BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1872
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 9, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1872 (Alejo) - As Amended: April 12, 2012
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:4 - 2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires licensed family child care homes (FCCH) to
adhere to certain nutrition standards in the provision of meals
and snacks. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to inform all
current and prospective child care providers about the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food
Program (CACFP) by posting information on their website and
providing the information by any other means deemed
appropriate by DSS.
2)Requires that all FCCHs include, at a minimum, the amount of
food and the components specified in the CACFP.
3)Requires FCCHs to self-certify to the department whether they
understand the nutrition standards and the progress they are
making toward compliance.
4)Requires DSS to review whether or not an FCCH is complying
during their regularly scheduled monitoring inspection. If an
FCCH is found to be out of compliance, DSS is required provide
relevant nutrition information and training.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time GF costs in the range of $150,000 for the Department
of Social Services (DSS) to update licensing forms and
materials to include new nutrition requirements.
2)On-going annual workload costs of up to $100,000 GF for
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increased workload associated with DSS including the
requirements of this bill in their inspections and processing
the required annual self-certifications.
3)To the extent this requirement results in more FCCH providers
participating in CACFP, it would bring additional federal
nutrition funding to the state. There are currently over 75
million free and subsidized meals per year served to children
in FCCHs. If this bill increases that number by one percent,
it would result in an additional $1.5 million in federal
funding for CACFP. In addition, those meals would cost
approximately $42,000 in GF.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Current regulations require child care centers to
follow the CACFP meal pattern as a condition of licensure.
This means that all foods served in the licensed centers must
draw from the basic food groups (i.e., milk,
fruits/vegetables, grains/breads, and meat/meat alternatives).
However, family day care homes are not required to follow the
CACFP meal pattern or any other nutrition standards for meals
and snacks served. This bill would change that by treating
family child care homes the same as child care centers by
requiring them to follow the federal meal pattern as a
condition of licensure.
2)Background . Under the state Child Day Care Facilities Act,
child day care centers are required to provide safe and
healthy environments for children. Generally, these
facilities must comply with state mandated licensure
requirements in the following areas: fire clearance, capacity
determination, teacher to child ratio, indoor/outdoor space
requirements, staffing for water activities, administrator
qualifications, director qualifications, teacher and teacher
aide qualifications, and food service. There are currently
15,075 licensed center-based sites and 34,640 licensed family
child care homes in California, with capacity for 1.1 million
children from birth to 12 years of age. Generally, these
licensed facilities are inspected by DSS' community care
licensing division (CCLD) once every five years, barring
complaints or annual inspection requirements attached to
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certain types of federal funding.
By establishing nutritional standards as a condition of
licensure and as a condition for receipt of increase of CACFP
funds, the author believes this bill will put into practice
good eating habits that will decrease the likelihood of
childhood obesity and prevent adverse health conditions.
3)The USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program . (CACFP) is a
federal program that provides reimbursement for healthful
meals and snacks served to children and adults. CACFP
facilities follow the meal patterns established by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA):
Breakfast requires a serving of milk, fruit or vegetable
and bread or grain product.
Lunch and dinner consist of milk, bread or grain
product, meat or meat alternate, and two different servings
of fruits and/or vegetables.
Snacks include servings of milk, fruits or vegetables,
bread or grain product, or meat or meat alternate.
The federal government will reimburse providers who
participate in the CACFP. The current reimbursement rate for
child care homes is $1.24 per child for breakfast, $2.32 for
lunch, and $0.69 for snacks for fully subsidized children.
Currently, the state supplements the federal reimbursement for
CACFP with approximately 16 cents per meal for 75% of the
meals served.
1)Related Legislation . AB 2084 (Brownley), Chapter 593, Statutes
of 2010, requires a licensed child day care facility, as of
January 1, 2012, to follow specified requirements relating to
the provision of beverages.
In 2009, AB 627 (Brownley) would have established a 12-month
pilot project in which a number of licensed child care centers
and child day care homes that participate in the Child Care &
Adult Food Program (CACFP) would receive higher state meal
reimbursement to implement higher nutrition and physical
activity standards. That bill was vetoed by the governor due
to concerns over the shortage of GF/Proposition 98 funding.
In his veto message he wrote, "It is simply not possible to
initiate a new program in a fiscal environment such as this."
AB 1872
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Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081