BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 833|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 833
          Author:   Bonta (D)
          Amended:  9/4/15 in Senate
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  9-0, 6/24/15
           AYES:  Liu, Runner, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning,  
            Pan, Vidak

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  7-0, 8/27/15
           AYES:  Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  80-0, 6/1/15 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Child care and development services:  individualized  
                     county child care subsidy plan:  County of Alameda


          SOURCE:    Author


          DIGEST:  This bill authorizes the County of Alameda to establish  
          a 5-year pilot program for purposes of developing and  
          implementing an individualized county child care subsidy plan.  
          It requires that the plan ensure that child care subsidies  
          received by the county are used to address local needs,  
          conditions, and priorities of working families in the community.




          Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/15 make technical changes and  
          clarify the type of child care provider that may benefit from  








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          local policy developed and approved under the County of Alameda  
          pilot project.


          ANALYSIS:


          Existing law:


          1)Establishes the Child Care and Developmental 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 § 8200, et seq.)
            
          2)States legislative intent that all families have access to  
            child care and development services, regardless of demographic  
            background or special needs, 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, among other things.  (EC  
            § 8202)

          3)Establishes several programs providing subsidized child care  
            and development services that service low-income families who  
            are working, seeking work, in training, or providing community  
            service. These programs are administered by the California  
            Department of Education (CDE) and require the Superintendent  
            of Public Instruction (SPI) to adopt rules and regulations on  
            eligibility, enrollment, family fees, provider rates, and  
            priority services.  (EC § 8235 and 8263)

          4)Authorizes a pilot project in San Mateo County (since 2004)  
            and San Francisco City and County (since 2006) that allows the  
            counties to develop and implement an individualized county  
            child care subsidy plan in recognition of the high-cost of  
            living in those counties. (EC § 8235 and 8263)

          This bill:








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       1)Authorizes the County of Alameda to establish a 5-year pilot  
            program for purposes of developing and implementing an  
            individualized county child care subsidy plan that meets the  
            particular needs of families in the county, as specified, to  
            include the following: 

               a)        An assessment to identify the county's goal for  
               its subsidized child care system, as specified.

               b)        A local policy to eliminate state-imposed  
               regulatory barriers that constrain the county from meeting  
               its desired outcomes for subsidized child care, as  
               specified. The CDE is required to approve an application to  
               amend an existing contract if the plan is modified.

                        i)      The local policy may supersede state law  
                      concerning child care subsidy programs only for the  
                      following areas: eligibility criteria, fees,  
                      reimbursement rates, and methods of maximizing the  
                      efficient use of subsidy funds.

               c)        Recognition that funding sources utilized by  
               direct child care service contractors and contractors that  
               contract with licensed providers in the county are eligible  
               to be included in the county's plan.  

               d)        Measurable outcomes to evaluate the success of  
               the plan in achieving county and state child care goals.

       2)Requires the plan to be submitted to the specified local planning  
            council, and upon approval the county board of supervisors  
            shall do all of the following:

            a)   Hold at least one public hearing before voting on the  
            plan.

               b)        Submit an approved plan to Early Education and  
               Support Division (EESD) for review provided that board  
               votes in its favor. 

       3)Requires the CDE's EESD to review and either approve or  
            disapprove any modification of the plan within 30 days of  
            receiving it. Specifies that the EESD may only disapprove  
            those portions of the plan that are not in conformance with  







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            the provisions of this bill or that are in conflict with  
            federal law. 
                 
       4)Requires the county to prepare and submit a report summarizing  
            the success of the county's plan, as specified, to the  
            Legislature, the Department of Social Services (DSS), and the  
            CDE each year. 

       5)Requires a participating contractor to receive any increases or  
            decrease in funding that the contractor would have received  
            had the contractor not participated in the plan. 

       6)Makes various legislative findings and declarations related to  
            the unique circumstances in the County of Alameda that  
            condition a special law including the high-cost of living. 

       7)Defines county to mean County of Alameda for the purposes of this  
            bill. 

          Comments
          
       1)Need for bill?  According to the author, families seeking quality  
            child care are adversely affected by the high cost of living  
            in Alameda County. The author further notes that families who  
            earn just enough to meet housing costs are deemed ineligible  
            for subsidized child care, at the same time agencies receiving  
            insufficient state reimbursement rates are unable to cover  
            programing and operational costs.  As a result, child care  
            subsidy funds allocated to the county are not fully expended  
            thereby reducing access to quality child care.  This bill  
            seeks to maximize and efficiently use child care subsidy funds  
            allocated by the state to meet local conditions.

