BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1944
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 26, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 1944 (Garcia) - As Introduced: February 19, 2014
SUBJECT : Child care: administration: preferred placement of
children of 11 or 12 years of age
SUMMARY : Deletes the requirement for parents eligible for child
care and development services to complete a form certifying that
a before or after school program is not available for their 11
or 12 year old children. Specifically, this bill :
1)Deletes that provision specifying that a before or after
school program shall be considered not available when the
parent certifies in writing, on a form provided by the
California Department of Education (CDE) that is translated
into the parent's primary language, the reason or reasons why
the program would not meet the child care needs of the family.
2)Deletes the provision requiring each contractor to report
annually to the CDE the amount of savings resulting from the
requirement to place an 11 or 12 year old in a before or after
school program.
3)Deletes the provision requiring the CDE to annually report to
the Legislature the amount of savings statewide.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies that the preferred placement for children who are 11
or 12 years of age and who are otherwise eligible for
subsidized child care and development services shall be in a
before or after school program. Children who are 11 or 12
years of age shall be eligible for subsidized child care
services only for the portion of care needed that is not
available in a before or after school program. (Education
Code (EC) Section 8263.4(a))
2)Specifies that a before or after school program shall be
considered not available when a parent certifies in writing,
on a form provided by the CDE that is translated into the
parent's primary language, the reason or reasons why the
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program would not meet the child care needs of the family. The
reasons why a before or after school program shall be
considered not available shall include, but not be limited to,
any of the following:
a) The program does not provide services when needed during
the year, such as during the summer, school breaks, or
intersession.
b) The program does not provide services when needed during
the day, such as in the early morning, evening, or weekend
hours.
c) The program is too geographically distant from the
child's school of attendance.
d) The program is too geographically distant from the
parents' residence.
e) Use of the program would create substantial
transportation obstacles for the family.
f) Any other reason that makes the use of before or after
school care inappropriate for the child or burdensome on
the family. (EC Section 8263.4 (d))
3)Specifies that if an 11 or 12 year old child who is enrolled
in a subsidized child development program becomes ineligible
for subsidized child care and is disenrolled from the before
or after school program, or if the before or after school
program no longer meets the child care needs of the family,
the child shall be given priority to return to the subsidized
child care services upon the parent's notification of the
contractor of the need for child care. (EC Section 8263.4
(e))
4)Specifies that the savings generated each contract year shall
remain with each alternative payment program, child
development center, or other contractor for the provision of
child care services, except for care provided to CalWORKs
recipients. Requires each contractor to report annually to
the CDE the amount of savings resulting from this
implementation, and requires the CDE to report annually to the
Legislature the amount of savings statewide resulting from
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that implementation. (EC Section 8263.4 (g))
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background on child care and development programs .
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 through 12 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) 2013-14, $2.1 billion was
provided for child care and development programs from state and
federal funds, enrolling an estimated 340,000 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 2014-15 budget
provides an increase of $66 million over FY 2013-14 funds for a
total of $2.2 billion for child care and development programs to
provide an estimated 343,000 child care and preschool slots.
Eligibility . State and federal subsidized child care is
provided through two ways: 1) eligibility for CalWORKs, or 2)
based on income and need for child care services. CalWORKs is a
temporary cash aid program for families with children. The
child care program is administered in three stages to help a
family transition from immediate, short-term child care needs to
stable, long-term child care as a family becomes stable and is
no longer reliant on CalWORKs aid. Subsidized child care
services are intended to assist recipients in engaging in work
or education/training required for receiving aid.
Non-CalWORKs families and former CalWORKs recipients can also
receive subsidized child care if they meet income eligibility of
70% of state median income ($46,896 for a family of four) or if
they are recipients of child protective services and if they can
show need for child care services.
