BILL ANALYSIS
SB 244
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 30, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall, Jr., Chair
SB 244 (Wright) - As Amended: June 1, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 28-11
SUBJECT : Children's services: high-risk children
SUMMARY : Requires the state Department of Education (CDE) to
conduct a study on expanding eligibility for priority enrollment
in child care and development programs. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires CDE to conduct a study on the feasibility of
providing priority enrollment in high-quality child care and
development programs for children from birth to five years of
age who are in the foster care system, in relative care or
reunification, or were formerly in the foster care system, who
are at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, are homeless,
or have a custodial parent who meets specified criteria.
2)Requires CDE to report its findings to the Governor and to
appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature by
December 31, 2010.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Early Learning Quality Improvement System
Advisory Committee, and requires the committee to submit a
report containing recommendations for the creation of an Early
Learning Quality Improvement System to the Legislature and the
Governor by December 31, 2010.
2)Provides that, in order to be eligible for federal or state
subsidized child development services, families must, among
other requirements, come within at least one of the following
categories:
a) A current aid recipient (i.e., California Work
Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program (CalWORKs)
recipient);
b) Income eligible;
SB 244
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c) Homeless; or,
d) One whose children are recipients of Child Protective
Services (CPS) or whose children have been identified as
being abused, neglected, or exploited; or at risk of being
abused, neglected, or exploited.
3)Establishes priorities for enrollment in federal or state
subsidized child development services, which serve children
from birth to twelve years of age and older children with
exceptional needs, as follows:
a) First priority is for neglected or abused children who
are recipients of CPS, or children who are at risk of being
neglected or abused; and,
b) Second priority is for income eligible families,
regardless of the number of parents in the home. Within
this priority, families with the lowest gross monthly
income relative to family size are admitted first.
4)Establishes priorities for enrollment in state preschool
programs, which serve children from three to five years of age
from low-income families, as follows:
a) First priority is for three- or four-year old neglected
or abused children who are recipients of CPS or who are at
risk of being neglected, abused, or exploited; and,
b) Second priority is for eligible four-year old children
prior to enrolling eligible three-year old children.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill originally proposed expanding 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. It was
amended in the Senate Appropriations Committee to instead
require a study of the feasibility of priority enrollment for
this category due to cost pressure concerns.
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Background : The state's subsidized child care and development
system serves nearly 700,000 families. Care is provided to
children in families receiving CalWORKs as well as to other
low-income working families subject to available resources. The
state spends a total of $3.1 billion on child care, of which
$1.4 billion are federal funds from the Temporary Assistance to
Needy Families and the Child Care and Development Block grants.
However, an estimated 220,000 eligible children do not receive
services and remain on the Centralized Eligibility List due to a
shortage of child care resources. Thus, priority enrollment can
often determine whether or not a child receives child care and
development services, which are essential to allowing parents to
work and children to prepare for school.
According to the author, many child care and development
programs already give priority to neglected or abused children
who are recipients of CPS and recipients who are at risk of
abuse or neglect, according to a written referral. However,
children are often not allowed to remain in programs if they
move, and children are only given priority enrollment if they
are at immediate risk of abuse or neglect.
Need for the bill : According to the author, "Because state
resources are limited, openings in programs with child care
licenses or operated by local education agencies should be given
to children with the greatest ability to benefit because they
are at higher risk of developmental delays, disabilities and
social-emotional problems. These difficulties will not only
alter the children's life trajectory but also increase future
public expenditures related to education, social services,
juvenile justice, and unemployment."
Analysis : While expanding priority enrollment in child care and
development services to the categories of children listed is a
laudable goal, it is not clear whether the study required by
this bill would markedly improve knowledge about the feasibility
of providing such priority enrollment. This bill lists few
specific requirements or guidelines for the study requested and
may be too broad to receive the information necessary to draw
conclusions on the feasibility of expanding priority enrollment
to these categories. The author may wish to consider whether
the information requested by this bill could be incorporated
into the report on evaluating and improving child development
programs by the Early Learning Quality Improvement System
Advisory Committee, due by December 31, 2010.
SB 244
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Technical amendment : Staff understands that it is the author's
intent to conduct a study regarding the feasibility of providing
priority enrollment in child care and development programs to,
among other categories, children from birth to age five who have
a custodial parent in the foster care system, on probation or
parole, or in a correctional or residential treatment facility.
However, the language of this bill is unclear as to whether the
phrase "or are on probation or parole" in line six of page four
of this bill refers to the child or the custodial parent. Staff
recommends a technical amendment to remove the words "or are."
Related legislation : AB 769 (Torres) of 2009 expands priority
enrollment in state-funded preschool programs to children who
have a biological parent who is, or who has been within the
previous six months, under the jurisdiction of the delinquency
or dependency court. AB 769 is currently pending on the Senate
Floor third reading file.
AB 659 (Ma) of 2008 would have allowed San Francisco to
supersede state law, on a pilot project basis, to ensure
continuity of child care for families whose children are no
longer eligible to attend a locally funded program. Children of
these families would have been allowed to transfer to a state or
federally funded program. This bill was vetoed by the Governor,
whose veto message read:
"The continuity of services in child care settings is a
laudable goal. However, this bill would create a negative
incentive for the county to rely on the availability of state
and federally funded programs to alleviate their local program
needs, rather than maximizing their local funds to create a
comprehensive child care delivery system.
"The bill would also create significant Proposition 98 General
Fund cost pressure to expand state child care programs at a
time of fiscal challenge."
SB 1629 (Steinberg), Chapter 307, Statutes of 2008, established
the Early Learning Quality Improvement System Advisory Committee
to develop recommendations on how to evaluate and improve the
quality of child development programs serving children from
birth to age five and established a framework for future
resources necessary to improve the quality of child development
programs.
SB 244
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Los Angeles County Education Foundation (sponsor)
Los Angeles County Office of Education (co-sponsor)
Alameda County Office of Education
Association of California School Administrators
Compton, City of, Office of the City Manager
Compton Unified School District
Maria's Italian Kitchen
National Association of Social Workers, CA Chapter
Santa Clara County Office of Education
The Sally & Dick Roberts Coyote Foundation
Toberman Neighborhood Center
1 Individual
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Beth Griffiths / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089