SB 548: Child care: family child care providers: orientation training.
- Session Year: 2015-2016
- House: Senate
- Latest Version Date: 2015-09-16
Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks.
This bill would require the State Department of Education to ensure that all family child care providers, as defined, attend an in-person orientation training, as provided. The bill would require the orientation training to include at least 4 hours of instruction and include specified information, including minimum health and safety standards, as provided. The bill would authorize the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation training.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information, as provided.
The bill would provide that the above provisions are contingent upon an appropriation of funds for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks.
The bill would require the State Department of Education to ensure that all family child care providers, as defined, attend an in-person orientation training, as provided. The bill would require the orientation training to include at least 4 hours of instruction and include specified information, including minimum health and safety standards, as provided. The bill would authorize the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation training. The bill would provide that the above provisions are contingent upon an appropriation of funds for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or other statutes.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information, as provided.
The bill would provide that the above provisions are contingent upon an appropriation of funds for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks.
The bill would require the State Department of Education to ensure that all family child care providers, as defined, attend an in-person orientation training, as provided. The bill would require the orientation training to include at least 4 hours of instruction and include specified information, including minimum health and safety standards. standards, as provided. The bill would authorize the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation training. The bill would provide that the above provisions are contingent upon an appropriation of funds for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or other statutes.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information, as provided.
Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks.
This bill would authorize family child care providers, as defined, to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations, as defined, and to seek the certification of a provider organization to act as the exclusive representative for family child care providers on matters related to state-funded child care programs pursuant to a petition and election process overseen by the Public Employment Relations Board or a neutral 3rd party designated by the board.
The bill would require the State Department of Education to ensure that all family child care providers, as defined, attend an in-person orientation training, as provided. The bill would require the orientation training to include at least 4 hours of instruction and include specified information, including minimum health and safety standards. The bill would authorize the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation training. The bill would provide that the above provisions are contingent upon an appropriation of funds for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or other statutes.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information, as provided.
The bill would establish the scope of representation of the certified provider organization, and would require the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and other entities, to meet and confer in good faith with the certified provider organization on all matters within that scope of representation. The bill would require the parties to jointly prepare a memorandum of understanding if agreement is reached, which would be binding on all state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, that are involved in the administration of state-funded child care programs. The bill would authorize the parties, if, after a reasonable period of time they fail to reach agreement, to agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation or binding arbitration, and would authorize either party to declare that an impasse has been reached and request the Public Employment Relations Board to appoint a mediator or arbitrator from the service to perform mediation or binding arbitration.
The bill would authorize a certified provider organization to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments. The bill would prohibit provider organizations from calling strikes. The bill would prohibit the state and provider organizations from engaging in specified prohibited behavior with each other and providers.
The bill would require the Governor or his or her designee to perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, as provided, and would require the Governor or his or her designee to report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance on or before January 1, 2017, with his or her findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
The bill would require a certified provider organization and the state to form a Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement made up of specified individuals. Among other things, the bill would require the partnership to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers. The bill would require the certified provider organization to carry out the recommendations of the partnership.
Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks.
This bill would authorize family child care providers, as defined, to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations, as defined, and to seek the certification of a provider organization to act as the exclusive representative for family child care providers on matters related to state-funded child care programs pursuant to a petition and election process overseen by the Public Employment Relations Board or a neutral 3rd party designated by the board.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information, as provided.
The bill would establish the scope of representation of the certified provider organization, and would require the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and other entities, to meet and confer in good faith with the certified provider organization on all matters within that scope of representation. The bill would require the parties to jointly prepare a memorandum of understanding if agreement is reached, which would be binding on all state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, that are involved in the administration of state-funded child care programs. The bill would authorize the parties, if, after a reasonable period of time they fail to reach agreement, to agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation or binding arbitration, and would authorize either party to declare that an impasse has been reached and request the Public Employment Relations Board to appoint a mediator or arbitrator from the service to perform mediation or binding arbitration.
The bill would authorize a certified provider organization to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments. The bill would prohibit provider organizations from calling strikes. The bill would prohibit the state and provider organizations from engaging in specified prohibited behavior with each other and providers.
The bill would require the Governor or his or her designee to perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, as provided, and would require the Governor or his or her designee to report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance on or before January 1, 2017, with his or her findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
The bill would require a certified provider organization and the state to form a Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement made up of specified individuals. Among other things, the bill would require the partnership to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers. The bill would require the certified provider organization to carry out the recommendations of the partnership.
Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks.
This bill would authorize family child care providers, as defined, to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations, as defined, and to seek the certification of a provider organization to act as the exclusive representative for family child care providers on matters related to state-funded child care programs pursuant to a petition and election process overseen by the Public Employment Relations Board or a neutral 3rd party designated by the board.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information, as provided.
The bill would establish the scope of representation of the certified provider organization, and would require the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and other entities, to meet and confer in good faith with the certified provider organization on all matters within that scope of representation. The bill would require the parties to jointly prepare a memorandum of understanding if agreement is reached, which would be binding on all state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, that are involved in the administration of state-funded child care programs. The bill would authorize the parties, if, after a reasonable period of time they fail to reach agreement, to agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation or binding arbitration, and would authorize either party to declare that an impasse has been reached and request the Public Employment Relations Board to appoint a mediator or arbitrator from the service to perform mediation or binding arbitration.
The bill would authorize a certified provider organization to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments. The bill would prohibit provider organizations from calling strikes. The bill would prohibit the state and provider organizations from engaging in specified prohibited behavior with each other and providers.
The bill would require the Governor or his or her designee to perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, as provided, and would require the Governor or his or her designee to report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance on or before January 1, 2017, with his or her findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
The bill would require a certified provider organization and the state to form a Joint Committee Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement made up of specified individuals. Among other things, the bill would require the committee partnership to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers. The bill would require the certified provider organization to establish a training program to carry out the recommendations of the committee. partnership.
Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks.
This bill would authorize family child care providers, as defined, to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations, as defined, and to seek the certification of a provider organization to act as the exclusive representative for family child care providers on matters related to state-funded child care programs pursuant to a petition and election process overseen by the Public Employment Relations Board or a neutral 3rd party designated by the board.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information, as provided.
The bill would establish the scope of representation of the certified provider organization, and would require the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and other entities, to meet and confer in good faith with the certified provider organization on all matters within that scope of representation. The bill would require the parties to jointly prepare a memorandum of understanding if agreement is reached, which would be binding on all state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, that are involved in the administration of state-funded child care programs. The bill would authorize the parties, if, after a reasonable period of time they fail to reach agreement, to agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation or binding arbitration, and would authorize either party to declare that an impasse has been reached and request the Public Employment Relations Board to appoint a mediator or arbitrator from the service to perform mediation or binding arbitration.
The bill would authorize a certified provider organization to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments. The bill would prohibit provider organizations from calling strikes. The bill would prohibit the state and provider organizations from engaging in specified prohibited behavior with each other and providers.
The bill would require an unspecified entity the Governor or his or her designee to perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, as provided, and would require this entity the Governor or his or her designee to report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance on or before January 1, 2017, with its his or her findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
The bill would require a certified provider organization and the state to form a Joint Committee on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement made up of specified individuals. Among other things, the bill would require the committee to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers. The bill would require the provider organization to establish a training program to carry out the recommendations of the committee.
Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the State Department of Social Services. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, including, among others, resource and referral programs, alternative payment programs, and family child care home education networks.
This bill would authorize family child care providers, as defined, to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations, as defined, and to seek the certification of a provider organization to act as the exclusive representative for family child care providers on matters related to state-funded child care programs pursuant to a petition and election process overseen by the Public Employment Relations Board or a neutral 3rd party designated by the board.
The bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, with the assistance of specified state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, to make specified information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, and would require the provider organization requesting the information to bear the costs of collecting the information, as provided.
The bill would establish the scope of representation of the certified provider organization, and would require the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and other entities, to meet and confer in good faith with the certified provider organization on all matters within that scope of representation. The bill would require the parties to jointly prepare a memorandum of understanding if agreement is reached, which would be binding on all state departments and agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors, that are involved in the administration of state-funded child care programs. The bill would authorize the parties, if, after a reasonable period of time they fail to reach agreement, to agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation or binding arbitration, and would authorize either party to declare that an impasse has been reached and request the Public Employment Relations Board to appoint a mediator or arbitrator from the service to perform mediation or binding arbitration.
The bill would authorize a certified provider organization to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments. The bill would prohibit provider organizations from calling strikes. The bill would prohibit the state and provider organizations from engaging in specified prohibited behavior with each other and providers.
The bill would require an unspecified entity to perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, as provided, and would require this entity to report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance on or before January 1, 2017, with its findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
The bill would require a certified provider organization and the state to form a Joint Committee on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement made up of specified individuals. Among other things, the bill would require the committee to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and issue recommendations to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers. The bill would require the provider organization to establish a training program to carry out the recommendations of the committee.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Quality, affordable child care is essential to prepare Californias children to succeed in school and in life and to allow families to work and contribute to the states economy with the assurance that their children are safe, well cared for, and learning.
(b)Family child care is the child care setting of choice for many families because of its warm homelike environment, convenience, and affordability. The flexibility offered by many family child care providers is particularly vital to low-wage workers who are subject to highly unpredictable work schedules, and to the many California workers who work nontraditional hours and need child care on evenings, overnights, and weekends. Close to 40 percent of licensed family child care homes offer evening, weekend, and overnight care, compared with only 2 percent of centers.
(c)Family child care providers are small business owners who contribute significantly to the economies of their communities and the state. As businesses, family child care providers are engines for economic growth, generating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, three billion five hundred million dollars ($3,500,000,000) in economic output, and five hundred fifty million dollars ($550,000,000) in tax revenues. Family child care providers also contribute to the economy by serving as a vital job support for working families.
(d)Family child care providers face significant health and safety risks on the job, and will thus benefit from training on occupational safety and health.
(e)Giving family child care providers training on how to better navigate the state-funded child care system, including how to become licensed, will result in a more efficient and cost-effective system for family child care providers, families, and the state.
(f)California currently does not have a single list of all family child care providers who participate in the state-funded child care program. Creating such a list will enable the state to track and ensure compliance with training and background check requirements. Making that list available to provider organizations that will enable family child care providers to meet one another, be informed about training opportunities, and form and build organizations will allow them to share their common concerns and advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of child care available to Californias children and families. This will allow the state to maximize its return on its investment in child care.
SEC. 2.Article 19.5 (commencing with Section 8430) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:19.5.Raising Child Care Quality Act8430.This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Raising Child Care Quality Act.
8431.The purpose of this article is to ensure that family child care providers receive orientation training on subjects including occupational health and safety practices and standards and the states early learning foundations, and to make it more possible for family child care providers to be informed about training opportunities and to form and join provider organizations to share their common concerns and advocate for improvements to the state-funded child care system.
8432.As used in this article:
(a)Family child care provider or provider means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
(1)A family day care home provider, as described in Section 1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code, who is licensed pursuant to the requirement in Section 1596.80 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2)An individual who meets both of the following criteria:
(A)Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(B)Is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b)Provider organization means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
(1)Includes family child care providers as members.
(2)Has as one of its main purposes the representation of family child care providers in their relations with public or private entities in California or in advancing the concerns of providers regarding the terms of their participation in state-funded child care programs.
(3)Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
(c)State-funded child care program means a program administered by the State Department of Education, the State Department of Social Services, or another department, agency, or political subdivision of the state, including programs established subsequent to the passage of this article, to subsidize early learning and care for children, but not including the public education system.
8433.(a)To ensure that family child care providers have the opportunity to receive substantive training on topics including health and safety standards for child care workers, child care subsidy program functioning, and the states early learning foundations, the State Department of Education shall ensure that all family child care providers attend an in-person orientation training. Providers who are new to the state-funded child care program shall complete the orientation training within three months after they begin participating in the state-funded child care program. Providers who are already participating in the state-funded child care program shall complete the orientation training within two years after it is first offered. Other child care providers who are not family child care providers or who do not participate in the state-funded child care program may also be invited to attend the orientation training at no cost to the providers personally.
(b)Family child care providers shall be compensated for their time attending the orientation training. The orientation training shall be offered at times and in community-based settings that are convenient and accessible to family child care providers.
(c)If a substantial number of the family child care providers participating in the state-funded child care program in a given county are non-English speaking, some orientation training, including written material distributed at the training, in that county shall be provided in the languages spoken by a substantial number of family child care providers, in order to facilitate full participation from all providers.
(d)Alternatives to in-person orientation training shall be offered on a case-by-case basis for providers who have been unable to attend an orientation training within two years after the training is first offered, or within three months after the family child care provider begins participating in the state-funded child care program.
(e)An orientation training shall include at least four hours of instruction, which shall be in addition to training currently offered by resource and referral programs, and which is intended to count towards satisfying pre-service or orientation training requirements of federal law. The orientation training shall include information about all of the following:
(1)Minimum health and safety standards, including emergency preparedness and response planning.
(2)Occupational health and safety for family child care providers, including information about injuries, infectious diseases, environmental risks, and job-related stress.
(3)Information about the state-funded child care program, including the referral and listing process of resource and referral agencies, alternative payment programs, including family approval and payment processes, timelines, appeals processes, licensing guidelines, and the process for becoming a licensed family child care provider.
(4)Information about the states early learning foundations and how they align with K5 standards.
(5)Information on resources available to providers and the children and families they serve, including all of the following:
(A)The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program.
(B)The state early intervention system, First 5 county commissions, and other sources of available training and resources, particularly related to child development, literacy, and alignment with K5 standards.
