BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator McGuire, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 567
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Liu |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|----------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------------|
|Version: |February 26, 2015 |Hearing |April 21, 2015 |
| | |Date: | |
|----------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------------|
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant|Mareva Brown |
|: | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Child care programs: continuity of services
SUMMARY
This bill would require a child who is enrolled in a state or
federally funded child care program to be deemed eligible for
that program for the remainder of the program year.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1) Establishes in federal law the Child Care and
Developmental Block Grant (CCDBG), reauthorized in 2014
with the following purposes:
a. To allow each state maximum flexibility in
developing child care programs and policies that best
suit the needs of children and parents within that
state;
b. To promote parental choice to empower working
parents to make their own decisions regarding the
child care services that best suit their family's
needs;
c. To encourage states to provide consumer
education information to help parents make informed
choices about child care services and to promote
involvement by parents and family members in the
development of their children in child care settings;
SB 567 (Liu) PageB
of?
d. To assist states in delivering high-quality,
coordinated early childhood care and education
services to maximize parents' options and support
parents trying to achieve independence from public
assistance;
e. To assist states in improving the overall
quality of child care services and programs by
implementing the health, safety, licensing, training,
and oversight standards;
f. To improve child care and development of
participating children; and
g. To increase the number and percentage of
low-income children in high-quality child care
settings." (42 USC 9801, § 658A)
2) Requires in the CCDBG that state plans demonstrate that
each child who receives assistance will be considered to
meet all eligibility requirements and will receive
assistance for not less than 12 months before the state or
designated local entity re-determines the eligibility of
the child, regardless of a temporary change in the ongoing
status of the child's parent as working or attending a job
training or educational program, or a change in family
income for the child's family, if that family income does
not exceed 85 percent of the state median income for a
family of the same size. (42 USC 9801, § 658E(c)(2)(N)(i))
3) Establishes in state law the Child Care and Development
Services Act and outlines its purpose to include a
comprehensive, coordinated and cost-effective system of
child care and development services for children from
infancy to 13 years of age in an environment that is
healthy and nurturing for all children, among other goals.
(EDC 8200, et seq.)
4) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
adopt rules and regulations on eligibility, enrollment, and
priority of services. 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: The child's family is a current aid
recipient, income eligible, homeless, or involved with the
child protection system, and the child's family needs child
care. (EDC 8263)
SB 567 (Liu) PageC
of?
5) Defines income eligibility to mean that a family's
adjusted monthly income is at or below 70 percent of the
state median income, adjusted for family size, and adjusted
annually. (EDC 8263.1 (a)) For the 2014-15 fiscal year, the
income eligibility limits shall be 70 percent of the state
median income that was in use for the 2007-08 fiscal year,
adjusted for family size. (EDC 8263.1 (e))
6) Establishes a 12-month certification for child care
providing the family continues to require child care and
remains otherwise eligible. This time limit does not apply
if the family's child care referral is recertified. (EDC
8263 (b)(1)(c))
7) Requires that families be disenrolled from subsidized
child care services in a specified order, with families
whose incomes are above 70 percent of SMI being disenrolled
first and families with the highest incomes below 70
percent of SMI being disenrolled next, unless certain
factors are present, as specified. (EDC 8263.2, EDC 8263.3)
8) Requires families to notify their child care contractor
within five calendar days of any changes in family income,
family size or the need for services. (Title V Regulations,
18102, 18410 and 18425)
9) Permits 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, to
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, as specified. (EDC 8263
(c))
This bill:
1) States Legislative intent to strategically use state and
federal funds to provide a stable, comprehensive, and
adequately funded early learning and educational support
system for children from birth to five years of age that
promotes access to safe, high-quality, part-day and
SB 567 (Liu) PageD
of?
full-day services that support the development of the whole
child, especially for those children who need it most, as
defined.
2) Requires that, notwithstanding any other law, in order
to promote continuity of services, subsequent to enrollment
in a state or federally funded child care program, a child
shall be deemed eligible for the remainder of the program
year.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
According to the author, families that receive state-subsidized
childcare are certified for 12 months of eligibility; however
they are also required to report changes in circumstances
throughout that period that can result in the loss of the care
subsidy. For example, a single mother who receives a .50 raise
at an hourly job can lose her entire subsidy if that raise puts
her $1.00 over the income ceiling, the author states. Working 40
hours a week, a 50-cent raise equates to $20 per week, the
author writes that is hardly enough to obtain childcare in the
private market. The author also states that changes like this
can destabilize families, create a disincentive to garner raises
and interrupt the continuity of care for children.
Continuity for children is one of the most important aspects of
effective early learning and care programs, according to the
author. She states that this bill would guarantee eligibility to
families enrolled in subsidized care for the remainder of the
program year, ensuring that families can make long-term plans
for economic prosperity and that children receive the care
necessary to thrive.
