conducting,
or contracting for the conduct of, contract performance audits that
are not financial and compliance audits.
(3) Nothing in this article limits the state's responsibility or
authority to enforce state law or regulations, procedures, or
reporting requirements arising pursuant thereto.
(4) Nothing in this article limits the responsibility of the
department to provide an independent appeal procedure according to
the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 5
(commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code).
8382. An audit for an agency shall include, but not be limited
to, a sampling of the evidence of fees charged to, and paid by,
families of nonsubsidized children, the daily enrollment of
subsidized children, the number of days of service provided to
subsidized children, the assessment and collection of parent fees,
and the availability of support services to subsidized children and
their families as needed pursuant to the terms of the contract.
8383. An audit for an agency licensed under the provisions of
Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1500) of Division 2 of the Health
and Safety Code shall include a sampling of the evidence of fees paid
by families of nonsubsidized children, the average daily enrollment
of subsidized and nonsubsidized children, the average number of days
of service provided to subsidized children, and the services provided
to subsidized children pursuant to the terms of the contract.
SEC. 118. The heading of Article 16.5 (commencing
with Section 8385) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is amended and
renumbered to read:
Article 16.5. 16. Fraud
And Overpayments
SEC. 119. Section 8385 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
8385. (a) (1) The department, in consultation with the State
Department of Social Services, county fraud investigators, and other
fraud investigation experts, shall perform an error rate study to
estimate the percentage of errors, including, but not limited to,
overpayments and fraud, in determinations of eligibility, the need
for child care pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a)
of Section 8263 8210 , family
fees, and reimbursement payments to child care providers, including,
but not limited to, authorized hours of care and the use of
adjustment factors, in programs operated pursuant to Article
3 4 (commencing with Section 8220)
8340) and Article 15.5
4.5 (commencing with Section 8350)
8252) . The study shall include, but not be limited to, an
analysis of a statistically valid, random, sample of family files and
reimbursement payments that have been processed over a specified
time. Each payment from the sample shall be audited to determine
whether it was correctly paid or paid in error. Those payments
identified as being paid in error shall be classified based on the
type of the error that occurred, including, but not limited to,
administrative errors, overpayment caused by providers, overpayments
caused by parents, provider fraud, and beneficiary fraud.
(2) In conducting the compliance reviews required by regulations
of the Superintendent pursuant to Section 8261
8319 for programs operated pursuant to Article 8
(commencing with Section 8240) Section 8204 ,
the department shall survey a statistically valid sample of files for
the program and identify and report the errors, by category,
resulting from that survey.
(3) The department shall report in writing to the Governor, the
Chair of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the chairs of the
fiscal committees for both houses of the Legislature, and the
Department of Finance, information regarding the error rate study by
April 1, 2005. The report shall include, but not be limited to, all
of the following:
(A) The results of the error rate study.
(B) Fraud and overpayment reduction targets that have been
established based on the data from the error rate study.
(C) The timeframe for achieving the targets.
(D) Recommendations developed pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) The department shall develop recommendations for the
prevention and elimination of child care fraud and programmatic
errors and the identification and collection of child care
overpayments. The recommendations shall include, but not be limited
to:
(1) Precise definitions of what constitutes child care fraud and
overpayments.
(2) A consistent statewide system to identify fraud and
overpayments.
(3) A consistent statewide system of standards for fraud
prevention, intervention, and overpayment collection that is applied
to all child care program provider categories.
(4) Statewide fraud and overpayment measures that will be reported
annually by the department.
(5) Standards for independent financial compliance audits,
including provisions to ensure that small programs are not unduly
burdened.
(6) Consistent statewide mechanisms for due process for parents.
(7) Consistent statewide mechanisms for dispute resolution for
child care programs and providers.
(8) Assessment of the cost-effectiveness of prevention and
intervention activities.
(9) Equitable treatment of all consumers of subsidized child care.
(10) Consideration of the need to minimize new barriers to family
access to child care.
(11) A survey of best practices from both California agencies and
providers and from other states.
(c) In developing its recommendations, the department shall place
priority on prevention of fraud and overpayments, and shall consider
existing best practices for doing so. The department shall make any
identified best practices available on its Web site by March 1, 2005.
(d) The department shall consult with representatives of the State
Department of Social Services, the Legislative Analyst's Office, the
Department of Finance, staff from the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of each house of the Legislature, and other interested
parties including, but not limited to, child care consumers and
providers, representatives from county welfare departments, district
attorneys, county special investigative units, and legal advocacy
organizations representing consumers in developing these
recommendations.
(e) The department shall report its recommendations directly to
the respective policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by
April 1, 2005.
(f) On or after July 1, 2005, all child care contracts entered
into by the State Department of Education
department for means-tested child care programs, including, but
not limited to, the programs described in Article 3
4 (commencing with Section 8220)
8240) , Article 8 (commencing with
Section 8240) Section 8204 , and Article
15.5 4.5 (commencing with Section
8350) 8252) , shall require
implementation of best practices identified pursuant to subdivision
(c).
SEC. 120. The heading of Article 18 (commencing
with Section 8400) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 18. Administrative Review
SEC. 121. Section 8402 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8402. 8338. The State
Department of Education department shall provide
an independent appeal procedure to each contracting agency providing
child care and development services pursuant to Section
8262 8326 . Prior to
Before filing an appeal petition, the contracting agency shall
have submitted all previously required standard monthly or quarterly
reporting forms to the State Department of Education
department . The appeal procedure shall be
conducted by the Office of Administrative Hearings and shall be
provided upon petition of the contracting agency in any of the
following circumstances:
(a) Termination or suspension of a contracting agency's contract.
(b) Denial of more than 4 percent or twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000), whichever is less, of a local contracting agency's
contracted payment for services schedule.