(C)Information from provider organizations that notify the State Department of Education they would like to make presentations at or include information about their organizations at an orientation training. These programs or organizations may deliver this information through brief presentations as part of the orientation training.
(f)The State Department of Education shall offer the orientation training either directly or through contracts. The occupational safety and health portion of the training shall be offered through contracts with a statewide organization that has expertise about the state-funded child care program, that includes family child care providers as members, and that is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program. The remainder of the training shall be offered primarily with local resource and referral programs, as defined in subdivision (x) of Section 8208.
(g)Only curriculum approved by the State Department of Education may be used to fulfill the training requirements specified in this section. In order to ensure that the occupational safety and health portion of the training reflects providers needs and the realities of their work with regard to the occupational safety and health portion of the training, the State Department of Education shall only approve training curriculum that has been developed with input from family child care providers or their representatives.
(h)The Superintendent may adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation training required under this section. The Superintendent may consult with other appropriate entities, including provider organizations and other early education and care advocates, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, First 5 county commissions, organizations that operate training programs or apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers in developing these rules and regulations.
8434.(a)Within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services shall make available to that provider organization information regarding family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 8432, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number.
(b)Within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Education, with the assistance of the State Department of Social Services and any state department or agency, or its contractor or subcontractor, in possession of the relevant information, shall collect information regarding family child care providers, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, unique provider identification number, if applicable, and shall make that information available to the provider organization. The provider organization shall bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information described in this subdivision to the extent that the state is not already collecting it and is not already required by federal or state law or regulation to collect it, with any such payment going to reimburse the state departments, agencies, contractors, or subcontractors that incurred the costs of compiling the list. It is the intent of the Legislature that this list will assist the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education and their contractors in tracking provider compliance.
(c)A provider organization under this article shall be considered a family day care organization for purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code. All confidentiality requirements applicable to recipients of information pursuant to Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code apply to provider organizations and shall apply also to protect the personal information of family child care providers as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 8432.
(d)Information provided pursuant to this section shall be used only for purposes of advocating on behalf of family child care providers and educating them on their rights and services available to them.
(e)Upon written request of a family child care provider, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services shall remove the family child care providers home address and home telephone number from the mailing lists referenced in subdivisions (a) and (b) before the release of the lists.
8435.The requirements of this article are contingent upon appropriation of funds for purposes of this article in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Quality, affordable child care is essential to prepare Californias children to succeed in school and in life and to allow families to work and contribute to the states economy with the assurance that their children are safe, well cared for, and learning.
(b)Family child care is the child care setting of choice for many families because of its warm homelike environment, convenience, and affordability. The flexibility offered by many family child care providers is particularly vital to low-wage workers who are subject to highly unpredictable work schedules, and to the many California workers who work nontraditional hours and need child care on evenings, overnights, and weekends. Close to 40 percent of licensed family child care homes offer evening, weekend, and overnight care, compared with only 2 percent of centers.
(c)Family child care providers are small business owners who contribute significantly to the economies of their communities and the state. As businesses, family child care providers are engines for economic growth, generating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, three billion five hundred million dollars ($3,500,000,000) in economic output, and five hundred fifty million dollars ($550,000,000) in tax revenues. Family child care providers also contribute to the economy by serving as a vital job support for working families.
(d)Family child care providers face significant health and safety risks on the job, and will thus benefit from training on occupational safety and health.
(e)Giving family child care providers training on how to better navigate the state-funded child care system, including how to become licensed, will result in a more efficient and cost-effective system for family child care providers, families, and the state.
(f)California currently does not have a single list of all family child care providers who participate in the state-funded child care program. Creating such a list will enable the state to track and ensure compliance with training and background check requirements. Making that list available to provider organizations that will enable family child care providers to meet one another, be informed about training opportunities, and form and build organizations will allow them to share their common concerns and advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of child care available to Californias children and families. This will allow the state to maximize its return on its investment in child care.
SEC. 2.Article 19.5 (commencing with Section 8430) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:19.5.Raising Child Care Quality Act8430.This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Raising Child Care Quality Act.
8431.The purpose of this article is to ensure that family child care providers receive orientation training on subjects including occupational health and safety practices and standards and the states early learning foundations, and to make it more possible for family child care providers to be informed about training opportunities and to form and join provider organizations to share their common concerns and advocate for improvements to the state-funded child care system.
8432.As used in this article:
(a)Family child care provider or provider means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
(1)A family day care home provider, as described in Section 1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code, who is licensed pursuant to the requirement in Section 1596.80 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2)An individual who meets both of the following criteria:
(A)Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(B)Is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b)Provider organization means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
(1)Includes family child care providers as members.
(2)Has as one of its main purposes the representation of family child care providers in their relations with public or private entities in California or in advancing the concerns of providers regarding the terms of their participation in state-funded child care programs.
(3)Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
(c)State-funded child care program means a program administered by the State Department of Education, the State Department of Social Services, or another department, agency, or political subdivision of the state, including programs established subsequent to the passage of this article, to subsidize early learning and care for children, but not including the public education system.
8433.(a)To ensure that family child care providers have the opportunity to receive substantive training on topics including health and safety standards for child care workers, child care subsidy program functioning, and the states early learning foundations, the State Department of Education shall ensure that all family child care providers attend an in-person orientation training. Providers who are new to the state-funded child care program shall complete the orientation training within three months after they begin participating in the state-funded child care program. Providers who are already participating in the state-funded child care program shall complete the orientation training within two years after it is first offered. Other child care providers who are not family child care providers or who do not participate in the state-funded child care program may also be invited to attend the orientation training at no cost to the providers personally.
(b)Family child care providers shall be compensated for their time attending the orientation training. The orientation training shall be offered at times and in community-based settings that are convenient and accessible to family child care providers.
(c)If a substantial number of the family child care providers participating in the state-funded child care program in a given county are non-English speaking, some orientation training, including written material distributed at the training, in that county shall be provided in the languages spoken by a substantial number of family child care providers, in order to facilitate full participation from all providers.
(d)Alternatives to in-person orientation training shall be offered on a case-by-case basis for providers who have been unable to attend an orientation training within two years after the training is first offered, or within three months after the family child care provider begins participating in the state-funded child care program.
(e)An orientation training shall include at least four hours of instruction, which shall be in addition to training currently offered by resource and referral programs, and which is intended to count towards satisfying pre-service or orientation training requirements of federal law. The orientation training shall include information about all of the following:
(1)Minimum health and safety standards, including emergency preparedness and response planning.
(2)Occupational health and safety for family child care providers, including information about injuries, infectious diseases, environmental risks, and job-related stress.
(3)Information about the state-funded child care program, including the referral and listing process of resource and referral agencies, alternative payment programs, including family approval and payment processes, timelines, appeals processes, licensing guidelines, and the process for becoming a licensed family child care provider.
(4)Information about the states early learning foundations and how they align with K-5 standards.
(5)Information on resources available to providers and the children and families they serve, including all of the following:
(A)The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program.
(B)The state early intervention system, First 5 county commissions, and other sources of available training and resources, particularly related to child development, literacy, and alignment with K-5 standards.
(C)Information from provider organizations that notify the State Department of Education they would like to make presentations at or include information about their organizations at an orientation training. These programs or organizations may deliver this information through brief presentations as part of the orientation training.
(f)The State Department of Education shall offer the orientation training either directly or through contracts. The occupational safety and health portion of the training shall be offered through contracts with a statewide organization that has expertise about the state-funded child care program, that includes family child care providers as members, and that is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program. The remainder of the training shall be offered primarily with local resource and referral programs, as defined in subdivision (x) of Section 8208.
(g)Only curriculum approved by the State Department of Education may be used to fulfill the training requirements specified in this section. In order to ensure that the occupational safety and health portion of the training reflects providers needs and the realities of their work with regard to the occupational safety and health portion of the training, the State Department of Education shall only approve training curriculum that has been developed with input from family child care providers or their representatives.
(h)The Superintendent may adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation training required under this section. The Superintendent may consult with other appropriate entities, including provider organizations and other early education and care advocates, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, First 5 county commissions, organizations that operate training programs or apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers in developing these rules and regulations.
(i)The requirements of this section are contingent upon appropriation of funds for purposes of this section in the annual Budget Act or other statutes.
8434.(a)Within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services shall make available to that provider organization information regarding family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 8432, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number.
(b)Within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Education, with the assistance of the State Department of Social Services and any state department or agency, or its contractor or subcontractor, in possession of the relevant information, shall collect information regarding family child care providers, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, unique provider identification number, if applicable, and shall make that information available to the provider organization. The provider organization shall bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information described in this subdivision to the extent that the state is not already collecting it and is not already required by federal or state law or regulation to collect it, with any such payment going to reimburse the state departments, agencies, contractors, or subcontractors that incurred the costs of compiling the list. It is the intent of the Legislature that this list will assist the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education and their contractors in tracking provider compliance.
(c)A provider organization under this article shall be considered a family day care organization for purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code. All confidentiality requirements applicable to recipients of information pursuant to Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code apply to provider organizations and shall apply also to protect the personal information of family child care providers as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 8432.
(d)Information provided pursuant to this section shall be used only for purposes of advocating on behalf of family child care providers and educating them on their rights and services available to them.
(d)
(e)Upon written request of a family child care provider, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services shall remove the family child care providers home address and home telephone number from the mailing lists referenced in subdivisions (a) and (b) before the release of the lists.
8435.The requirements of this article are contingent upon appropriation of funds for purposes of this article in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Quality, affordable child care is essential to prepare Californias children to succeed in school and in life and to allow families to work and contribute to the states economy with the assurance that their children are safe, well cared for, and learning.
(b)Family child care is the child care setting of choice for many families because of its warm homelike environment, convenience, and affordability. The flexibility offered by many family child care providers is particularly vital to low-wage workers who are subject to highly unpredictable work schedules, and to the many California workers who work nontraditional hours and need child care on evenings, overnights, and weekends. Close to 40 percent of licensed family child care homes offer evening, weekend, and overnight care, compared with only 2 percent of centers.
(c)Family child care providers are small business owners who contribute significantly to the economies of their communities and the state. As businesses, family child care providers are engines for economic growth, generating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, three billion five hundred million dollars ($3,500,000,000) in economic output, and five hundred fifty million dollars ($550,000,000) in tax revenues. Family child care providers also contribute to the economy by serving as a vital job support for working families.
(d)Family child care providers face significant health and safety risks on the job, and will thus benefit from training on occupational safety and health.
(e)Giving family child care providers training on how to better navigate the state-funded child care system, including how to become licensed, will result in a more efficient and cost-effective system for family child care providers, families, and the state.
(f)California currently does not have a single list of all family child care providers who participate in the state-funded child care program. Creating such a list will enable the state to track and ensure compliance with training and background check requirements. Making that list available to provider organizations that will enable family child care providers to meet one another, be informed about training opportunities, and form and build organizations will allow them to share their common concerns and advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of child care available to Californias children and families. This will allow the state to maximize its return on its investment in child care.
SEC. 2.Article 19.5 (commencing with Section 8430) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:19.5.Raising Child Care Quality Act8430.This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Raising Child Care Quality Act.
8431.The purpose of this article is to ensure that family child care providers receive orientation training on subjects including occupational health and safety practices and standards and the states early learning foundations, and to make it more possible for family child care providers to be informed about training opportunities and to form and join provider organizations to share their common concerns and advocate for improvements to the state-funded child care system.
8432.As used in this article:
(a)Family child care provider or provider means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
(1)A family day care home provider, as described in Section 1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code, who is licensed pursuant to the requirement in Section 1596.80 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2)An individual who meets both of the following criteria:
(A)Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(B)Is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b)Provider organization means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
(1)Includes family child care providers as members.
(2)Has as one of its main purposes the representation of family child care providers in their relations with public or private entities in California or in advancing the concerns of providers regarding the terms of their participation in state-funded child care programs.
(3)Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
(c)State-funded child care program means a program administered by the State Department of Education, the State Department of Social Services, or another department, agency, or political subdivision of the state, including programs established subsequent to the passage of this article, to subsidize early learning and care for children, but not including the public education system.
8433.(a)To ensure that family child care providers have the opportunity to receive substantive training on topics including health and safety standards for child care workers, child care subsidy program functioning, and the states early learning foundations, the State Department of Education shall ensure that all family child care providers attend an in-person orientation training. Providers who are new to the state-funded child care program shall complete the orientation training within three months after they begin participating in the state-funded child care program. Providers who are already participating in the state-funded child care program shall complete the orientation training within two years after it is first offered. Other child care providers who are not family child care providers or who do not participate in the state-funded child care program may also be invited to attend the orientation training at no cost to the providers personally.
(b)Family child care providers shall be compensated for their time attending the orientation training. The orientation training shall be offered at times and in community-based settings that are convenient and accessible to family child care providers.
(c)If a substantial number of the family child care providers participating in the state-funded child care program in a given county are non-English speaking, some orientation training, including written material distributed at the training, in that county shall be provided in the languages spoken by a substantial number of family child care providers, in order to facilitate full participation from all providers.
(d)Alternatives to in-person orientation training shall be offered on a case-by-case basis for providers who have been unable to attend an orientation training within two years after the training are is first offered, or within three months after the family child care provider begins participating in the state-funded child care program.
(e)An orientation training shall include at least four hours of instruction and instruction, which shall be in addition to training currently offered by resource and referral programs, and which is intended to count towards satisfying pre-service or orientation training requirements of federal law. The orientation training shall include information about all of the following:
(1)Minimum health and safety standards, as required by Section 658E of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9858c). including emergency preparedness and response planning.
