BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 762


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           Date of Hearing:  May 6, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          762 (Mullin) - As Amended April 8, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  YesReimbursable:   
          No


          SUMMARY:  This bill 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)Directs DSS, in consultation with stakeholders including the  
            California Department of Education, to adopt regulations to  







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            develop and implement a single integrated license for a day  
            care center serving children from birth to kindergarten by  
            January 1, 2018.  


          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 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 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, and repeals the optional  
            toddler program beginning January 1, 2018. 


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          1)One-time costs to DSS in the range of $210,000 to $250,000  
            (GF) annually, in 2016 and 2017, assuming two full-time  
            analyst positions and one part-time office assistant position,  
            to staff and conduct the stakeholder meetings and meet other  
            requirements of the regulatory process described in the bill.  
            Additional potential costs for travel and per diem. 


          2)One-time costs to DSS in the range of $100,000 to $200,000  
            (GF) for regulatory and policy development due to the tight  
            timeframe and complex nature of the proposed regulations. 







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          3)Unknown, but potentially significant costs to DSS between  
            January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2018, for case management  
            workload to manually convert all license types to an  
            integrated license as each license becomes eligible for  
            renewal.  Additionally, the phase-in approach contained in the  
            bill will require DSS to maintain parallel licensing and  
            inspection structures during the year-long conversion process.


          4)Unknown, but likely minor costs to DSS to educate and train  
            staff for the fee renewal conversion process and on the new  
            regulations for facility inspection purposes.


          5)Potential fee increase for current providers.  The bill, as  
            written, creates a dual fee structure for providers with new  
            applicants paying more than existing providers will pay to  
            convert their existing license.  The bill is silent on whether  
            the lower fee for current providers will persist in future  
            years or whether current providers will pay the higher fee  
            charged to new applicants going forward.


          6)Staff notes that the full extent of the implementation costs  
            will not be known until the new regulations are developed.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose.  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."









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          2)Background:  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 adopted 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 least 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.  
            The Governor's 2015-16 January budget proposal requires DSS to  
            phase-in increased inspection frequency to once every three  
            years starting January 2017, for all facilities, including  
            child care facilities.





            Infant centers serve children less than two years old,  
            preschool child care centers serve children between the ages  
            of two 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 centers that is owned and operated by one  
            licensee at a common address.  In California, separate  
            licenses are 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  







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            license.


          


            In addition, an 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.  





          





          Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081