(c) Demand for remittance of an overpayment of more than 4 percent
or twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), whichever is less, of a
local contracting agency's annual contract.
SEC. 122. Section 8403 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8403. 8339. All hearings shall be
conducted according to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure
Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1, of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), except as otherwise
directed in this article.
SEC. 123. Section 8404 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8404. 8340. The Office of
Administrative Hearings shall, by June 30, 1982, adopt regulations
governing the hearings, which shall include all of the following:
(a) Deadlines for filing petitions, commencing hearings and
rendering decisions.
(b) Notice to affected parties.
(c) The manner for maintaining appropriate provision for
electronic recording and transcription, if necessary.
(d) Hearings shall be conducted at the offices of the Office of
Administrative Hearings in Sacramento or Los Angeles. However,
hearings in Los Angeles shall be available only to local contracting
agencies with the State Department of Education
department whose annual contracts total less than two
hundred thousand dollars ($200,000).
(e) Any other issues deemed appropriate by the Office of
Administrative Hearings.
SEC. 124. Section 8405 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8405. 8341. The determination of
the hearing examiner shall be the final administrative determination
to be afforded the local contracting agency.
SEC. 125. Section 8406 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8406. 8342. All actions by the
State Department of Education department
, as defined in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, of Section
8402 8338 shall be preceded by a
written notice of action to the local contracting agency
which that shall include the following:
(a) A statement of the specific reasons for the action in the
Statement of Issues.
(b) A description of the local contracting agency's rights and
responsibilities concerning the appeal procedure described herein.
SEC. 126. Section 8406.6 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8406.6. 8343. The Superintendent
of Public Instruction shall establish a contract
classification system for purposes of identifying, monitoring, and
providing technical assistance to contractors as follows:
(a) Clear contract. This designation shall be given to contracted
agencies that are in full compliance with all applicable statutory
provisions, funding terms and conditions, and applicable program
quality guidelines.
(b) Provisional
contract. This designation applies to existing contracted agencies,
or agencies that are awarded a new contract for services. The time
frame of a provisional contract is at the discretion of the
State Department of Education department and is
given to ensure demonstrated fiscal and programmatic compliance
before granting clear contract status. The contract status shall be
reviewed annually.
(c) Conditional contract. This designation applies to high-risk
contracted agencies that evidence fiscal and or programmatic
noncompliance. These agencies shall not be eligible to apply for
additional State Child Development program funds, and are subject to
any restrictions deemed reasonable to secure compliance. The
conditional contract shall include a bill of particulars detailing
the items of noncompliance, the standards that must be met to avoid
termination of contract and to qualify the agency for clear contract
status, and technical assistance plan. Failure to demonstrate
substantive progress toward fiscal or program compliance within six
months of that designation shall constitute a breach of contract and
be subject to termination for any applicable cause specified in
Section 8406.7 8344 or in accordance
with Section 8402 8338 .
(d) Agencies with conditional contracts shall receive technical
assistance from the Child Development Division of the State
Department of Education department .
SEC. 127. Section 8406.7 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8406.7. 8344. (a) Any agency that
evidences chronic fiscal or program violations of a felony nature may
have its contract suspended or terminated immediately, provided
there is documented evidence thereof, and upon review and
recommendation of the general counsel of the State
Department of Education department . A fiscal or
programmatic violation constituting a breach of contract includes
one or more of the following:
(1) Fraud, or conspiracy to defraud.
(2) Misuse of state funds in violation of the State of California
Accounting Manual.
(3) Embezzlement.
(4) Threats of bodily or other harm to state officials.
(5) Bribery or attempted bribery of a state official.
(6) Unsafe or unhealthy physical environment or facility.
(7) Substantiated abuse or molestation of children.
(8) Failure to report suspected child abuse or molestation.
(9) Theft of supplies, equipment or food.
(b) An agency contract terminated for cause retains appeal rights
in accordance with Section 8402 8338 .
(c) The State Department of Education
department shall advise child care and development contractors
of the provision of this section within 30 working days of its
enactment.
SEC. 128. Section 8406.9 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8406.9. 8345. (a) An agency that
places a person in a position of fiscal responsibility or control who
has been convicted of any crime specified in Chapter 2 (commencing
with Section 458) of, Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 470) of,
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 484) of, Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 503) of, or Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 518) of,
Title 13 of Part 1 of the Penal Code may have its contract suspended
or terminated immediately if there is documented evidence of the
conviction, and upon review and recommendation of the general counsel
of the State Department of Education depa
rtment .
(b) For purposes of this section, "position of fiscal
responsibility or control" includes any authority to direct or
control expenditure of, or any access to, state or federal child care
and development funds received pursuant to this chapter whether that
authority or access is conferred based on the person's status as an
employee, director, manager, board member, or volunteer, or based on
any other status.
(c) An agency whose contract is terminated pursuant to this
section may appeal that action in accordance with Section
8402 8338 .
(d) Termination pursuant to this section shall not occur without
notice as described in Section 8406 8342
at least 90 days prior to before
termination.
(e) If the agency provides evidence to the State
Department of Education department that the
convicted person has been removed from the position of fiscal
responsibility or control and provides assurance that the person will
not be returned to a position of fiscal responsibility or control,
the State Department of Education department
shall withdraw the termination action.
SEC. 129. Section 8407 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8407. 8346. Except for causes
listed in Section 8406.7 8344 ,
termination of existing funding shall not occur without good cause
and without notice as described in Section 8406
8342 at least 90 days prior to
before termination.
SEC. 130. Section 8408 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8408. 8347. Actions as defined in
subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, of Section 8402
8338 shall remain in effect during the appeal
process. However, local contracting agencies may continue to operate
under the contract during an appeal of termination, unless the action
is based on imminent danger to the health or welfare of children. If
the local agency contract is being terminated for this reason, the
reason shall be specified by the department in its notice of
termination.