Child Care
The state's child care slots are means-tested for families,
meaning that eligibility is predicated on families remaining at
or below 70 percent of the state median income. Currently a
SB 567 (Liu) PageE
of?
family of three loses eligibility for child care if they earn
more than $42,216 annually and a family of four loses
eligibility at $46,896. Concern about families whose wages
fluctuate or who receive incremental increases that bump them
above the eligibility threshold have been persistent both in
California and nationwide. Researchers have documented that
maintaining a primary caregiver relationship until a child is at
least 3 years old is an important effort to support children and
their families.<1>
Deep reductions in child care slots and reimbursement rates
during the Great Recession have left California about 16 percent
fewer slots than in 2008-09. In FY 2015-16, approximately
360,000 children will receive subsidized child care funding in a
variety of settings.
Child Care and Development Block Grant reauthorization
The federal CCDBG is the primary source of federal funding to
help families pay for care. In November 2014, Congress
re-authorized the block grant (S.1086) with major changes to
programming requirements, including more frequent inspections,
higher health and safety standards and policies to help
low-income working families maintain greater stability in their
child care arrangements. The new federal statute is the first
comprehensive reauthorization of the original CCDBG, which was
first authorized nearly 25 years ago with minimal safety and
quality requirements.
Deadline change
The reauthorization bill mandated a state plan be submitted to
the federal government by June 30, 2015, detailing how states
would spend federal funds. California's 2014 state budget
required the California Department of Education (CDE) to provide
the revised state plan and a description of the changes to the
Director of Finance and the Legislature by April 1, 2015.
However correspondence from the U.S. Health and Human Services
Agency's Office of Child Care in late March moved that date back
by nine months, to March 1, 2016, leaving California with
---------------------------
<1> "Promoting continuity of Care in Infant/Toddler Settings:
What Can State/Territory Leaders Do?" National Center on Child
Care professional Development Systems and Workforce Initiatives,
September 2012.
SB 567 (Liu) PageF
of?
additional planning time.
Placement stability
The reauthorization bill includes a requirement that every child
receiving care under the CCDBG must be considered eligible for
that care for not less than 12 months before the state imposes
any kind of redetermination on the family, regardless of
temporary changes in the parent's income or work status so long
as the family income does not exceed 85 percent of the state
median income. It also allows for a graduated phase-out period
for parents who have exceeded income eligibility at the time of
redetermination, in keeping with many state practices.<2>
California's statute currently includes a 12-month eligibility
period, but requires parents to report changes in income or work
status, which can trigger a loss of the child care subsidy. CDE
has recently sought an internal legal opinion about whether
California's 12-month eligibility statute is sufficient to
comply with the new federal block grant.
This bill is silent on the 12-month requirement, and instead
requires that a child retains eligibility to remain in the
program for the remainder of the program year. The author states
that this language is a step toward fulfilling the stability
requirement until there is clarity around the need for
legislation on the 12-month mandate. The author intends this
requirement to encompass school-year programs as well as
programs that run continuously and therefore may be subject to a
calendar year timeline. Should the state additionally enacted
legislation to satisfy the 12-month federal mandate, this bill
would require that some children be maintained in a program
longer than 12 months if that 12-month period does not coincide
with the end of a program year.
Related legislation:
AB 233 (Lopez, 2015) would require that a family enrolled in a
state or federally funded child care and development program to
be considered eligible for services for 12 months from time of
initial or annual, eligibility determination. The bill
additionally would make substantial changes to the process used
---------------------------
<2> Child Care Law Center, CCDBG Legislative Update, November
2014
SB 567 (Liu) PageG
of?
by alternative payment providers in establishing and tracking
rates.
SB 1123 (Liu, 2014) would have permitted providers to have
choices that enable greater funding flexibility and allow
services to be tailored to fit community needs including the
remainder of program year eligibility. This bill died in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 192 (Liu, 2014) would have recast existing child care and
development statute as the Early Learning and Educational
Support Act, and would require the Superintendent to develop
standards for the implementation of high-quality early learning
and educational support programs based on certain indicia of
quality, as defined. This bill died in the Assembly
appropriations committee.
COMMENTS
Despite the roll-back of the CCDBG state plan deadline from
September 2015 to March 2016, changes still need to be
considered and implemented in this Legislative session. The
author states she intends this bill to be a vehicle for those
necessary changes and plans to include other required changes as
the bill moves forward and guidance from the federal government
becomes clearer.
Mandating a child remain eligible for the remainder of the
program year does not explicitly align with the CCDBG
requirements to make children eligible for a minimum of 12
months. The author states that the intent of this bill is to
comply with the intent of the stabilization language and that if
CDE's legal opinion indicates the current law does not comply
with the new mandate that this bill can be changed.
Staff suggests that should this bill move to the Senate
Education Committee, the author consider adding a minimum
12-month requirement into this language, to comply with federal
reauthorization language. Staff also recommends the author
consider establishing what entity defines the duration of a
program year.
POSITIONS
SB 567 (Liu) PageH
of?
Support:
None.
Oppose:
None.
-- END --