BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1123
AUTHOR: Liu
AMENDED: April 3, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 9, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Early education.
SUMMARY
This bill modifies Title 5 general child care and development
programs serving children from birth to age three to require,
among other things, providers to have at least one teacher in
each classroom that holds a child development teacher permit by
July 1, 2019.
BACKGROUND
State-funded programs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |License-Exempt |Title 22 |Title 22 |Title 5 |
| |Providers |FCCHs |Centers |Centersb |
|--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Staff |None. |15 hours of health |Child Development |Child Development |
|Qualifications | |and safety |Associate |Teacher Permit (24 |
| | |training. |Credential or 12 |units of ECE/CD |
| | | |units in ECE/CD.c |plus 16 general |
| | | | |education units).d |
|--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Staffing Ratios |None. |1:6 adult-child |1:12 teacher-child |1:24 teacher-child |
| | |ratio. |ratio or 1 teacher |and 1:8 adult-child |
| | | |and 1 aide per 15 |ratio. |
| | | |children. | |
|--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Health and Safety |Criminal background |Staff and |Same as Title 22 |Same as Title 22 |
|Standards |check. |volunteers are |FCCHs. |FCCHs. |
| |Self-certification |finger printed. | | |
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| |of certain health |Subject to health | | |
| |and safety |and safety | | |
| |standards. |standards. | | |
|--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Content Standards |None. |None. |None. |Requires |
| | | | |developmentally |
| | | | |appropriate |
| | | | |activities. |
|--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Monitoring |None. |Unannounced visits |Same as Title 22 |Same as Title 22 |
| | |by CCL every five |FCCHs. |FCCHs, but also |
| | |years or more | |onsite reviews by |
| | |frequently under | |CDE every three |
| | |special | |years (or as |
| | |circumstances. | |resources allow) |
| | | | |and annual outcome |
| | | | |reports. |
|--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Applicable Programs |CalWORKs, AP |CalWORKs, AP |CalWORKs, AP |General Child Care, |
| |Program |Program |Program |Migrant Child Care, |
| | | | |State Preschool |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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|a Standards for children of other ages similar to those |
|displayed here. |
| |
| |
|b Same standards apply to Title 5 family child care network |
|homes. |
| |
| |
|c The Child Development Associate Credential is issued by the |
|National Credentialing Program of the Council for Professional |
|Recognition. |
| |
| |
|d The Child Development Teacher Permit is issued by |
|California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing. |
| |
| |
|FCCHs = family child care homes; ECE/CD = Early Childhood |
|Education/Child Development; CCL = Community Care Licensing; |
|CDE = California Department of Education; and AP = Alternative |
|Payment. |
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Teacher qualifications
Existing requirements for a child development teacher permit
(for State Preschool, and general child care and development)
include 24 units in early childhood education or child
development, 16 units in general education, and 175 hours of
experience in an instructional capacity in a child care and
development program. The child development teacher permit is
issued for five years and is renewable for successive five-year
periods upon completion of 105 hours of professional growth.
Existing requirements for a child development associate teacher
permit, which authorizes the holder to provide instruction,
include 12 units in early childhood education or child
development, and 50 days of experience in an instructional
capacity in a child care and development program. The child
development associate teacher permit is issued for five years
and is renewable once, for a total of two issuances. To renew,
the holder must complete at least 15 semester units toward the
child development teacher permit. By the end of the ten year
period, the holder must meet the requirements for the child
development teacher permit.
http://ctc.ca.gov/credentials/leaflets/cl797.pdf
Staff ratios
Current law establishes the following staffing ratios for
center-based programs:
1) Infants, birth to two years old - 3:1 child-to-adult
ratio, and 18:1 child-to-teacher ratio.
2) Infants and toddlers, birth to two years old - 4:1
child-to-adult ratio, and 16:1 child-to-teacher ratio.
3) Children three to six years old - 8:1 child-to-adult
ratio, and 24:1 child-to-teacher ratio.