SEC. 131. Section 8409 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8409. 8348. All contracts entered
into by the State Department of Education
department pursuant to Section 8262
8326 shall contain a complete description of the appeal
procedures provided in this article.
SEC. 132. The heading of Article 20 (commencing
with Section 8440) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 20. Direct Service Contract Procedure
SEC. 133. Section 8441 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8441. 8333. The State
Department of Education department shall develop
and maintain a central distribution list for application
announcements.
SEC. 134. Section 8442 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8442. 8334. Application
announcements shall contain, but not be limited to, the following
information: the goals and objectives of the program, identification
of the specific minimum range of services to be purchased related to
those goals, quantitative as well as qualitative measures
which that will be used by the department to
evaluate service outcomes, specific criteria and a description of the
methodology and timetable which that
will be followed to review and approve applications, and all minimum
performance standards any agency is required to meet prior
to before direct service contract approval.
SEC. 135. Section 8444 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8444. 8335. The State
Department of Education department shall
identify and transmit to all agencies awarded direct service
contracts forms required for contract payments, management
information or reports required pursuant to contract objectives, and
conditions and methods for contract evaluations. Methods and
conditions for payment recoveries, withholding of payments, and
contract terminations relating to nonperformance shall also be
identified. This information shall be provided in all cases
prior to before final approval of any direct
service contract, unless the information is provided in the contract
document.
SEC. 136. Section 8445 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8445. 8337. The State
Department of Education department shall develop
a grievance procedure for resolving disputes arising from the
awarding or administering of direct service contracts, in addition to
the remedies provided under the Administrative Procedure Act
(Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of
Title 2 of the Government Code).
SEC. 137. Section 8447 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8447. 8332. (a) The Legislature
hereby finds and declares that greater efficiencies may be achieved
in the execution of state subsidized child care and
development program early learning and educational
support contracts with public and private agencies by the
timely approval of contract provisions by the Department of Finance,
the Department of General Services, and the State Department of
Education and by authorizing the State Department of Education to
establish a multiyear application, contract expenditure, and service
review as may be necessary to provide timely service while preserving
audit and oversight functions to protect the public welfare.
(b) (1) The Department of
Finance and the Department of General Services shall approve
shall:
(1) Approve or disapprove annual
contract funding terms and conditions, including both family fee
schedules and regional market rate schedules that are required to be
adhered to by contract, and contract face sheets submitted by the
State Department of Education not more than 30 working days from the
date of submission, unless unresolved conflicts remain between the
Department of Finance, the State Department of Education, and the
Department of General Services. The
(2) Annually review contract funding terms and conditions for the
primary purpose of ensuring consistency between contracts and the
state budget. This review shall include evaluating any proposed
changes to contract language or other fiscal documents to which the
contractor is required to adhere, including those changes to terms or
conditions that authorize higher reimbursement rates, that modify
related adjustment factors, that modify administrative or other
service allowances, or that diminish fee revenues otherwise available
for services, to determine if the change is necessary or has the
potential effect of reducing the number of full-time equivalent
children that may be served.
(c) The State Department of
Education shall resolve conflicts within an additional 30 working day
time period. Contracts and funding terms and conditions shall be
issued to child care contractors no later than June 1.
Applications
(d) Applications for new child
care funding shall be issued not more than 45 working days after the
effective date of authorized new allocations of child care moneys.
(2)
(e) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision
(b) , the State Department of Education shall implement the
regional market rate schedules based upon the county aggregates, as
determined by the Regional Market survey conducted in 2005.
(3)
(f) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision
(b) , for the 2006-07 fiscal year, the State Department of
Education shall update the family fee schedules by family size, based
on the 2005 state median income survey data for a family of four.
The family fee schedule used during the 2005-06 fiscal year shall
remain in effect. However, the department shall adjust the family fee
schedule for families that are newly eligible to receive or will
continue to receive services under the new income eligibility limits.
The family fees shall not exceed 10 percent of the family's monthly
income.
(4)
(g) Notwithstanding any other law, the family fee
schedule that was in effect for the 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, and
2010-11 fiscal years shall be adjusted to reflect the income
eligibility limits specified in subdivision (b) of Section 8263.1 for
the 2011-12 fiscal year, and shall retain a flat fee per family. The
revised family fee schedule shall begin at income levels at which
families currently begin paying fees. The revised family fees shall
not exceed 10 percent of the family's monthly income. The State
Department of Education shall first submit the adjusted fee schedule
to the Department of Finance for approval in order to be implemented
by July 1, 2011.
(5)
(h) Notwithstanding any other law, the family fee
schedule that was in effect for the 2011-12 fiscal year pursuant to
paragraph (4) subdivision (g) shall
remain in effect for the 2012-13 fiscal year, and shall retain a flat
fee per family.
(6) It is the intent of the Legislature to fully fund the third
stage of child care for former CalWORKs recipients.
(c) With respect to subdivision (b), it is the intent of the
Legislature that the Department of Finance annually review contract
funding terms and conditions for the primary purpose of ensuring
consistency between child care contracts and the child care budget.
This review shall include evaluating any proposed changes to contract
language or other fiscal documents to which the contractor is
required to adhere, including those changes to terms or conditions
that authorize higher reimbursement rates, that modify related
adjustment factors, that modify administrative or other service
allowances, or that diminish fee revenues otherwise available for
services, to determine if the change is necessary or has the
potential effect of reducing the number of full-time equivalent
children that may be served.
(d) Alternative payment child care systems, as set forth in
Article 3 (commencing with Section 8220), shall be subject to the
rates established in the Regional Market Rate Survey of California
Child Care Providers for provider payments. The State Department of
Education shall contract to conduct and complete a Regional Market
Rate Survey no more frequently than once every two years, consistent
with federal regulations, with a goal of completion by March 1.
