BILL NUMBER: AB 982	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 27, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 31, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 2, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Eggman

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2015

   An act to amend Section 8263 of the Education Code, relating to
child care.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 982, Eggman. Child care and development: eligibility: homeless
children.
   Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
adopt rules and regulations on eligibility, enrollment, and priority
of services needed to implement laws relating to child care and
development services. Existing law requires families to meet certain
requirements in order to be eligible for subsidized child development
services, including that the family needs child care services
because the child is identified by a legal, medical, or social
services agency, or emergency shelter as being a recipient of a
protective service or being neglected, abused, or exploited, as
provided.
   This bill would expand the list of entities that can identify a
child in need to include a local educational agency liaison for
homeless children and youths, a Head Start program, or a transitional
shelter. The bill would expand the list of children to be identified
to include a homeless child.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 8263 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   8263.  (a) The Superintendent shall adopt rules and regulations on
eligibility, enrollment, and priority of services needed to
implement this chapter. In order to be eligible for federal and state
subsidized child development services, families shall meet at least
one requirement in each of the following areas:
   (1) A family is (A) a current aid recipient, (B) income eligible,
(C) homeless, or (D) one whose children are recipients of protective
services, or whose children have been identified as being abused,
neglected, or exploited, or at risk of being abused, neglected, or
exploited.
   (2) A family needs the child care services (A) because the child
is identified by a legal, medical, or social services agency, a local
educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths
designated pursuant to Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of the
United States Code, a Head Start program, or an emergency or
transitional shelter as (i) a recipient of protective services, (ii)
being neglected, abused, or exploited, or at risk of neglect, abuse,
or exploitation, or (iii) being homeless or (B) because the parents
are (i) engaged in vocational training leading directly to a
recognized trade, paraprofession, or profession, (ii) employed or
seeking employment, (iii) seeking permanent housing for family
stability, or (iv) incapacitated.
   (b) Except as provided in Article 15.5 (commencing with Section
8350), priority for federal and state subsidized child development
services is as follows:
   (1) (A) First priority shall be given to neglected or abused
children who are recipients of child protective services, or children
who are at risk of being neglected or abused, upon written referral
from a legal, medical, or social services agency. If an agency is
unable to enroll a child in the first priority category, the agency
shall refer the family to local resource and referral services to
locate services for the child.
   (B) A family who is receiving child care on the basis of being a
child at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, as defined in
subdivision (k) of Section 8208, is eligible to receive services
pursuant to subparagraph (A) for up to three months, unless the
family becomes eligible pursuant to subparagraph (C).
   (C) A family may receive child care services for up to 12 months
on the basis of a certification by the county child welfare agency
that child care services continue to be necessary or, if the child is
receiving child protective services during that period of time, and
the family requires child care and remains otherwise eligible. This
time limit does not apply if the family's child care referral is
recertified by the county child welfare agency.
   (2) Second priority shall be given equally to eligible families,
regardless of the number of parents in the home, who are income
eligible. Within this priority, families with the lowest gross
monthly income in relation to family size, as determined by a
schedule adopted by the Superintendent, shall be admitted first. If
two or more families are in the same priority in relation to income,
the family that has a child with exceptional needs shall be admitted
first. If there is no family of the same priority with a child with
exceptional needs, the same priority family that has been on the
waiting list for the longest time shall be admitted first. For
purposes of determining order of admission, the grants of public
assistance recipients shall be counted as income.
   (3) The Superintendent shall set criteria for, and may grant
specific waivers of, the priorities established in this subdivision
for agencies that wish to serve specific populations, including
children with exceptional needs or children of prisoners. These new
waivers shall not include proposals to avoid appropriate fee
schedules or admit ineligible families, but may include proposals to
accept members of special populations in other than strict income
order, as long as appropriate fees are paid.
   (c) Notwithstanding any other law, in order to promote continuity
of services, a family enrolled in a state or federally funded child
care and development program whose services would otherwise be
terminated because the family no longer meets the program income,
eligibility, or need criteria may continue to receive child
development services in another state or federally funded child care
and development program if the contractor is able to transfer the
family's enrollment to another program for which the family is
eligible before the date of termination of services or to exchange
the family's existing enrollment with the enrollment of a family in
another program, provided that both families satisfy the eligibility
requirements for the program in which they are being enrolled. The
transfer of enrollment may be to another program within the same
administrative agency or to another agency that administers state or
federally funded child care and development programs.
   (d) In order to promote continuity of services, the Superintendent
may extend the 60-working-day period specified in subdivision (a) of
Section 18086.5 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations for
an additional 60 working days if he or she determines that
opportunities for employment have diminished to the degree that one
or both parents cannot reasonably be expected to find employment
within 60 working days and granting the extension is in the public
interest. The scope of extensions granted pursuant to this
subdivision shall be limited to the necessary geographic areas and
affected persons, which shall be described in the Superintendent's
order granting the extension. It is the intent of the Legislature
that extensions granted pursuant to this subdivision improve services
in areas with high unemployment rates and areas with
disproportionately high numbers of seasonal agricultural jobs.
   (e) A physical examination and evaluation, including
age-appropriate immunization, shall be required before, or within six
weeks of, enrollment. A standard, rule, or regulation shall not
require medical examination or immunization for admission to a child
care and development program of a child whose parent or guardian
files a letter with the governing board of the child care and
development program stating that the medical examination or
immunization is contrary to his or her religious beliefs, or provide
for the exclusion of a child from the program because of a parent or
guardian having filed the letter. However, if there is good cause to
believe that a child is suffering from a recognized contagious or
infectious disease, the child shall be temporarily excluded from the
program until the governing board of the child care and development
program is satisfied that the child is not suffering from that
contagious or infectious disease.
   (f) Regulations formulated and promulgated pursuant to this
section shall include the recommendations of the State Department of
Health Care Services relative to health care screening and the
provision of health care services. The Superintendent shall seek the
advice and assistance of these health authorities in situations where
service under this chapter includes or requires care of children who
are ill or children with exceptional needs.
   (g) The Superintendent shall establish guidelines for the
collection of employer-sponsored child care benefit payments from a
parent whose child receives subsidized child care and development
services. These guidelines shall provide for the collection of the
full amount of the benefit payment, but not to exceed the actual cost
of child care and development services provided, notwithstanding the
applicable fee based on the fee schedule.
   (h) The Superintendent shall establish guidelines according to
which the director or a duly authorized representative of the child
care and development program will certify children as eligible for
state reimbursement pursuant to this section.
   (i) Public funds shall not be paid directly or indirectly to an
agency that does not pay at least the minimum wage to each of its
employees.