BILL NUMBER: AB 2311 CHAPTERED 09/09/02 CHAPTER 435 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 7, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 20, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 14, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 28, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 20, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chu FEBRUARY 21, 2002 An act to amend Sections 8203, 8208, 8242, 8263, 8265.5, 8289, 8499.3, and 8499.5 of, and to repeal Section 8468 of, the Education Code, relating to child care and development services. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2311, Chu. Child care and development services. (1) Existing law establishes the Child Care and Development Services Act for the purpose of, among other things, providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and development services for children to age 14 and their parents. Existing law contains, for purposes of the act, definitions of the phrases "children with exceptional needs," "children with special needs," and "severely handicapped children." This bill would revise those definitions and make conforming changes. (2) Existing law authorizes center-based programs previously funded under the Alternative Child Care Act and new programs funded under the Child Care and Development Services Act to operate pursuant to the regulations for child day care facilities under the California Community Care Facilities Act. Existing law also exempted those programs from regulations promulgated by the State Department of Education. This bill would eliminate those provisions. (3) Under existing law, in order to be eligible for federal and state subsidized child development services, a family is required to meet specified eligibility requirements, which may be satisfied, along with meeting other criteria, if the child is identified as having a medical or psychiatric special need that cannot be met without provision of child day care. This bill would eliminate that eligibility option. (4) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in order to assure geographic equity in the distribution of funds appropriated for child care and development services, to disburse funds for extended day care programs in accordance with specified procedures. This bill would repeal those provisions. (5) Existing law requires the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools to select members of the local child care and development planning council to provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for child care and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. Existing law requires a local planning council to conduct an assessment of child care needs in the county no less than once every 5 years, and prescribes factors that the needs assessment shall take into consideration. This bill would revise the needs assessment factors and would require the department to define and prescribe data elements to be included in the needs assessment. The bill would make other changes to the provisions governing the local planning councils. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 8203 of the Education Code is amended to read: 8203. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop standards for the implementation of quality programs. Indicators of quality shall include, but not be limited to: (a) A physical environment that is safe and appropriate to the ages 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. (c) Program activities and services that meet the cultural and linguistic needs of children and families. (d) Family and community involvement. (e) Parent education. (f) Efficient and effective local program administration. (g) Staff that possesses the appropriate and required qualifications or experience, or both. The appropriate staff qualifications shall reflect the diverse linguistic and cultural makeup of the children and families in the child care and development program. The use of intergenerational staff shall be encouraged. (h) Program activities and services that meet the needs of children with exceptional needs and their families. (i) Support services for children, families, and providers of care. (j) Resource and referral services. (k) Alternative payment services. (l) Provision for nutritional needs of children. (m) Social services that include, but are not limited to, identification of child and family needs and referral to appropriate agencies. (n) Health services that include referral of children to appropriate agencies for services. SEC. 2. Section 8208 of the Education Code is amended to read: 8208. As used in this chapter: (a) "Alternative payments" includes payments that are made by one child care agency to another agency or child care provider for the provision of child care and development services, and payments that are made by an agency to a parent for the parent's purchase of child care and development services. (b) "Alternative payment program" means a local government agency or nonprofit organization that has contracted with the department pursuant to Section 8220.2 to provide alternative payments and to provide support services to parents and providers. (c) "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. (d) "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. (e) "Attendance" means the number of children present at a child care and development facility. "Attendance," for the purposes of reimbursement, includes excused absences by children because of illness, quarantine, illness or quarantine of their parent, family emergency, or to spend time with a parent or other relative as required by a court of law or that is clearly in the best interest of the child. (f) "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. (g) "Caregiver" means a person who provides direct care, supervision, and guidance to children in a child care and development facility. (h) "Child care and development facility" means any residence or building or part thereof in which child care and development services are provided. (i) "Child care and development programs" means those programs that offer a full range of services for children from infancy to 14 years of age, for any part of a day, by a public or private agency, in centers and family child care homes. These programs include, but are not limited to, all of the following: (1) Campus child care and development. (2) General child care and development. (3) Migrant child care and development. (4) Child care provided by the California School Age Families Education Program (Article 7.1 (commencing with Section 54740) of Chapter 9 of Part 29). (5) State preschool. (6) Resource and referral. (7) Child care and development services for children with special needs. (8) Family child care home network. (9) Alternative payment. (10) Child abuse protection and prevention services. (11) Schoolage community child care. (j) "Child care and development services" means those services designed to meet a wide variety of needs of children and their families, while their parents or guardians are working, in training, seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite. These services may include direct care and supervision, instructional activities, resource and referral programs, and alternative payment arrangements. (k) "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. (l) "Children with exceptional needs" means infants and toddlers, from birth to 36 months of age, inclusive, who have been determined 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, and children 3 years of age and older 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), and meeting eligibility criteria described in Section 56026 and