(e)
(i) By March 1 of each year, the Department of Finance
shall provide to the State Department of Education the State Median
Income amount for a four-person household in California based on the
best available data. The State Department of Education shall adjust
its fee schedule for child care providers to reflect this updated
state median income; however, no changes based on revisions to the
state median income amount shall be implemented midyear.
(f)
(j) Notwithstanding the June 1 date specified in
subdivision (b), changes to the regional market rate schedules and
fee schedules may be made at any other time to reflect the
availability of accurate data necessary for their completion,
provided these documents receive the approval of the Department of
Finance. The Department of Finance shall review the changes within 30
working days of submission and the State Department of Education
shall resolve conflicts within an additional 30 working day period.
Contractors shall be given adequate notice prior to the effective
date of the approved schedules. It is the intent of the Legislature
that contracts for services not be delayed by the timing of the
availability of accurate data needed to update these schedules.
(g)
(k) Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, no family receiving CalWORKs cash aid may be charged a
family fee.
SEC. 138. Section 8447.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8447.5. 8336. The State
Department of Education department may execute a
multiyear application process. Multiyear applications may only be
submitted by public and private agencies that have been fully
compliant in executing prior contracts for at least the preceding
three fiscal years as evidenced by all of the following:
(a) No fiscal audit disclaimer.
(b) No program quality deficiencies.
(c) No contract compliance deficiencies.
(d) No incidents of child abuse or molestation.
(e) No program management, administrative, or staffing
deficiencies.
(f) Any other criteria as may be deemed necessary to safeguard the
public trust.
SEC. 139. The heading of Article 21 (commencing
with Section 8448) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 21. Direct Service Contract Audit Requirements
SEC. 140. Section 8450 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8450. 8369. (a) All child
development contractors are encouraged to develop and
maintain a reserve within the child development fund, derived from
earned but unexpended funds. Child development contractors
Contractors may retain all earned funds. For the
purpose of this section, "earned funds" are those for which the
required number of eligible service units have been provided.
(b) (1) Earned funds shall not be expended for any activities
proscribed by Section 8406.7 8344 .
Earned but unexpended funds shall remain in the contractor's reserve
account within the child development fund and shall be expended only
by direct service child development early
learning and educational support programs that are funded under
contract with the department.
(2) Commencing July 1, 2011, a A
contractor may retain a reserve fund balance, separate
from the reserve fund retained pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d),
equal to 5 percent of the sum of the maximum reimbursable amounts of
all contracts to which the contractor is a party, or two thousand
dollars ($2,000), whichever is greater. This paragraph applies to
direct classroom service child development
programs that are funded under contract with the
department.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), a contractor may
retain a reserve fund balance for a resource and referral program,
separate from the balance retained pursuant to subdivision (b) or
(d), not to exceed 3 percent of the contract amount. Funds from this
reserve account may be expended only by resource and referral
programs that are funded under contract with the department.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), a contractor may
retain a reserve fund balance for alternative payment model and
certificate child care contracts, separate from the reserve fund
retained pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c). Funds from this
reserve account may be expended only by alternative payment model and
certificate child care programs that are funded under contract with
the department. The reserve amount allowed by this section may not
exceed either of the following, whichever is greater:
(1) Two percent of the sum of the parts of each contract to which
that contractor is a party that is allowed for administration
pursuant to Section 8276.7 8356 and
that is allowed for supportive services pursuant to the provisions of
the contract.
(2) One thousand dollars ($1,000).
(e) Each contractor's audit shall identify any funds earned by the
contractor for each contract through the provision of contracted
services in excess of funds expended.
(f) Any interest earned on reserve funds shall be included in the
fund balance of the reserve. This reserve fund shall be maintained in
an interest-bearing account.
(g) Moneys in a contractor's reserve fund may be used only for
expenses that are reasonable and necessary costs as defined in
subdivision (n) (s) of Section 8208.
(h) Any reserve fund balance in excess of the amount authorized
pursuant to subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) shall be returned to the
department pursuant to procedures established by the department.
(i) Upon termination of all child development contracts between a
contractor and the department, all moneys in a contractor's reserve
fund shall be returned to the department pursuant to procedures
established by the department.
(j) Expenditures from, additions to, and balances in, the reserve
fund shall be included in the agency's annual financial statements
and audit.
SEC. 141. The heading of Article 23 (commencing
with Section 8485) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 23. Child Supervision Programs
SEC. 142. The heading of Article 25 (commencing
with Section 8490) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of
Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code ,
to read:
Article 25. San Francisco Pilot Project
SEC. 143. The heading of Article 26 (commencing
with Section 8492) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of
Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code ,
to read:
Article 26. San Mateo Pilot Project
SEC. 144. The heading of Article 24 (commencing
with Section 8493) of Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code is repeal
ed.
Article 24. Child Care and Development Facilities Capital
Outlay
SEC. 145. Section 8493 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8493. 8387. It is the intent of the
Legislature that funds be appropriated for capital outlay for
purposes of providing facilities for child care and
development services provided pursuant to this chapter,
including, but not limited to, all of the following purposes:
(a) For the purchase of relocatable facilities by the state for
lease to qualifying contracting agencies in areas with no available
economically practical or feasible child care and development
facilities.
(b) For renovation and repair of child care and development
facilities in order to comply with state and local health and safety
standards and licensing requirements, without unnecessarily
increasing the value of the facility.
SEC. 146. Section 8494 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8494. 8402. (a) All of the
following child care and development programs,
other than those providing extended day care
services, shall be eligible to receive a loan for the renovation and
repair of facilities used for the program or to lease relocatable
facilities to be used for the program:
(1) Private nonprofit child care and development
programs currently, or soon to be, under contract with the
State Department of Education department
pursuant to Section 8262 8326 .
(2) Child care and development programs conducted pursuant to
Article 4 (commencing with Section 8225).
