BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 762|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 762
Author: Mullin (D), et al.
Amended: 8/18/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 5-0, 7/14/15
AYES: McGuire, Berryhill, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/4/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Day care centers: toddler programs
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires a day care center with a toddler
component to extend the toddler component to serve children 18
months to three years, and requires that the California
Department of Social Services (CDSS) issue conforming
guidelines.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/18/15 add one coauthor, and change
the description of a toddler "component" to a toddler "program,"
in addition to other minor, technical edits.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, with
stated legislative intent to provide a comprehensive quality
AB 762
Page 2
system for licensing child day care facilities separate from
other facility types within the existing licensing system at
CDSS because this system of licensure requires a special
understanding of the unique characteristics and needs of child
served by child day care facilities. (HSC 1596.70)
2)Defines a child day care facility to mean a facility that
provides nonmedical care to children under 18 years of age
including day care centers, employer-sponsored child care
centers, and family day care homes; and defines a day care
center to include any child day care facility other than a
family day care home, including infant centers, preschools,
extended day care facilities, and school age child care
centers. (HSC 1596.750, HSC 1596.76)
3)Defines an infant as a child under two years of age. (22 CCR §
101152 (i))
4)Requires CDSS to develop guidelines and procedures to
authorize licensed child day care centers serving infants to
create a special program component for children between the
ages of 18 months and 30 months, as specified. (HSC 1596.956)
5)Requires CDSS to develop guidelines and procedures to permit
licensed child day care centers serving preschool age children
to create a special program component for children between the
ages of 18 months and 30 months, as specified. (HSC 1596.955)
6)Establishes in regulation separate staff-to-child ratios, the
requirement to provide a toddler program separate from the
infant program and other requirements for the optional toddler
program in a child day care facility (CCR Title 22, Section
101417)
7)Permits a child whose developmental needs require continuation
in an infant care center to remain in an infant care center up
AB 762
Page 3
to a maximum age of three years. (CCR Title 22, Section
101361)
This bill:
1)Requires a day care center serving preschool age children that
includes an optional toddler component to extend the toddler
component to serve children between 18 months and three years
of age commencing January 1, 2016. States legislative intent
to provide continuity of care to California's children and
parents.
2)Makes a parallel change for a day care center serving infants
that includes an optional toddler component.
3)Requires CDSS to modify guidelines and procedures for
authorizing the optional toddler component of an infant day
care program from the existing 18- to 30-months to 18 months
to three years.
Background
Infant and toddler development. The ages between birth and age
three are critical in a child's life, a time of the most rapid
brain development, including learning gross- and fine-motor
activities, the development of language, synaptic development
and dynamic changes. One especially critical growth stage
during this time is the development of attachment to parents and
caretakers which, according to researchers, takes place most
substantially between birth and age five. If an attachment does
not develop in this period then a child may suffer from
irreversible developmental consequences, including an inability
to bond with peers or adults through the lifetime, reduced
intelligence and increased aggression.
In that context, researchers also found that when children are
in safe, nurturing, and high-quality settings, maintaining the
AB 762
Page 4
primary caregiving relationship until the child is at least
three years old is an important effort to support continuity for
the child and family.
Another milestone of development for toddlers is the ability to
toilet. According to the National Institutes of Health, most
children in Western countries achieve bladder and bowel control
between 24 and 48 months of age, although the question of when
to toilet train is highly individualized and "reaching this
developmental milestone may be difficult for both the child and
parents." Advancement in child care settings may be tied to the
achievement of potty training.
Day Care Centers. As of May, CDSS licensed 1,972 infant centers
with a total capacity of 45,071 children and an additional
10,480 day care centers with a capacity for 591,745 toddlers and
preschoolers. Current regulations allow child care centers with
an infant license to serve children between 0 and 24 months,
unless they apply to DSS for the toddler option, allowing them
to continue caring for children up to 30 months of age. A waiver
must be filed for each child pursuing the toddler option. CDSS
does not have records of how many toddler option waivers have
been filed. Preschool licenses may begin at either 24 or 36
months, leaving a potential gap for children who exit infant
care at 24 months and enter preschool care at 36 months. This
bill seeks to address that gap by extending the ability of an
infant center to use the existing toddler permit process up to
36 months, rather than ending it at 30 months, as is current
law.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/15)
Advancement Project
Alameda County Developmental Disabilities Planning and Advisory
Council
Association of California School Administrators
California Association for the Education of Young Children
AB 762
Page 5
California Child Care Coordinators Association
California Child Care Resource & Referral Network
California Child Development Administrators Association
California Head Start Association
Californians for Quality Early Learning
California State PTA
Child Care Partnership Council
Child Care Resource Center
Children Now
County of Contra Costa
County of San Mateo
Early Edge California
East Bay Developmental Disabilities Legislative Coalition
Easter Seals
Footsteps Child Care
Institute for Human and Social Development
Kidango
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty of San
Diego County
Pacific Clinics
Peninsula Family Service
Professional Association for Childhood Education
San Francisco Child Care Planning and Advocacy Council
Santa Clara County Office of Education
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, AB 762
bridges the gap in care for some children between the age of 30
and 36 months by extending the toddler option from 30 months to
three years of age. The state's Community Care Licensing
division provides and administers licenses for infants, defined
as birth to two years, and Preschoolers, defined as either 24
months or 36 months to entering first grade. The "Toddler
Component" is an optional licensing component of an infant or
preschool care program designed for children between the ages of
18 months and 30 months. Programs must apply for a waiver for
each individual child to allow them to stay in the Toddler
classroom until 30 months.
This bill closes the gap for a child who might lose care from 30
AB 762
Page 6
to 36 months as most preschool classrooms serve children from
three years old until they enter kindergarten. In this
situation, children lose the benefits of continuity of care and
developmental gains, and their parents must often leave jobs or
school to care for them, the author states.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/4/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dahle, Jones
Prepared by:Mareva Brown / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524
8/20/15 16:37:13
**** END ****