BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2463
AUTHOR: Brownley
AMENDED: May 28, 2010
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 30, 2010
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Child care resource and referral programs.
KEY POLICY ISSUES
Should existing duties and responsibilities of child care
resource and referral programs be codified?
Will codification create additional budgetary pressure to
fund these duties and responsibilities?
SUMMARY
This bill updates, clarifies and codifies the duties and
responsibilities of child care resource and referral
programs.
BACKGROUND
Resource and referral programs (R&Rs) help parents find child
care by identifying the full range of existing public and
private, licensed and license-exempt, subsidized or
fee-based, child care services. R&Rs give parents
information such as types of
programs that are available, the hours of service, ages of
children served, and fees and eligibility for services.
(Education Code 8212)
The roles and responsibilities of R&Rs, and requirements R&Rs
must meet, are contained in the Education Code, Health &
Safety Code, regulations, and Funding Terms and Conditions.
Every county in California is served by at least one R&R
program. The Child Development Division of the California
Department of Education administers the R&Rs' state
contracts.
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ANALYSIS
This bill updates, clarifies and codifies the duties and
responsibilities of child care resource and referral
programs. Specifically, this bill (by Section):
1) Corrects the reference to funding for Resource and
Referral programs (R&Rs) included in the R&R article of
the Education Code.
2) Deletes obsolete language that identified a fixed amount
of funding for R&Rs, and instead makes a general funding
allocation statement with regard to R&Rs.
3) Includes a cross-reference to the Health & Safety Code
regarding the authority to limit the distribution of the
list of small family day care homes; adds use of e-mail
to the methods used to provide information to parents;
expands specified options for technical assistance to
include training, providing certain information to
parents, partner with county welfare services, helping
plan and improve child care in local communities, and
help advise on potential expansion of child care
services; requires R&Rs to provide certain information
to the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network
(Network), and requires the Network to annually submit
the compiled information to the California Department of
Education; deletes the requirement to remove a child
care provider whose license has been revoked or
suspended from the list of providers within two business
days, and instead requires these providers to be removed
from the list upon notification from Community Care
Licensing that the license has been revoked or
suspended.
4) Repeals a code section regarding funding that was
provided for R&Rs to serve families under stress who
needed short term assistance to avoid the Child
Protective Service system. Since that time, many of
those funds have been reallocated to Alternative Payment
Programs (APP), most of whom work closely and/or are
under the same agency as the R&R. These funds have been
co-mingled with APP funds to serve at-risk families and
the service is no longer under the auspice of R&R
services.
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5) Adds a written complaint procedure process to conform to
existing R&R regulations.
6) Adds language specifying that the basic child care
referral shall be at no cost to anyone requesting
services; authorizes a fee for an enhanced referral that
includes more information than a basic referral;
requires a basic referral to include the name and phone
number of the providers referred; provides examples of a
wide variety of supports and educational services for
parents and providers that may be free or fee-based.
7) Adds language to describe the California Child Care
Initiative Project-Quality Plan Program.
8) Adds language to describe the Growing, Learning, Caring
Project regarding the training of license-exempt child
care providers.
9) Adds language to clarify the role of R&Rs in providing
maximum parent choice and maximum access to services in
order to conform to existing R&R regulations; adds the
requirement for R&Rs to provide information to parents
about how to select child care that meets their needs,
licensing
requirements, and eligibility for subsidized care, and
to give a range of child care alternatives to parents.
10) Adds a new code section outlining the R&Rs role in the
implementation of Trustline for license-exempt providers
and to provide a cross-reference to the Health & Safety
Code.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "Over the
past thirty years, California's R&R services have
evolved from a grassroots effort helping parents find
child care, to a well-developed system that supports
parents, providers, and local communities in finding,
planning for, and providing affordable, quality child
care. While R&R agencies have evolved, the California
Code which governs them has not."
2) Why codify ? This bill appears to codify existing duties
and responsibilities of R&Rs. Bringing together the
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many references to R&Rs in the Health & Safety Code,
regulations and the Funding Terms and Conditions into
one area of the Education Code may provide greater
awareness of, and compliance with, roles,
responsibilities and requirements. However,
codification could create cost pressure to provide
additional funding for the services specified in this
bill.
3) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would not impose any significant
costs.
4) Technical amendment . Staff recommends amendments to
change any reference to R&R "agencies" to R&R
"programs."
SUPPORT
Advancement Project
BANANAS
California Alternative Payment Program
California Association for the Education of Young Children
California Child Care Resource & Referral Network
California Healthcare Institute
Child Action, Inc.
Childcare Coordinating Council of San Mateo County
Child Care Links
Child Care Resource Center
Choices for Children of El Dorado and Alpine Counties
Community Child Care Coordinating Council of Alameda County
Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County
Community Connection for Child Care
Community Resources for Children
Connections for Children
Contra Costa Child Care Council
Del Norte Child Care Council
Family Resource and Referral Center
Marin Child Care Council
Option - A Child Care and Human Services Agency
Pathways
Santa Cruz County Office of Education, Child Development
Resource and Referral
Center
Solano Family & Children's Services
Valley Oak Children's Services
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Wu Yee Children's Services
Numerous individuals
OPPOSITION
None received.