BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 598 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 598 (Calderon) As Amended January 21, 2016 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |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 | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY: Adopts and clarifies requirements for family child care home education network (FCCHEN) contractors and providers. AB 598 Page 2 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.) AB 598 Page 3 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. AB 598 Page 4 (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 AB 598 Page 5 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. AB 598 Page 6 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: AB 598 Page 7 Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0002598