BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Deborah V. Ortiz, Chair
BILL NO: AB 529
A
AUTHOR: Mullin
B
AMENDED: May 6, 2003
HEARING DATE: June 11, 2003
5
FISCAL: NonFiscal
2
9
CONSULTANT:
Hailey / ak
SUBJECT
Family day care homes
SUMMARY
Treats children enrolled in kindergarten the same as
children aged six or older for purposes of allowing
additional children to be cared for by licensed family day
care homes.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1.Provides for the licensure of family day care homes -
that is, a home in which the child care provider lives --
and limits the number of children for whom family day
care providers can provide care. (In December, 2002,
there were 46,000 licensed family child care homes in
California.)
2.Provides for two kinds of family day care home licenses:
"small", which is limited to six children in care at any
one time, and "large", which is limited to 12 children in
care at any one time.
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 529 (Mullin) Page
2
3.Allows care for two additional children, if the children
are six years of age or older -- as long as the licensee
notifies each parent that the facility is caring for
additional children and that there may be up to eight
children (or up to 14 children) in the home at one time,
and as long as the licensee obtains the written consent
of the property owner when the family day care home is
operated on property that is leased or rented.
4.Limits to two the number of infants who can be cared for
by small family day care providers, and to three the
number of infants who can be cared for by large family
day providers, when one or two additional children six
years of age or older are in care.
This bill:
1.Permits children enrolled in kindergarten to be counted
as the two additional children in care above the licensed
capacities of small and large family day care homes.
FISCAL IMPACT
Unknown.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
History of previous legislation
In 1989, to address the shortage of care for school-aged
children and to reduce the number of children who might be
"latchkey" children - children caring for themselves before
and after school, the Legislature established a pilot
program in Placer and Ventura counties to test the
feasibility of increasing the maximum enrollment of
children in licensed family day care homes. The licensed
capacity of a family day care home, since the early years
of licensing, had been six children (or 12, if the child
care provider had an assistant present and met additional
health and safety requirements).
Under the pilot program, which operated through 1995 and
later included San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Fresno
counties, licensed providers were allowed to add two
additional school-aged children, defined as being at least
six years of age.
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 529 (Mullin) Page
3
Legislation required an evaluation conducted by the
Assembly Office of Research and the Department of Social
Services. The report, published in March 1995, "Findings
of the Family Day Care Evaluation Required by AB 265
(Chapter 425, Statutes of 1993)," included a study of
program quality before and after the enrollment of
additional children six-years-of-age and older.
The evaluation's conclusions included:
Participating providers with additional children
were no more likely to receive substantiated
complains from licensing officials than
nonparticipants.
One measure of provider quality - provider
sensitivity to individual children - dropped after
additional older children were added.
The experience of younger children was less
positive, and older children more positive, after
family day care homes increased the number of
children in their care.
After the report was released, the Legislature enacted
Chapter 18, Statutes of 1996 (SB 265, O'Connell), allowing
the addition of up to two additional children, at least six
years of age, in licensed family day care homes statewide.
Rationale for the bill
Family child care providers explain that some parents
expect to pay less for before- and after-school care for a
child in kindergarten, and these parents may make other
arrangements for their child's care if the provider does
not lower the rate charged once the child spends part of
school days in kindergarten. However, this expectation of
parents puts providers at risk of losing income, if they
lower the rate they charge for a child attending
kindergarten, they cannot enroll an additional younger
child within their capacity limits in order to make up that
lost income.
What is kindergarten age, kindergarten enrollment, and age
for first grade attendance?
The Education Code mandates that school districts provide
kindergarten programs; kindergarten attendance remains
voluntary. A child can attend kindergarten, beginning each
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 529 (Mullin) Page
4
fall, if the child reaches his or her fifth birthday by
December 2 of that year. In other words, about one-quarter
of all kindergarteners are age 4 when starting
kindergarten. All have reached their fifth birthday by
December 2. By the end of the school year in late spring,
about half will have reached 6 years of age. [Education
Code Sections 48000.]
In order to plan for the following September, some school
districts allow parents to enroll - or sign up - their
children for kindergarten in the spring preceding the
beginning of the next school year.
The Education Code defines the legal age for first grade as
being six years old on or before December 2 of the school
year. First-grade attendance is compulsory. [Education
Code Section 48010.]
What is the minimum kindergarten day and the minimum day
for first graders?
The Education Code prescribes that the minimum day for
kindergarten pupils is 180 minutes, inclusive of recesses.
Further, no kindergarten pupil may be kept in school for
more than four hours, exclusive of recesses, on any day.
The Code also requires a minimum school day for grades 1,
2, and 3 of 230 minutes exclusive of recess. [Education
Code Sections 46117, 46111, and 46113.]
According to the Department of Education, most school
districts participate in the Longer Day Incentive Program,
which provides extra funds if districts provide 200 minutes
of kindergarten and 280 minutes for first grade per day.
Children in self care (latchkey children)
The US. Census reports that 2.7 percent of the nation's
children ages 5 through 8 years care for themselves before
and after school. ("Who's Minding the Kids? Child Care
Arrangements: Spring 1999.")
Arguments in support
The author states that current law treats kindergartners
under age six as if they required full-time care, even
though they attend school part of each school day. These
children may demand less time and attention. The author
notes that some children turn six while they are in
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 529 (Mullin) Page
5
kindergarten, at which time they could be counted toward
the additional two enrollees even though there is no
difference in the length of their day in care before their
sixth birthday.
Continued---
Family child care providers in support of the bill observe
that, under current law, a family child care provider would
either need to charge full rates to the parents of a
kindergarten child who is 4 or 5 years of age or forego the
fees from a full-time child in order to receive a part-day
fee from a kindergarten pupil's parents. If the provider
charges the full cost and the parent makes other child care
arrangements, this can be disruptive for children who spent
their preschool years in that family day care home.
Arguments in opposition
The Child Care Law Center argues that current ratio and age
requirements protect children and promote quality.
Children six years of age and older have a higher level of
maturity and spend more hours in school each day than do
kindergarten children. It is important to make certain
that at least two of those eight children in care have the
level of independence found in children six years or older.
The California Child Care Resource and Referral Network
asserts that the bill compromises quality while not
addressing the existing barriers to school-age care. This
bill would allow for the care of additional children as
young as 4 years, 9 months of age. A family day care
provider could care for two infants under the age of 2,
four preschool age children, and two kindergarten children
younger than 5 years of age. Kindergarten children need
more supervision and support.
Discussion and suggested amendment
1."Six year olds" - a proxy for first graders. Each piece
of legislation in the late 1980s and through the 1990s
that dealt with this issue of permitting additional
school children to be present in a licensed family day
care home, concerned itself with children 6 years of age
and older. In common parlance, "preschoolers" are "3 and
4 year olds"; kindergarten is for 5 year olds; and, a
child who is 6 is a first grader. In addition, the
debate was framed in terms of helping children who are at
risk of being latchkey children-children past their 6th
birthday.
2.Suggested amendment. An amendment allowing licensed
family day care homes to enroll two additional children
who are 6 years of age or are attending first grade would
clarify the statute, avoid counting children as young as
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 529 (Mullin) Page
7
4 years, 9 months in a license's added capacity, avoid
the ambiguity of when a child is "enrolled" in
kindergarten, and avoid exacerbating the problems of
lowering quality that research documents can come from
higher adult-child ratios.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Floor: 74 - 0 Pass
Assembly Human Services: 5 - 0 Do Pass as Amended
POSITIONS
Support: Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo
(sponsor)
200 individuals
Oppose: California Child Care Resource and Referral
Network
Child Care Law Center
-- END --