(2)Occupational health and safety for family child care providers, including information about injuries, infectious diseases, environmental risks, and job-related stress.
(3)Information about the state-funded child care program, including the referral and listing process of resource and referral agencies, alternative payment programs, including family approval and payment processes, timelines, appeals processes, licensing guidelines, and the process for becoming a licensed family child care provider.
(4)Information about the states early learning foundations and how they align with K-5 standards.
(5)Information on resources available to providers and the children and families they serve, including all of the following:
(A)The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program.
(B)The state early intervention system, First 5 county commissions, and other sources of available training and resources, particularly related to child development, literacy, and alignment with K-5 standards.
(C)Information from provider organizations that notify the State Department of Education they would like to make presentations at or include information about their organizations at an orientation training. These programs or organizations may deliver this information through brief presentations as part of the orientation training.
(f)The State Department of Education shall offer the orientation training either directly or through contracts. The occupational safety and health portion of the training shall be offered through contracts with a statewide organization that has expertise about the state-funded child care program, that includes family child care providers as members, and that is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program. The remainder of the training shall be offered with local resource and referral programs, as defined in subdivision (x) of Section 8208.
(g)Only curriculum approved by the State Department of Education may be used to fulfill the training requirements specified in this section. In order to ensure that the occupational safety and health portion of the training reflects providers needs and the realities of their work with regard to the occupational safety and health portion of the training, the State Department of Education shall only approve training curriculum that has been developed with input from family child care providers or their representatives.
(h)The Superintendent may adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientations orientation training required under this section. The Superintendent may consult with other appropriate entities, including provider organizations and other early education and care advocates, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, First 5 county commissions, organizations that operate training programs or apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers in developing these rules and regulations.
(i)The requirements of this section are contingent upon appropriation of funds for purposes of this section in the annual Budget Act or other statutes.
8434.(a)Within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services shall make available to that provider organization information regarding family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 8432, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number.
(b)Within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Education, with the assistance of the State Department of Social Services and any state department or agency, or its contractor or subcontractor, in possession of the relevant information, shall collect information regarding family child care providers, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, unique provider identification number, if applicable, and shall make that information available to the provider organization. The provider organization shall bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information described in this subdivision to the extent that the state is not already collecting it and is not already required by federal or state law or regulation to collect it. it, with any such payment going to reimburse the state departments, agencies, contractors, or subcontractors that incurred the costs of compiling the list. It is the intent of the Legislature that this list will assist the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education and their contractors in tracking provider compliance.
(c)A provider organization under this article shall be considered a family day care organization for purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code. All confidentiality requirements applicable to recipients of information pursuant to Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code apply to provider organizations and shall apply also to protect the personal information of family child care providers as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 8432.
(d)Upon written request of a family child care provider, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services shall remove the family child care providers home address and home telephone number from the mailing lists referenced in subdivisions (a) and (b) before the release of the lists.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Quality, affordable child care is essential to prepare Californias children to succeed in school and in life and to allow families to work and contribute to the states economy with the assurance that their children are safe, well cared for, and learning.
(b)Family child care is the child care setting of choice for many families because of its warm homelike environment, convenience, and affordability. The flexibility offered by many family child care providers is particularly vital to low-wage workers who are subject to highly unpredictable work schedules, and to the many California workers who work nontraditional hours and need child care on evenings, overnights, and weekends. Close to 40 percent of licensed family child care homes offer evening, weekend, and overnight care, compared with only 2 percent of centers.
(c)Family child care providers are small business owners who contribute significantly to the economies of their communities and the state. As businesses, family child care providers are engines for economic growth, generating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, three billion five hundred million dollars ($3,500,000,000) in economic output, and five hundred fifty million dollars ($550,000,000) in tax revenues. Family child care providers also contribute to the economy by serving as a vital job support for working families.
(d)There is a need to improve the quality of child care and to increase stability in the industry that is charged with providing safe and quality care for children in California. Turnover among child care providers is estimated at more than 30 percent per year, more than four times higher than among teachers in the public school system. Losing a caregiver leaves working parents scrambling to find other arrangements and disrupts the childrens cognitive and social development, putting them at a disadvantage when it is time for them to start school.
(e)Experienced child care providers who care for children under Californias state-funded child care program are leaving the profession because extremely low reimbursement rates and a lack of access to employment benefits mean they cannot afford to provide for their own families. The child care workforce is almost exclusively female and predominantly people of color, including many recent immigrants, first-generation college students, and working mothers. Nearly one-half of child care workers nationwide live in families that rely on public support, compared to 25 percent in the overall United States workforce.
(f)The states fragmented, disorganized system for paying child care providers under the state-funded child care program, in which more than 120 different agencies contract with the state to pay child care providers, also contributes to this turnover. Child care providers pay is often late, reduced, or does not arrive at all, and there is a lack of clear authority and redress when problems arise.
(g)Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. For the last several years, child care providers have worked together with the State Department of Education to make improvements to the states requirements for timeliness of payment and communications with child care providers and families. This progress shows the value that child care provider voices can add. But it also highlights the need for child care providers to have a formal role in decisionmaking on issues that shape the child care system and the way they carry out their profession.
(h)To promote higher quality and greater access and stability in the child care system, it is necessary to enact legislation to grant family child care providers the right to choose a representative to negotiate with the state over the operation of the state-funded child care program. Permitting family child care providers a formal voice will allow the state to get input from providers and to maximize its return on its investment in child care, and will allow providers to advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of care available to Californias children and families.
(i) The existing system for providing training to child care providers is a patchwork. Training is provided by hundreds of different entities and is challenging to access for large numbers of child care providers. Family child care providers also face particular barriers to gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, including language barriers, scheduling of classes that are incompatible with the operation of their family child care homes, and lack of access to tutoring and mentoring. No existing child care training programs address the issue of low wages and the high cost of education and training. Consistent with the states focus on the improvement and expansion of workforce development and apprenticeships to include lower wage workers, a training partnership between the state and a certified provider organization will be able to draw down federal and private funding to add capacity to existing state training resources, from General Educational Development (GED) and English language learner (ELL) classes to providing support for child care providers who seek to obtain higher education credentials in child development. This training partnership will help build skills, knowledge, and techniques to provide higher quality early learning for family child care providers as well as center or school-based care providers. Financial incentives, such as rate add-ons for child care providers who obtain additional training or who complete apprenticeship programs, will encourage participation, acknowledge additional skill, and help ensure that child care providers with greater training remain serving at-risk children.
(j)Parent engagement is a crucial part of childrens success in early care, in school, and later in life. Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. Many parents choose home-based child care providers due to shared values and culture, close personal relationships, and provider flexibility with erratic work schedules. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 8439 of the Education Code, the Governor or his or her designee shall perform a study of best practices for culturally competent parent engagement in family child care, including in particular engagement of parents who work nontraditional hours. The study shall determine how to most effectively ensure that parents are involved with their childrens development and are better able to provide learning and other developmental opportunities for their children at home in a culturally appropriate manner. The goal of the study will be to identify best practices that target low-income families and to propose some options for a California parent engagement program as well as identify possible funding sources for such work.
(d)Family child care providers face significant health and safety risks on the job, and will thus benefit from training on occupational safety and health.
(e)Giving family child care providers training on how to better navigate the state-funded child care system, including how to become licensed, will result in a more efficient and cost-effective system for family child care providers, families, and the state.
(f)California currently does not have a single list of all family child care providers who participate in the state-funded child care program. Creating such a list will enable the state to track and ensure compliance with training and background check requirements. Making that list available to provider organizations that will enable family child care providers to meet one another, be informed about training opportunities, and form and build organizations will allow them to share their common concerns and advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of child care available to Californias children and families. This will allow the state to maximize its return on its investment in child care.
SEC. 2.Article 19.5 (commencing with Section 8430) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:19.5.Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act8430.This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act.
8430.5.(a)The purpose of this article is to promote quality, access, and stability in the child care system by authorizing an appropriate unit of family child care providers to choose a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative for purposes of the meet and confer process set forth in this article and the administration and enforcement of any resulting memorandum of understanding; by establishing a training partnership between the state and that exclusive representative; and by conducting a study of best practices for parent engagement in home-based early care and education. It is also the purpose of this article to promote full communication between family child care providers and the state by permitting a provider organization certified as the representative of family child care providers to meet and confer with the state regarding the states child care system.
(b)This article does not change the family child care providers status as independent business owners or classify family child care providers as public employees.
8431.The purpose of this article is to ensure that family child care providers receive orientation training on subjects including occupational health and safety practices and standards and the states early learning foundations, and to make it more possible for family child care providers to be informed about training opportunities and to form and join provider organizations to share their common concerns and advocate for improvements to the state-funded child care system.
8431.8432.As used in this article:
(a)Certified provider organization means a provider organization that is, or provider organizations that jointly are, certified by the Public Employment Relations Board as the exclusive representative of family child care providers in an appropriate unit after a proceeding under Section 8434.
(b)
(a)Family child care provider or provider means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
(1)A family day care home provider, as described in Section 1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code, who is licensed pursuant to the requirement in Section 1596.80 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2)An individual who meets both of the following criteria:
(A)Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(B)Is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c)Maintenance of checkoff means an agreement between a provider and a provider organization that the providers authorization for the deduction of union dues or their equivalent can only be withdrawn during a designated window period.
(d)
(b)Provider organization means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
(1)Includes family child care providers as members.
(2)Has as one of its main purposes the representation of family child care providers in their relations with public or private entities in California and or in advancing the concerns of providers regarding the terms of their participation in state-funded child care programs.
(3)Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
(e)Public Employment Relations Board or board means the Public Employment Relations Board established pursuant to Section 3541 of the Government Code. The powers and duties of the board described in Sections 3514.5, 3520.5, and 3541.3 of the Government Code, and the respective implementing regulations, shall apply, as appropriate, to this article to the extent those procedures are not inconsistent with the procedures specified in this article. If a provision of this article is the same or substantially the same as that contained in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 3500), Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 3512), or Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, it shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the regulations and judicial interpretations of the provision in those statutes.
(f)
(c)State-funded child care program means a program administered by the State Department of Education, the State Department of Social Services, or another department, agency, or political subdivision of the state, including programs established subsequent to the passage of this article, to subsidize early learning and care for children, but not including the public education system.
8431.5.The state action antitrust exemption to the application of federal and state antitrust laws is applicable to the activities of family child care providers and their representatives authorized under this article.
8432.Family child care providers have the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented in all matters specified in this article. Family child care providers have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of provider organizations. This article does not change the rights of family child care providers to represent themselves individually in their relations with the state, agencies or departments of the state, contractors of the state, parents, or others, or their rights to speak to and petition the government with respect to all aspects of the states child care program or any other topic.
8432.5.Family child care providers are not public employees, and this article does not create an employer-employee relationship between family child care providers and the state or a public or private nonprofit entity for any purpose, including, but not limited to, eligibility for health or retirement benefits or vicarious liability in tort. This article does not alter the status of a family child care provider as a business owner, an employee of a family, or a contractor.
8433.This article does not alter the rights of families to select, direct, and terminate the services of family child care providers.
8433.(a)To ensure that family child care providers have the opportunity to receive substantive training on topics including health and safety standards for child care workers, child care subsidy program functioning, and the states early learning foundations, the State Department of Education shall ensure that all family child care providers attend an in-person orientation training. Providers who are new to the state-funded child care program shall complete the orientation training within three months after they begin participating in the state-funded child care program. Providers who are already participating in the state-funded child care program shall complete the orientation training within two years after it is first offered. Other child care providers who are not family child care providers or who do not participate in the state-funded child care program may also be invited to attend the orientation training at no cost to the providers personally.
(b)Family child care providers shall be compensated for their time attending the orientation training. The orientation training shall be offered at times and in community-based settings that are convenient and accessible to family child care providers.
(c)If a substantial number of the family child care providers participating in the state-funded child care program in a given county are non-English speaking, some orientation training, including written material distributed at the training, in that county shall be provided in the languages spoken by a substantial number of family child care providers, in order to facilitate full participation from all providers.
(d)Alternatives to in-person orientation training shall be offered on a case-by-case basis for providers who have been unable to attend an orientation training within two years after the training are first offered, or within three months after the family child care provider begins participating in the state-funded child care program.
(e)An orientation training shall include at least four hours of instruction and shall include information about all of the following:
(1)Minimum health and safety standards, as required by Section 658E of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9858c).
(2)Occupational health and safety for family child care providers, including information about injuries, infectious diseases, environmental risks, and job-related stress.
(3)Information about the state-funded child care program, including the referral and listing process of resource and referral agencies, alternative payment programs, including family approval and payment processes, timelines, appeals processes, licensing guidelines, and the process for becoming a licensed family child care provider.
(4)Information about the states early learning foundations and how they align with K5 standards.
(5)Information on resources available to providers and the children and families they serve, including all of the following:
(A)The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program.
(B)The state early intervention system, First 5 county commissions, and other sources of available training and resources, particularly related to child development, literacy, and alignment with K5 standards.
(C)Information from provider organizations that notify the State Department of Education they would like to make presentations at or include information about their organizations at orientation training. These programs or organizations may deliver this information through brief presentations as part of the orientation training.
(f)The State Department of Education shall offer the orientation training either directly or through contracts. The occupational safety and health portion of the training shall be offered through contracts with a statewide organization that has expertise about the state-funded child care program, that includes family child care providers as members, and that is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
(g)Only curriculum approved by the State Department of Education may be used to fulfill the training requirements specified in this section. In order to ensure that the occupational safety and health portion of the training reflects providers needs and the realities of their work with regard to the occupational safety and health portion of the training, the State Department of Education shall only approve training curriculum that has been developed with input from family child care providers or their representatives.
