BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 548
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(Without Reference to File)
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
548 (De León)
As Amended September 11, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: Vote not relevant
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SB 548
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|Human Services |4-1 |Chu, Lopez, Mark |Maienschein |
| | |Stone, Thurmond | |
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|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Human Services |5-1 |Chu, Calderon, Lopez, |Maienschein |
| | |Mark Stone, Thurmond | |
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SUMMARY: Enacts the Raising Child Care Quality Act.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes a number of legislative findings and declarations
related to: the importance of quality, affordable child care,
the flexibility of care offered by family child care settings,
family child care providers' economic contributions to their
communities and the state, the benefits that training offer to
family child care providers and families, and the current lack
in California of a single list of all family child care
providers who participate in state-funded child care.
2)States that the purpose of this bill is to:
a) Ensure that family child care providers receive
orientation training on specified subjects;
b) Make it more possible for family child care providers to
be informed about training opportunities; and
c) Make it more possible for family child care providers to
form and join provider organizations.
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3)Defines "family child care provider" ("provider") to mean a
child care provider that participates in a state-funded child
care program and is either:
a) A family day care home provider, as specified; or
b) An individual who is exempt from licensing requirements,
as specified, and who provides child care in his or her own
home or in the home of the child receiving care.
4)Defines "provider organization" to mean an organization that
meets all of the following criteria:
a) Includes family child care providers as members;
b) Has the representation of family child care providers,
as specified, as one of its main purposes; and
c) Does not contract with the state or a county to
administer or process payments for a state-funded child
care program.
5)Defines "state-funded child care program" to mean a program
administered by the California Department of Education (CDE),
the Department of Social Services (DSS), or other entities, as
specified, to subsidize early learning and care for children.
Further, states that the public education system is not
included in this definition.
6)Requires CDE to ensure that all family child care providers
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attend an in-person orientation training.
7)Sets deadlines by which various providers must complete
training, as follows:
a) Requires a provider who is newly participating in a
state-funded child care program to complete orientation
training within three months from the date he or she began
participation; and
b) Requires a provider already participating in a
state-funded child care program to complete orientation
training within two years of such training becoming
available.
8)Permits other child care providers who are not required to
complete the orientation training to be invited to attend such
training at no cost to the provider.
9)Requires family child care providers to be compensated from
time spent attending the orientation training.
10)Requires the orientation training to be offered at times and
in settings convenient and accessible to family child care
providers.
11)Requires the orientation training and related materials to be
made available in languages other than English if certain
criteria are met, as specified.
12)Requires alternatives to in-person orientation training to be
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offered on a case-by-case basis if certain criteria are met,
as specified.
13)Requires the orientation to include at least four hours of
instruction in addition to training currently offered by
resource and referral programs. Further, states that this
four hours of training is intended to count towards federal
requirements, as specified, and is to include information on
all of the following:
a) Minimum health and safety standards, as specified;
b) Occupational health and safety for family child care
providers, as specified;
c) Information about state-funded child care, as specified;
d) Information about the state's early learning foundations
and the ways in which they align with K-5 standards; and
e) Information on resources available to providers and the
children and families they serve, as specified.
14)Requires CDE to offer the orientation training either
directly or through contracts, as follows:
a) Requires that the portion of training covering
occupational health and safety be offered through contracts
with a statewide organization that meets the following
criteria:
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i) Has expertise in state-funded child care programs;
ii) Includes family child care providers as members; and
iii) Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a
county to administer or process payments for a
state-funded child care program.
b) Requires the remainder of the training to be offered
primarily through local resource and referral programs, as
defined.
15)Requires that curriculum used for orientation training be
approved by CDE. Further, requires that the portion of
training covering occupational health and safety only be
approved by CDE if it has been developed with input from
family child care providers or their representatives.
16)Permits the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations
regarding the orientation trainings required by this bill, as
specified.
17)States that the requirements of this bill are contingent upon
appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act or other
statutes.
18)Requires DSS to, within 10 days of receipt of a request from
a provider organization, make available each family child care
provider's name, home address, mailing address, telephone
number, email address, if known, and license number.
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19)Requires CDE, with assistance from specified entities and
within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider
organization, to collect information regarding family child
care providers, including but not limited to, each provider's
name, home address, and telephone number. Further, states
Legislative intent that this list will assist DSS, CDE, and
their contractors in tracking provider compliance.
20)Requires the provider organization requesting provider
information to bear the costs of collecting this information
with any such payment going to reimburse the entity that
incurred the cost of compiling the list, as specified, and
permits provider organizations to have access to such
information within the bounds of confidentiality requirements,
as specified.
21)Restricts provider organization use of provider information
to purposes of advocating on behalf of and educating family
child care providers, as specified.
22)Requires CDE and DSS, upon the written request of a family
child care provider, to remove his or her home address and
telephone number from mailing lists before releasing those
lists.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Subsidized child care: Subsidized child care may be available
to low-income families through a number of programs.
Additionally, California offers State Preschool Programs to
eligible three-and four-year-olds.
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California offers subsidized child care to parents participating
in CalWORKs and to families transitioning off of and no longer
receiving aid. This child care is offered in three "stages";
DSS administers Stage 1, and CDE administers Stages 2 and 3.
CDE also administers non-CalWORKs child care. The largest
programs are: General Child Care, which includes contracted
centers and family child care homes; the California State
Preschool Program, which includes contracted centers and family
child care homes for three- and four-year olds; and APPs, which
provide vouchers that can be used to obtain child care in a
center, family child care home, or from a license-exempt
provider.
Child Care and Development Block Grant: The federal Child Care
and Development Block
Grant Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-186) reauthorized the Child Care and
Development Block
Grant Act of 1990. This reauthorization brought about a number
of changes aimed at addressing health and safety requirements,
quality of care, and consumer and provider education. Among the
new provisions are that child care providers serving children
receiving assistance through the Child Care Development Fund
must receive training on certain health and safety topics.
This bill seeks to increase quality and safety for children and
providers in the state's subsidized child care programs, and to
help meet the new federal requirements as set forth by the Child
Care and Development Block Grant.
Analysis Prepared by:
Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN:
0002443
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