BILL NUMBER: AB 260 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
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 as a pilot program
pursuant to this article 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. may continue to implement
the individualized child care subsidy plan in accordance with the
requirements of Article 15.4 (commencing with Section 8347).
SEC. 2. Section 8335.7 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8335.7. This article shall become inoperative on July 1,
2016 2014 , and as of January 1, 2017
2015 , is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017
2015 , 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 as a pilot program pursuant to
this article until January July
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.
may continue to implement the individualized child
care subsidy plan in accordance with the requirements of Article 15.4
(commencing with Section 8347).
SEC. 4. Section 8346 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8346. This article shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2016, become inoperative on July 1, 2014,
and as of that date January 1, 2015,
is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted
before January 1, 2016, 2015, deletes
or extends that date the dates on which it
becomes inoperative and is repealed .
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.