(h)The Superintendent may adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientations required under this section. The Superintendent may consult with other appropriate entities, including provider organizations and other early education and care advocates, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, First 5 county commissions, organizations that operate training programs or apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers in developing these rules and regulations.
(i)The requirements of this section are contingent upon appropriation of funds for purposes of this section in the annual Budget Act or other statutes.
8433.5.8434.(a)Within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services shall make available to that provider organization information regarding family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) (a) of Section 8431, 8432, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number.
(b)Within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Education, with the assistance of the State Department of Social Services and any state department or agency, or its contractor or subcontractor, in possession of the relevant information, shall collect information regarding family child care providers, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, unique provider identification number, if applicable, and shall make that information available to the provider organization. The provider organization shall bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information described in this subdivision to the extent that the state is not already collecting it and is not already required by federal or state law or regulation to collect it.
(c)A provider organization under this article shall be considered a family day care organization for purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code. All confidentiality requirements applicable to recipients of information pursuant to Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code apply to provider organizations and shall apply also to protect the personal information of family child care providers as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 8432.
(c)Upon the request of a certified provider organization, the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education shall make available to that organization the information specified in subdivisions (a) and (b), updated on a monthly basis.
(d)A provider organization under this article shall be considered a family day care organization for purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code. All confidentiality requirements applicable to recipients of information pursuant to Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code apply to provider organizations and shall apply also to protect the personal information of family child care providers as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431. Information provided pursuant to this section shall be used only for purposes of organizing and representing family child care providers.
(e)
(d)Upon written request of a family child care provider, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services shall remove the family child care providers home address and home telephone number from the mailing lists referenced in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) (a) and (b) before the release of the lists.
8434.(a)An appropriate unit of family child care providers, as described in subdivision (e), may designate, in accordance with this article, the provider organization, if any, that shall be its exclusive representative. The board shall certify a provider organization designated by an appropriate unit of family child care providers as the exclusive representative of those providers.
(b)Requests for elections, challenges, competing claims, requests for intervention, and requests for decertification shall be filed with, received by, and acted upon by the board, in accordance with its rules and regulations, provided that a valid petition for a certification or decertification election is resolved by a secret ballot election among family child care providers. The board may designate a neutral third party to act on any of the requests filed with the board pursuant to this subdivision.
(c)A provider organization petitioning for an election to be certified by the board as the exclusive representative for an appropriate group of providers shall include in its petition proof of a 30-percent showing of interest designating the provider organization to act as the exclusive representative of the providers. The provider organization shall pay the reasonable costs of verifying this showing of interest. The board, or a neutral third party designated by the board to act on a request for an election, shall consider a document evidencing a family child care providers support, or lack of support, for a provider organization valid if it was signed by the family child care provider within two years of the date it is submitted to the board.
(d)All provider organizations placed on the ballot shall share equally the cost of an election.
(e)There shall be no more than one bargaining unit at any time. A unit of providers shall be considered an appropriate unit if it is a statewide unit and is any of the following:
(1)All family child care providers described in subdivision (b) of Section 8431 in the state.
(2)All family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431.
(3)All family child care providers described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431.
(f)A certified provider organization shall represent each provider in the represented unit fairly with respect to matters within the scope of the certified provider organizations role as exclusive representative of the bargaining unit, without discrimination and without regard to whether the provider is a member of the provider organization.
(g)A certified provider organization may file a request with the board for an election to add providers to an existing unit, to be voted on by a group of providers proposed to be added to the unit, based on a showing of interest by 30 percent of the providers proposed to be added to the unit, at any point after the provider organization has been certified as an exclusive representative. This article does not require a one-year waiting period after the provider organization has been certified as an exclusive representative before the election, authorized pursuant to this subdivision, can be held.
8434.5.The scope of representation shall include all of the following:
(a)The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
(b)Joint labor-management committees.
(c)Contract grievance arbitration.
(d)Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers, including, but not limited to, through the training partnership established pursuant to Section 8439.5, and state contributions to carry out the recommendations of the training partnership.
(e)Benefits for providers.
(f)Payment procedures for state-funded child care programs.
(g)Reimbursement rates, including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete additional training, and other economic matters.
(h)Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
(i)The deduction of membership dues and other voluntary deductions authorized by individual family child care providers, including, but not limited to, honoring maintenance of checkoff agreements, and allocation of the costs of implementing such a deduction system.
(j)Expanded access to the state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
(k)Any changes to current practice other than those listed in subdivisions (a) to (j), inclusive, that would do any of the following:
(1)Improve recruitment and retention of qualified providers.
(2)Improve the quality of the programs.
(3)Encourage qualified providers to seek additional education and training.
(4)Promote the health and safety of providers and the children in their care.
8435.(a)The Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent, other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, as needed, shall meet and confer in good faith regarding all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization and, before arriving at a determination of policy or course of action, shall consider fully the presentations made by the certified provider organization on behalf of the providers it represents.
(b)As used in this section, meet and confer in good faith means that the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and representatives of the certified provider organization shall have the mutual obligation to meet and confer promptly upon request by either party and continue for a reasonable period of time in order to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals. The duty to meet and confer in good faith also requires the parties to begin negotiations sufficiently in advance of the adoption of the states final budget for the ensuing fiscal year so that there is adequate time for agreement to be reached before the adoption of the final budget and for the resolution of an impasse.
8435.5.(a)If agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization, they jointly shall prepare a written memorandum of understanding. Any portions of the memorandum of understanding requiring appropriation by the Legislature or statutory or regulatory revisions shall be subject to legislative approval of those appropriations or statutory or regulatory revisions.
(b)A memorandum of understanding between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization is binding on all state departments and agencies that are involved in the administration of the state-funded child care program, and the relevant contractors or subcontractors of those departments and agencies.
(c)An agreement pursuant to this section may provide for binding arbitration of grievances concerning the interpretation, application, or violation of the agreement.
(d)This article does not alter the requirements governing the child care reimbursement system that are set forth in Section 8222.
8436.(a)A certified provider organization shall have the right to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments.
(b)If the deduction of membership dues or other voluntary deductions for a provider requires action by more than one agency, department, contractor, or subcontractor, the certified provider organization shall establish procedures to ensure both of the following:
(1)The total amount deducted does not exceed the total dues and other voluntary deductions owed by that provider.
(2)The administrative procedures for deducting dues and other voluntary deductions are reasonable.
(c)The state, its agencies and departments, and their contractors and subcontractors shall not be liable in any action by a provider seeking recovery of, or damage for, improper calculation or use of dues or other voluntary deductions.
8436.5.(a)It is unlawful for the state, including its agencies, boards, commissions, departments, public benefit corporations, political subdivisions, contractors, subcontractors, or employees, to do to the providers or provider organizations any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519 of the Government Code.
(b)It shall be unlawful for a provider organization to do to the state or to the providers any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519.5 of the Government Code.
(c)For purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), the references in subdivision (e) of Section 3519 of, and subdivision (d) of Section 3519.5 of, the Government Code to the mediation procedure set forth in Section 3518 shall be deemed to refer to the impasse procedures set forth in Section 8437.5.
(d)The initial determination as to whether charges of unfair practices are justified and, if so, what remedy is necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article shall be a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the board.
8437.A provider organization shall not direct or call a strike.
8437.5.If after a reasonable period of time the parties fail to reach agreement, the parties may agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service established by the Department of Industrial Relations for mediation or binding arbitration, or either party may declare that an impasse has been reached and request the board to appoint a mediator or an arbitrator from the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service to perform mediation or binding arbitration. A memorandum of understanding reached by means of mediation or arbitration is subject to appropriation by the Legislature and necessary statutory and regulatory revisions.
8438.If preservice or orientation trainings are held for providers by the state or a department, contractor, agency, or political subdivision of the state, a certified provider organization shall be permitted to make a brief presentation about the organization and its activities, its negotiations and memorandum of understanding, and membership at the preservice or orientation trainings.
8439.(a)The Governor or his or her designee shall perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding streams that could support this work without reducing the availability and affordability of child care in California, and shall report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance, on or before January 1, 2017, with its findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest. In performing the study, the Governor or his or her designee shall consult with stakeholders, including the State Department of Social Services, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English-speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
(b)(1)A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2)The requirement for submitting a report pursuant to this section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
8439.5.(a)If a provider organization is certified pursuant to Section 8434, the state and the certified provider organization shall establish a training partnership that will consist of a Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement, made up of representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor. The partnership shall make recommendations regarding, and oversee, the expenditures referred to in subdivision (e). The partnership may consult with other early education and care advocates, the Superintendent or his or her designees, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, workforce investment boards, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards of the Department of Industrial Relations, organizations that operate training programs, apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers. The certified provider organization shall carry out the recommendations of the partnership.
(b)The partnership shall meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers.
(c)The partnership shall play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers meets the states needs for the overall child care workforce; satisfies the health, safety, and educational standards prescribed by the state; aligns with the states quality rating systems; and identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training in order to create a sustainable career pathway for the early education workforce.
(d)The partnerships recommendations may include, but are not limited to: ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing state training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes; ways to expand and improve provider training and skills on subjects including, but not limited to, child literacy, children with special needs, and childrens social and emotional development; ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development or a related field; ways to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including, but not limited to, resource and referral networks, community colleges, workforce investment boards, and apprenticeship programs; and ways to make training and education, which may include unit-bearing courses and training, available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
(e)It is the intent of the Legislature that the recommendations of the partnership shall be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, as specified in Section 8435.5.
TextPages 7 and 11.The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Quality, affordable child care is essential to prepare Californias children to succeed in school and in life and to allow families to work and contribute to the states economy with the assurance that their children are safe, well cared for, and learning.
(b)Family child care is the child care setting of choice for many families because of its warm homelike environment, convenience, and affordability. The flexibility offered by many family child care providers is particularly vital to low-wage workers who are subject to highly unpredictable work schedules, and to the many California workers who work nontraditional hours and need child care on evenings, overnights, and weekends. Close to 40 percent of licensed family child care homes offer evening, weekend, and overnight care, compared with only 2 percent of centers.
(c)Family child care providers are small business owners who contribute significantly to the economies of their communities and the state. As businesses, family child care providers are engines for economic growth, generating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, three billion five hundred million dollars ($3,500,000,000) in economic output, and five hundred fifty million dollars ($550,000,000) in tax revenues. Family child care providers also contribute to the economy by serving as a vital job support for working families.
(d)There is a need to improve the quality of child care and to increase stability in the industry that is charged with providing safe and quality care for children in California. Turnover among child care providers is estimated at more than 30 percent per year, more than four times higher than among teachers in the public school system. Losing a caregiver leaves working parents scrambling to find other arrangements and disrupts the childrens cognitive and social development, putting them at a disadvantage when it is time for them to start school.
(e)Experienced child care providers who care for children under Californias state-funded child care program are leaving the profession because extremely low reimbursement rates and a lack of access to employment benefits mean they cannot afford to provide for their own families. The The child care workforce is almost exclusively female and predominantly people of color, including many recent immigrants, first-generation college students, and working mothers. Nearly one-half of child care workers nationwide live in families that rely on public support, compared to 25 percent in the overall United States workforce.
(f)The states fragmented, disorganized system for paying child care providers under the state-funded child care program, in which more than 120 different agencies contract with the state to pay child care providers, also contributes to this turnover. Child care providers pay is often late, reduced, or does not arrive at all, and there is a lack of clear authority and redress when problems arise.
(f)The supply of quality child care in California is inadequate to meet the demand. Since 2008, the state has seen a decline of almost 26 percent in the number of licensed family child care homes. California lost over 11,000 licensed family child care providers and over 61,000 slots for children in these homes. In 2012, there was licensed child care capacity for only 25 percent of children of working parents.
(g)In order to address one of the areas of greatest need in the state-funded child care program, to improve developmental and educational outcomes for children in poverty, and to build off the goals of the local control funding formula, additional slots for Californias neediest children must be added.
(h)
(g)Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. For the last several years, child care providers have worked together with the State Department of Education to make improvements to the states requirements for timeliness of payment and communications with child care providers and families. This progress shows the value that child care provider voices can add. But it also highlights the need for child care providers to have a formal role in decisionmaking on issues that shape the child care system and the way they carry out their profession.
(i)
(h)To promote higher quality and greater access and stability in the child care system, it is necessary to enact legislation to grant family child care providers the right to choose a representative to negotiate with the state over the operation of the state-funded child care program. Permitting family child care providers a formal voice will allow the state to get input from providers and to maximize its return on its investment in child care, and will allow providers to advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of care available to Californias children and families.
(j)
(i)The existing system for providing training to child care providers is a patchwork. Training is provided by hundreds of different entities and is challenging to access for large numbers of child care providers. Family child care providers also face particular barriers to gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, including language barriers, scheduling of classes that are incompatible with the operation of their family child care homes, and lack of access to tutoring and mentoring. No existing child care training programs address the issue of low wages and the high cost of education and training. Consistent with the states focus on the improvement and expansion of workforce development and apprenticeships, apprenticeships to include lower wage workers, a training partnership between the state and a certified provider organization will be able to draw down federal and private funding to add capacity to existing state training resources, from general education classes General Educational Development (GED) and English language learner (ELL) classes to providing support for child care providers who seek to obtain higher education credentials in child development. This training partnership will help build skills, knowledge, and techniques to provide higher quality early learning for family child care providers as well as center or school-based care providers. Financial incentives, such as rate add-ons for child care providers who obtain additional training or who complete apprenticeship programs, will encourage participation, acknowledge additional skill, and help ensure that child care providers with greater training remain serving at-risk children.