4) Children six to 10 years old - 14:1 child-to-adult ratio,
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and 28:1 child-to-teacher ratio.
5) Children 10 to 13 years old - 18:1 child-to-adult ratio,
and 36:1 child-to-teacher ratio. (Education Code �
8264.8)
Full-day
Current law provides that three- and four-year olds are
eligible for wraparound child care services to supplement
part-day State Preschool if the family is eligible for State
Preschool and the parents need care for at least one of the
following reasons:
1) The child is a recipient of protective services, or at
risk.
2) The parents are engaged in vocational training, as
specified, employed or seeking employment, seeking
permanent housing, or are incapacitated.
(EC � 8239)
ANALYSIS
This bill modifies Title 5 general child care and development
programs serving children from birth to age three to require,
among other things, providers to have at least one teacher in
each classroom that holds a child development teacher permit by
July 1, 2019. Specifically, this bill:
This bill
1) Provides that general child care services for infants and
toddlers is to be known as California Strong Start
services, and requires services for children from birth to
age three to include but not be limited to:
a) Parent engagement and support services that
promote positive
parent-child relationships.
b) Full-day early learning and care services.
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c) Part-day early learning and care services.
d) Voluntary home visitation services.
e) Nutrition services.
f) Referrals to needed services such as health and
dental care, child
abuse prevention, housing, and early childhood mental
health.
2) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
develop standards, rules, and regulations for the
implementation of high-quality, evidence-based
infant-toddler services, based on but not limited to the
federal Early Head Start model. This bill requires the
standards, rules and regulations to achieve the following:
a) Promote language rich environments, including
supporting a child's
home language and English acquisition.
b) Promote responsive caregiving by parents,
guardians, and care
providers.
c) Be based on the Infant/Toddler Learning and
Development
Foundations.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itfoundations.asp
Provider qualifications
3) Requires, by July 1, 2019, child care and development
providers to have at least one teacher in each classroom
that holds at a minimum a child development teacher permit
issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).
4) Requires the CTC, by July 1, 2017, to review and amend the
Child Development Permit Matrix to include the following
requirements:
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a) Teachers and caregivers of infants and toddlers
must obtain six
units in infant and toddler development.
b) Each permit holder must have an individual
professional
development plan that includes a minimum of 21 hours
of annual training, and the training must include
in-classroom coaching (coaching may account for up to
10 of the 21 hours of annual training).
Eligibility
5) Adds an eligibility threshold (for State Preschool, and
general child care and development), in addition to the
existing threshold of having an income at or below 70% of
the state median income (adjusted for family size), to
provide eligibility for four-year olds enrolled in
transitional kindergarten who are eligible for free and
reduced-price lunch, Cal-Fresh, or Medi-Cal. This bill
establishes, beginning with the 2014-15 fiscal year,
income eligibility limits as no less than 70% of the state
median income for the prior fiscal year, adjusted for
family size.
Supplemental grants
6) Requires a family engagement supplemental grant to be
available to qualifying service providers, as determined
by the SPI, at a rate of $1,000 per eligible child.
7) Requires a voluntary home visitation supplemental grant to
be available to qualifying service providers, as
determined by the SPI. This bill establishes a rate of
$2,500 per child for those who receive full-day early
learning and care services, and a rate of $6,000 per child
for those who receive part-day early learning and care
services.
8) Authorizes a countywide or regional consortium of
providers, with a lead grantee agency that is a First 5
commission, county office of education, or other local
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public agency, to apply to the SPI for a countywide or
regional grant for the total amount of eligible children.
This bill provides that these grants are dependent upon
appropriation in the Budget Act or another measure, for
purposes of funding general child care services.
9) Requires the SPI to distribute family engagement and
voluntary home visitation supplemental grants to provide
evidence-based parent training services, and
evidence-based voluntary home visitation services, as
defined in the California Department of Social Services'
California Evidenced-Based Clearing House for Child
Welfare.
