Amended in Senate March 26, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1123

Introduced by Senator Liu

February 19, 2014

An act to begin insert amend Section 8239 of the Education Code, end insert relating to child care and development.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1123, as amended, Liu. Child care and development: begin delete California Strong Start program. end delete begin insert California State Preschool Program: part-day preschool: fees. end insert

begin insert

Under existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act is enacted for, among other purposes, the purpose of providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and development services for children from infancy to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer all California state preschool programs. Existing law requires those programs to include, but not be limited to, part-day age and developmentally appropriate programs designed to facilitate the transition to kindergarten for 3- and 4- year-old children in educational development, health services, social services, nutritional services, parent education and parent participation, evaluation, and staff development.

end insert begin insert

Existing law requires fees to be assessed and collected for families with children in part-day preschool programs.

end insert begin insert

This bill would eliminate the requirement for families to be assessed these fees for part-day preschool programs and would make a conforming change.

end insert begin delete

The Child Care and Development Services Act requires the State Department of Education to be the single state agency responsible for the promotion, development, and provision of care of children in the absence of their parents during the workday or while engaged in activities that require assistance of a third party. The act requires the department to develop prekindergarten learning development guidelines. The act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop standards for the implementation of quality programs.

end delete begin delete

This bill would state that it is the Legislature’s intent to enact legislation that would establish the California Strong Start program by redesigning the General Child Care Program for infants and toddlers into a comprehensive, evidence-based, locally controlled program, in order to improve the healthy development and school readiness of California’s most vulnerable children.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) The first three years of life are a period of dynamic and
unparalleled brain development in which children acquire the
ability to think, speak, learn, and reason. During these first 36
months, children need good health, strong families, and positive
early learning experiences to lay the foundation for later school
success. Low-income infants and toddlers are at a greater risk for
a variety of poorer outcomes and vulnerabilities, such as later
school failure, learning disabilities, behavior problems,
developmental delay, and health impairments.

(b) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to administer child care and development programs, including the
General Child Care and Development Program that provides
services to eligible low-income children from birth to 13 years of
age. For children birth to three years of age, the General Child
Care Program funds centers and family child care home networks
to provide full-day, full year child care and development services
that meet the State Department of Education’s Infant/Toddler
Learning and Development Foundations.

(c) The federal Early Head Start program serves low-income
infants and toddlers with a flexible program model intended to
meet the varied needs of families, including child care and
development services, family engagement and support, home
visitation services, and health services. Research shows that
children who participated in Early Head Start had significantly
larger vocabularies and scored higher on standardized measures
of cognitive development, and that children and parents had more
positive interactions, and parents provided more support for
learning. Many different home visiting programs have been shown
to significantly reduce the occurrence of child maltreatment and
abuse, and improve children’s health and school success.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 8239 of the end insert begin insert Education Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

8239.  

The Superintendent shall encourage state preschool
program applicants or contracting agencies to offer full-day
services through a combination of part-day preschool slots and
wraparound general child care and development programs. In order
to facilitate a full-day of services, all of the following shall apply:

(a) Part-day preschool programs provided pursuant to this
section shall operate between 175 and 180 days.

(b) Wraparound general child care and development programs
provided pursuant to this section may operate a minimum of 246
days per year unless the child development contract specified a
lower minimum days of operation. Part-day general child care and
development programs may operate a full-day for the remainder
of the year after the completion of the preschool program.

(c) Part-day preschool services combined with wraparound child
care services shall be reimbursed at no more than the full-day
standard reimbursement rate for general child care programs with
adjustment factors, pursuant to Section 8265 and as determined in
the annual Budget Act.

(d) Three- and four-year-old children are eligible for wraparound
child care services to supplement the part-day California state
preschool program if the family meets at least one of the criteria
specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 8263, and
the parents meet at least one of the criteria specified in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (a) of Section 8263.

(e) Fees shall be assessed and collected for families begin delete with children
in part-day preschool programs, or families end delete receiving wraparound
child care services begin delete , or both, end delete pursuant to Article 11.5 (commencing
with Section 8273).

(f) The Superintendent shall annually report to the Department
of Finance, on or before October 1 of each year, the fees collected
from families who have children enrolled in the California state
preschool program. begin delete The report shall distinguish between family
fees collected for part-day preschool programs and fees collected
for wraparound child care services. end delete

(g) For purposes of this section, “wraparound child care
services” and “wraparound general child care and development
programs” mean services provided for the remaining portion of
the day or remainder of the year following the completion of
part-day preschool services that are necessary to meet the child
care needs of parents eligible pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
8263. These services shall be provided consistent with the general
child care and development programs provided pursuant to Article
8 (commencing with Section 8240).

begin delete

SEC. 2.  

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
that would establish the California Strong Start program by
redesigning the General Child Care Program for infants and
toddlers into a comprehensive, evidence-based, locally controlled
program, in order to improve the healthy development and school
readiness of California’s most vulnerable children.

end delete