(k)
(j)Parent engagement is a crucial part of childrens success in early care, in school, and later in life. Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. Many parents choose home-based child care providers due to shared values and culture, close personal relationships, and provider flexibility with erratic work schedules. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 8439 of the Education Code, the Governor or his or her designee shall perform a study of best practices for culturally competent parent engagement in family child care, including in particular engagement of parents who work nontraditional hours. The study shall determine how to most effectively ensure that parents are involved with their childrens development and are better able to provide learning and other developmental opportunities for their children at home in a culturally appropriate manner. The goal of the study will be to identify best practices that target low-income families and to propose some options for a California parent engagement program as well as identify possible funding sources for such work.
SEC. 2.Article 19.5 (commencing with Section 8430) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:19.5.Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act8430.This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act.
8430.5.(a)The purpose of this article is to promote quality, access, and stability in the child care system by increasing the number of child care slots available to Californias neediest children; by authorizing an appropriate unit of family child care providers to choose a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative for purposes of the meet and confer process set forth in this article and the administration and enforcement of any resulting memorandum of understanding; by establishing a training partnership between the state and that exclusive representative; and by conducting a study of best practices for parent engagement in home-based early care and education. It is also the purpose of this article to promote full communication between family child care providers and the state by permitting a provider organization certified as the representative of family child care providers to meet and confer with the state regarding the states child care system.
(b)This article does not change the family child care providers status as independent business owners or classify family child care providers as public employees.
8431.As used in this article:
(a)Certified provider organization means a provider organization that is, or provider organizations that jointly are, certified by the Public Employment Relations Board as the exclusive representative of family child care providers in an appropriate unit after a proceeding under Section 8434.
(b)Family child care provider or provider means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
(1)A family day care home provider, as described in Section 1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code, who is licensed pursuant to the requirement in Section 1596.80 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2)An individual who meets both of the following criteria:
(A)Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(B)Is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c)Maintenance of checkoff means an agreement between a provider and a provider organization that the providers authorization for the deduction of union dues or their equivalent can only be withdrawn during a designated window period.
(d)Provider organization means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
(1)Includes family child care providers as members.
(2)Has as one of its main purposes the representation of family child care providers in their relations with public or private entities in California and the terms of their participation in state-funded child care programs.
(3)Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
(e)Public Employment Relations Board or board means the Public Employment Relations Board established pursuant to Section 3541 of the Government Code. The powers and duties of the board described in Sections 3514.5, 3520.5, and 3541.3 of the Government Code, and the respective implementing regulations, shall apply, as appropriate, to this article to the extent those procedures are not inconsistent with the procedures specified in this article. If a provision of this article is the same or substantially the same as that contained in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 3500), Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 3512), or Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, it shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the regulations and judicial interpretations of the provision in those statutes.
(f)State-funded child care program means a program administered by the State Department of Education, the State Department of Social Services, or another department, agency, or political subdivision of the state, including programs established subsequent to the passage of this article, to subsidize early learning and care for children, but not including the public education system.
8431.5.The state action antitrust exemption to the application of federal and state antitrust laws is applicable to the activities of family child care providers and their representatives authorized under this article.
8432.Family child care providers have the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented in all matters specified in this article. Family child care providers have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of provider organizations. This article does not change the rights of family child care providers to represent themselves individually in their relations with the state, agencies or departments of the state, contractors of the state, parents, or others, or their rights to speak to and petition the government with respect to all aspects of the states child care program or any other topic.
8432.5.Family child care providers are not public employees, and this article does not create an employer-employee relationship between family child care providers and the state or a public or private nonprofit entity for any purpose, including, but not limited to, eligibility for health or retirement benefits or vicarious liability in tort. This article does not alter the status of a family child care provider as a business owner, an employee of a family, or a contractor.
8433.This article does not alter the rights of families to select, direct, and terminate the services of family child care providers.
8433.5.(a)Within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services shall make available to that provider organization information regarding family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number.
(b)Within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Education, with the assistance of the State Department of Social Services and any state department or agency, or its contractor or subcontractor, in possession of the relevant information, shall collect information regarding family child care providers, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, unique provider identification number, if applicable, and shall make that information available to the provider organization. The provider organization shall bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information described in this subdivision to the extent that the state is not already collecting it and is not already required by federal or state law or regulation to collect it.
(c)Upon the request of a certified provider organization, the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education shall make available to that organization the information specified in subdivisions (a) and (b), updated on a monthly basis.
(d)A provider organization under this article shall be considered a family day care organization for purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code. All confidentiality requirements applicable to recipients of information pursuant to Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code apply to provider organizations and shall apply also to protect the personal information of family child care providers as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431. Information provided pursuant to this section shall be used only for purposes of organizing and representing family child care providers.
(e)Upon written request of a family child care provider, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services shall remove the family child care providers home address and home telephone number from the mailing lists referenced in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) before the release of the lists.
8434.(a)An appropriate unit of family child care providers, as described in subdivision (e), may designate, in accordance with this article, the provider organization, if any, that shall be its exclusive representative. The board shall certify a provider organization designated by an appropriate unit of family child care providers as the exclusive representative of those providers.
(b)Requests for elections, challenges, competing claims, requests for intervention, and requests for decertification shall be filed with, received by, and acted upon by the board, in accordance with its rules and regulations, provided that a valid petition for a certification or decertification election is resolved by a secret ballot election among family child care providers. The board may designate a neutral third party to act on any of the requests filed with the board pursuant to this subdivision.
(c)A provider organization petitioning for an election to be certified by the board as the exclusive representative for an appropriate group of providers shall include in its petition proof of a 30-percent showing of interest designating the provider organization to act as the exclusive representative of the providers. The provider organization shall pay the reasonable costs of verifying this showing of interest. The board, or a neutral third party designated by the board to act on a request for an election, shall consider a document evidencing a family child care providers support, or lack of support, for a provider organization valid if it was signed by the family child care provider within two years of the date it is submitted to the board.
(d)All provider organizations placed on the ballot shall share equally the cost of an election.
(e)There shall be no more than one bargaining unit at any time. A unit of providers shall be considered an appropriate unit if it is a statewide unit and is any of the following:
(1)All family child care providers described in subdivision (b) of Section 8431 in the state.
(2)All family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431.
(3)All family child care providers described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431.
(f)A certified provider organization shall represent each provider in the represented unit fairly with respect to matters within the scope of the certified provider organizations role as exclusive representative of the bargaining unit, without discrimination and without regard to whether the provider is a member of the provider organization.
(g)A certified provider organization may file a request with the board for an election to add providers to an existing unit, to be voted on by a group of providers proposed to be added to the unit, based on a showing of interest by 30 percent of the providers proposed to be added to the unit, at any point after the provider organization has been certified as an exclusive representative. This article does not require a one-year waiting period after the provider organization has been certified as an exclusive representative before the election, authorized pursuant to this subdivision, can be held.
8434.5.The scope of representation shall include all of the following:
(a)The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
(b)Joint labor-management committees.
(c)Contract grievance arbitration.
(d)Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers, including, but not limited to, through the training partnership established pursuant to Section 8439.5, and state contributions to carry out the recommendations of the training partnership.
(e)Benefits for providers.
(f)Payment procedures for state-funded child care programs.
(g)Reimbursement rates, including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete additional training, and other economic matters.
(h)Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
(i)The deduction of membership dues and other voluntary deductions authorized by individual family child care providers, including, but not limited to, honoring maintenance of checkoff agreements, and allocation of the costs of implementing such a deduction system.
(j)Expanded access to the state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
(k)Any changes to current practice other than those listed in subdivisions (a) to (j), inclusive, that would do any of the following:
(1)Improve recruitment and retention of qualified providers.
(2)Improve the quality of the programs.
(3)Encourage qualified providers to seek additional education and training.
(4)Promote the health and safety of providers and the children in their care.
8435.(a)The Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent, other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, as needed, shall meet and confer in good faith regarding all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization and, before arriving at a determination of policy or course of action, shall consider fully the presentations made by the certified provider organization on behalf of the providers it represents.
(b)As used in this section, meet and confer in good faith means that the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and representatives of the certified provider organization shall have the mutual obligation to meet and confer promptly upon request by either party and continue for a reasonable period of time in order to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals. The duty to meet and confer in good faith also requires the parties to begin negotiations sufficiently in advance of the adoption of the states final budget for the ensuing fiscal year so that there is adequate time for agreement to be reached before the adoption of the final budget and for the resolution of an impasse.
8435.5.(a)If agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization, they jointly shall prepare a written memorandum of understanding. Any portions of the memorandum of understanding requiring appropriation by the Legislature or statutory or regulatory revisions shall be subject to legislative approval of those appropriations or statutory or regulatory revisions.
(b)A memorandum of understanding between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization is binding on all state departments and agencies that are involved in the administration of the state-funded child care program, and the relevant contractors or subcontractors of those departments and agencies.
(c)An agreement pursuant to this section may provide for binding arbitration of grievances concerning the interpretation, application, or violation of the agreement.
(d)This article does not alter the requirements governing the child care reimbursement system that are set forth in Section 8222.
8436.(a)A certified provider organization shall have the right to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments.
(b)If the deduction of membership dues or other voluntary deductions for a provider requires action by more than one agency, department, contractor, or subcontractor, the certified provider organization shall establish procedures to ensure both of the following:
(1)The total amount deducted does not exceed the total dues and other voluntary deductions owed by that provider.
(2)The administrative procedures for deducting dues and other voluntary deductions are reasonable.
(c)The state, its agencies and departments, and their contractors and subcontractors shall not be liable in any action by a provider seeking recovery of, or damage for, improper calculation or use of dues or other voluntary deductions.
8436.5.(a)It is unlawful for the state, including its agencies, boards, commissions, departments, public benefit corporations, political subdivisions, contractors, subcontractors, or employees, to do to the providers or provider organizations any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519 of the Government Code.
(b)It shall be unlawful for a provider organization to do to the state or to the providers any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519.5 of the Government Code.
(c)For purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), the references in subdivision (e) of Section 3519 of, and subdivision (d) of Section 3519.5 of, the Government Code to the mediation procedure set forth in Section 3518 shall be deemed to refer to the impasse procedures set forth in Section 8437.5.
(d)The initial determination as to whether charges of unfair practices are justified and, if so, what remedy is necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article shall be a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the board.
8437.A provider organization shall not direct or call a strike.
8437.5.If after a reasonable period of time the parties fail to reach agreement, the parties may agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service established by the Department of Industrial Relations for mediation or binding arbitration, or either party may declare that an impasse has been reached and request the board to appoint a mediator or an arbitrator from the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service to perform mediation or binding arbitration. A memorandum of understanding reached by means of mediation or arbitration is subject to appropriation by the Legislature and necessary statutory and regulatory revisions.
8438.If preservice or orientation trainings are held for providers by the state or a department, contractor, agency, or political subdivision of the state, a certified provider organization shall be permitted to make a brief presentation about the organization and its activities, its negotiations and memorandum of understanding, and membership at the preservice or orientation trainings.
8438.5.It is the intent of the Legislature to create ____ additional slots in alternative payment voucher programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50 percent of the federal poverty level, pending approval through the annual budget process.
8439.(a)The Governor or his or her designee shall perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding streams that could support this work without reducing the availability and affordability of child care in California, and shall report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance, on or before January 1, 2017, with its findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest. In performing the study, the Governor or his or her designee shall consult with stakeholders, including the State Department of Social Services, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English-speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
(b)(1)A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2)The requirement for submitting a report pursuant to this section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
8439.5.(a)If a provider organization is certified pursuant to Section 8434, the state and the certified provider organization shall establish a training partnership that will consist of a Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement, made up of representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor. The partnership shall make recommendations regarding, and oversee, the expenditures referred to in subdivision (e). The partnership may consult with other early education and care advocates, the Superintendent or his or her designees, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, unions networks, workforce investment boards, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards of the Department of Industrial Relations, organizations that operate training programs, apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers. The certified provider organization shall carry out the recommendations of the partnership.
(b)The partnership shall meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers.
(c)The partnership shall play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers meets the states needs for the overall child care workforce; satisfies the health, safety, and educational standards prescribed by the state; aligns with the states quality rating systems; and identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training. training in order to create a sustainable career pathway for the early education workforce.
(d)The partnerships recommendations may include, but are not limited to: ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing state training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes; ways to expand and improve provider training and skills on subjects including, but not limited to, child literacy, children with special needs, and childrens social and emotional development; ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development or a related field; ways to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including, but not limited to, resource and referral networks, community colleges, colleges, workforce investment boards, and apprenticeship programs; and ways to make training and education, which may include unit-bearing courses and training, available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
(e)It is the intent of the Legislature to allocate funds in the Budget Act of 2015, in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000), to carry out the initial recommendations of the partnership. It is the intent of the Legislature that, in subsequent years, that the recommendations of the partnership shall be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, as specified in Section 8435.5.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Quality, affordable child care is essential to prepare Californias children to succeed in school and in life and to allow families to work and contribute to the states economy with the assurance that their children are safe, well cared for, and learning.
(b)Family child care is the child care setting of choice for many families because of its warm homelike environment, convenience, and affordability. The flexibility offered by many family child care providers is particularly vital to low-wage workers who are subject to highly unpredictable work schedules, and to the many California workers who work nontraditional hours and need child care on evenings, overnights, and weekends. Close to 40 percent of licensed family child care homes offer evening, weekend, and overnight care, compared with only 2 percent of centers.