Adjustment factors for additional expenses
10) Increases adjustment factors (which are multiplied by
enrollment of certain populations of children) as follows:
a) Infants, from 1.7 to 2.3.
b) Toddlers, from 1.4 to 1.8.
c) Infants and toddlers in a family child care
home, from 1.4 to 1.8.
11)Provides that California Strong Start service providers are to
have the flexibility
to combine early learning and care services with one or
more of the additional services described in #1 above,
based on the needs of the children and families served.
State Preschool
12) Eliminates the family fee for part-day preschool programs.
13) Modifies priority for State Preschool relative to
four-year olds to specify that priority is for four-year
olds who are not enrolled in transitional kindergarten.
14)Deletes the requirement that State Preschool programs operating
with
carryover funds (from prior years) have at least of
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their enrollment be children who are four-years old. This
bill also deletes the requirement that funding for
expansion of State Preschool be prioritized for programs
servicing the highest percentage of four-year olds.
Staff ratios
15) This bill sunsets existing staff ratios on July 1, 2019,
and as of that date establishes the following minimum
ratios and group sizes:
a) Infants, birth to 18 months old - 4:1
child-to-adult, and 8:1 child-to-teacher for a group
size of eight; 3:1 child-to-adult, and 9:1
child-to-teacher for a group size of nine.
b) Toddlers, 18 months up to age three -
4:1 child-to-adult, and 12:1 child-to-teacher for a
group size of 12.
c) Preschool, at least 30 months to
kindergarten eligibility - 8:1 child-to-adult, and
24:1 child-to-teacher for a group size of 24; 10:1
child-to-adult, and 20:1 child-to-teacher for a group
size of 20.
d) Schoolage, kindergarten to age 13 -
14:1 child-to-adult, and 28:1 child-to-teacher.
16) Requires compliance with these ratios to be determined
based on actual attendance. This bill exempts family
child care home education networks from these ratios.
This bill authorizes providers to maintain these ratios
prior to
July 1, 2019.
Continuity of care
17) Deems a child who is enrolled in a state or federally
funded child care and development program as being
eligible for the remainder of the program year, in order
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to promote continuity of services.
18) Adds to existing indicators of quality early education and
care programs to include support in addition to family
education, and for services for infants and toddlers,
continuity of care and the assignment of primary
caregivers.
Miscellaneous
19) Authorizes California Strong Start service providers to
coordinate with First 5 commissions, voluntary home
visitation programs, Early Head Start, child care, child
welfare, early childhood mental health and intervention
including Early Start, and health and nutrition services.
20) States legislative findings and declarations relative to a
comprehensive and adequately funded early learning and
educational support system for children from birth to five
years of age, and states legislative intent that the
expansion of transitional kindergarten does not adversely
impact access to early care and education opportunities
for infants and toddlers.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Strong Start . This bill increases standards for Title 5
programs serving children from birth to three years old,
focusing on this age group because of the importance of
early brain development as well as the fact that older
children have more opportunities to attend a high-quality
early education program such as State Preschool or
transitional kindergarten. As indicated in a recent
report issued by the Legislative Analyst, "only a small
share of children in subsidized child care birth through
age three may access programs that are required to include
cognitive development."
http://lao.ca.gov/reports/2014/education/child-care/restruc
turing-child-care-system-040414.pdf
2) Provider qualifications . This bill requires, by July 1,
2019, providers of child care and development to infants
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and toddlers to have at least one teacher in each
classroom that holds at a minimum a child development
teacher permit issued by the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing (CTC). Current law requires a provider to
have an associate teacher permit. The difference in
educational requirements for these permits is that
associate teachers must have 12 units in early childhood
education or child development, while teachers must have
24 units, plus 16 units in general education.
This bill requires, by July 1, 2019, a provider of care to
infants and toddlers to also have 6 units in infant and
toddler development. Current law does not require the
units in early childhood education or child development to
be specific to infants and toddlers.
