BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 273
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 273 (Rendon) - As Amended: April 8, 2013
SUBJECT : Child care and development services: California
Partnership for Infants and Toddlers Act of 2013
SUMMARY : Establishes the California Partnership for Infants
and Toddlers Act of 2013 and requires the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) to apply to the California Children and
Families Commission (Commission) for funds to fund the
California Children and Families Program. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Makes declarations and findings regarding the brain
development of children during the first three years of life,
the importance of early learning experiences to lay the
foundation for later school success, the success of the
federal Early Head Start program serving low-income infants
and toddlers, and President Barack Obama's initiative to
increase funding for early childhood education.
2)Requires the SPI to apply to the Commission for moneys
received by the Commission pursuant to the California Children
and Families Program to provide moneys to eligible agencies
for purposes of the California Partnership for Infants and
Toddlers Act of 2013. Requires the SPI to apply for funding
on or before March 1, 2014, with the option of renewing the
grant funding on an annual basis that would implement the
supplemental grant program authorized by this bill.
3)Specifies that notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government
Code, the moneys received by the SPI shall be continuously
appropriated to the SPI, who shall expend those moneys by
making supplemental grants available to qualifying general
child care and development infant and toddler contracting
agencies that serve infants and toddlers from birth to three
years of age at an amount of not less than $2,500 annually per
child.
4)Specifies that the moneys received shall be used to offer to
enrolled children and families support services, including,
but not limited, health and nutrition, home visitation, early
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childhood mental health, parental involvement, and
supplemental early learning services.
5)Requires the SPI, in consultation with the Commission, to
determine which general child care and development infant and
toddler contracting agencies and support services qualify for
funding and to establish standards to ensure quality child
care based on the federal Early Head Start program model and
other evidence-based services provided to infants and
toddlers.
6)Specifies that contracting agencies shall have the flexibility
to tailor which support services to offer based on the unique
needs of their community, families, and children.
7)Requires the SPI to minimize and simplify the administrative
and reporting requirements for contracting agencies.
8)Specifies that notwithstanding Government Code Section
10231.5, on or before March 1, 2017, the SPI 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.
9)Requires the report to be submitted to be in compliance with
Government Code Section 9795.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes eligibility for child care services and child
development programs administered by the California Department
of Education (CDE) and requires the SPI to adopt rules and
regulations on eligibility, enrollment and priority of
services needed for implementation (Education Code (EC)
Section 8263).
2)Specifies that in order to be eligible for federal and state
subsidized child development services, families must meet at
least one requirement in each of the following areas:
a) 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,
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or at risk of being abused, neglected, or exploited; and,
b) A family needs the child care services (A) because the
child is identified by a legal, medical, social services
agency, or emergency shelter as (i) a recipient of
protective services or (ii) being neglected, abused, or
exploited, or at risk of neglect, abuse or exploitation, or
(B) because the parents are (i) engaged in vocational
training leading directly to a recognized trade,
paraprofession or profession, (ii) employed or seeking
employment, (iii) seeking permanent housing for family
stability, or (iv) incapacitated. (EC Section 8263(a))
3)Defines "income eligible" as a family whose adjusted monthly
income is at or below 70% of the state median income (SMI),
adjusted for family size, and adjusted annually. (EC Section
8263.1)
4)Establishes the California Children and Families Act of 1998,
specifies the funding allocations with the taxes collected for
the Act, establishes the Commission, also known as First 5
California, composed of seven voting members and two ex
officio members, to carry out the duties of the Commission as
specified. (Health and Safety Code Section 130100 et. seq)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background . The CDE administers a child care and
development system, maintaining 1,401 service contracts with
approximately 758 public and private agencies supporting and
providing services to children from birth to 13 years of age.
Contractors include school districts, county offices of
education, cities, colleges, other public entities,
community-based organizations, and private agencies. In fiscal
year (FY) 2011-12, $2.3 billion was provided for child care and
development programs from state and federal funds, enrolling an
estimated 345,000 children. This is down from $2.669 billion
initially provided in the FY 2010-11 budget (prior to midyear
trigger cuts) with almost 416,000 slots. According to the
Legislative Analyst's Office, overall funding for the child care
and development program has decreased by almost $1 billion since
2008-09, with the elimination of 110,000 slots. The Governor's
proposed FY 2013-14 budget provides an increase of $12 million
over FY 2012-13 funds for a total of $2.2 billion for child care
and development programs to provide an estimated 341,000 child
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care and preschool slots. The General Child Care program will
receive $465 million under the Governor's proposed FY 2013-14
budget, serving 46,791 children, of which approximately 10,000
are infants and toddlers between birth and three.
Infant/toddler programs . Infant/toddler slots (from birth to
three) have decreased over the last few years. Contractors are
allocated a contract amount and make their own decisions on the
type of classes (infant/toddler or preschool) to offer. The
decrease is likely due to budget reductions. Infant and toddler
classes, which must comply with state Title 5 regulations,
require lower staff to children ratios and higher staff
qualifications. Specifically, infant rooms must be staffed by
one teacher to three infants and one teacher to four children in
toddler rooms, while the requirement for preschool rooms is one
teacher to eight children.
