BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
982 (Eggman)
As Amended July 2, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 14, 2015) |SENATE: |37-0 | (August 27, |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY: Enhances the process for identifying homeless youth
for subsidized child care services. Specifically, this bill:
1)Adds local educational agency liaisons for homeless children
and youths, as specified, Head Start programs, and emergency
and transitional shelters to the list of entities that may
identify a child, and thereby confer eligibility, for
subsidized child development services.
2)Adds "being homeless" as a criterion for which a child may be
identified as eligible for subsidized child care services by
specified entities.
The Senate amendments removed language that included the
prioritization of homeless families within current legislative
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intent to prioritize certain low-income and disadvantaged
families for subsidized child development programs.
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 and
including a full range of supervision, health, and support
services through full- and part-time programs. (Education
Code (EDC) Section 8200 et seq.)
2)Defines "child care and development services" to mean services
designed to meet a wide variety of children's and families'
needs while parents and guardians are working, in training,
seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite.
(EDC Section 8208)
3)States the intent of the Legislature that all families have
access to child care and development services, through
resource and referral where appropriate, and regardless of
demographic background or special needs, and 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. (EDC
Section 8202)
4)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
administer general child care and development programs to
include, among other things as specified, age- and
developmentally-appropriate activities, supervision, parenting
education and involvement, and nutrition. Further allows such
programs to be designed to meet child-related needs identified
by parents or guardians, as specified. (EDC Sections 8240 and
8241)
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5)Stipulates requirements families must meet in order to be
eligible for federal and state subsidized child development
services, and grants priority enrollment to children who have
been or are at risk of being abused or neglected, as
specified. (EDC Section 8263)
6)Defines a local educational liaison for homeless children and
youth to be a staff person designated by a local educational
agency to carry out specified duties, including ensuring that
homeless children and youth are identified by school personnel
and, in coordination with other entities, seeing to it that
homeless children and youth have full and equal opportunity to
succeed in school. (42 United States Code Section
11432(g)(1)(J)(ii))
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS:
Subsidized child care eligibility and prioritization: Certain
eligibility and prioritization rules apply to subsidized child
care in California. Families are eligible for non-CalWORKs
subsidized child care if they meet at least one requirement in
each of two areas: eligibility and need. First, they must meet
one of the eligibility criteria, which are: currently receiving
aid, being income-eligible, being homeless, or having children
who are recipients of protective services or who have been
identified as being, or are at risk of being, abused, neglected,
or exploited. Secondly, the family must meet one of the "need"
requirements: either the child has to have been identified by a
legal, medical, or social services agency or emergency shelter
as being a recipient of protective services or being (or at risk
of being) abused, neglected or exploited, or the parents need to
be employed or seeking employment, engaged in vocational
training, as specified, seeking permanent housing for family
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stability, or incapacitated.
First priority for non-CalWORKs subsidized child care is given
to abused or neglected children who are receiving protective
services, or children who are at risk of abuse or neglect who
are referred from a legal, medical or social services agency.
Second priority is given to families with the lowest gross
monthly income relative to family size.
Homeless children and youth: One commonly used definition of
"homeless children and youths" comes from the federal
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 2001. It defines
homeless children and youths as individuals who "lack a fixed,
regular, and adequate nighttime residence," and it includes
children and youths who: have to share housing with others due
to loss of housing or economic hardship; are living in motels,
hotels, trailer parks, or camp grounds because they lack other
accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional
shelters; are awaiting foster placement; or have a primary
nighttime residence that is not designed as a regular sleeping
accommodation for human beings.
Over 520,000 children in the state were estimated to be homeless
in 2012-13, prompting the National Center on Family Homelessness
at American Institutes for Research to rank California the 48th
worst in the nation with regards to the extent of child
homelessness (adjusted for state population). Nationally, it is
estimated that approximately 51% of all homeless children in the
United States are under the age of 6, 34% are between the ages
of 6 and 12, and 15% are between 13 and 17.
Analysis Prepared by:
Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN:0001450
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