(3) Child care and development
(2) Early learning and educational
support programs operated by, or in a facility owned by, a
public entity.
(4) Child care and development
(3) Early learning and educational
support programs conducted pursuant to Article 7.1 (commencing
with Section 54740) of Chapter 9 of Part 29.
(b) A recipient of a loan pursuant to this section shall document
that the renovated facility shall comply with all laws and
regulations applicable to child care facilities provided for pursuant
to Chapter 3.4 (commencing with Section 1596.70) and Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 1596.90) of Division 2 of the Health and
Safety Code.
(c) A recipient of a loan pursuant to this section shall assure
the board that the renovated facility shall be used for the purposes
of the child care and development early
learning and educational support program for the entire loan
period, which shall be determined by the board as follows:
(1) For loans equal to or less than thirty thousand dollars
($30,000), not less than three years.
(2) For loans exceeding thirty thousand dollars ($30,000), the
loan period shall increase one year for each additional ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) or part thereof, to a maximum of fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000).
(d) Interest on the loan principal shall be charged at a rate
equal to the average of the interest rate applied to the last three
bond sales pursuant to Chapter 21.6 (commencing with Section 17695)
of Part 10.
(e) In the event that a recipient ceases to use the renovated
facility for purposes of the child care and development
program prior to before the
expiration of the loan period, the board shall collect the entire
outstanding balance of the loan, plus interest, notwithstanding the
loan period originally set pursuant to subdivision (c), unless the
board deems it appropriate to waive repayment at that time.
(f) If the renovated facility has been continuously used for
purposes of the child care and development program
for the entire loan period, the board shall waive repayment of the
amount of the loan principal, plus interest, at the end of the loan
period.
SEC. 147. Section 8495 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8495. 8403. (a) There is hereby
created in the State Treasury the State Child Care Capital Outlay
Fund. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all
moneys in the State Child Care Capital Outlay Fund, including moneys
deposited in that fund from any source whatsoever, shall be
continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal year for
expenditure pursuant to the provisions of this article. The fund
shall be administered by the State Allocation Board, which may
authorize the expenditure of any moneys in the fund for capital
outlay projects pursuant to Section 8277.7 or this article. Funds in
the State Child Care Facilities Fund set aside for the purposes of
providing extended day care facilities pursuant to Section 8477 shall
be transferred to the State Child Care Capital Outlay Fund upon the
effective date of the act amending this section in the 1997-98
Regular Session.
(b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall establish the qualifications to determine the eligibility of
child care and development agencies, including those that provide
preschool and extended day care services, to lease relocatable
facilities under this section.
(c) Although primary use of relocatable facilities shall be for
child care and development programs, including preschool and extended
day care programs, those facilities may be used for other purposes
if the following conditions
are met:
(1) The alternative use of the facility does not infringe upon the
accessibility of child care and development programs including
preschool or extended day care programs.
(2) The Superintendent of Public Instruction
authorizes alternative use as being compatible with child care and
development programs, including preschool or extended day care
programs.
(d) The State Allocation Board, with the advice of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction , may do all
of the following:
(1) Establish any procedures and policies in connection with the
administration of this section that it deems necessary.
(2) Adopt any rules and regulations for the administration of this
section requiring those procedures, forms, and information that it
deems necessary.
(3) Have constructed, furnished, equipped, or otherwise require
whatever work is necessary to place relocatable facilities for child
care and development services, including preschool and extended day
care services where needed.
(e) The board shall lease relocatable facilities to qualifying
agencies providing child care and development services, including
preschool or extended day care services, and shall charge rent of one
dollar ($1) per year. The board shall require lessees to undertake
all necessary maintenance, repairs, renewal, and replacement to
ensure that a project is at all times kept in good repair, working
order, and condition. All costs incurred for this purpose shall be
borne by the lessee. Neither the board nor the state shall assume any
responsibility for utility services costs other than initial
installation costs reimbursed under this article, and the agency
shall provide adequate safeguards to protect the state's interest in
this regard.
(f) The board shall require lessees to insure at their own expense
for the benefit of the state, any leased relocatable facility that
is the property of the state, against any risks, including liability
from the use thereof, in the amounts the board deems necessary to
protect the interests of the state. Neither the board nor the state
shall assume any responsibility for utility services costs other than
initial installation costs reimbursed under this article, and the
agency shall provide adequate safeguards to protect the state's
interest in this regard.
(g) No relocatable facilities shall be made available to an agency
unless the agency furnishes evidence, satisfactory to the board,
that the agency has no other facility available for rental, lease, or
purchase in the geographic service area that is economically or
otherwise feasible.
(h) The board shall have prepared for its use, performance
specifications for relocatable facilities and bids for their
construction that can be solicited from more than one responsible
bidder. The board shall from time to time solicit bids from, and
award to, the lowest responsible competitive bidder, contracts for
the construction or purchase of relocatable facilities that have been
approved for lease to eligible agencies that provide child care and
development services, including preschool or extended day care
services.
(i) If at any time the board determines that a lessees' need for
particular relocatable facilities that were made available to the
lessee pursuant to this article has ceased, the board may take
possession of the relocatable facilities and may lease them to other
eligible contracting agencies, or, if there is no longer a need for
the relocatable facilities, the board may dispose of them to public
or private parties in the manner it deems to be in the best interests
of the state.
(j) If a lessee uses a particular relocatable facility for only a
portion of the year, the board may enter into a second lease with a
public or private party for the use of that facility for the portion
of the year during which the facility would otherwise be unused, in
the manner it deems to be in the best interests of the state. The
lessee shall be subject to subdivisions (d) and (f).
