BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 598


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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          598 (Calderon)


          As Amended  January 21, 2016


          Majority vote


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          |Committee       |Votes|Ayes                  |Noes                |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Human Services  |7-0  |Chu, Grove, Calderon, |                    |
          |                |     |Lopez, Maienschein,   |                    |
          |                |     |Mark Stone, Thurmond  |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Appropriations  |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow,       |                    |
          |                |     |Bloom, Bonilla,       |                    |
          |                |     |Bonta, Calderon,      |                    |
          |                |     |Chang, Daly, Eggman,  |                    |
          |                |     |Gallagher, Eduardo    |                    |
          |                |     |Garcia, Holden,       |                    |
          |                |     |Jones, Quirk, Wagner, |                    |
          |                |     |Weber, Wood           |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
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          SUMMARY:  Adopts and clarifies requirements for family child  
          care home education network (FCCHEN) contractors and providers.   








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          Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Adopts additional requirements for FCCHEN contractors,  
            including, but not limited to, and as specified:  using  
            assessment tools that are appropriate to family child care  
            home settings when conducting mandated assessments of each  
            FCCHEN provider; clarifying steps to be taken when ensuring  
            that a developmental profile for each child is completed; and  
            ensuring that parent conferences are offered.


          2)Adopts requirements for FCCHEN providers, including, but not  
            limited to: providing age- and developmentally-appropriate  
            educational activities for children; providing care and  
            supervision of children; and providing parenting education, as  
            specified.


          3)Permits FCCHEN providers to encourage parent involvement in  
            the provider's home program.


          4)Specifies that providers are not required to maintain a parent  
            advisory committee.


          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Establishes the Child Care and Development Services Act to  
            provide child care and development services as part of a  
            coordinated, comprehensive, and cost-effective system serving  
            children from birth to 13 years old and their parents  
            including a full range of supervision, health, and support  
            services through full- and part-time programs.  (Education  
            Code Section (EDC) 8200 et seq.)










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          2)Defines "child care and development services" to mean services  
            designed to meet a wide variety of children's and families'  
            needs while parents and guardians are working, in training,  
            seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite.   
            (EDC 8208)


          3)States the intent of the Legislature that all families have  
            access to child care and development services, through  
            resource and referral where appropriate, and regardless of  
            demographic background or special needs, and that families are  
            provided the opportunity to attain financial stability through  
            employment, while maximizing growth and development of their  
            children, and enhancing their parenting skills through  
            participation in child care and development programs.  (EDC  
            8202)


          4)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to  
            administer general child care and development programs to  
            include, among other things as specified, age- and  
            developmentally-appropriate activities, supervision, parenting  
            education and involvement, and nutrition.  Further allows such  
            programs to be designed to meet child-related needs identified  
            by parents or guardians, as specified.  (EDC 8240 and 8241)


          5)Defines a "family child care home education network" to mean  
            an entity organized under law that contracts with the  
            California Department of Education (CDE), as specified, to  
            make payments to licensed family child care home providers,  
            and to provide educational and support services to providers  
            and to children and families eligible for state-subsidized  
            child care and development services.  (EDC 8208(p))


          6)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to contract  
            with entities organized under law to operate FCCHENs, as  
            specified, and establishes requirements for FCCHEN programs.   








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            (EDC 8245 and 8246)


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, this bill may result in minor costs to CDE.


          COMMENTS:  


          Subsidized child care:  California offers subsidized child care  
          through a number of programs, as well as State Preschool to  
          eligible three- and four-year olds.  Generally, families are  
          eligible for subsidized child care if they meet certain  
          requirements, including: parents earning incomes less than 70%  
          of the 2007-08 state median income (up to approximately $42,000  
          per year for a family of 3); parents having a need related to  
          work, training, or education; and children being ages 12 and  
          under (or 21 and under if they have exceptional needs).


          There are three main types of child care providers:  licensed  
          child care centers, licensed child care homes, and  
          license-exempt providers (for example, family members,  
          neighbors, or friends).  Subsidized child care is paid for  
          either through contracts with specific providers or vouchers  
          that families can use for most providers.  There are three main  
          subsidized child care programs in the state, in addition to  
          programs for special populations and the California State  
          Preschool Program.  The three main programs are:


          1)California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids  
            (CalWORKs), for parents receiving or who have received  
            CalWORKs.  CalWORKs child care is paid for using vouchers and  
            can be provided in either centers, family child care homes, or  
            license-exempt settings;
          2)Alternative Payment Programs (APPs), which allow families to  
            choose their own child care in either centers, family child  








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            care homes, or license-exempt settings and to pay using  
            vouchers; and  


           3)General Child Care, which offers child care and  
            education/development services through contracted centers and  
            family child care home networks that are administered through  
            public or private agencies.


          Home-based child care:  Licensed family child care homes in  
          California must be in a provider's own home and provide a  
          home-like environment.  According to the California Child Care  
          Resource and Referral Network, the sponsors of this bill, there  
          were approximately 30,700 licensed family child care homes in  
          California in 2014.


          Families with lower incomes may have a greater need for  
          home-based child care, both licensed and license-exempt,  
          compared to higher-earning families.  This can be due, in part,  
          to the types of care that are available during the  
          nontraditional work hours encountered more often in some  
          lower-paying jobs.  For example, national data from a 2015  
          United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics  
          report indicate that, in 2013, 40% of individuals classified as  
          "working poor" - i.e., individuals spending at least 27 weeks in  
          the labor force yet still earning incomes below the federal  
          poverty level - worked in service occupations.  Jobs in the  
          service sector can often involve nontraditional and less  
          predictable work schedules. 


          Family child care homes are more likely to serve the needs of  
          families with parents that work nontraditional hours.  According  
          to the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, in  
          2014, 39% of licensed family child care homes offered evening,  
          overnight, and/or weekend care, while only 2% of child care  
          centers did the same.








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          FCCHENs:  FCCHENs help facilitate the provision of high-quality  
          child care and development services in family child care home  
          settings.  CDE contracts with FCCHEN contractors to provide  
          ongoing training and support to network providers in order to  
          assist these family child care home providers in offering early  
          education and child care to eligible families with children ages  
          birth through 13 years of age.  Providers must meet standards of  
          quality set forth by CDE.  Children's developmental progress is  
          closely monitored, and children are evaluated using the Desired  
          Results Developmental Profile (DRDP), which is a CDE-developed  
          formative assessment instrument for young children and their  
          families, designed to inform instruction and program  
          development.  Providers must meet a number of other  
          requirements, including offering parent education.


          FCCHENs, although not always referred to by the same name, have  
          existed in some form in California since the 1970s.  It wasn't  
          until 2004, with AB 379 (Mullin), Chapter 897, Statutes of 2004  
          that they were defined in statute and that contractor  
          requirements were adopted in state law.  The rationale behind AB  
          379 was to codify current practice at the time and better define  
          FCCHEN responsibilities.


          Need for this bill:  FCCHENs offer the ability for family child  
          care home providers to access training and services aimed at  
          providing quality care and education for children.  The author  
          seeks to codify current practice to provide for greater  
          statewide consistency of services and increased access to  
          high-quality child care options for families, specifically those  
          with infants and toddlers.




          Analysis Prepared by:                                             








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                          Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089  FN:  
          0002598