BILL NUMBER: SB 192 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu
FEBRUARY 7, 2013
An act to amend Sections 8202, 8214, 8220.5, and 8352 of the
Education Code, relating to child care.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 192, as introduced, Liu. Child care: early learning and school
support resources.
The Child Care and Development Services Act (act), administered by
the State Department of Education, provides that children from
infancy to 13 years of age and their parents are eligible, with
certain requirements, for child care and development services. The
act declares the intent of the Legislature that all families have
accesses to child care and development services through resource and
referral programs, as specified.
This bill would additionally declare the intent of the Legislature
that all children in California have access to high-quality early
learning and education support programs so that they thrive in their
early learning settings and succeed throughout kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as specified.
The act provides that child care resource and referral services
shall be provided to all persons requesting services and to all types
of child care providers, regardless of income level or other
eligibility criteria. The act provides for child care alternative
payment programs, the purpose of which is to provide for parental
choice in child care, and requires those programs to provide support
services to families, including information to parents to assist them
in making informed choices. Existing law also requires that child
care be provided in 3 stages to recipients of benefits under the
California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs)
program. The first stage of child care begins upon the entry of a
person into the CalWORKs program. The 2nd stage of child care begins
when a county determines that the work or approved work activity of
the recipient is stable or when a recipient is making the transition
off of aid and child care. The 3rd stage of child care, which is
administered by programs contracting with the department, begins when
a funded child care space becomes available for the child or
children of the eligible CalWORKs recipient.
This bill would require child care resource and referral programs
to provide information about certain child care services available
when a family is determined eligible for child care and development
services or recertified as eligible for those services under the
alternative payment program or stages 2 or 3 of the CalWORKs program.
The bill would require child care resource and referral agencies to
give priority to providing information about safe, caring, and
age-appropriate early learning and school support environments for
children as well as environments that support the parents' work
activity. The bill would require the department to develop and
certify a list of high-quality early learning and school support
resources and to post the list on its Internet Web site. The bill
would provide that in providing information about child care, child
care resource and referral agencies may use resources from the
department's certified list or local resources, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 8202 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8202. It is the intent of the Legislature that:
(a) All children in California have access to high-quality early
learning and education support programs so that they thrive in their
early learning settings and succeed throughout kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive. It is further the intent of the
Legislature that this be accomplished through the creation of a
comprehensive early learning and school support system for children
from birth through third grade that will promote both of the
following:
(1) Access to safe, high-quality programs.
(2) Comprehensive support for the development of the whole child,
including healthy physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth
and development.
(a)
(b) All families have access to child care and
development services, through resource and referral services, where
appropriate, regardless of ethnic status, cultural background, or
special needs. It is further the intent that subsidized child care
and development services be provided to persons meeting the
eligibility criteria established under this chapter to the extent
funding is made available by the Legislature and Congress.
(b) The healthy physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth
and development of children be supported.
(c) Families achieve and maintain their personal, social,
economic, and emotional stability through an opportunity to attain
financial stability through employment, while maximizing growth and
development of their children, and enhancing their parenting skills
through participation in child care and development programs.
(d) Community-level coordination in support of child care and
development services be encouraged.
(e) Families have a choice of programs that allow for maximum
involvement in planning, implementation, operation, and evaluation of
child care and development programs.
(f) Parents and families be fully informed of their rights and
responsibilities to evaluate the quality and safety of child care
programs, including, but not limited to, their right to inspect child
care licensing files.
(g) Planning for expansion of child care and development programs
be based on ongoing local needs assessments.
(h) The Superintendent of Public Instruction ,
in providing funding to child care and development agencies, promote
a range of services which that will
allow parents the opportunity to choose the type of care most suited
to their needs. The program scope may include the following:
(1) Programs located in centers, family day care homes, or in the
child's own home.
(2) Services provided part-day, full-day, and during nonstandard
hours including weekend care, night and shift care, before and after
school care, and care during holidays and vacation.
(3) Child care services provided for infants, preschool, and
schoolage children.
(i) The Superintendent of Public Instruction be
responsible for the establishment of a public hearing process or
other public input process that ensures the participation of those
agencies directly affected by a particular section or sections of
this chapter.
