BILL ANALYSIS
AB 379
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2003
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Lois Wolk, Chair
AB 379 (Mullin) - As Introduced: February 14, 2003
SUBJECT : Child care: funding.
SUMMARY : Requires that the percentage of parents who are
working be a factor in allocating funds for the expansion of
infant and toddler programs. Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds parental workforce participation rates as a factor in the
formula for disbursing augmentations for the expansions of
child care and development programs to underserved areas.
2)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to consider
the percentage of infants and toddlers with working parents
when allocating funds for the expansion of child care and
development and infant and toddler programs.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the State Department of Education to disburse
augmentations to the base allocation for the expansion of
child care and development programs to promote equal access to
child development services.
2)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop
and use a formula as a guide in disbursing the augmentations,
giving priority to underserved areas which possess indicators
of need for child care and development services.
3)Include as direct impact indicators teenage pregnancy rate,
the unemployment rate, area household income, or the
percentage of families receiving public assistance, eligible
for Medi-Cal or free or reduced-price meals, and any other
unique characteristics served by the program receiving an
augmentation.
FISCAL EFFECT : None; affects only the allocation of funds
otherwise appropriated.
COMMENTS : The author states that funding formula for the
expansion of funds for infant/toddler programs "historically has
AB 379
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been based on each county's share of the statewide percentage of
women in the workforce" as well as the percentage receiving
public assistance and the number of children below the poverty
level. "The first indicator counts women in the workforce,
regardless of whether they have children. The author's office
believes a more accurate measure of need would result if the
formula considers parents in the workforce."
The percentage of women in the workforce is not a current
statutory factor in the allocation of child care expansion
funds.
The California Child Care Resource and Referral Network observes
that "the use of percentage vs. the number of working parents or
children of working parents could result in an inaccurate
measure of need. For example, Mono County has the highest
percentage of children 0-5 with working parents, 72%, which
translates to 638 children. In Los Angeles, only 49% of
children 0-5 have working parents, however, this translates to
397,242 children." However, percentages and rates are used in
several factors among the direct impact indicators for purposes
of disbursing augmentation to the base allocation for child care
and development program expansion, such as teen pregnancy rates,
unemployment rate, and number or percentage of families
receiving public assistance. The percentages can reveal which
areas have a greater proportional need for care.
The California R&R Network also contends that in using data on
parental workforce participation, "middle and upper income
family numbers will be used to determine the distribution of
funding for low-income families. This is not an accurate
measure of need for subsidized services."
PRIOR LEGISLATION: SB 879 (Speier) of 1999-2000 contained
identical language to AB 529. It passed the legislature but was
vetoed by the Governor. The veto message stated, "SB 879 would
have the consequence of diverting child care funding from
underserved areas of the state." However, the language in SB
879, as in AB 529, did not change the requirement that priority
goes to underserved areas, but listed indicators of need in
determining whether an area is underserved, to which parental
workforce participation would be added.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 379
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Support
Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Casey McKeever / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089