(c)Family child care providers are small business owners who contribute significantly to the economies of their communities and the state. As businesses, family child care providers are engines for economic growth, generating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, three billion five hundred million dollars ($3,500,000,000) in economic output, and five hundred fifty million dollars ($550,000,000) in tax revenues. Family child care providers also contribute to the economy by serving as a vital job support for working families.
(d)There is a need to improve the quality of child care and to increase stability in the industry that is charged with providing safe and quality care for children in California. Turnover among child care providers is estimated at more than 30 percent per year, more than four times higher than among teachers in the public school system. Losing a caregiver leaves working parents scrambling to find other arrangements and disrupts the childrens cognitive and social development, putting them at a disadvantage when it is time for them to start school.
(e)Experienced child care providers who care for children under Californias state-funded child care program are leaving the profession because extremely low reimbursement rates and a lack of access to employment benefits mean they cannot afford to provide for their own families. The states fragmented, disorganized system for paying child care providers under the state-funded child care program, in which more than 120 different agencies contract with the state to pay child care providers, also contributes to this turnover. Child care providers pay is often late, reduced, or does not arrive at all, and there is a lack of clear authority and redress when problems arise.
(f)The supply of quality child care in California is inadequate to meet the demand. Since 2008, the state has seen a decline of almost 26 percent in the number of licensed family child care homes. California lost over 11,000 licensed family child care providers and over 61,000 slots for children in these homes. In 2012, there was licensed child care capacity for only 25 percent of children of working parents.
(g)In order to address one of the areas of greatest need in the state-funded child care program, to improve developmental and educational outcomes for children in poverty, and to build off the goals of the local control funding formula, additional slots for Californias neediest children must be added.
(h)Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. For the last several years, child care providers have worked together with the State Department of Education to make improvements to the states requirements for timeliness of payment and communications with child care providers and families. This progress shows the value that child care provider voices can add. But it also highlights the need for child care providers to have a formal role in decisionmaking on issues that shape the child care system and the way they carry out their profession.
(i)To promote higher quality and greater access and stability in the child care system, it is necessary to enact legislation to grant family child care providers the right to choose a representative to negotiate with the state over the operation of the state-funded child care program. Permitting family child care providers a formal voice will allow the state to get input from providers and to maximize its return on its investment in child care, and will allow providers to advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of care available to Californias children and families.
(j)The existing system for providing training to child care providers is a patchwork. Training is provided by hundreds of different entities and is challenging to access for large numbers of child care providers. Family child care providers also face particular barriers to gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, including language barriers, scheduling of classes that are incompatible with the operation of their family child care homes, and lack of access to tutoring and mentoring. Consistent with the states focus on the improvement and expansion of workforce development and apprenticeships, a training partnership between the state and a certified provider organization will be able to draw down federal and private funding to add capacity to existing state training resources, from general education classes (GED) and English language learner (ELL) classes to providing support for child care providers who seek to obtain higher education credentials in child development. This training partnership will help build skills, knowledge, and techniques to provide higher quality early learning for family child care providers as well as center or school-based care providers. Financial incentives, such as rate add-ons for child care providers who obtain additional training or who complete apprenticeship programs, will encourage participation, acknowledge additional skill, and help ensure that child care providers with greater training remain serving at-risk children.
(k)Parent engagement is a crucial part of childrens success in early care, in school school, and later in life. Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. Many parents choose home-based child care providers due to shared values and culture, close personal relationships, and provider flexibility with erratic work schedules. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 8439 of the Education Code, the Governor or his or her designee shall perform a study of best practices for culturally competent parent engagement in family child care, including in particular engagement of parents who work nontraditional hours. The study shall determine how to most effectively ensure that parents are involved with their childrens development and are better able to provide learning and other developmental opportunities for their children at home in a culturally appropriate manner. The goal of the study will be to identify best practices that target low-income families and to propose some options for a California parent engagement program as well as identify possible funding sources for such work.
SEC. 2.Article 19.5 (commencing with Section 8430) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:19.5.Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act8430.This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act.
8430.5.(a)The purpose of this article is to promote quality, access, and stability in the child care system by increasing the number of child care slots available to Californias neediest children; by authorizing an appropriate unit of family child care providers to choose a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative for purposes of the meet and confer process set forth in this article and the administration and enforcement of any resulting memorandum of understanding; by establishing a training partnership between the state and that exclusive representative; and by conducting a study of best practices for parent engagement in home-based early care and education. It is also the purpose of this article to promote full communication between family child care providers and the state by permitting a provider organization certified as the representative of family child care providers to meet and confer with the state regarding the states child care system.
(b)This article does not change the family child care providers status as independent business owners or classify family child care providers as public employees.
8431.As used in this article:
(a)Certified provider organization means a provider organization that is, or provider organizations that jointly are, certified by the Public Employment Relations Board as the exclusive representative of family child care providers in an appropriate unit after a proceeding under Section 8434.
(b)Family child care provider or provider means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
(1)A family day care home provider, as described in Section 1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code, who is licensed pursuant to the requirement in Section 1596.80 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2)An individual who meets both of the following criteria:
(A)Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(B)Is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c)Maintenance of checkoff means an agreement between a provider and a provider organization that the providers authorization for the deduction of union dues or their equivalent can only be withdrawn during a designated window period.
(d)Provider organization means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
(1)Includes family child care providers as members.
(2)Has as one of its main purposes the representation of family child care providers in their relations with public or private entities in California and the terms of their participation in state-funded child care programs.
(3)Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
(e)Public Employment Relations Board or board means the Public Employment Relations Board established pursuant to Section 3541 of the Government Code. The powers and duties of the board described in Sections 3514.5, 3520.5, and 3541.3 of the Government Code, and the respective implementing regulations, shall apply, as appropriate, to this article to the extent those procedures are not inconsistent with the procedures specified in this article. If a provision of this article is the same or substantially the same as that contained in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 3500), Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 3512), or Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, it shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the regulations and judicial interpretations of the provision in those statutes.
(f)State-funded child care program means a program administered by the State Department of Education, the State Department of Social Services, or another department, agency, or political subdivision of the state, including programs established subsequent to the passage of this article, to subsidize early learning and care for children, but not including the public education system.
8431.5.The state action antitrust exemption to the application of federal and state antitrust laws is applicable to the activities of family child care providers and their representatives authorized under this article.
8432.Family child care providers have the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented in all matters specified in this article. Family child care providers have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of provider organizations. This article does not change the rights of family child care providers to represent themselves individually in their relations with the state, agencies or departments of the state, contractors of the state, parents, or others, or their rights to speak to and petition the government with respect to all aspects of the states child care program or any other topic.
8432.5.Family child care providers are not public employees, and this article does not create an employer-employee relationship between family child care providers and the state or a public or private nonprofit entity for any purpose, including, but not limited to, eligibility for health or retirement benefits or vicarious liability in tort. This article does not alter the status of a family child care provider as a business owner, an employee of a family, or a contractor.
8433.This article does not alter the rights of families to select, direct, and terminate the services of family child care providers.
8433.5.(a)Within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services shall make available to that provider organization information regarding family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number.
(b)Within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Education, with the assistance of the State Department of Social Services and any state department or agency, or its contractor or subcontractor, in possession of the relevant information, shall collect information regarding family child care providers, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, unique provider identification number, if applicable, and shall make that information available to the provider organization. The provider organization shall bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information described in this subdivision to the extent that the state is not already collecting it and is not already required by federal or state law or regulation to collect it.
(c)Upon the request of a certified provider organization, the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education shall make available to that organization the information specified in subdivisions (a) and (b), updated on a monthly basis.
(d)A provider organization under this article shall be considered a family day care organization for purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code. All confidentiality requirements applicable to recipients of information pursuant to Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code apply to provider organizations and shall apply also to protect the personal information of family child care providers as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431. Information provided pursuant to this section shall be used only for purposes of organizing and representing family child care providers.
(e)Upon written request of a family child care provider, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services shall remove the family child care providers home address and home telephone number from the mailing lists referenced in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) before to the release of the lists.
8434.(a)The An appropriate unit of family child care providers, as described in subdivision (e), may designate, in accordance with the provisions of this article, the provider organization, if any, that shall be its exclusive representative. The board shall certify a provider organization designated by an appropriate unit of family child care providers as the exclusive representative of those providers.
(b)Requests for elections, challenges, and competing claims, requests for intervention, and requests for decertification shall be filed with, received by, and acted upon by the board, in accordance with its rules and regulations, provided that a valid petition for a certification or decertification election is resolved by a secret ballot election among family child care providers. The board may designate a neutral third party to act on any of the requests filed with the board pursuant to this subdivision.
(c)The provider organization that presents a petition requesting certification shall pay the reasonable costs of verifying the number of family child care providers that have designated a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative. The
(c)A provider organization petitioning for an election to be certified by the board as the exclusive representative for an appropriate group of providers shall include in its petition proof of a 30 percent showing of interest designating the provider organization to act as the exclusive representative of the providers. The provider organization shall pay the reasonable costs of verifying this showing of interest. The board, or a neutral third party designated by the board to act on a request for certification an election, shall consider a document evidencing a family child care providers support support, or lack of support, for a provider organization valid if it was signed by the family child care provider within two years of the date it is submitted to the board.
(d)All provider organizations placed on the ballot shall share equally the cost of an election.
(e)The only appropriate unit shall consist of all family child care providers in the state.
(e)There shall be no more than one bargaining unit at any time. A unit of providers shall be considered an appropriate unit if it is a statewide unit and is any of the following:
(1)All family child care providers in the state.
(2)All family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431.
(3)All family child care providers described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431.
(f)A certified provider organization shall represent each provider in the represented unit fairly with respect to matters within the scope of the certified provider organizations role as exclusive representative of the bargaining unit, without discrimination and without regard to whether the provider is a member of the provider organization.
(g)A certified provider organization may file a request with the board for an election to add providers to an existing unit, to be voted on by a group of providers proposed to be added to the unit, based on a showing of interest by 30 percent of the providers proposed to be added to the unit, at any point after the provider organization has been certified as an exclusive representative. This article does not require a one-year waiting period after the provider organization has been certified as an exclusive representative before the election, authorized pursuant to this subdivision, can be held.
8434.5.The scope of representation shall include all of the following:
(a)The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
(b)Joint labor-management committees.
(c)Contract grievance arbitration.
(d)Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers, including, but not limited to, through the training partnership established pursuant to Section 8439.5, and state contributions to carry out the recommendations of the training partnership.
(e)Benefits for providers.
(f)Payment procedures for state-funded child care programs.
(g)Reimbursement rates, including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete additional training, and other economic matters.
(h)Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
(i)The deduction of membership dues and other voluntary deductions authorized by individual family child care providers, including, but not limited to, honoring maintenance of checkoff agreements, and allocation of the costs of implementing such a deduction system.
(j)Expanded access to the state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
(k)Any changes to current practice other than those listed in subdivisions (a) to (j), inclusive, that would do any of the following:
(1)Improve recruitment and retention of qualified providers.
(2)Improve the quality of the programs.
(3)Encourage qualified providers to seek additional education and training.
(4)Promote the health and safety of providers and the children in their care.
8435.(a)The Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent, other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, as needed, shall meet and confer in good faith regarding all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization and, before arriving at a determination of policy or course of action, shall consider fully the presentations made by the certified provider organization on behalf of the providers it represents.
(b)As used in this section, meet and confer in good faith means that the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and representatives of the certified provider organization shall have the mutual obligation to meet and confer promptly upon request by either party and continue for a reasonable period of time in order to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals. The duty to meet and confer in good faith also requires the parties to begin negotiations sufficiently in advance of the adoption of the states final budget for the ensuing fiscal year so that there is adequate time for agreement to be reached before the adoption of the final budget and for the resolution of an impasse.
8435.5.(a)If agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization, they jointly shall prepare a written memorandum of understanding. Any portions of the memorandum of understanding requiring appropriation by the Legislature or statutory or regulatory revisions shall be subject to legislative approval of those appropriations or statutory or regulatory revisions.
(b)A memorandum of understanding between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization is binding on all state departments and agencies that are involved in the administration of the state-funded child care program, and the relevant contractors or subcontractors of those departments and agencies.
(c)An agreement pursuant to this section may provide for binding arbitration of grievances concerning the interpretation, application, or violation of the agreement.
(d)This article does not alter the requirements governing the child care reimbursement system that are set forth in Section 8222.
8436.(a)A certified provider organization shall have the right to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments.
(b)If the deduction of membership dues or other voluntary deductions for a provider requires action by more than one agency, department, contractor, or subcontractor, the certified provider organization shall establish procedures to ensure both of the following:
(1)The total amount deducted does not exceed the total dues and other voluntary deductions owed by that provider.
(2)The administrative procedures for deducting dues and other voluntary deductions are reasonable.
(c)The state, its agencies and departments, and their contractors and subcontractors shall not be liable in any action by a provider seeking recovery of, or damage for, improper calculation or use of dues or other voluntary deductions.
8436.5.(a)It is unlawful for the state, including its agencies, boards, commissions, departments, public benefit corporations, political subdivisions, contractors, subcontractors, or employees, to do to the providers or provider organizations any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519 of the Government Code.
(b)It shall be unlawful for a provider organization to do to the state or to the providers any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519.5 of the Government Code.
(c)For purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), the references in subdivision (e) of Section 3519 of, and subdivision (d) of Section 3519.5 of, the Government Code to the mediation procedure set forth in Section 3518 shall be deemed to refer to the impasse procedures set forth in Section 8437.5.
(d)The initial determination as to whether charges of unfair practices are justified and, if so, what remedy is necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article shall be a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the board.
8437.A provider organization shall not direct or call a strike.
