BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 762
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 14, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Kansen Chu, Chair
AB 762
(Mullin) - As Amended April 8, 2015
SUBJECT: Day care centers: integrated licensing
SUMMARY: Directs the Department of Social Services (DSS) to
create a single license for day care centers serving children
from birth to kindergarten.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes certain Legislative findings and declarations pertaining
to the early care licensing system in California and its
separate treatment of infants and toddlers and preschool-age
children.
a) Declares the intent of the Legislature to require the
following under a new, integrated day care licensing
structure:
b) Grouping children together by age-appropriate
developmental levels and following appropriate staff-child
ratios and group-sized regulations;
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c) Transitioning children from age-appropriate settings
when their developmental level warrants this move;
d) Considering a child's chronological age and the entire
group's need when making decisions regarding moving a
child;
e) Ensuring supervision of all children by teachers and
aides with appropriate qualifications;
f) Grouping toddlers with either infants or preschoolers as
long as the requirements applicable to the youngest age
group are followed;
g) Placing emphasis on improving quality of care and
education for children from birth to kindergarten placed in
center-based programs;
h) Promoting long-term efficiency within the Community Care
Licensing Division (CCLD) of DSS through eliminating
duplicate paperwork and compliance visits to day care
centers; and
i) Conducting day care center inspections based on a single
integrated license.
1)Directs DSS, in consultation with stakeholders including the
California Department of Education and others, as specified,
to adopt regulations to develop and implement a single
integrated license for a day care center serving children from
birth to kindergarten by January 1, 2018. Further requires
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that these regulations include age-appropriate transition
times, as specified, and that an integrated license issued to
a new or current day care center licensee list the age groups
of children being served for specified purposes.
2)Requires, during the period of January 1, 2018, to December 1,
2018, an existing day care license to be converted to a single
integrated license upon annual renewal and that, prior to this
conversion, a day care center licensee shall continue to meet
regulatory requirements and inspection standards for the age
groups of children receiving care in that center.
3)States that licensees shall not be required to pay an
additional fee for this conversion to a single integrated
license other than the annual fee, and stipulates that a new
applicant for a single integrated license may be charged a fee
commensurate with the previous cost for dual licenses.
4)Directs day care centers with an optional toddler program to,
beginning January 1, 2016, extend the toddler component to
children up to three years old.
5)Repeals references in statute to the optional toddler program
beginning January 1, 2018.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the California Child Day Care Facilities Act,
creating a separate licensing category for child day care
centers and family day care homes within DSS's existing
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licensing structure. (HSC 1596.70 et seq.)
2)Defines "day care center" to include infant centers,
preschools, extended day care facilities, and school-age child
care centers. (HSC 1596.76)
3)Requires any person or entity operating, as specified, as
child day care facility in California to have a current valid
license. (HSC 1596.80)
4)Requires DSS to charge an original application fee for the
issuance of a license to operate a child day care facility
and, thereafter, an annual fee and that these fees be adjusted
by facility and capacity. (HSC 1596.803)
5)Directs DSS to develop guidelines and procedures for
authorizing licensed child day care centers serving
preschool-age children and licensed child day care centers
serving infants to create a special optional toddler program
for children between the ages of 18 and 30 months and further
requires this optional toddler program to meet certain
requirements, as specified. (HSC 1596.955 and 1596.956)
6)Requires DSS to conduct unannounced visits of each licensed
day care center and requires that no center be visited less
frequently than once every five years. Further requires DSS
to conduct annual unannounced visits of licensed centers under
specified circumstances, such as when a license is on
probation. Additionally requires annual visits of a random
sample of at least 20% of facilities not subject to annual
inspections for specified circumstances and states that,
should the total citations for this 20% of facilities exceed
the previous year's by 10%, the random sample subject to
annual inspection shall increase in the next year by 10%.
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Because of this trigger, 30% of eligible facilities are now
randomly sampled each year for inspection. (HSC 1597.09)
7)Directs DSS, and any local agency with which it contracts for
purposes of licensing activities, to conduct an initial site
visit and grant or deny an application for license within 30
days of receiving a complete licensing application for a day
care center. (HSC 1597.13)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Licensed child care: The California Child Day Care Facilities
Act governs the licensure and operation of child day care
centers and family day care homes. This law and the attendant
regulations found in Title 22 of the California Code of
Regulations establish general health and safety requirements,
staff-to-child ratios, and provider training requirements.
The Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) of DSS is
responsible for licensing and monitoring the state's 10,453 day
care centers, which, as of June 30, 2014, provided 588,058 child
care slots. CCLD is required to conduct unannounced site visits
of all licensed child day care facilities and homes. At the
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very least, these facilities and homes must be visited no less
frequently than once every five years. CCLD also conducts
annual visits of facilities with poor histories of compliance
and those that are required to have yearly visits by federal
law. Additionally, 30% of those facilities not required to be
inspected yearly are randomly selected for annual inspection.
Infant centers serve children under two years old, preschool
child care centers serve children between the age of 2 and when
they start school, and school-age child care centers serve
children who have entered the first grade or are in a child care
program exclusively for children in kindergarten and above. A
"combination center" is any combination of an infant center,
preschool child care center, school-age child care center and
child care center for mildly ill children that is owned and
operated by one licensee at a common address. In California,
separate licenses are currently required for serving infants and
for serving preschool-age children. Thus, owner/operators of
combination centers serving both populations must get two
licenses and undergo separate inspection and compliance
processes for each license.
Toddler program: In 1988, the Senate Select Committee on
Children and Youth and the Senate Select Committee on Infant and
Child Care and Development convened a task force to examine what
at the time were the two basic licensing categories for child
care centers: an infant category for children up to 2 years of
age, and a second category for children between the ages of 2
and 12. This task force recommended the establishment of a
third optional category for toddlers between the ages of 18 and
30 months. SB 629 (Morgan), Chapter 1079, Statutes of 1989,
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established this optional license category for day care programs
and SB 434 (Morgan), Chapter 246, Statutes of 1993, refined and
made the optional program permanent.
As it currently exists, the optional toddler program is
available to both centers that serve preschool-age children and
centers that serve infants. These centers can create a special
program component for children between the ages of 18 and 30
months; the program has its own staffing ratio and maximum group
size requirements, but is considered an extension of the infant
or preschool license and does not require a separate license.
The toddler program is to be located in areas separate from
those used by younger and older children. Children can only be
placed in this program with parental consent. A toddler who is
more than 30 months of age may participate in an optional
toddler program with parental permission.
Continuity of care and child development: Child care providers
and caregivers, when they form continuous attachments with young
children through providing regular care, can have positive
impacts on the development of those children. Research
indicates that infants who form strong attachments with their
child care providers exhibit higher likelihood of playing,
exploring, and interacting with adults in their child care
settings. Conversely, it has been found that when very young
children are made to transition from one room to another in a
care setting due to pre-determined developmental stages (often
based on birthdate), they can experience high levels of
distress. Fewer demonstrations of behavior problems while at
child care have also been found in young children who experience
lower turnover in care providers and longer periods spent with
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their primary caregiver. Continuity of care for young children
can also provide benefits for caregivers and parents, allowing
for the continued development of trust between parents and care
providers.
Need for this bill: According to the author, this bill
"streamlines the bifurcated child care licensing system by
creating a single license that reduces the administrative
burden, removes the 'toddler component' option process, and aids
centers in keeping child care slots filled by preventing the
immediate movement of children based on their birthdate. This
policy goes a long way to simplify the childcare licensing
process while maintaining quality developmentally appropriate
practices and eases the ability to provide continuity of care
for children and families which is necessary for their success."
Supporters state that California is one of only two states that
issue separate licenses for infant/toddlers and for preschool
centers, and that the transition from an infant area to
preschool at 24 months of age (or 30 months if the center has an
optional toddler program) is particularly rigid, doesn't allow
flexibility for the varying developmental needs of different
infants and toddlers, and creates barriers to continuity of
relationships. This siloed licensing structure, they claim,
ignores the developmental needs of the child and forces
providers to move children out of one classroom and into another
based on birthdates without appropriately considering other
needs.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Advancement Project
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
California Alternative Payment Program Association (CAPPA)
California Association for the Education of Young Children
California Child Care Resource & Referral Network
California Head Start Association
Child Care Partnership Council of San Mateo
Child Care Resource Center
Children NOW
Cleanology Housekeeping Personal Services
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Elder Caring
First 5 Association of CA
First 5 Santa Clara County
Foodsteps Child Care, Inc.
Institute for Human and Social Development Inc.
Little Mud Puddles Learning Center
Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE)
MAAC
Pacific Clinics
Peninsula Family Services
San Mateo County Child Care Partnership Council
Opposition
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None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089