As used in this chapter:

(a)Alternative payments includes payments that are made by one child care agency to another agency or child care provider for the provision of child care and development services, and payments that are made by an agency to a parent for the parents purchase of child care and development services.

(b)Alternative payment program means a local government agency or nonprofit organization that has contracted with the department pursuant to Section 8220.1 to provide alternative payments and to provide support services to parents and providers.

(c)Applicant or contracting agency means a school district, community college district, college or university, county superintendent of schools, county, city, public agency, private nontax-exempt agency, private tax-exempt agency, or other entity that is authorized to establish, maintain, or operate services pursuant to this chapter. Private agencies and parent cooperatives, duly licensed by law, shall receive the same consideration as any other authorized entity with no loss of parental decisionmaking prerogatives as consistent with the provisions of this chapter.

(d)Assigned reimbursement rate is that rate established by the contract with the agency and is derived by dividing the total dollar amount of the contract by the minimum child day of average daily enrollment level of service required.

(e)Attendance means the number of children present at a child care and development facility. Attendance, for purposes of reimbursement, includes excused absences by children because of illness, quarantine, illness or quarantine of their parent, family emergency, or to spend time with a parent or other relative as required by a court of law or that is clearly in the best interest of the child.

(f)Capital outlay means the amount paid for the renovation and repair of child care and development facilities to comply with state and local health and safety standards, and the amount paid for the state purchase of relocatable child care and development facilities for lease to qualifying contracting agencies.

(g)Caregiver means a person who provides direct care, supervision, and guidance to children in a child care and development facility.

(h)Child care and development facility means a residence or building or part thereof in which child care and development services are provided.

(i)Child care and development programs means those programs that offer a full range of services for children from infancy to 13 years of age, for any part of a day, by a public or private agency, in centers and family child care homes. These programs include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1)General child care and development.

(2)Migrant child care and development.

(3)Child care provided by the California School Age Families Education Program (Article 7.1 (commencing with Section 54740) of Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2).

(4)California state preschool program.

(5)Resource and referral.

(6)Child care and development services for children with exceptional needs.

(7)Family child care home education network.

(8)Alternative payment.

(9)Schoolage community child care.

(j)Child care and development services means those services designed to meet a wide variety of needs of children and their families, while their parents or guardians are working, in training, seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite. These services may include direct care and supervision, instructional activities, resource and referral programs, and alternative payment arrangements.

(k)Children at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation means children who are so identified in a written referral from a legal, medical, or social service agency, or emergency shelter.

(l)Children with exceptional needs means either of the following:

(1)Infants and toddlers under three years of age who have been determined to be eligible for early intervention services pursuant to the California Early Intervention Services Act (Title 14 (commencing with Section 95000) of the Government Code) and its implementing regulations. These children include an infant or toddler with a developmental delay or established risk condition, or who is at high risk of having a substantial developmental disability, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 95014 of the Government Code. These children shall have active individualized family service plans, shall be receiving early intervention services, and shall be children who require the special attention of adults in a child care setting.

(2)Children 3 to 21 years of age, inclusive, who have been determined to be eligible for special education and related services by an individualized education program team according to the special education requirements contained in Part 30 (commencing with Section 56000) of Division 4 of Title 2, and who meet eligibility criteria described in Section 56026 and, Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 56333) of Chapter 4 of Part 30 of Division 4 of Title 2, and Sections 3030 and 3031 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. These children shall have an active individualized education program, shall be receiving early intervention services or appropriate special education and related services, and shall be children who require the special attention of adults in a child care setting. These children include children with intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (also referred to as emotional disturbance), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities, who need special education and related services consistent with Section 1401(3)(A) of Title 20 of the United States Code.

(m)Closedown costs means reimbursements for all approved activities associated with the closing of operations at the end of each growing season for migrant child development programs only.

(n)Cost includes, but is not limited to, expenditures that are related to the operation of child care and development programs. Cost may include a reasonable amount for state and local contributions to employee benefits, including approved retirement programs, agency administration, and any other reasonable program operational costs. Cost may also include amounts for licensable facilities in the community served by the program, including lease payments or depreciation, downpayments, and payments of principal and interest on loans incurred to acquire, rehabilitate, or construct licensable facilities, but these costs shall not exceed fair market rents existing in the community in which the facility is located. Reasonable and necessary costs are costs that, in nature and amount, do not exceed what an ordinary prudent person would incur in the conduct of a competitive business.

(o)Elementary school, as contained in former Section 425 of Title 20 of the United States Code (the National Defense Education Act of 1958, Public Law 85-864, as amended), includes early childhood education programs and all child development programs, for the purpose of the cancellation provisions of loans to students in institutions of higher learning.

(p)Family child care home education network means an entity organized under law that contracts with the department pursuant to Section 8245 to make payments to licensed family child care home providers and to provide educational and support services to those providers and to children and families eligible for state-subsidized child care and development services. A family child care home education network may also be referred to as a family child care home system.

