Amended in Assembly April 8, 2013

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 to add Section 8242 to the Education Code, relating to child care and development services, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

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

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 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 begin delete funds end delete begin insert moneys end insert received by the commission begin delete from end delete begin insert pursuant to end insert the begin delete federal Quality Early Learning for Our Youngest Children program end delete begin insert California Children and Families Program end insert . The bill would begin insert continuously end insert appropriate these begin delete funds end delete begin insert moneys end insert 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 begin insert that serve infants and toddlers from birth to 3 years of age for purposes of offering to enrolled children and families support services, as specified end insert . The Superintendent, in consultation begin delete from end delete begin insert with end insert the California Children and Families Commission, would be required to determine the agencies begin insert and support services end insert that qualify for funding and establish standards to ensure quality begin insert child care end insert .

The bill would require the Superintendent, by begin delete January 1, 2018 end delete begin insert March 1, 2017 end insert , to submit a report to the Legislature evaluating the act.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(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, begin delete behavior end delete begin insert behavioral end insert problems,
developmental delay, and health impairments.

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

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

(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.

(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 begin delete the
General Child Care and Development program end delete begin insert general child care
and development programs end insert who serve infants and toddlers.

begin delete

(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.

end delete begin delete

(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.

end delete begin delete

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

end delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 8242 is added to the Education Code, to read:

8242.  

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

(b)  begin delete On or before March 1, 2014, the end delete begin insert The end insert Superintendent shall
apply to the California Children and Families Commission begin delete from end delete
begin insert for end insert the begin delete funding end delete begin insert moneys end insert received by the commission begin delete 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 end delete begin insert pursuant to the California Children and Families
Program (Division 108 (commencing with Section 130100) of the
Health and Safety Code) end insert , to provide begin delete funds end delete begin insert moneys end insert to eligible
agencies for purposes of the California Partnership for Infants and
Toddlers Act of 2013. The Superintendent shall apply for funding
begin insert on or before March 1, 2014, with the option of renewing the grant
funding on an annual basis, end insert that would implement the begin insert supplemental end insert
grant program authorized by this section begin delete for a period of not less
than three years end delete .

(c)  begin delete The funds end delete begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, the moneys end insert received by the Superintendent
pursuant to subdivision (b) are hereby begin insert continuously end insert 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 begin delete agencies, as determined
by the Superintendent, end delete begin insert agencies that serve infants and toddlers
from birth to three years of age end insert at an amount of not less than two
thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) begin insert annually end insert per child.

begin insert

(2) The moneys received pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be
used to offer to enrolled children and families support services,
including, but not limited to, health and nutrition, home visitation,
early childhood mental health, parental involvement, and
supplemental early learning services.

end insert

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

begin insert

(e) (1) Contracting agencies shall have the flexibility to tailor
which support services to offer based on the unique needs of their
community, families, and children.

end insert begin insert

(2) The Superintendent shall minimize and simplify the
administrative and reporting requirements for contracting
agencies.

end insert begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  (1) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government
Code, on or before begin delete January 1, 2018 end delete begin insert March 1, 2017 end insert , 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.