This bill requires the CTC, by July 1, 2017, to review and
amend the Child Development Permit Matrix to include,
among other things, that each permit holder have an
individual professional development plan that includes a
minimum of 21 hours of annual training, and the training
must include in-classroom coaching (coaching may account
for up to 10 of the 21 hours of annual training). Holders
of teacher permits must currently complete 105 hours of
professional development over a five year period.
In-classroom coaching is not currently a requirement for
professional development.
It is not clear where staff will complete this coursework
(presumably at community colleges). Will the necessary
coursework be available and accessible, particularly for
the workforce in areas that are not near a community
college? How much will it cost, and how will it be paid
for? Who will provide the in-classroom coaching? Is the
July 1, 2019, deadline sufficient time for the workforce
to complete these requirements?
3) What if current providers do not meet the new
requirements ? It appears that providers may continue to
serve schoolage children under existing staff
qualifications and requirements, and may serve children
who are birth to age three but as Title 22 providers,
rather than pursuant to Title 5.
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4) Eligibility . This bill adds an eligibility threshold (for
State Preschool, and general child care and development),
in addition to the existing threshold of having an income
at or below 70% of the state median income (adjusted for
family size), to provide eligibility for four-year olds
enrolled in transitional kindergarten who are eligible for
free and reduced-price lunch, Cal-Fresh, or Medi-Cal.
This provision is meant to identify low-income children
who may need access to part-day wraparound services for
the part of the day not spent in transitional
kindergarten.
5) Continuity of care . This bill deems a child who is
enrolled in a state or federally funded child care and
development program as being eligible for the remainder of
the program year, in order to promote continuity of
services. The result is that children would maintain
their "slot" over any children on the waiting list.
Currently, if a program has an available "slot" it could
be filled by a child on a waiting list, while pursuant to
this bill, that child would remain on the list because the
"slot" is maintained for a child currently receiving care.
There were an estimated 200,000 children on the
Centralized Eligibility List, which was recently abolished
due to budget reductions.
6) Staffing ratios and adjustment factors . This bill
modifies staffing ratios relative to serving infants and
toddlers to split those groups at age 18 months (rather
than two years of age), add group sizes, and match ratios
for preschools to ratios for Head Start as well as
proposed ratios for expanded transitional kindergarten.
This bill increases adjustment factors, which multiplies days
of enrollment by the adjustment factor to reflect the
additional expense of serving infants, toddlers, children
with exceptional needs, children at risk of neglect or
abuse, and children who are English learners.
This bill does not change reimbursement rates. Between 2008-09
and 2012-13, child care and preschool programs saw a
reduction in state funding of approximately $984 million,
and a reduction of approximately 110,000 slots. In
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addition to reducing slots, several policy changes were
made to reduce state spending:
a) Maintained the regional market rate at 2005
levels, and the standard reimbursement rate at 2007
levels.
b) Reduced the regional market rate for
license-exempt providers from 90% to 60% of licensed
rates.
c) Lowered income eligibility thresholds from 75%
to 70% of the state median income.
d) Exempted CalWORKs recipients with very young
children from work requirements (thereby eliminating
the need for child care).
e) Implemented family fees for part-day preschool.
7) Family fee for part-day preschool . This bill eliminates
the family fee for part-day State Preschool because
children who are eligible for this program must be
low-income. It is estimated that the elimination of this
fee will result in a reduction of $3.3 million in funds
for this program.
8) Fiscal impact . This bill does not identify a funding
source, although it may be possible to direct "savings"
from a separate proposal to shift four-year olds to
transitional kindergarten.
9) Related legislation . SB 837 (Steinberg) expands
eligibility for transitional kindergarten to all four-year
olds, phased in over a four year period beginning in the
2015-16 school year. SB 837 is scheduled to be heard by
this Committee on April 9.
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AB 1902 (Bonta), among other things, eliminates the family fee
for part-day preschool. AB 1902 is pending in the
Assembly Education Committee.
AB 273 (Rendon) would have established the California
Partnership for Infants and Toddlers Act to provide
supplemental funding to serve infants and toddlers from
birth to three years of age. AB 273 was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
None on file.
OPPOSITION
None on file.