BILL NUMBER: AB 833 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonta
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to add Sections 8203.2 and 8203.25 to
and repeal Article 15.3 (commencing with Section 8340) of
Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education
Code, relating to early childhood education.
child care and development services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 833, as amended, Bonta. Early childhood education.
Child care and development services: individualized
county child care subsidy plan: County of Alameda.
The Child Care and Development Services Act has a purpose of
providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of
child care and development services for children from infancy to 13
years of age and their parents, including a full range of
supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time
programs. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to develop standards for the implementation of quality
child care programs. Existing law authorizes the County of San
Mateo, as a pilot project, to develop an individualized county child
care subsidy plan, as provided.
This bill would require the Superintendent, on or before an
unspecified date, to establish a statewide centralized eligibility
list to consolidate child care waiting lists and a statewide quality
rating and improvement system to improve the quality of early
learning, as provided.
This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2021, the County of
Alameda to develop an individualized county child care subsidy plan,
as specified. The bill would require the Child Development Division
of the State Department of Education to review and approve or
disapprove modifications to the plan. The bill would require the
County of Alameda to annually prepare and submit to the Legislature,
the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of
Education a report that contains specified information relating to
the success of the county's plan.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the County of Alameda.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to build a stable,
comprehensive, and adequately funded high-quality early learning and
educational support system for children from birth to five years of
age, inclusive, with alignment and integration into the K-12
education system by strategically using state and federal funds, and
engaging all early care and education stakeholders, including K-12
education stakeholders, in an effort to provide access to affordable,
high-quality services supported by adequate rates, integrated data
systems, and a strong infrastructure that supports children and the
educators that serve them.
SEC. 2. Section 8203.2 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
8203.2. On or before ____, and notwithstanding Section 8227, the
Superintendent shall establish a statewide centralized eligibility
list to consolidate child care waiting lists.
SEC. 3. Section 8203.25 is added to the
Education Code, immediately following Section 8203.2, to read:
8203.25. On or before ____, and notwithstanding Section 8203.1,
the Superintendent shall establish a statewide quality rating and
improvement system to improve the quality of early learning and
increase the number of low-income children in high-quality preschool
programs that prepare those children for success in school and life.
SEC. 2. Article 15.3 (commencing with Section
8340) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code , to read:
Article 15.3. Individualized County of Alameda Child Care
Subsidy Plan
8340. The County of Alameda may, as a pilot project, develop and
implement an individualized county child care subsidy plan. The plan
shall ensure that child care subsidies received by the County of
Alameda are used to address local needs, conditions, and priorities
of working families in the community.
8340.1. For purposes of this article, "county" means the County
of Alameda.
8340.2. For purposes of this article, "plan" means an
individualized county child care subsidy plan developed and approved
under the pilot project described in Section 8340, which includes all
of the following:
(a) An assessment to identify the county's goal for its subsidized
child care system. The assessment shall examine whether the current
structure of subsidized child care funding adequately supports
working families in the county and whether the county's child care
goals coincide with the state's requirements for funding,
eligibility, priority, and reimbursement. The assessment shall also
identify barriers in the state's child care subsidy system that
inhibit the county from meeting its child care goals. In conducting
the assessment, the county shall consider all of the following:
(1) The general demographics of families who are in need of child
care, including employment, income, language, ethnic, and family
composition.
(2) The current supply of available subsidized child care.
(3) The level of need for various types of subsidized child care
services, including, but not limited to, infant care, after-hours
care, and care for children with exceptional needs.
(4) The county's self-sufficiency income level.
(5) Income eligibility levels for subsidized child care.
(6) Family fees.
(7) The cost of providing child care.
(8) The regional market rates, as established by the department,
for different types of child care.
(9) The standard reimbursement rate or state per diem for centers
operating under contracts with the department.
(10) Trends in the county's unemployment rate and housing
affordability index.
(b) (1) Development of a local policy to eliminate state-imposed
regulatory barriers to the county's achievement of its desired
outcomes for subsidized child care.
(2) The local policy shall do all of the following:
(A) Prioritize lowest income families first.
(B) Follow the family fee schedule established pursuant to Section
8273 for those families that are income eligible, as defined by
Section 8263.1.
(C) Meet local goals that are consistent with the state's child
care goals.
(D) Identify existing policies that would be affected by the
county's plan.
(E) (i) Authorize any agency that provides child care and
development services in the county through a contract with the
department to apply to the department to amend existing contracts in
order to benefit from the local policy.
(ii) The department shall approve an application to amend an
existing contract if the plan is modified pursuant to Section 8340.3.
(iii) The contract of a department contractor who does not elect
to request an amendment to its contract remains operative and
enforceable.
(3) The local policy may supersede state law concerning child care
subsidy programs with regard only to the following factors:
(A) Eligibility criteria, including, but not limited to, age,
family size, time limits, income level, inclusion of former and
current CalWORKs participants, and special needs considerations,
except that the local policy may not deny or reduce eligibility of a
family that qualifies for child care pursuant to Section 8353. Under
the local policy, a family that qualifies for child care pursuant to
Section 8354 shall be treated for purposes of eligibility and fees in
the same manner as a family that qualifies for subsidized child care
on another basis pursuant to the local policy.
(B) Fees, including, but not limited to, family fees, sliding
scale fees, and copayments for those families that are not income
eligible, as defined by Section 8263.1.
(C) Reimbursement rates.
(D) Methods of maximizing the efficient use of subsidy funds,
including, but not limited to, multiyear contracting with the
department for center-based child care, and interagency agreements
that allow for flexible and temporary transfer of funds among
agencies.
(c) Recognition that all funding sources utilized by direct
service contractors that provide child care and development services
in the county are eligible to be included in the county's plan.
(d) Establishment of measurable outcomes to evaluate the success
of the plan to achieve the county's child care goals, and to overcome
any barriers identified in the state's child care subsidy system.
8340.3. (a) Within 30 days of receiving any modification to the
plan, the Child Development Division shall review and either approve
or disapprove that modification to the plan.
(b) The Child Development Division may disapprove only those
portions of modifications to the plan that are not in conformance
with this article or that are in conflict with federal law.
8340.4. (a) The county shall annually prepare and submit to the
Legislature, the State Department of Social Services, and the
department a report that summarizes the success of the county's plan,
and the county's ability to maximize the use of funds and to improve
and stabilize child care in the county.
(b) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
8340.5. A participating contractor shall receive any increase or
decrease in funding that the contractor would have received if the
contractor had not participated in the plan.
8340.6. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that a
special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made
applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution because of the unique circumstances in the
County of Alameda. Existing law does not reflect the fiscal reality
of living in the County of Alameda, a high-cost county where the cost
of living is well beyond the state median level, resulting in
reduced access to quality child care. In recognition of the
unintended consequences of living in a high-cost county, this act is
necessary to provide children and families in the County of Alameda
proper access to child care through an individualized county child
care subsidy plan.