8437.5.If after a reasonable period of time the parties fail to reach agreement, the parties may agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service established by the Department of Industrial Relations for mediation or binding arbitration, or either party may declare that an impasse has been reached and request the board to appoint a mediator or an arbitrator from the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service to perform mediation or binding arbitration. A memorandum of understanding reached by means of mediation or arbitration is subject to appropriation by the Legislature and necessary statutory and regulatory revisions.
8438.If orientations preservice or orientation trainings are held for providers by the state or any a department, contractor, agency, or political subdivision of the state, a certified provider organization shall be permitted to make a brief presentation about the organization and its activities, its negotiations and memorandum of understanding, and membership at the orientation. preservice or orientation trainings.
8438.5.It is the intent of the Legislature to create ____ additional slots in alternative payment voucher programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50 percent of the federal poverty level, pending approval through the annual budget process.
8439.(a)The Governor or his or her designee shall perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding streams that could support this work without reducing the availability and affordability of child care in California, and shall report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance, on or before January 1, 2017, with its findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest. In performing the study, the Governor or his or her designee shall consult with stakeholders, including the State Department of Social Services, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English-speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
(b)(1)A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2)The requirement for submitting a report pursuant to this section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
8439.5.(a)If a provider organization is certified pursuant to Section 8434, the state and the certified provider organization shall establish a training partnership that will consist of a Joint Committee Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement, made up of representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor. The provider organization shall establish a training program that shall carry out the recommendations of the committee. The partnership shall make recommendations regarding, and oversee, the expenditures referred to in subdivision (e). The partnership may consult with other early education and care advocates, the Superintendent or his or her designees, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, unions that operate training programs, apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers. The certified provider organization shall carry out the recommendations of the partnership.
(b)The committee partnership shall meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers.
(c)The committee partnership shall play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers through the training program meets the states needs for the child care workforce; satisfies the health, safety, and educational standards prescribed by the state; aligns with the states quality rating systems; and identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training.
(d)The committees partnerships recommendations may include, but are not limited to: ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing state training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes; ways to expand and improve provider training and skills on subjects including, but not limited to, child literacy, children with special needs, and childrens social and emotional development; ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development; development or a related field; ways for the training program to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including, but not limited to, resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs; and ways for the training program to make training and education education, which may include unit-bearing courses and training, available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
(e)It is the intent of the Legislature to allocate funds in the Budget Act of 2015, in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000), to carry out the initial recommendations of the committee. partnership. It is the intent of the Legislature, Legislature that, in subsequent years, the recommendations of the committee partnership shall be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, as specified in Section 8435.5.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Quality, affordable child care is essential to prepare Californias children to succeed in school and in life and to allow families to work and contribute to the states economy with the assurance that their children are safe, well cared for, and learning.
(b)Family child care is the child care setting of choice for many families because of its warm homelike environment, convenience, and affordability. The flexibility offered by many family child care providers is particularly vital to low-wage workers who are subject to highly unpredictable work schedules, and to the many California workers who work nontraditional hours and need child care on evenings, overnights, and weekends. Close to 40 percent of licensed family child care homes offer evening, weekend, and overnight care, compared with only 2 percent of centers.
(c)Family child care providers are small business owners who contribute significantly to the economies of their communities and the state. As businesses, family child care providers are engines for economic growth, generating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, three billion five hundred million dollars ($3,500,000,000) in economic output, and five hundred fifty million dollars ($550,000,000) in tax revenues. Family child care providers also contribute to the economy by serving as a vital job support for working families.
(d)There is a need to improve the quality of child care and to increase stability in the industry that is charged with providing safe and quality care for children in California. Turnover among child care providers is estimated at more than 30 percent per year, more than four times higher than among teachers in the public school system. Losing a caregiver leaves working parents scrambling to find other arrangements and disrupts the childrens cognitive and social development, putting them at a disadvantage when it is time for them to start school.
(e)Experienced child care providers who care for children under Californias state-funded child care program are leaving the profession because extremely low reimbursement rates and a lack of access to employment benefits mean they cannot afford to provide for their own families. The states fragmented, disorganized system for paying child care providers under the state-funded child care program, in which more than 120 different agencies contract with the state to pay child care providers, also contributes to this turnover. Child care providers pay is often late, reduced, or doesnt does not arrive at all, and there is a lack of clear authority and redress when problems arise.
(f)The supply of quality child care in California is inadequate to meet the demand. Since 2008, the state has seen a decline of almost 26 percent in the number of licensed family child care homes. California lost over 11,000 licensed family child care providers and over 61,000 slots for children in these homes. In 2012, there was licensed child care capacity for only 25 percent of children of working parents.
(g)In order to address one of the areas of greatest need in the state-funded child care program, to improve developmental and educational outcomes for children in poverty, and to build off the goals of the Local Control Funding Formula local control funding formula, additional slots for Californias neediest children must be added.
(h)Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. For the last several years, child care providers have worked together with the State Department of Education to make improvements to the states requirements for timeliness of payment and communications with child care providers and families. This progress shows the value that child care provider voices can add. But it also highlights the need for child care providers to have a formal role in decisionmaking on issues that shape the child care system and the way they carry out their profession.
(i)To promote higher quality and greater access and stability in the child care system, it is necessary to enact legislation to grant family child care providers the right to choose a representative to negotiate with the state over the operation of the state-funded child care program. Permitting family child care providers a formal voice will allow the state to get input from providers and to maximize its return on its investment in child care, and will allow providers to advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of care available to Californias children and families.
(j)The existing system for providing training to child care providers is a patchwork. Training is provided by hundreds of different entities and is challenging to access for large numbers of child care providers. Family child care providers also face particular barriers to gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, including language barriers, scheduling of classes that are incompatible with the operation of their family child care homes, and lack of access to tutoring and mentoring. Consistent with the states focus on the improvement and expansion of workforce development and apprenticeships, a training partnership between the state and a certified provider organization will be able to draw down federal and private funding to add capacity to existing state training resources, from general education classes (GED) and English language learner (ELL) classes to providing support for child care providers who seek to obtain higher education credentials in child development. This training partnership will help build skills, knowledge, and techniques to provide higher quality early learning for family child care providers as well as center or school-based care providers. Financial incentives, such as rate add-ons for child care providers who obtain additional training or who complete apprenticeship programs, will encourage participation, acknowledge additional skill, and help ensure that child care providers with greater training remain serving at-risk children.
(k)Parent engagement is a crucial part of childrens success in early care, in school and later in life. Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. Many parents choose home-based child care providers due to shared values and culture, close personal relationships, and provider flexibility with erratic work schedules. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 8439 of the Education Code, the ______ Governor or his or her designee shall perform a study of best practices for culturally competent parent engagement in family child care, including in particular engagement of parents who work nontraditional hours. The study shall determine how to most effectively ensure that parents are involved with their childrens development and are better able to provide learning and other developmental opportunities for their children at home in a culturally appropriate manner. The goal of the study will be to identify best practices that target low-income families and to propose some options for a California parent engagement program as well as identify possible funding sources for such work.
SEC. 2.Article 19.5 (commencing with Section 8430) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:19.5.Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act8430.This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act.
8430.5.(a)The purpose of this article is to promote quality, access, and stability in the child care system by increasing the number of child care slots available to Californias neediest children; by authorizing an appropriate unit of family child care providers to choose a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative for purposes of the meet and confer process set forth in this article and the administration and enforcement of any resulting memorandum of understanding; by establishing a training partnership between the state and that exclusive representative; and by conducting a study of best practices for parent engagement in home-based early care and education. It is also the purpose of this article to promote full communication between family child care providers and the state by permitting a provider organization certified as the representative of family child care providers to meet and confer with the state regarding the states child care system.
(b)This article does not change the family child care providers status as independent business owners or classify family child care providers as public employees.
8431.As used in this article:
(a)Certified provider organization means a provider organization that is, or provider organizations that jointly are, certified by the Public Employment Relations Board as the exclusive representative of family child care providers in an appropriate unit after a proceeding under Section 8434.
(b)Family child care provider or provider means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
(1)A family day care home provider, as described in Section 1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code, who is licensed pursuant to the requirement in Section 1596.80 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2)An individual who meets both of the following criteria:
(A)Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(B)Is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c)Maintenance of checkoff means an agreement between a provider and a provider organization that the providers authorization for the deduction of union dues or their equivalent can only be withdrawn during a designated window period.
(d)Provider organization means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
(1)Includes family child care providers as members.
(2)Has as one of its main purposes the representation of family child care providers in their relations with public or private entities in California and the terms of their participation in state-funded child care programs.
(3)Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
(e)Public Employment Relations Board or board means the Public Employment Relations Board established pursuant to Section 3541 of the Government Code. The powers and duties of the board described in Sections 3514.5, 3520.5, and 3541.3 of the Government Code, and the respective implementing regulations, shall apply, as appropriate, to this article to the extent those procedures are not inconsistent with the procedures specified in this article. If a provision of this article is the same or substantially the same as that contained in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 3500), Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 3512), or Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, it shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the judicial interpretations of the provision in those statutes.
(f)State-funded child care program means a program established pursuant to this chapter and administered by the State Department of Education, the State Department of Social Services, or another department, agency, or political subdivision of the state, including programs established subsequent to the passage of this article, to subsidize early learning and care for children, but not including the public education system.
8431.5.The state action antitrust exemption to the application of federal and state antitrust laws is applicable to the activities of family child care providers and their representatives authorized under this article.
8432.Family child care providers have the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented in all matters specified in this article. Family child care providers have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of provider organizations. This article does not change the rights of family child care providers to represent themselves individually in their relations with the state, agencies or departments of the state, contractors of the state, parents, or others, or their rights to speak to and petition the government with respect to all aspects of the states child care program or any other topic.
8432.5.Family child care providers are not public employees, and this article does not create an employer-employee relationship between family child care providers and the state or a public or private nonprofit entity for any purpose, including, but not limited to, eligibility for health or retirement benefits or vicarious liability in tort. This article does not alter the status of a family child care provider as a business owner, an employee of a family, or a contractor.
8433.This article does not alter the rights of families to select, direct, and terminate the services of family child care providers.
8433.5.(a)Within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services shall make available to that provider organization information regarding family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and license number.
(b)Within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Education, with the assistance of the State Department of Social Services and any state department or agency, or its contractor or subcontractor, in possession of the relevant information, shall collect information regarding family child care providers, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, unique provider identification number, if applicable, and shall make that information available to the provider organization. The provider organization shall bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information described in this subdivision to the extent that the state is not already collecting it and is not already required by federal or state law or regulation to collect it.
(c)Upon the request of a certified provider organization, the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education shall make available to that organization the information specified in subdivisions (a) and (b), updated on a monthly basis.
(d)A provider organization under this article shall be considered a day care organization for purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code. All confidentiality requirements applicable to recipients of information pursuant to Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code apply to provider organizations and shall apply also to protect the personal information of family child care providers as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431. Information provided pursuant to this section shall be used only for purposes of organizing and representing family child care providers.
(e)Upon written request of a family child care provider, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services shall remove the family child care providers home address and home telephone number from the mailing lists referenced in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) before to the release of the lists.
8434.(a)An The appropriate unit of family child care providers, as described in subdivision (e), may designate, in accordance with the provisions of this article, the provider organization, if any, that shall be its exclusive representative. The board shall certify a provider organization designated by an appropriate unit of family child care providers as the exclusive representative of those providers.
(b)Requests for elections, challenges, and competing claims, requests for intervention, and requests for decertification shall be filed with, received by, and acted upon by the board, provided that a valid petition for a certification or decertification election is resolved by a secret ballot election among family child care providers. The board may designate a neutral third party to act on any of the requests filed with the board pursuant to this subdivision.
(c)The provider organization that presents a petition requesting certification shall pay the reasonable costs of verifying the number of family child care providers that have designated a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative. The board, or a neutral third party designated by the board to act on a request for certification election, shall consider a document evidencing a family child care providers support for a provider organization valid if it was signed by the family child care provider within two years of the date it is submitted to the board.
(d)All provider organizations placed on the ballot shall share equally the cost of an election.
(e)The only appropriate unit shall consist of all family child care providers in the state.
(f)A certified provider organization shall represent each provider in the represented unit fairly with respect to matters within the scope of the certified provider organizations role as exclusive representative of the bargaining unit, without discrimination and without regard to whether the provider is a member of the provider organization.
8434.5.The scope of representation shall include all of the following:
(a)The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
(b)Joint labor-management committees.
(c)Contract grievance arbitration.
(d)Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers, including, but not limited to, through the training partnership established pursuant to Section 8439.5, and state contributions to the training partnership.
(e)Benefits for providers.
(f)Payment procedures for state-funded child care programs.
(g)Reimbursement rates, including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete additional training, and other economic matters.
(h)Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
(i)The deduction of membership dues and other voluntary deductions authorized by individual family child care providers, including, but not limited to, honoring maintenance of checkoff agreements, and allocation of the costs of implementing such a deduction system.
(j)Expanded access to the state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
(k)Any changes to current practice other than those listed in subdivisions (a) to (j), inclusive, that would do any of the following:
(1)Improve recruitment and retention of qualified providers.
(2)Improve the quality of the programs.
(3)Encourage qualified providers to seek additional education and training.
(4)Promote the health and safety of providers and the children in their care.
8435.(a)The Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent, other state agencies that administer programs of publicly funded child care state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, as needed, shall meet and confer in good faith regarding all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization and, before arriving at a determination of policy or course of action, shall consider fully the presentations made by the certified provider organization on behalf of the providers it represents.
