BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1944
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1944 (Garcia)
As Introduced February 19, 2014
Majority vote
EDUCATION 5-1 APPROPRIATIONS 13-4
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Gonzalez, Nazarian, | |Bradford, |
| |Williams | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, |
| | | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Ch�vez |Nays:|Bigelow, Donnelly, Jones, |
| | | |Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Deletes the requirement for parents eligible for child
care and development services to complete a form certifying that
a before or after school program is not available for their 11
or 12 year old children. Specifically, this bill :
1)Deletes the provision specifying that a before or after school
program shall be considered not available when the parent
certifies in writing, on a form provided by the California
Department of Education (CDE) that is translated into the
parent's primary language, the reason or reasons why the
program would not meet the child care needs of the family.
2)Deletes the provision requiring each contractor to report
annually to the CDE the amount of savings resulting from the
requirement to place an 11 or 12 year old in a before or after
school program.
3)Deletes the provision requiring the CDE to annually report to
the Legislature the amount of savings statewide.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, unknown annual General Fund costs, not likely to
exceed $250,000. This assumes children no longer choose to be
served by before and after school programs and are instead
served by state child care programs.
AB 1944
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COMMENTS : The CDE administers a child care and development
system, maintaining 1,401 service contracts with approximately
758 public and private agencies supporting and providing
services to children from birth through 12 years of age.
Contractors include school districts, county offices of
education, cities, colleges, other public entities,
community-based organizations, and private agencies. In fiscal
year (FY) 2013-14, $2.1 billion was provided for child care and
development programs from state and federal funds, enrolling an
estimated 340,000 children. This is down from $2.669 billion
initially provided in the FY 2010-11 budget (prior to midyear
trigger cuts) with almost 416,000 slots. According to the
Legislative Analyst's Office, overall funding for child care and
development programs has decreased by almost $1 billion since
2008-09, with the elimination of 110,000 slots. The Governor's
proposed FY 2014-15 budget provides an increase of $66 million
over FY 2013-14 funds for a total of $2.2 billion for child care
and development programs to provide an estimated 343,000 child
care and preschool slots.
State and federal subsidized child care is provided through the
following: 1) eligibility for California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), or 2) based on income and
need for child care services. CalWORKs is a temporary cash aid
program for families with children. Child care is administered
in three stages to help a family transition from immediate,
short-term child care needs to stable, long-term child care as a
family becomes stable and is no longer reliant on CalWORKs aid.
Subsidized child care services are intended to assist recipients
in engaging in work or education/training required for receiving
aid.
Non-CalWORKs families and former CalWORKs recipients can also
receive subsidized child care if they meet income eligibility of
70% of state median income ($46,896 for a family of four) or if
they are recipients of child protective services and if they can
show need for child care services.
SB 1104 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee), Chapter 229,
Statutes of 2004, made a number of changes to social services
programs, including subsidized child care programs, in order to
achieve fiscal savings. One of the changes included the policy
AB 1944
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statement that it is the preference of the state to place
children 11 or 12 years of age in after school programs (the
After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program through the
2002 voter approved initiative, Proposition 49, and the
federally funded 21st Century High School After School Safety
and Enrichment for Teens Program prior to accessing subsidized
child care services. This provision was later amended to
include before school programs.
The ASES program provides almost $550 million annually for
before and after school programs for kindergarten through grade
nine students. School districts and county offices of education
are eligible for grants, although local governments and
nonprofit organizations working in partnership with local
educational agencies may also apply. The program requires
before school programs to operate one and a half hours a day and
after school programs to operate immediately after school until
6 p.m. for a minimum of 15 hours per week. Not every school has
an ASES program.
Under SB 1104, a parent who is eligible for subsidized child
care service may seek child care services if he or she is unable
to obtain before or after school program enrollment for his or
her 11 or 12 year old child, if the hours of service are
insufficient, or if the before or after school programs do not
work for the parents (too far from school, too far from home,
etc.). Any savings generated by the enrollment of 11 and 12
year old children in a before or after school program may be
maintained by the contractor for provision of services to other
children. Child care contractors are required to provide
parents with a form that must be available in a parent's primary
language. Parents must certify on the form why a before or
after school program does not work for them. Contractors are
required to submit an annual report to the CDE with the amount
of savings incurred as a result of 11 and 12 year old children
enrolling in a before or after school program instead of
subsidized child care and development programs. The CDE is
required to submit an annual report to the Legislature
indicating the amount of savings collected statewide.
This bill deletes the requirement for parents to complete the
form indicating why a before or after school program does not
work for the family, the requirement for the contractor to
submit an annual savings report to the CDE, and the requirement
AB 1944
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for CDE to submit an annual savings report to the Legislature.
According to the author, agencies report that parents that do
not complete the form or return an incomplete report have found
their child eliminated from an existing child care slot, while
agencies must devote time to track families with 11 and 12 year
old children and submit an annual report to the CDE. Agencies
have reported that the staff time needed to track families and
to submit the report far exceed the amount of savings that
result in placement of 11 and 12 year old children in before or
after school programs. The author states, "This proposal would
continue to support the placement of subsidized 11 and 12 year
old children in before and after school programs but eliminate
burdensome certified documentation required of parents and the
annual reports required from child care agencies."
The chart below is derived from the CDE's November 2013 report
to the Legislature:
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| |
| Preferred Placement for Children Ages Eleven or Twelve |
| |
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|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
| | FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 |
|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Number of agencies | 104 | 107 |
|that reported | | |
|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Number of children | 813 | 436 |
|who were served by | | |
|before or after | | |
|school programs | | |
|instead of | | |
|CDE-subsidized child | | |
|care and development | | |
|programs | | |
|---------------------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Estimated Savings | $484,318 |$258,233 |
|(As to Education | | |
|Code Section | | |
|8263.4(g)) | | |
| | | |
AB 1944
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Source: California Department of Education: Report to the
Legislature: Preferred Placement for Children Ages Eleven or
Twelve: Savings Resulting from Implementation
The California Alternative Payment Program Association, the
sponsor of the bill, states, "This change is needed by families
who consistently have reported that the before and after school
programs simply do not meet their full time, off hour, and year
round care needs. The change is also needed by community based
contractors whose cost to oversee, track and submit annual
reports far outweighs any savings."
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0003796