Sections 56333 to 56338, inclusive, and Sections 3030 and 3031 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. These children have an active individualized education program or individualized family service plan, and are receiving early intervention services or appropriate special education and services. These children, ages birth to 21 years, inclusive, may be autistic, developmentally disabled, hard-of-hearing, deaf, speech impaired, visually handicapped, seriously emotionally disturbed, orthopedically impaired, other health impaired, deaf-blind, multihandicapped, or children with specific learning disabilities, who require the special attention of adults in a child care setting. (m) "Closedown costs" means reimbursements for all approved activities associated with the closing of operations at the end of each growing season for migrant child development programs only. (n) "Cost" includes, but is not limited to, expenditures that are related to the operation of child care and development 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. (o) "Elementary school," as contained in Section 425 of Title 20 of the United States Code (the National Defense Education Act of 1958, Public Law 85-864, as amended), includes early childhood education programs and all child development programs, for the purpose of the cancellation provisions of loans to students in institutions of higher learning. (p) "Health services" include, but are not limited to, all of the following: (1) Referral, whenever possible, to appropriate health care providers able to provide continuity of medical care. (2) Health screening and health treatment, including a full range of immunization recorded on the appropriate state immunization form to the extent provided by the Medi-Cal Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) and the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program (Article 6 (commencing with Section 124025) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code), but only to the extent that ongoing care cannot be obtained utilizing community resources. (3) Health education and training for children, parents, staff, and providers. (4) Followup treatment through referral to appropriate health care agencies or individual health care professionals. (q) "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. (r) "Intergenerational staff" means persons of various generations. (s) "Limited-English-speaking-proficient and non-English-speaking-proficient children" means children who are unable to benefit fully from an English-only child care and development program as a result of either of the following: (1) Having used a language other than English when they first began to speak. (2) Having a language other than English predominantly or exclusively spoken at home. (t) "Parent" means any person living with a child who has responsibility for the care and welfare of the child. (u) "Program director" means a person who, pursuant to Sections 8244 and 8360.1, is qualified to serve as a program director. (v) "Proprietary child care agency" means an organization or facility providing child care, which is operated for profit. (w) "Resource and referral programs" means programs that 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. (x) "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 mental retardation. "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 as it read on January 1, 1980. (y) "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. (z) (1) "Site supervisor" means a person who, regardless of his or her title, has operational program responsibility for a child care and development program at a single site. A site supervisor shall hold a permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing that authorizes supervision of a child care and development program operating in a single site. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may waive the requirements of this subdivision if the superintendent determines that the existence of compelling need is appropriately documented. (2) In respect to state preschool programs, a site supervisor may qualify under any of the provisions in this subdivision, or may qualify by holding an administrative credential or an administrative services credential. A person who meets the qualifications of a site supervisor under both Section 8244 and subdivision (e) of Section 8360.1 is also qualified under this subdivision. (aa) "Standard reimbursement rate" means that rate established by the Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to Section 8265. (ab) "Startup costs" means those expenses an agency incurs in the process of opening a new or additional facility prior to the full enrollment of children. (ac) "State preschool services" means part-day educational programs for low-income or otherwise disadvantaged prekindergarten-age children. (ad) "Support services" means those services that, when combined with child care and development 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. (ae) "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. (af) "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 child care and development program services to the need for these services is low, as determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. (ag) "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. 3. Section 8242 of the Education Code is amended to read: 8242. If there are no facilities in the area able to meet the special needs of particular children, then the department may, upon request, waive its regulations for staffing and group size ratios under Title 5 of the California Administrative Code and the laws upon which those regulations are promulgated for programs in which subsidized children comprise a majority of the enrollment. SEC. 4. Section 8263 of the Education Code is amended to read: 8263. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall adopt rules and regulations on eligibility, enrollment, and priority of services needed to implement this chapter. In order to be eligible for federal and state subsidized child development services, families shall meet at least one requirement in each of the following areas: (1) A family is (A) a current aid recipient, (B) income eligible, (C) homeless, or (D) one whose children are recipients of protective services, or whose children have been identified as being abused, neglected, or exploited, or at risk of being abused, neglected, or exploited. (2) A family needs the child care service because the child is identified by a legal, medical, social service 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 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, including a medical or psychiatric special need that cannot be met without provision of child day care. (b) Except as provided in Article 15.5 (commencing with Section 8350), priority for state and federally subsidized child development services is as follows: (1) First priority shall be given to neglected or abused children who are recipients of child protective services, or recipients who are at risk of being neglected or abused, upon written referral from a legal, medical, or social service agency. When 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) Second priority shall be equally given 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. When two or more families are in the same priority in relation to income, the family that has been on the waiting list for the longest amount of time shall be admitted first. For purposes of determining order of admission, the grants of public assistance recipients shall be counted as income. (3) The superintendent shall set criteria for and may grant specific waivers of the priorities