(q)Health services include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1)Referral, whenever possible, to appropriate health care providers able to provide continuity of medical care.

(2)Health screening and health treatment, including a full range of immunization recorded on the appropriate state immunization form to the extent provided by the Medi-Cal Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) and the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program (Article 6 (commencing with Section 124025) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code), but only to the extent that ongoing care cannot be obtained utilizing community resources.

(3)Health education and training for children, parents, staff, and providers.

(4)Followup treatment through referral to appropriate health care agencies or individual health care professionals.

(r)Higher educational institutions means the Regents of the University of California, the Trustees of the California State University, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and the governing bodies of any accredited private nonprofit institution of postsecondary education.

(s)Intergenerational staff means persons of various generations.

(t)Limited-English-speaking-proficient and non-English-speaking-proficient children means children who are unable to benefit fully from an English-only child care and development program as a result of either of the following:

(1)Having used a language other than English when they first began to speak.

(2)Having a language other than English predominantly or exclusively spoken at home.

(u)Parent means a biological parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, foster parent, caretaker relative, or any other adult living with a child who has responsibility for the care and welfare of the child.

(v)Program director means a person who, pursuant to Sections 8244 and 8360.1, is qualified to serve as a program director.

(w)Proprietary child care agency means an organization or facility providing child care, which is operated for profit.

(x)Resource and referral programs means programs that provide information to parents, including referrals and coordination of community resources for parents and public or private providers of care. Services frequently include, but are not limited to: technical assistance for providers, toy-lending libraries, equipment-lending libraries, toy- and equipment-lending libraries, staff development programs, health and nutrition education, and referrals to social services.

(y)Severely disabled children are children with exceptional needs from birth to 21 years of age, inclusive, who require intensive instruction and training in programs serving pupils with the following profound disabilities: autism, blindness, deafness, severe orthopedic impairments, serious emotional disturbances, or severe intellectual disabilities. Severely disabled children also include those individuals who would have been eligible for enrollment in a developmental center for handicapped pupils under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 56800) of Part 30 of Division 4 of Title 2 as it read on January 1, 1980.

(z)Short-term respite child care means child care service to assist families whose children have been identified through written referral from a legal, medical, or social service agency, or emergency shelter as being neglected, abused, exploited, or homeless, or at risk of being neglected, abused, exploited, or homeless. Child care is provided for less than 24 hours per day in child care centers, treatment centers for abusive parents, family child care homes, or in the childs own home.

(aa)(1)Site supervisor means a person who, regardless of his or her title, has operational program responsibility for a child care and development program at a single site. A site supervisor shall hold a permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing that authorizes supervision of a child care and development program operating in a single site. The Superintendent may waive the requirements of this subdivision if the Superintendent determines that the existence of compelling need is appropriately documented.

(2)For California state preschool programs, a site supervisor may qualify under any of the provisions in this subdivision, or may qualify by holding an administrative credential or an administrative services credential. A person who meets the qualifications of a program director under both Sections 8244 and 8360.1 is also qualified under this subdivision.

(ab)Standard reimbursement rate means that rate established by the Superintendent pursuant to Section 8265.

(ac)Startup costs means those expenses an agency incurs in the process of opening a new or additional facility before the full enrollment of children.

(ad)California state preschool program means part-day and full-day educational programs for low-income or otherwise disadvantaged three- and four-year-old children.

(ae)Support services means those services that, when combined with child care and development services, help promote the healthy physical, mental, social, and emotional growth of children. Support services include, but are not limited to: protective services, parent training, provider and staff training, transportation, parent and child counseling, child development resource and referral services, and child placement counseling.

(af)Teacher means a person with the appropriate permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing who provides program supervision and instruction that includes supervision of a number of aides, volunteers, and groups of children.

(ag)Underserved area means a county or subcounty area, including, but not limited to, school districts, census tracts, or ZIP Code areas, where the ratio of publicly subsidized child care and development program services to the need for these services is low, as determined by the Superintendent.

(ah)Workday means the time that the parent requires temporary care for a child for any of the following reasons:

(1)To undertake training in preparation for a job.

(2)To undertake or retain a job.

(3)To undertake other activities that are essential to maintaining or improving the social and economic function of the family, are beneficial to the community, or are required because of health problems in the family.

(ai)Three-year-old children means children who will have their third birthday on or before the date specified December 1 of the fiscal year in which they are enrolled in a California state preschool program, as follows: program.

(aj)Four-year-old children means children who will have their fourth birthday on or before the date specified September 1 of the fiscal year in which they are enrolled in a California state preschool program, as follows: program.

(ak)Local educational agency means a school district, a county office of education, a community college district, or a school district on behalf of one or more schools within the school district.