BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 833
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
833 (Bonta)
As Amended September 4, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |80-0 |(June 1, 2015) |SENATE: | 40-0 |(September 9, |
| | | | | |2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY: Establishes a subsidized child care pilot program in
Alameda County. Specifically, this bill:
1)States legislative intent to build a stable, comprehensive,
and adequately funded high-quality early learning and
educational support system.
2)Permits Alameda County to develop and implement an
individualized county child care subsidy plan, as specified,
to include the following:
a) An assessment to identify the county's goal for its
subsidized child care system, as specified;
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b) Development of a local policy to eliminate state-imposed
regulatory barriers to the county's achievement of its
desired outcomes for subsidized child care, as specified;
c) Recognition that all funding sources utilized by direct
child care service contractors in the county and
contractors that contract with licensed providers and
centers are eligible to be included in the county's plan;
and
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 plan.
1)States that the plan, and requirements regarding it, shall not
be construed to permit the county to change the regional
market rate survey results for the county.
2)Requires the plan to be submitted to the local planning
council, as specified, for approval and, upon approval,
requires the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to hold at
least one public hearing on the plan. Should the board vote
in favor of the plan after this hearing, requires the plan to
be submitted to the California Department of Education's
(CDE's) Early Education and Support Division to review the
plan and, within 30 days of receiving it, to approve or
disapprove it.
3)Requires the Early Education and Support Division to review
and either approve or disapprove any modification of the plan
within 30 days of receiving it. Further specifies that the
Early Education and Support Division may only disapprove those
portions of the plan that are not in conformance with the
provisions of this bill or that are in conflict with federal
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law.
4)Requires the county, by the end of the first fiscal year of
operation under the approved child care subsidy plan, to
demonstrate an increase in the aggregate days a child is
enrolled in child care as compared to the enrollment in the
final quarter of the 2014-15 Fiscal Year.
5)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 CDE
each year.
6)Requires a participating contractor to receive an increase or
decrease in funding that the contractor would have received
had the contractor not participated in the plan.
7)Repeals the provisions of this bill as of January 1, 2021.
8)Declares legislative findings that a special law is necessary
and that a general law cannot be made applicable because of
the unique circumstances in Alameda County, as specified.
The Senate amendments:
1)Clarify that all funding sources utilized by contractors that
contract with licensed providers and centers are eligible to
be included in the county's plan.
2)Clarify that the plan, and requirements regarding it, shall
not be construed to permit the county to change its regional
market rate survey results.
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3)Require the plan to be submitted to the local planning
council, as specified, for approval and, upon approval,
require the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to hold at
least one public hearing on the plan. Should the board vote
in favor of the plan after this hearing, require the plan to
be submitted to the CDE's Early Education and Support Division
to review the plan and, within 30 days of receiving it, to
approve or disapprove it.
4)Require the county, by the end of the first fiscal year of
operation under the approved child care subsidy plan, to
demonstrate an increase in the aggregate days a child is
enrolled in child care as compared to the enrollment in the
final quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal year.
5)Make other technical changes.
EXISTING LAW establishes the San Mateo County and San Francisco
individualized county child care subsidy plan pilot projects and
provides for them to sunset in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
(Education Code (EDC) Sections 8347 and 8335)
FISCAL EFFECT: According the Senate Appropriations Committee,
this bill may result in the following costs:
1)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.
2)CDE indicates minor and absorbable costs to review and approve
contract amendments and other related activities.
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COMMENTS:
Child care in Alameda County: As of April 2015, approximately
14,000 children were served by subsidized child care programs in
Alameda County (note that these data do not include the number
of children in CalWORKs Stage 1 child care). While Alameda
County does not have a centralized eligibility list that
provides an exact number of children wait-listed for subsidized
child care, the Alameda County Early Care and Education Planning
Council polled a number of providers in the county earlier this
year and found that there were over 9,750 children on their
waitlists. This indicates that there are likely well over
10,000 children in the county who are eligible for, but unable
to access slots in, local subsidized child care programs. One
study found that, during the period of 2011-12 to 2013-14,
Alameda County lost 22% of its subsidized child care
contractors.
San Mateo County and San Francisco pilot programs: AB 1326
(Simitian), Chapter 691, Statutes of 2003, established the San
Mateo County individualized county child care subsidy plan pilot
project and SB 701 (Migden), Chapter 725, Statutes of 2005,
established the San Francisco individualized county child care
subsidy plan pilot project. Both pilots were developed to
address two significant issues facing subsidized child care in
high-cost counties: 1) that low-income families earning just
enough to afford housing in a high-cost area may be deemed to
earn too much to qualify for assistance with child care by
statewide eligibility standards, and 2) that the statewide SRR
paid to contracted child care centers and family child care
homes is often not sufficient to cover program costs and
overhead, particularly in high-cost areas. Both counties would
see a portion of their child care subsidy funds go unused as
low-income families failed to qualify for eligibility by uniform
statewide criteria, and as provider reimbursement rates made
offering subsidized care untenable for some providers.
San Mateo County's and San Francisco's pilot programs, still in
operation today, offer them the limited local flexibility to
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revise eligibility rules and adjust provider rates and family
fees within the context of local evaluation and assessment and
heightened state oversight. Thus, the counties are able to
reinvest otherwise-unused funds through increased reimbursement
rates. Both San Mateo County and San Francisco are also allowed
flexibility regarding eligibility rules.
Evaluation results for both counties have indicated a number of
successes, including increases in the number of aggregate days
of enrollment in subsidized child care and decreases in the
amount of unspent child care funds returned to the state.
Need for this bill: With high numbers of children waitlisted
for subsidized child care, and difficulties retaining
contractors, Alameda County may be a good candidate for an
individualized county child care subsidy plan like those seen in
San Mateo County and San Francisco.
According to the author:
In Alameda County, many children and families are unable
to access quality child care in part by the unintended
consequences of living in a high cost county. Since many
families are deemed ineligible due to the high cost of
living and provider reimbursement rates are insufficient
to cover the cost of care, child care subsidy funds
allocated to Alameda County are not fully expended.
[This bill] provides Alameda County limited local
flexibility with increased state oversight to address the
fiscal reality of high-cost counties, where the cost of
living and doing business is well beyond the state
median. With the ability to revise their eligibility and
need determinations, adjust their reimbursement rates and
family fees based upon a local evaluation and assessment,
and modify their funding requirements, Alameda County
will be able to maximize allocated funding and
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efficiently use child care subsidy funds to meet local
conditions. As a result, more children can be served
with quality child care.
Analysis Prepared by:
Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN:
0002343