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