       2)Provider Reimbursement Rates.  California has established two  
            methodologies for determining the reimbursement rates for  
            child care and development services:

             a)   The Regional Market Rate (RMR) is determined by the RMR  
               survey and varies depending on the geographical location of  
               the provider.  The RMR is based on a survey of licensed  
               centers and family child care homes measuring child care  
               rates of similar socio-economic conditions.  Rate ceilings  
               are established for each county according to estimates of  
               the 85th percentile of rates for the various types of child  







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               care settings. The county rate ceilings are differentiated  
               by the age of the child (infant, preschool, school age),  
               full-day or part-day care, and frequency of care (days per  
               week).  Families may choose a child care provider that  
               charges a rate above the RMR, but the provider would only  
               be reimbursed at the RMR.  Current law requires the RMR  
               survey to be updated every two years. The Budget Act of  
               2014 based the RMR on the 2009 survey, thereby providing a  
               lower rate than if based on the most recent survey.

             b)   Standard Reimbursement Rate (SRR).  Child care and  
               development providers that contract directly with the  
               California Department of Education (CDE) must meet Title 5  
               requirements in addition to those of Title 22 (have units  
               in Early Childhood Education, provide an educational  
               component to child care).  Title 5 providers are reimbursed  
               using the SRR, which is a specific rate established in  
               statute. The SRR is $36.10 per child per day for full-day  
               care and $21.22 per child per day for part-day care, or a  
               maximum of $9,025 per year based on 250 days of operation.   


       1)Why Alameda County?  According to the author, provider  
            reimbursement rates do not cover a reasonable amount of the  
            actual cost of care.  Child care costs vary based on the age  
            of a child, with infant care representing the highest amount.  
            In Alameda, the average cost for full-time infant care in a  
            child care center is $13,330 per year. The cost of living in  
            Alameda is reported to be well above the state median.  A  
            family of three in Alameda County would need more than $67,000  
            for minimal housing, child care, food, transportation and  
            health care compared to state median of about $42,000 per year  
            for a family of three. Subsequently, to be eligible for  
            subsidized child care and development services state  
            regulations require a family's adjusted monthly income to be  
            at or below 75% of the state median income. The author asserts  
            that this pilot project will help to address the unintended  
            consequences that impact families living in a high cost  
            county. As such, this bill seeks to provide Alameda County  
            limited local flexibility to assess and address local  
            conditions of working families in the county through a child  
            care subsidy pilot plan.  
               
            To note, current law has authorized two other Bay Area pilot  







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            projects in recognition of the high-cost of living in those  
            counties. This pilot project seeks similar recognition with  
            the increased state oversight, as specified in the bill.

       2)Unspent Allocation.  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
            Fiscal Effect, "this bill would allow Alameda County to retain  
            unspent child care funds that otherwise would revert to the  
            General Fund.  Between 2011-12 and 2013-14, The County was  
            unable to spend approximately 5% of its contracted amounts  
            each year, and returned over $10 million in unspent child care  
            funding to the state. That funding is a combination of GF,  
            Prop 98 funding and federal funds. Historically, such  
            reversions have been redistributed for child care purposes in  
            subsequent budget years." 
                   
          Related Legislation 

          SB 311 (Beall, 2015) authorizes a pilot project at Alum Rock  
          Union Elementary School District, located in Santa Clara County  
          that allows the district to create a part-day pre-school subsidy  
          plan until January 1, 2022.  SB 311 was approved by the Senate,  
          and is currently in the Assembly Education Committee. 
          
          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:


           Alameda County individualized subsidy plan: Potential loss of  
            savings in the low millions to the extent the plan allows more  
            of the county's funding allocation to be expended.
           State Department of Education indicates minor and absorbable  
            costs to review and approve contract amendments and other  
            related activities.


          SUPPORT:   (Verified9/4/15)


          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 
          BANANAS 
          Bay Area Council 







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          California School Employees Association 
          Early Edge California 
          East Bay Association for the Education of Young Children 
          East Bay Community Foundation 
          First 5 Alameda County 
          Kidango 
          National Association of Social Workers 
          Via Nova Children's School 


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified9/4/15)


          None received

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  80-0, 6/1/15
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,  
            Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,  
            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, 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

          Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
          9/9/15 10:20:57


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