SEC. 148. Section 8495.1 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8495.1. 8404. (a) The State
Allocation Board shall establish regulations for the allocation of
funds for capital outlay and for the reimbursement of initial utility
installation costs for purposes of this chapter. The Superintendent
of Public Instruction shall establish
qualifications for determining the eligibility of agencies providing
child care and development services, including preschool and extended
day care service, to apply for these funds.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
except for Section 8477, priority in funding of capital outlay
grants or relocatables from funds administered pursuant to Section
8277.7 8396 and under this article,
shall be determined in the following order:
(1) Programs experiencing emergencies as defined by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State
Allocation Board.
(2) Facilities lost due to the Class Size Reduction Program
(Chapter 6.10 (commencing with Section 52120) of Part 28).
(3) Expansion of child care services.
SEC. 149. The heading of Article 27 (commencing
with Section 8496) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of
Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code ,
to read:
Article 27. Early Learning and Educational Support Subsidy
Plan
SEC. 150. Section 8496 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8496. 8405. The State Allocation
Board may use an amount not to exceed four hundred thousand dollars
($400,000), or 4 percent of the total funds available for the
purposes of this article, whichever is less, in any given fiscal year
for necessary administrative costs incurred pursuant to this
article, including, but not limited to, the establishment of new
administrative positions.
SEC. 151. Section 8498 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8498. 8406. (a) The State
Allocation Board may use up to 5 percent of any appropriation for the
purposes of this article to provide loans to private nonsectarian
child care and development early learning and
educational support programs not under contract with the
department for renovation and repair of existing program facilities,
in accordance with this section.
(b) The Superintendent shall establish qualifications to determine
the eligibility of child care agencies for loans pursuant to this
section.
(c) The board, with any necessary assistance from the
Superintendent, may do any of the following:
(1) Establish procedures and policies in connection with the
administration of this section it deems necessary.
(2) Adopt rules and regulations for the administration of this
section requiring procedure, forms, and information it deems
necessary.
(d) A recipient of a loan pursuant to this section shall do all of
the following:
(1) Document that the renovated facility shall comply with all
laws and regulations applicable to child care facilities provided for
pursuant to Chapter 3.4 (commencing with Section 1596.70) and
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 1596.90) of Division 2 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(2) Demonstrate to the satisfaction of the board that it will have
sufficient revenues to pay the principal and interest on the loan
and to maintain the operation of the child care facility.
(e) A recipient of a loan pursuant to this section shall assure
the board that the renovated facility shall be used for purposes of
the child care and development
program for the following periods:
(1) For loans equal to or less than thirty thousand dollars
($30,000), not less than three years from the beginning of the loan
period.
(2) For loans exceeding thirty thousand dollars ($30,000), the
fixed period of time shall increase one year for each additional ten
thousand dollars ($10,000) or part thereof, to a maximum of fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000).
(f) The board shall set the period of the loan for each recipient,
up to a maximum of 10 years, based upon the amount of the loan, the
recipient's ability to repay the loan, and the length of time the
recipient has committed to use the renovated facility for purposes of
the child care and development program.
(g) Interest on the loan principal shall be charged at a rate
equal to the average of the interest rate applied to the last three
bond sales pursuant to Chapter 21.6 (commencing with Section 17695)
of Part 10.
(h) In the event that a recipient ceases to use the renovated
facility for purposes of the child care and development
program prior to before the
expiration of the period specified pursuant to subdivision (e), the
board shall collect the entire outstanding balance of the loan, plus
interest, notwithstanding the loan period originally set pursuant to
subdivision (f).
SEC. 152. The heading of Article 18 (commencing
with Section 8407) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of
Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code ,
to read:
Article 18. Local Educational Agencies and Community College
Provisions
SEC. 153. The heading of Chapter 2.3 (commencing
with Section 8499) of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code is repealed.
CHAPTER 2.3. LOCAL PLANNING COUNCILS
SEC. 154. The heading of Article 1 (commencing
with Section 8499) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 6 of Division 1
of Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 1. Definitions
SEC. 155. Section 8499 of the Education
Code is repealed.
8499. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
(a) "Block grant" means the block grant contained in Title VI of
the Child Care and Development Fund, as established by the federal
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of
1996 (P.L. 104-193).
(b) "Child care" means all licensed child care and development
services and license-exempt child care, including, but not limited
to, private for-profit programs, nonprofit programs, and publicly
funded programs, for all children up to and including 12 years of
age, including children with exceptional needs and children from all
linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
(c) "Child care provider" means a person who provides child care
services or represents persons who provide child care services.
(d) "Community representative" means a person who represents an
agency or business that provides private funding for child care
services, or who advocates for child care services through
participation in civic or community-based organizations but is not a
child care provider and does not represent an agency that contracts
with the State Department of Education to provide child care and
development services.
(e) "Consumer" means a parent or person who receives, or who has
received within the past 36 months, child care services.
(f) "Department" means the State Department of Education.
(g) "Local planning council" means a local child care and
development planning council as described in Section 8499.3.
(h) "Public agency representative" means a person who represents a
city, county, city and county, or local educational agency.
SEC. 156. The heading of Article 2 (commencing
with Section 8499.3) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 6 of Division
1 of Title 1 of the Education Code is repealed.
Article 2. Membership and Funding of Local Child Care and
Development Planning Councils
SEC. 157. Section 8499.3 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8499.3. 8300. (a) It is the intent
of the Legislature that local child care and development planning
councils shall provide a forum for the identification of local
priorities for child care early learning and
educational support and the development of policies to meet the
needs identified within those priorities.
(b) The county board of supervisors and the county superintendent
of schools shall do both of the following:
(1) Select the members of the local planning council. Before
making selections pursuant to this subdivision, the board of
supervisors and the county superintendent of schools shall publicize
their intention to select the members and shall invite local
organizations to submit nominations. In counties in which the
superintendent is appointed by the county board of education, the
county board of education may make the appointment or may delegate
that responsibility to the superintendent.
(2) Establish the term of appointment for the members of the local
planning council.