The following chart provided by the CDE shows the decrease in
enrollment of infant and toddlers:
--------------------------------------------------
| Infant/Toddler Center-Based Title 5 Enrollment |
--------------------------------------------------
|---------------+----------+-----------+-----------|
| | Oct-09 | Oct-10 | Oct-11 |
|---------------+----------+-----------+-----------|
|0-11 MONTHS OF | | | |
|AGE | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| | 2,207 | | |
| | | 1,907 | 1,521 |
|---------------+----------+-----------+-----------|
|12-17 MONTHS | | | |
|OF AGE | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| | 2,337 | 2,241 | |
| | | |1,850 |
| | | | |
|---------------+----------+-----------+-----------|
|18-35 MONTHS | | | |
|OF AGE | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| | 14,058 | 13,585 | 11,408 |
|---------------+----------+-----------+-----------|
|Total | | | |
| | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| | 18,602 | 17,733 | 14,779 |
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--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
|Source: CD-801A Monthly Child Care Report, |
|October 2009 (archived data), October 2010 |
|(archived data), and October 2011 (preliminary |
|data). |
|--------------------------------------------------|
|Note: Data represent a "point-in-time" and do |
|not reflect annual aggregate figures. Counts |
|represent the total number of unduplicated |
|children served in Center-Based Title 5 programs |
|under the age of 36 months. |
--------------------------------------------------
Purpose of the bill . This bill directs the SPI to apply for
funding from the Commission to establish a supplemental grant
for general child care and development infant and toddler
programs. The supplemental grant would be no less than $2,500
per child annually and shall be used to offer support services
to children and their families, including, but not limited to,
health and nutrition, home visitation, early childhood mental
health, parental involvement, and supplemental early learning
services. According to the sponsor of the bill, Early Edge
California (formerly Preschool California), supplemental early
learning services may include tutoring and one on one support
for language development for a child or a classroom.
Contracting agencies would have flexibility to determine which
services best serve the needs of the children and families they
serve.
Early Head Start . According to the author, the services that
will be offered by this bill are modeled after the federal Early
Head Start program serving low-income children. Early Head
Start programs support the physical, social, emotional,
cognitive, and language development of each child. Parenting
education and the support of a positive parent-child
relationship is an important component of the program. Services
provided directly or through referral under Early Head Start
include the following:
1) Early education services in a range of developmentally
appropriate settings;
2) Home-visits, especially for families with newborns;
3) Parent education and parent-child activities;
4) Comprehensive health and mental health services; and
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5) High quality child care services, provided directly or
in collaboration with community child care providers.
In California, 16,500 infants and toddlers were enrolled in the
Early Head Start programs. The author states, "Research shows
that children who participated in Early Head Start had
significantly larger vocabularies and scored higher on
standardized measures of cognitive development, and that
children and parents had more positive interactions, and parents
provided more support for learning. Many different home
visiting programs have been shown to significantly reduce the
occurrence of child maltreatment and abuse, and improve
children's health and school success."
Funding source . Funds for the supplemental grants would come
from the Commission. The Commission was established pursuant to
the passage of Proposition 10 in November, 1998. The
proposition imposed a $.50 per-pack tax on cigarettes and a
comparable tax on other tobacco products to fund childhood
development and school readiness programs. Approximately $590
million is generated annually with 80% of the funds allocated to
local Proposition 10 commissions. The Commission allocates the
remaining 20%, which includes expenditures for a public
education campaign, educational materials and training,
technical support for the local commissions, education and
training of child care providers, and research and development.
President Obama's proposals . In February, President Obama
announced his plans for early childhood education, including
providing high-quality preschool for all low- and
moderate-income four-year-old children at or below 200% of
poverty, extending and expanding voluntary home visits, and
investment in a new Early Head Start-Child Care partnership. In
April, President Obama released his proposed 2014 budget, which
includes over $90 billion for early childhood programs,
including the following:
$75 billion over the next decade to expand access to
high quality preschool for all low- and moderate-income
four-year-olds, funded by a $.94 cent tobacco tax.
$15 billion for the voluntary home visiting program over
the next 10 years. These voluntary programs provide
nurses, social workers, and other professionals that meet
with at-risk families in their homes and connect them to
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resources that impact a child's health, development, and
ability to learn.
$1.4 billion for new early Head Start-Child Care
partnerships to enhance and support early learning
settings, provide new, full-day, comprehensive services
that meet the needs of working families and prepare
children for the transition into preschool.
Related legislation . AJR 16 (Bonilla), also on this Committee's
May 1, 2013 agenda, urges Congress to enact President Barack
Obama's budget proposal to increase funding for preschool and
early learning and the SPI to prepare a plan for making
California competitive for future increases in federal funding.
Previous related legislation . AB 2286 (Bonilla) increases the
rates for child care services for infant and toddler care. The
bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense
file in 2012.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Child Development Administrators Association
(co-sponsor)
Early Edge California (co-sponsor)
California Alternative Payment Program Association
Children Now
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California
Kidango
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Options - A Child Care and Human Services Agency
Special Needs Network
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
AB 273
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