BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           244 (Wright)
          
          Hearing Date:  05/28/2009           Amended: 05/20/2009
          Consultant:  Dan Troy           Policy Vote: ED 6-1
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:   SB 244 would expand eligibility for, and  
          priority enrollment in, child care and development programs to  
          children from birth to age five who are in relative care,  
          formerly in foster care and recently adopted, or who have a  
          custodial parent in the foster system, on probation or parole,  
          or in a correctional or residential treatment facility.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2009-10      2010-11       2011-12     Fund
                                                                  
          CDE workload                      $300 to $400   $50 to $60  $50  
          to $60           General

          Expanded eligibility     Cost pressure, potentially $100s        
          General*

          *Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding  
          guarantee
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
          
          Current law establishes eligibility for state and federal  
          subsidized child development services by requiring families to  
          be a current aid recipient, income eligible, homeless, or   
          recipients of protective services or whose children have been  
          identified as being abused, neglected, or exploited or at risk  
          of being abused, neglected, or exploited.  

          Current law establishes priorities for enrollment in federal or  
          state subsidized child development services as follows: 1) First  
          priority is for neglected or abused children who are recipients  
          of child protective services, or children who are at risk of  
          being neglected or abused; 2) Second priority shall be given  










          equally to eligible families regardless of the number of parents  
          in the home, who are income eligible.  Within the latter  
          priority, families with the lowest gross monthly income in  
          relation to family size must be admitted first.

          This bill would expand eligibility for, and priority enrollment  
          in, child care and development programs to children who are in  
          relative care, formerly in foster care and recently adopted, or  
          who have a custodial parent in the foster system, on probation  
          or parole, or in a correctional or residential treatment  
          facility, as specified. 

          The bill also provides that specified children have the right to  
          continuous enrollment in specified child care programs even if  
          the residence in which they are placed changes, if continued  
          enrollment is considered to be in the best interest of the  
          child.  

          The bill would also make conforming changes relating to  
          expanding eligibility for or priority enrollment to these  
          children, such as incorporating children in these 
          Page 2
          SB 244 (Wright)

          circumstances to be considered in the county needs assessment,  
          and make conforming adjustments to the centralized eligibility  
          list.

          Expanding the categories of children who are entitled to  
          priority enrollment for child care slots does not, in and of  
          itself, increase costs or cost pressures.  It merely reorders  
          the waiting list for services.  However, by extending  
          eligibility for child care and development services to children  
          who are in relative care, formerly in foster care and recently  
          adopted, or who have a custodial parent in the foster system, on  
          probation or parole, or in a correctional or residential  
          treatment facility, this bill may result in cost pressure to  
          expand funding for the program for children who may not  
          otherwise be income eligible.  While the scope of the expanded  
          eligibility is unknown, it should be noted that most children in  
          these circumstances do not have high incomes.  At an annual cost  
          of roughly $7,000 per slot, though, seemingly small adjustments  
          to eligibility can lead to cost pressures in the hundreds of  
          thousands.  

          This bill would result in one-time state operations costs for  










          the Department of Education (CDE) of between $300,000 and  
          $400,000 to expand regulations and the state's quality plan, to  
          make necessary adjustments to publications, and other assorted  
          conforming updates.  Ongoing workload would likely be in the  
          range of $50,000 to $60,000.