established in this subdivision for agencies that wish to serve specific populations, including children with exceptional needs or children of prisoners. These new waivers shall not include proposals to avoid appropriate fee schedules or admit ineligible families, but may include proposals to accept members of special populations in other than strict income order, as long as appropriate fees are paid. (c) Notwithstanding any other law, in order to promote continuity of services, a family enrolled in a state or federally funded child care and development program whose services would otherwise be terminated because the family no longer meets the program income, eligibility, or need criteria may continue to receive child development services in another state or federally funded child care and development program if the contractor is able to transfer the family's enrollment to another program for which the family is eligible prior to 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 within that county. (d) A physical examination and evaluation, including age-appropriate immunization, shall be required prior to, or within six weeks of, enrollment. No standard, rule, or regulation shall require medical examination or immunization for admission to a child care and development program of a child whose parent or guardian files a letter with the governing board of the child care and development program stating that the medical examination or immunization is contrary to his or her religious beliefs, or provide for the exclusion of a child from the program because of a parent or guardian having filed the letter. However, whenever 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 child care and development program is satisfied that any contagious or infectious disease does not exist. (e) Regulations formulated and promulgated pursuant to this section shall include the recommendations of the State Department of Health 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 ill children or children with exceptional needs. (f) The superintendent shall establish a fee schedule for families utilizing child care and development services pursuant to this chapter. 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 the purposes of determining the amount of the family fee. The fee schedule shall include, but not be limited to, the following restrictions: (1) No fees shall be assessed for families whose children are enrolled in the state preschool program. (2) A contractor or provider may require parents to provide diapers. A contractor or provider offering field trips either may include the cost of the field trips within the service rate charged to the parent or may charge parents an additional fee. No federal or state money shall be used to reimburse parents for the costs of field trips if those costs are charged as an additional fee. A contractor or provider that charges parents an additional fee for field trips shall inform parents, prior to enrolling the child, that a fee may be charged and that no reimbursement will be available. A contractor or provider may charge parents for field trips or require parents to provide diapers only under the following circumstances: (A) The provider has a written policy that is adopted by the agency's governing board that includes parents in the decisionmaking process regarding both of the following: (i) Whether or not, and how much, to charge for field trip expenses. (ii) Whether or not to require parents to provide diapers. (B) The maximum total of charges per child in a contract year does not exceed twenty-five dollars ($25). (C) No child is denied participation in a field trip due to the parent's inability or refusal to pay the charge. No adverse action shall be taken against any parent for that inability or refusal. 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. Expenses incurred and income received for field trips pursuant to this section, shall be reported to the State Department of Education. The income received for field trips shall be reported specifically as restricted income. (g) The superintendent shall establish guidelines for the collection of employer-sponsored child care benefit payments from any parent whose child receives subsidized child care and development services. These guidelines shall provide for the collection of the full amount of the benefit payment, but not to exceed the actual cost of child care and development services provided, notwithstanding the applicable fee based on the fee schedule. (h) The superintendent shall establish guidelines according to which the director or a duly authorized representative of the child care and development program will certify children as eligible for state reimbursement pursuant to this section. (i) No public funds shall be paid directly or indirectly to any agency that does not pay at least the minimum wage to each of its employees. SEC. 5. Section 8265.5 of the Education Code is amended to read: 8265.5. (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. 6. Section 8289 of the Education Code is amended to read: 8289. (a) The State Department of Education shall disburse augmentations to the base allocation for the expansion of child care and development programs to promote equal access to child development services across the state. (b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall use the formula developed pursuant to subdivision (c) and the priorities identified by local child care and development 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 of Public Instruction 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 of Public Instruction shall develop the formula by using the definition of "underserved area" in subdivision (af) of Section 8208 and direct impact indicators of need for child care and development 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 of Public Instruction 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 of Public Instruction shall include in guidelines developed for use by local planning councils pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 8499.5 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). SEC. 7. Section 8468 of the Education Code is repealed. SEC. 8. Section 8499.3 of the Education Code is amended to read: 8499.3. (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 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 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. 9. Section 8499.5 of the Education Code is amended to read: 8499.5. (a) The department shall allocate child care funding pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 8200) 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, each 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, each 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 shall include, but not be 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 food stamps, housing support, and MediCal, and assistance from the Healthy Families Program and the Temporary Assistance to 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) of, Section 8231. (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 education 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 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 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) Coordinate part-day programs, including state preschool and Head Start, with other child care and development services to provide full-day child care. (9) 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 for approval before submitting them to the department. (10) 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 shall 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 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.