(c) (1) The local planning council shall be comprised as follows:
(A) Twenty percent of the membership shall be consumers.
(B) Twenty percent of the membership shall be child care
providers, reflective of the range of child care providers in the
county.
(C) Twenty percent of the membership shall be public agency
representatives.
(D) Twenty percent of the membership shall be community
representatives, who shall not be child care providers or agencies
that contract with the department to provide child care and
development services.
(E) The remaining 20 percent shall be appointed at the discretion
of the appointing agencies.
(2) The board of supervisors and the county
superintendent of schools shall each appoint one-half of the members.
In the case of uneven membership, both appointing entities shall
agree on the odd-numbered appointee.
(d) Every effort shall be made to ensure that the ethnic, racial,
and geographic composition of the local planning council is
reflective of the ethnic, racial, and geographic distribution of the
population of the county.
(e) The board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools
may designate an existing child care planning council or coordinated
child and family services council as the local planning council, as
long as it has or can achieve the representation set forth in this
section.
(f) Upon establishment of a local planning council, the local
planning council shall elect a chair and select a staff.
(g) Each local planning council shall develop and implement a
training plan to provide increased efficiency, productivity, and
facilitation of local planning council meetings. This may include
developing a training manual, hiring facilitators, and identifying
strategies to meet the objectives of the council.
(h) No member of a local planning council shall participate in a
vote if he or she has a proprietary interest in the outcome of the
matter being voted upon.
SEC. 158. Section 8499.5 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8499.5. 8301. (a) The department
shall allocate child care funding pursuant to Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 8200) this chapter
based on the amount of state and federal funding that is available.
(b) By May 30 of each year, upon approval by the county board of
supervisors and the county superintendent of schools, a local
planning council shall submit to the department the local priorities
it has identified that reflect all child care needs in the county. To
accomplish this, a local planning council shall do all of the
following:
(1) Conduct an assessment of child care needs in the county no
less than once every five years. The department shall define and
prescribe data elements to be included in the needs assessment and
shall specify the format for the data reporting. The needs assessment
shall also include all factors deemed appropriate by the local
planning council in order to obtain an accurate picture of the
comprehensive child care needs in the county. The factors include,
but are not limited to, all of the following:
(A) The needs of families eligible for subsidized child care.
(B) The needs of families not eligible for subsidized child care.
(C) The waiting lists for programs funded by the department and
the State Department of Social Services.
(D) The need for child care for children determined by the child
protective services agency to be neglected, abused, or exploited, or
at risk of being neglected, abused, or exploited.
(E) The number of children in families receiving public
assistance, including CalFresh benefits, housing support, and
Medi-Cal, and assistance from the Healthy Families Program and the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
(F) Family income among families with preschool or schoolage
children.
(G) The number of children in migrant agricultural families who
move from place to place for work or who are currently dependent for
their income on agricultural employment in accordance with
subdivision (a) of, and paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subdivision (b) (a) of ,
Section 8231 8222 .
(H) The number of children who have been determined by a regional
center to require services pursuant to an individualized family
service plan, or by a local educational agency to require services
pursuant to an individualized education program or an individualized
family service plan.
(I) The number of children in the county by primary language
spoken pursuant to the department's language survey.
(J) Special needs based on geographic considerations, including
rural areas.
(K) The number of children needing child care services by age
cohort.
(2) Document information gathered during the needs assessment
which shall include, but need not be limited to, data on supply,
demand, cost, and market rates for each category of child care in the
county.
(3) Encourage public input in the development of the priorities.
Opportunities for public input shall include at least one public
hearing during which members of the public can comment on the
proposed priorities.
(4) Prepare a comprehensive countywide child care plan designed to
mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs.
(5) Conduct a periodic review of child care programs funded by the
department and the State Department of Social Services to determine
if identified priorities are being met.
(6) Collaborate with subsidized and nonsubsidized child care
providers, county welfare departments, human service agencies,
regional centers, job training programs, employers, integrated child
and family service councils, local and state children and families
commissions, parent organizations, early start family resource
centers, family empowerment centers on disability, local child care
resource and referral programs, and other interested parties to
foster partnerships designed to meet local child care needs.
(7) Design a system to consolidate local child care waiting lists,
if a centralized eligibility list is not already in existence.
(8)
(7) Coordinate part-day programs, including state
preschool and Head Start, with other child care and development
services to provide full-day child care.
(9)
(8) Submit the results of the needs assessment and the
local priorities identified by the local planning council to the
board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools for
approval before submitting them to the department.
(10)
(9) Identify at least one, but not more than two,
members to serve as part of the department team that reviews and
scores proposals for the provision of services funded through
contracts with the department. Local planning council representatives
may not review and score proposals from the geographic area covered
by their own local planning council. The department shall notify each
local planning council whenever this opportunity is available.
(c) The department shall, in conjunction with the State Department
of Social Services and all appropriate statewide agencies and
associations, develop guidelines for use by local planning councils
to assist them in conducting needs assessments that are reliable and
accurate. The guidelines shall include acceptable sources of
demographic and child care data, and methodologies for assessing
child care supply and demand.
(d) The department shall allocate funding within each county in
accordance with the priorities identified by the local planning
council of that county and submitted to the department pursuant to
this section, unless the priorities do not meet the requirements of
state or federal law.
SEC. 159. Section 8499.7 of the
Education Code is amended and renumbered to read:
8499.7. 8302. It is the intent of
the Legislature that any additional conditions imposed upon local
planning councils shall be funded from available federal funds to the
greatest extent legally possible.
SECTION 1. Section 8202 of the Education Code
is amended to read:
8202. It is the intent of the Legislature that:
(a) All children in California have access to high-quality early
learning and education support programs so that they thrive in their
early learning settings and succeed throughout kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive. It is further the intent of the
Legislature that this be accomplished through the creation of a
comprehensive early learning and school support system for children
from birth through third grade that will promote both of the
following:
(1) Access to safe, high-quality programs.