SEC. 2. Section 8214 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8214. (a) Child care resources and referral
shall be provided to all persons requesting services and to all
types of child care providers, regardless of income level or other
eligibility criteria. In addition to the services prescribed by this
section, child care resource and referral may provide a wide variety
of parent and provider support and educational services.
(b) The information provided to parents pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 8220.5 shall be provided to all families determined
eligible for and receiving services through the alternative payment
programs established pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section
8220) and to all parents eligible for and receiving services through
the CalWORKs stage 2 and stage 3 programs pursuant to Article 15.5
(commencing with Section 8350). These services shall be provided at
the time the family is determined eligible for child care services
and at recertification of eligibility so that parents may make
informed choices about child care services available. Priority shall
be given to providing information about child care services that
offer a safe, caring, and age-appropriate early learning and school
support environment for children as well as an environment that
supports the parents' work activity. When providing information to
parents about high-quality early learning and school support options,
child care resource and referral agencies may use resources from the
certified list posted on the department's Internet Web site required
by subdivision (c) or may develop local resources that shall
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Licensing and trustline requirements for centers, family
homes, and homes exempt from licensure.
(2) Caretaker-child interactions.
(3) Caretaker experience with young children.
(4) Environments that support the healthy development of young
children.
(5) Daily or regular schedules, routines, and policies.
(6) Information on quality rating and improvement systems, where
available.
(c) The department shall develop and certify a list of
high-quality early learning and school support resources to provide
parents with information about high-quality options for child care.
The list of certified resources shall be posted and maintained on the
department's Internet Web site.
(d) The department shall make the resources described in
subdivision (c) available to both resource and referral programs and
alternative payment programs.
SEC. 3. Section 8220.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8220.5. To offer maximum support for parents and providers,
alternative payment programs shall have access to resource and
referral services. Funding shall be adequate to purchase care at the
fee charged the private client for the same service as well as to
provide locally designed support services for parents and providers.
In communities where there are no resource and referral
agencies, alternative Alternative payment
programs shall , in collaboration with the resource and referral
agencies in the county, provide the following support
services:
(a) Information (1)
At the time the family is determined eligible for child care services
and at recertification of eligibility, provide information for
parents to assist them in making informed choices about the
available types of care that offer a safe, caring, and
age-appropriate early learning and school support environment for
children as well as an environment that supports the parents' work
activities, including, but not limited to, information about
high-quality early learning and school support resources
identified pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 8214 .
(2) Where available, provide information on quality rating and
improvement systems.
(b) Professional and technical assistance and information for
providers.
(c) Parenting information.
SEC. 4. Section 8352 of the Education Code is amended to read:
8352. (a) As soon as appropriate, a county welfare department
shall refer families needing child care services to the local child
care resource and referral program funded pursuant to Article 2
(commencing with Section 8210). Resource and referral program staff
shall colocate with a county welfare department's case management
offices for aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of
Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any
successor program, or arrange other means of swift communication with
parents and case managers of this aid. The local child care resource
and referral program shall assist families to establish stable child
care arrangements as soon as possible. These child care arrangements
may include licensed and license-exempt care.
(b) In providing the support services required by Section 8220.5,
the resource and referral agencies in the county shall provide
information regarding high-quality early learning and school support
resources identified pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 8214.
Where available, that information shall include information on
quality rating and improvement systems.
(b)
(c) A program operating pursuant to this
article shall, within two business days of being notified of a
revocation or a temporary suspension order for a licensed child day
care facility, do both of the following:
(1) Terminate payment to the facility.
(2) Notify each parent and the facility in writing that payment
has been terminated and the reason for the termination.
(c)
(d) A program operating pursuant to this article shall,
upon being notified that a licensed child care facility has been
placed on probation, provide written notice to each parent utilizing
the facility that the facility has been placed on probation and that
the parent has the option of selecting a different child day care
provider or remaining with the facility without risk of subsidy
payments to the provider being terminated. The Legislature urges each
agency operating pursuant to this section to provide the written
notice required by this subdivision in the primary language of the
parent, to the extent feasible.