Preferred placement of children 11 or 12 years of age. SB 1104
(Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 229, Statutes
of 2004, made a number of changes to social services programs,
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including subsidized child care programs, in order to achieve
fiscal savings. One of the changes included the policy
statement that it is the preference of the state to place
children 11 or 12 years of age in after school programs (the
After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program through the
2002 voter approved initiative, Proposition 49, and the
federally funded 21st Century High School After School Safety
and Enrichment for Teens Program (ASSETs)) prior to accessing
subsidized child care services. This provision was later
amended to include before school programs.
The ASES program provides almost $550 million annually for
before and after school programs for kindergarten through grade
9 students. School districts and county offices of education
received grants, although local governments and nonprofit
organizations working in partnership with local educational
agencies may also apply. The program requires before school
programs to operate one and a half hours a day and after school
programs to operate immediately after school until 6 p.m. for a
minimum of 15 hours per week. Not every school has an ASES
program.
Under SB 1104, a parent who is eligible for subsidized child
care service may seek child care services if he or she is unable
to obtain before or after school program enrollment for his or
her 11- or 12-year-old child, if the hours of service are
insufficient, or if the before or after school programs do not
work for the parent (too far from school, too far from home,
etc.). Any savings generated by the enrollment of 11- and
12-year-old children in a before or after school program may be
maintained by the contractor for provision of services to other
children. Child care contractors are required to provide
parents with a form that must be available in a parent's primary
language. Using the form, parents must certify why the before
or after school program does not work for them. Contractors are
required to submit an annual report to the CDE with the amount
of savings derived and the CDE is required to submit an annual
report to the Legislature indicating the amount of savings
statewide.
This bill deletes the requirement for parents to complete the
form indicating why a before or after school program does not
work for the family, deletes the requirement for the contractor
to submit an annual savings report to the CDE, and deletes the
requirement for CDE to submit an annual savings report to the
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Legislature. According to the author, agencies report that
parents that do not complete the form or return an incomplete
report have found their child eliminated from an existing child
care slot, while agencies must devote time to track families
with 11- and 12-year-old children and submit an annual report to
the CDE. Agencies have reported that the staff time needed to
track families and to submit the report far exceed the amount of
savings that result in placement of 11- and 12-year-old children
in before or after school programs. The author states, "This
proposal would continue to support the placement of subsidized
11 and 12 year old children in before and after school programs
but eliminate burdensome certified documentation required of
parents and the annual reports required from child care
agencies."
The chart below is derived from the CDE's November 2013 report
to the Legislature:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Preferred Placement for Children Ages Eleven or Twelve |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
| | FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 |
|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Number of agencies | 104 | 107 |
|that reported | | |
|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Number of children | 813 |436 |
|who were served by | | |
|before or after | | |
|school programs | | |
|instead of | | |
|CDE-subsidized child | | |
|care and development | | |
|programs | | |
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|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Estimated Savings | $484,318 |$258,233 |
|(As to EC Section | | |
|8263.4(g)) | | |
| | | |
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Source: California Department of Education: Report to the
Legislature: Preferred Placement for Children Ages Eleven or
Twelve: Savings Resulting from Implementation
The Committee may wish to consider whether the minimal savings
achieved through the preferred placement policy are worth the
human and financial costs by parents, child care contractors and
the CDE.
Arguments in support . The California Alternative Payment
Program Association, the sponsor of the bill, states, "This
change is needed by families who consistently have reported that
the before and after school programs simply do not meet their
full time, off hour, and year round care needs. The change is
also needed by community based contractors whose cost to
oversee, track and submit annual reports far outweighs any
savings."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Alternative Payment Program Association (sponsor)
Child Care Links
Child Development Associates
Choices for Children/CDI
Community Resources for Children
Davis Street Family Resource Center
Del Norte Child Care Council
Family Resource & Referral Center
Marin Child Care Council
North Coast Opportunities (NCO)
Solano Family & Children's Services
Supportive Services, Inc.
Valley Oak Children's Services
YMCA Childcare Resource Service
Opposition
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087