California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 260

Introduced by Assembly Member Gordon

(Principal coauthor: Senator Hill)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Mullin, and Ting)

(Coauthor: Senator Leno)

February 7, 2013

An act to amend Sections 8335.5, 8335.7, 8344, and 8346 of, and to add Article 15.4 (commencing with Section 8347) to Chapter 2 of Part 5 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to child care and development services.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 260, as introduced, Gordon. Individualized county child care subsidy plans.

Existing law authorizes the City and County of San Francisco and the County of San Mateo, as a pilot projects, to develop and implement individualized county child care subsidy plans for the purpose of ensuring that child care subsidies received in those counties are used to address local needs, conditions, and priorities of working families. The provisions authorizing those pilot programs are similar, but not identical. Existing law repeals the provisions relating to the City and County of San Francisco pilot project on January 1, 2017, and repeals the provisions relating to the San Mateo pilot program on January 1, 2016.

This bill would make those provisions inoperative on July 1, 2014, and as of that date, would authorize those individualized county child care plans to continue in accordance with specified requirements. The bill would require the Child Development Division of the State Department of Education to review and approve or disapprove modifications to the plans. The bill would require each county to annually prepare and submit to the Legislature, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Education a report that contains specified information relating to the success of the county’s plan.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 8335.5 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

8335.5.  

The City and County of San Francisco may implement
an individualized child care subsidy plan begin insert as a pilot program
pursuant to this article end insert until July 1, 2014, at which date the city
and county begin delete 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. end delete
begin insert may continue to implement the individualized child care subsidy
plan in accordance with the requirements of Article 15.4
(commencing with Section 8347). end insert

SEC. 2.  

Section 8335.7 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

8335.7.  

This article shall become inoperative on July 1, begin delete 2016 end delete
begin insert 2014 end insert , and as of January 1, begin delete 2017 end delete begin insert 2015 end insert , is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, begin delete 2017 end delete begin insert 2015 end insert , deletes
or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.

SEC. 3.  

Section 8344 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

8344.  

The County of San Mateo may implement its
individualized county child care subsidy plan begin insert as a pilot program
pursuant to this article end insert until begin delete January end delete begin insert July end insert 1, 2014, at which date
the County of San Mateo begin delete 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. end delete begin insert may continue to implement the
individualized child care subsidy plan in accordance with the
requirements of Article 15.4 (commencing with Section 8347). end insert

SEC. 4.  

Section 8346 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

8346.  

This article shall begin delete remain in effect only until January 1,
2016, end delete begin insert become inoperative on July 1, 2014, end insert and as of begin delete that date end delete
begin insert January 1, 2015, end insert is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which
is enacted before January 1, begin delete 2016, end delete begin insert 2015, end insert deletes or extends begin delete that
date end delete begin insert the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed end insert .

SEC. 5.  

Article 15.4 (commencing with Section 8347) is added
to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education
Code, to read:

 

Article 15.4.  Individualized County Child Care Subsidy Plans

 

8347.  

On and after July 1, 2014, the individualized county
child care subsidy plans for the County of San Mateo and the City
and County of San Francisco that were developed as pilot projects
pursuant to Article 15.2 (commencing with Section 8335) and
Article 15.3 (commencing with Section 8340), as those articles
read on January 1, 2013, may continue in existence and may be
implemented in accordance with the provisions of this article. The
plans shall ensure that child care subsidies received by the County
of San Mateo and the City and County of San Francisco are used
to address local needs, conditions, and priorities of working
families in those communities.

8347.1.  

For purposes of this article, “county” means the County
of San Mateo or the City and County of San Francisco.

8347.2.  

For purposes of this article, “plan” means an
individualized county child care subsidy plan developed and
approved under the pilot projects described in Section 8347, which
includes all of the following:

(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) (1) Development of a local policy to eliminate state-imposed
regulatory barriers to the county’s achievement of its desired
outcomes for subsidized child care.

(2) 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 (g) of Section 8263 for those families that are income
eligible, as defined by Section 8263.1.

(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 plan.

(E) (i) Authorize any agency that provides child care and
development services in the county through a contract with the
department to apply to the department to amend existing contracts
in order to benefit from the local policy.

(ii) The department shall approve an application to amend an
existing contract if the plan is modified pursuant to Section 8347.3.

(iii) The contract of a department contractor who does not elect
to request an amendment to its contract remains operative and
enforceable.

(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. Under the
local policy, a family that qualifies for child care pursuant to
Section 8354 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.

(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 county are eligible to be included in the county’s plan.

(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.

8347.3.  

(a) 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.

(b) The Child Development Division may disapprove only those
portions of modifications to the plan that are not in conformance
with this article or that are in conflict with federal law.

8347.4.  

(a) The county 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 county’s
plan, and the county’s ability to maximize the use of funds and to
improve and stabilize child care in the county.

(b) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (a) is inoperative on January 1, 2018, pursuant to
Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

8347.5.  

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 plan.