Amended in Assembly March 19, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 273

Introduced by Assembly Member Rendon

February 7, 2013

An act begin insert to add Section 8242 to the Education Code, end insert relating to child care and development services begin insert , and making an appropriation therefor end insert .

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 273, as amended, Rendon. Child care and development services begin insert : California Partnership for Infants and Toddlers Act of 2013 end insert .

The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, establishes a system of child care and development services for 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. Existing law requires the Superintendent to administer general child care and development programs, as specified.

This bill would begin delete state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would redesign general child care and development programs for infants and toddlers to allow for the combination of child care and development services with home visitation services and that would rename these programs the California Early Head Start Program. end delete begin insert enact the California Partnership for Infants and Toddlers Act of 2013, and would require the Superintendent, by March 1, 2014, to apply to the California Children and Families Commission for funding from the funds received by the commission from the federal Quality Early Learning for Our Youngest Children program. The bill would appropriate these funds to the Superintendent, who would be required to expend those moneys by making supplemental grants available to qualifying general child care and development infant and toddler contracting agencies. The Superintendent, in consultation from the California Children and Families Commission, would be required to determine the agencies that qualify for funding and establish standards to ensure quality. end insert

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The bill would require the Superintendent, by January 1, 2018, to submit a report to the Legislature evaluating the act.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

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

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

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(a) The first three years of life are a period of dynamic and
unparalleled brain development in which children acquire the
ability to think, speak, learn, and reason. During these first 36
months, children need good health, strong families, and positive
early learning experiences to lay the foundation for later school
success. Low-income infants and toddlers are at greater risk for
a variety of poorer outcomes and vulnerabilities, such as later
school failure, learning disabilities, behavior problems,
developmental delay, and health impairments.

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(b) Existing state law requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to administer child care and development programs,
including the General Child Care and Development program that
provides services to eligible low-income children from birth to 12
years of age. For children from birth to three years old, the
General Child Care and Development program funds centers and
family child care home networks to provide full-day, full-year child
care and development services that meet the State Department of
Education’s California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development
Foundations.

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(c) The federal Early Head Start program serves low-income
infants and toddlers with a flexible program model intended to
meet the varied needs of families, including child care and
development services, home visitation services, health services,
and family engagement. Research shows that children who
participated in Early Head Start had significantly larger
vocabularies and scored higher on standardized measures of
cognitive development, that children and parents had more positive
interactions, and parents provided more support for learning.
Many different home visitation programs have been shown to
significantly reduce the occurrence of child maltreatment and
abuse, and improve children’s health and school success.

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(d) President Barack Obama, in his 2013 State of the Union
address, announced a major new initiative to increase federal
funding for early childhood education. This initiative includes a
competitive federal grant for states and local communities to
establish partnerships between Early Head Start and quality child
care.

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(e) To improve the healthy development and school readiness
of California’s most vulnerable children and to increase
California’s competitiveness for federal funding, it is the intent of
the Legislature to enact legislation to establish the California
Partnership for Infants and Toddlers supplemental grant. The
Partnership for Infants and Toddlers supplemental grant will
provide voluntary funding for the contracting agencies of the
General Child Care and Development program who serve infants
and toddlers.

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(f) The funds authorized by this act will be used to offer enrolled
children and families with support services, including, but not
limited to, health and nutrition, home visitation, early childhood
mental health, family engagement, and supplemental early learning
services.

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(g) This act will provide local contractors with flexibility to
tailor which support services to offer based on the unique needs
of their community, families, and children.

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(h) By having the Superintendent of Public Instruction
administer the grant, administrative and reporting requirements
by contracting agencies will be both minimized and simplified.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Section 8242 is added to the end insert begin insert Education Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

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begin insert 8242. end insert   

(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as
the California Partnership for Infants and Toddlers Act of 2013.

(b) On or before March 1, 2014, the Superintendent shall apply
to the California Children and Families Commission from the
funding received by the commission from the federal Quality Early
Learning for Our Youngest Children program, as authorized
pursuant to Section 9840a of Title 42 of the United States Code,
to provide funds to eligible agencies for purposes of the California
Partnership for Infants and Toddlers Act of 2013. The
Superintendent shall apply for funding that would implement the
grant program authorized by this section for a period of not less
than three years.

(c)  The funds received by the Superintendent pursuant to
subdivision (b) are hereby appropriated to the Superintendent,
who shall expend those moneys by making supplemental grants
available to qualifying general child care and development infant
and toddler contracting agencies, as determined by the
Superintendent, at an amount of not less than two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500) per child.

(d) The Superintendent, in consultation from the California
Children and Families Commission, shall determine which general
child care and development infant and toddler contracting agencies
qualify for funding pursuant to this section, and shall establish
standards to ensure quality, based on the federal Early Head Start
program model, and other evidence based services provided to
infants and toddlers.

(e) (1) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government
Code, on or before January 1, 2018, the Superintendent shall
submit a report to the Legislature evaluating the effectiveness of
the supplemental grants provided by the California Partnership
for Infants and Toddlers Act of 2013 with regard to supporting
the healthy development and school readiness of children.

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

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SECTION 1.  

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would redesign the general child care and
development programs for infants and toddlers to allow for the
combination of child care and development services with home
visitation services. It is further the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would rename the redesigned program the
California Early Head Start Program.

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