(2) Comprehensive support for the development of the whole child,
including healthy physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth
and development.
(b) All families have access to child care and development
services, through resource and referral services, where appropriate,
regardless of ethnic status, cultural background, or special needs.
It is further the intent that subsidized child care and development
services be provided to persons meeting the eligibility criteria
established under this chapter to the extent funding is made
available by the Legislature and Congress.
(c) Families achieve and maintain their personal, social,
economic, and emotional stability through an opportunity to attain
financial stability through employment, while maximizing growth and
development of their children, and enhancing their parenting skills
through participation in child care and development programs.
(d) Community-level coordination in support of child care and
development services be encouraged.
(e) Families have a choice of programs that allow for maximum
involvement in planning, implementation, operation, and evaluation of
child care and development programs.
(f) Parents and families be fully informed of their rights and
responsibilities to evaluate the quality and safety of child care
programs, including, but not limited to, their right to inspect child
care licensing files.
(g) Planning for expansion of child care and development programs
be based on ongoing local needs assessments.
(h) The Superintendent, in providing funding to child care and
development agencies, promote a range of services that will allow
parents the opportunity to choose the type of care most suited to
their needs. The program scope may include the following:
(1) Programs located in centers, family day care homes, or in the
child's own home.
(2) Services provided part-day, full-day, and during nonstandard
hours including weekend care, night and shift care, before and after
school care, and care during holidays and vacation.
(3) Child care services provided for infants, preschool, and
schoolage children.
(i) The Superintendent be responsible for the establishment of a
public hearing process or other public input process that ensures the
participation of those agencies directly affected by a particular
section or sections of this chapter.
SEC. 2. Section 8214 of the Education Code is
amended to read:
8214. (a) Child care resources and referral shall be provided to
all persons requesting services and to all types of child care
providers, regardless of income level or other eligibility criteria.
In addition to the services prescribed by this section, child care
resource and referral may provide a wide variety of parent and
provider support and educational services.
(b) The information provided to parents pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 8220.5 shall be provided to all families determined
eligible for and receiving services through the alternative payment
programs established pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section
8220) and to all parents eligible for and receiving services through
the CalWORKs stage 2 and stage 3 programs pursuant to Article 15.5
(commencing with Section 8350). These services shall be provided at
the time the family is determined eligible for child care services
and at recertification of eligibility so that parents may make
informed choices about child care services available. Priority shall
be given to providing information about child care services that
offer a safe, caring, and age-appropriate early learning and school
support environment for children as well as an environment that
supports the parents' work activity. When providing information to
parents about high-quality early learning and school support options,
child care resource and referral agencies may use resources from the
certified list posted on the department's Internet Web site required
by subdivision (c) or may develop local resources that shall
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Licensing and trustline requirements for centers, family
homes, and homes exempt from licensure.
(2) Caretaker-child
interactions.
(3) Caretaker experience with young children.
(4) Environments that support the healthy development of young
children.
(5) Daily or regular schedules, routines, and policies.
(6) Information on quality rating and improvement systems, where
available.
(c) The department shall develop and certify a list of
high-quality early learning and school support resources to provide
parents with information about high-quality options for child care.
The list of certified resources shall be posted and maintained on the
department's Internet Web site.
(d) The department shall make the resources described in
subdivision (c) available to both resource and referral programs and
alternative payment programs.
SEC. 3. Section 8220.5 of the Education Code is
amended to read:
8220.5. To offer maximum support for parents and providers,
alternative payment programs shall have access to resource and
referral services. Funding shall be adequate to purchase care at the
fee charged the private client for the same service as well as to
provide locally designed support services for parents and providers.
Alternative payment programs shall, in collaboration with the
resource and referral agencies in the county, provide the following
support services:
(a) (1) At the time the family is determined eligible for child
care services and at recertification of eligibility, provide
information for parents to assist them in making informed choices
about the available types of care that offer a safe, caring, and
age-appropriate early learning and school support environment for
children as well as an environment that supports the parents' work
activities, including, but not limited to, information about
high-quality early learning and school support resources identified
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 8214.
(2) Where available, provide information on quality rating and
improvement systems.
(b) Professional and technical assistance and information for
providers.
(c) Parenting information.
SEC. 4. Section 8352 of the Education Code is
amended to read:
8352. (a) As soon as appropriate, a county welfare department
shall refer families needing child care services to the local child
care resource and referral program funded pursuant to Article 2
(commencing with Section 8210). Resource and referral program staff
shall colocate with a county welfare department's case management
offices for aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of
Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any
successor program, or arrange other means of swift communication with
parents and case managers of this aid. The local child care resource
and referral program shall assist families to establish stable child
care arrangements as soon as possible. These child care arrangements
may include licensed and license-exempt care.
(b) In providing the support services required by Section 8220.5,
the resource and referral agencies in the county shall provide
information regarding high-quality early learning and school support
resources identified pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 8214.
Where available, that information shall include information on
quality rating and improvement systems.
(c) A program operating pursuant to this article shall, within two
business days of being notified of a revocation or a temporary
suspension order for a licensed child day care facility, do both of
the following:
(1) Terminate payment to the facility.
(2) Notify each parent and the facility in writing that payment
has been terminated and the reason for the termination.
(d) A program operating pursuant to this article shall, upon being
notified that a licensed child care facility has been placed on
probation, provide written notice to each parent utilizing the
facility that the facility has been placed on probation and that the
parent has the option of selecting a different child day care
provider or remaining with the facility without risk of subsidy
payments to the provider being terminated. The Legislature urges each
agency operating pursuant to this section to provide the written
notice required by this subdivision in the primary language of the
parent, to the extent feasible.
