BILL NUMBER: AB 315	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member De Leon

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2009

   An act to amend Section 8222 of the Education Code, relating to
child care and development services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 315, as introduced, De Leon. Child care and development
services: alternative payment programs.
   The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the
State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to administer child care and development programs, which
offer a full range of services for children from infancy to 13 years
of age who are eligible for services. The act authorizes funds
appropriated for purposes of the act to be used for alternative
payment programs to allow for maximum parental choice.
   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those
provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 8222 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   8222.  (a) Payments made by alternative payment programs shall not
exceed the applicable market rate ceiling. Alternative payment
programs may expend more than the standard reimbursement rate for a
particular child. However, the aggregate payments for services
purchased by the agency during the contract year shall not exceed the
assigned reimbursable amount as established by the contract for the
year.  No   An  agency  may
  shall not  make payments in excess of the rate
charged to full-cost families. This section does not preclude
alternative payment programs from using the average daily enrollment
adjustment factor for children with exceptional needs as provided in
Section 8265.5.
   (b) Alternative payment programs shall reimburse licensed child
care providers in accordance with a biennial market rate survey
pursuant to Section 8447, at a rate not to exceed the ceilings
established pursuant to Section 8357.
   (c) An alternative payment program shall reimburse a licensed
provider for child care of a subsidized child based on the rate
charged by the provider to nonsubsidized families, if any, for the
same services, or the rates established by the provider for
prospective nonsubsidized families. A licensed child care provider
shall submit to the alternative payment program a copy of the
provider's rate sheet listing the rates charged  , 
and the provider's discount or scholarship policies, if any, along
with a statement signed by the provider confirming that the rates
charged for a subsidized child are equal to or less than the rates
charged for a nonsubsidized child.
   (d) An alternative payment program shall maintain a copy of the
rate sheet and the confirmation statement.
   (e) A licensed child care provider shall submit to the local
resource and referral agency a copy of the provider's rate sheet
listing rates charged, and the provider's discount or scholarship
policies, if any, and shall self-certify that the information is
correct.
   (f) Each licensed child care provider may alter rate levels for
subsidized children once per year and shall provide the alternative
payment program and resource and referral agency with the updated
information pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (e), to reflect any
changes.
   (g) A licensed child care provider shall post in a prominent
location adjacent to the provider's license at the child care
facility the provider's rates and discounts or scholarship policies,
if any.
   (h) An alternative payment program shall verify provider rates no
less  frequently  than once a year by randomly
selecting 10 percent of licensed child care providers serving
subsidized families. The purpose of this verification process is to
confirm that rates reported to the alternative payment programs
reasonably correspond to those reported to the resource and referral
agency and the rates actually charged to nonsubsidized families for
equivalent levels of services. It is the intent of the Legislature
that the privacy of nonsubsidized families shall be protected in
implementing this subdivision.
   (i) The department shall develop regulations for addressing
discrepancies in the provider rate levels identified through the rate
verification process in subdivision (h).