(b)As used in this section, meet and confer in good faith means that the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and representatives of the certified provider organization shall have the mutual obligation to meet and confer promptly upon request by either party and continue for a reasonable period of time in order to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals. The duty to meet and confer in good faith also requires the parties to begin negotiations sufficiently in advance of the adoption of the states final budget for the ensuing fiscal year so that there is adequate time for agreement to be reached before the adoption of the final budget and for the resolution of an impasse.
8435.5.(a)If agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization, they jointly shall prepare a written memorandum of understanding. Any portions of the memorandum of understanding requiring appropriation by the Legislature or statutory or regulatory revisions shall be subject to legislative approval of those appropriations or statutory or regulatory revisions.
(b)A memorandum of understanding between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization is binding on all state departments and agencies that are involved in the administration of the state-funded child care program, and the relevant contractors or subcontractors of those departments and agencies.
(c)An agreement pursuant to this section may provide for binding arbitration of grievances concerning the interpretation, application, or violation of the agreement.
(d)This article does not alter the requirements governing the child care reimbursement system that are set forth in Section 8222.
8436.(a)A certified provider organization shall have the right to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments.
(b)If the deduction of membership dues or other voluntary deductions for a provider requires action by more than one agency, department, contractor, or subcontractor, the certified provider organization shall establish procedures to ensure both of the following:
(1)The total amount deducted does not exceed the total dues and other voluntary deductions owed by that provider.
(2)The administrative procedures for deducting dues and other voluntary deductions are reasonable.
(c)The state, its agencies and departments, and their contractors and subcontractors shall not be liable in any action by a provider seeking recovery of, or damage for, improper calculation or use of dues or other voluntary deductions.
8436.5.(a)It is unlawful for the state, including its agencies, boards, commissions, departments, public benefit corporations, political subdivisions, contractors, subcontractors, or employees, to do to the providers or provider organizations any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519 of the Government Code.
(b)It shall be unlawful for a provider organization to do to the state or to the providers any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519.5 of the Government Code.
(c)For purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), the references in subdivision (e) of Section 3519 of, and subdivision (d) of Section 3519.5 of, the Government Code to the mediation procedure set forth in Section 3518 shall be deemed to refer to the impasse procedures set forth in Section 8437.5.
(d)The initial determination as to whether charges of unfair practices are justified and, if so, what remedy is necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article shall be a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the board.
8437.A provider organization shall not direct or call a strike.
8437.5.If after a reasonable period of time the parties fail to reach agreement, the parties may agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service established by the Department of Industrial Relations for mediation or binding arbitration, or either party may declare that an impasse has been reached and request the board to appoint a mediator or an arbitrator from the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service to perform mediation or binding arbitration. A memorandum of understanding reached by means of mediation or arbitration is subject to appropriation by the Legislature and necessary statutory and regulatory revisions.
8438.If orientations are held for providers by the state or any department, contractor, agency, or political subdivision of the state, a certified provider organization shall be permitted to make a brief presentation about the organization and its activities, its negotiations and memorandum of understanding, and membership at the orientation.
8438.5.It is the intent of the Legislature to create ____ additional slots in alternative payment voucher programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50 percent of the federal poverty level, pending approval through the annual budget process.
8439.(a)The ____ Governor or his or her designee shall perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding streams that could support this work without reducing the availability and affordability of child care in California, and shall report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance, on or before January 1, 2017, with its findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest. In performing the study, the ____ Governor or his or her designee shall consult with stakeholders, including the State Department of Social Services, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lowerincome lower income and non-English-speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
(b)(1)A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2)The requirement for submitting a report pursuant to this section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
8439.5.(a)If a provider organization is certified pursuant to Section 8434, the state and the certified provider organization shall establish a training partnership that will consist of a Joint Committee on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement, made up of representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor. The provider organization shall establish a training program that shall carry out the recommendations of the committee.
(b)The committee shall meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers.
(c)The committee shall play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers through the training program meets the states needs for the child care workforce; satisfies the health, safety, and educational standards prescribed by the state; aligns with the states quality rating systems; and identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training.
(d)The committees recommendations may include, but are not limited to: ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing state training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes; ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development; ways for the training program to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including, but not limited to, resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs; and ways for the training program to make training and education available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
(e)It is the intent of the Legislature to allocate funds in the Budget Act of 2015, in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000), to carry out the initial recommendations of the committee. It is the intent of the Legislature, that in subsequent years, the recommendations of the committee shall be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, as specified in Section 8435.5.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Quality, affordable child care is essential to prepare Californias children to succeed in school and in life and to allow families to work and contribute to the states economy with the assurance that their children are safe, well cared for, and learning.
(b)Family child care is the child care setting of choice for many families because of its warm homelike environment, convenience and affordability. The flexibility offered by many family child care providers is particularly vital to low-wage workers who are subject to highly unpredictable work schedules, and to the many California workers who work nontraditional hours and need child care on evenings, overnights, and weekends. Close to 40 percent of licensed family child care homes offer evening, weekend, and overnight care, compared with only 2 percent of centers.
(c)Family child care providers are small business owners who contribute significantly to the economies of their communities and the state. As businesses, family child care providers are engines for economic growth, generating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, three billion five hundred million dollars ($3,500,000,000) in economic output, and five hundred fifty million dollars ($550,000,000) in tax revenues. Family child care providers also contribute to the economy by serving as a vital job support for working families.
(d)There is a need to improve the quality of child care and to increase stability in the industry that is charged with providing safe and quality care for children in California. Turnover among child care providers is estimated at more than 30 percent per year, more than four times higher than among teachers in the public school system. Losing a caregiver leaves working parents scrambling to find other arrangements and disrupts childrens cognitive and social development, putting them at a disadvantage when it is time for them to start school.
(e)Experienced child care providers who care for children under Californias state-funded child care program are leaving the profession because extremely low reimbursement rates and a lack of access to employment benefits mean they cannot afford to provide for their own families. The states fragmented, disorganized system for paying child care providers under the state-funded child care program, in which more than 120 different agencies contract with the state to pay child care providers, also contributes to this turnover. Child care providers pay is often late, reduced, or doesnt arrive at all, and there is a lack of clear authority and redress when problems arise.
(f)The supply of quality child care in California is inadequate to meet the demand. Since 2008 the state has seen a decline of almost 26 percent in the number of licensed family child care homes. California lost over 11,000 licensed family child care providers and over 61,000 slots for children in these homes. In 2012, there was licensed child care capacity for only 25 percent of children of working parents.
(g)In order to address one of the areas of greatest need in the state-funded child care program, to improve developmental and educational outcomes for children in poverty, and to build off the goals of the Local Control Funding Formula, additional slots for Californias neediest children must be added.
(h)Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. For the last several years, child care providers have worked together with the State Department of Education to make improvements to the states requirements for timeliness of payment and communications with child care providers and families. This progress shows the value that child care provider voices can add. But it also highlights the need for child care providers to have a formal role in decisionmaking on issues that shape the child care system and the way they carry out their profession.
(i)To promote higher quality and greater access and stability in the child care system, it is necessary to enact legislation to grant family child care providers the right to choose a representative to negotiate with the state over the operation of the state-funded child care program. Permitting family child care providers a formal voice will allow the state to get input from providers and to maximize its return on its investment in child care, and will allow providers to advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of care available to Californias children and families.
(j)The existing system for providing training to child care providers is a patchwork. Training is provided by hundreds of different entities and is challenging to access for large numbers of child care providers. Consistent with the states focus on the improvement and expansion of workforce development and apprenticeships, a training partnership between the state and a certified provider organization will be able to draw down federal and private funding to add capacity to existing state training resources, from general education classes (GED) and English language learner (ELL) classes to providing support for child care providers who seek to obtain higher education credentials in child development. This training partnership will help build skills, knowledge, and techniques to provide higher-quality early learning for family child care providers as well as center or school-based care providers. Financial incentives, such as rate add-ons for child care providers who obtain additional training or who complete apprenticeship programs, will encourage participation, acknowledge additional skill, and help ensure that child care providers with greater training remain serving at-risk children.
(k)Parent engagement is a crucial part of childrens success in early care, in school and later in life. Family child care providers role in the states child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. Many parents choose home-based child care providers due to shared values and culture, close personal relationships, and provider flexibility with erratic work schedules. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 8439 of the Education Code, the ______ shall perform a study of best practices for culturally competent parent engagement in family child care, including in particular engagement of parents who work nontraditional hours. The study shall determine how to most effectively ensure that parents are involved with their childrens development and are better able to provide learning and other developmental opportunities for their children at home in a culturally appropriate manner. The goal of the study will be to identify best practices that target low-income families and to propose some options for a California parent engagement program as well as identify possible funding sources for such work.
SEC. 2.Article 19.5 (commencing with Section 8430) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 6 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:19.5.Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act8430.This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act.
8430.5.(a)The purpose of this article is to promote quality, access, and stability in the child care system by increasing the number of child care slots available to Californias neediest children; by authorizing an appropriate unit of family child care providers to choose a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative for purposes of the meet and confer process set forth in this article and the administration and enforcement of any resulting memorandum of understanding; by establishing a training partnership between the state and that exclusive representative; and by conducting a study of best practices for parent engagement in home-based early care and education. It is also the purpose of this article to promote full communication between family child care providers and the state by permitting a provider organization certified as the representative of family child care providers to meet and confer with the state regarding the states child care system.
(b)This article does not change family child care providers status as independent business owners or classify family child care providers as public employees.
8431.As used in this article:
(a)Certified provider organization means a provider organization that is, or provider organizations that jointly are, certified by the Public Employment Relations Board as the exclusive representative of family child care providers in an appropriate unit after a proceeding under Section 8434.
(b)Family child care provider or provider means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
(1)A family day care home provider, as described in Section 1596.78 of the Health and Safety Code, who is licensed pursuant to the requirement in Section 1596.80 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2)An individual who meets both of the following criteria:
(A)Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(B)Is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c)Maintenance of checkoff means an agreement between a provider and a provider organization that the providers authorization for the deduction of union dues or their equivalent can only be withdrawn during a designated window period.
(d)Provider organization means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
(1)Includes family child care providers.
(2)Has as one of its main purposes the representation of family child care providers in their relations with public or private entities in California.
(3)Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
(e)Public Employment Relations Board or board means the Public Employment Relations Board established pursuant to Section 3541 of the Government Code. The powers and duties of the board described in Sections 3514.5, 3520.5, and 3541.3 of the Government Code, and the respective implementing regulations, shall apply, as appropriate, to this article to the extent those procedures are not inconsistent with the procedures specified in this article. If a provision of this article is the same or substantially the same as that contained in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 3500), Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 3512), or Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, it shall be interpreted and applied in accordance with the judicial interpretations of the provision in those statutes.
(f)State-funded child care program means a program established pursuant to this chapter and administered by the State Department of Education, the State Department of Social Services, or another department, agency, or political subdivision of the state, including programs established subsequent to the passage of this article, to subsidize early learning and care for children.
8431.5.The state action antitrust exemption to the application of federal and state antitrust laws is applicable to the activities of family child care providers and their representatives authorized under this article.
8432.Family child care providers have the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented in all matters specified in this article. Family child care providers have the right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of provider organizations. This article does not change the rights of family child care providers to represent themselves individually in their relations with the state, agencies or departments of the state, contractors of the state, parents, or others.
8432.5.Family child care providers are not public employees, and this article does not create an employer-employee relationship between family child care providers and the state or a public or private nonprofit entity for any purpose, including, but not limited to, eligibility for health or retirement benefits or vicarious liability in tort. This article does not alter the status of a family child care provider as a business owner, an employee of a family, or a contractor.
8433.This article does not alter the rights of families to select, direct, and terminate the services of family child care providers.
8433.5.(a)Within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services shall make available to that provider organization information regarding family child care providers described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and license number.
(b)Within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Education, with the assistance of the State Department of Social Services and any state department or agency, or its contractor or subcontractor, in possession of the relevant information, shall collect information regarding family child care providers, including each providers name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, unique provider identification number, if applicable, and shall make that information available to the provider organization. The provider organization shall bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information described in this subdivision to the extent that the state is not already collecting it and is not already required by federal or state law or regulation to collect it.
(c)Upon the request of a certified provider organization, the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education shall make available to that organization the information specified in subdivisions (a) and (b), updated on a monthly basis.
(d)A provider organization under this article shall be considered a day care organization for purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code. All confidentiality requirements applicable to recipients of information pursuant to Section 1596.86 of the Health and Safety Code apply to provider organizations and shall apply also to protect the personal information of family child care providers as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 8431. Information provided pursuant to this section shall be used only for purposes of organizing and representing family child care providers.
8434.(a)An appropriate unit of family child care providers, as described in subdivision (e), may designate, in accordance with the provisions of this article, the provider organization, if any, that shall be its exclusive representative. The board shall certify a provider organization designated by an appropriate unit of family child care providers as the exclusive representative of those providers.
(b)Requests for elections, challenges, and competing claims, requests for intervention, and requests for decertification shall be filed with, received by, and acted upon by the board, provided that a valid petition for a certification or decertification election is resolved by a secret ballot election among family child care providers. The board may designate a neutral third party to act on any of the requests filed with the board pursuant to this subdivision.
(c)The provider organization that presents a petition requesting certification shall pay the reasonable costs of verifying the number of family child care providers that have designated a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative. The board, or a neutral third party designated by the board to act on a request for certification election, shall consider a document evidencing a family child care providers support for a provider organization valid if it was signed by the family child care provider within two years of the date it is submitted to the board.
(d)All provider organizations placed on the ballot shall share equally the cost of an election.
(e)The only appropriate unit shall consist of all family child care providers in the state.
(f)A certified provider organization shall represent each provider in the represented unit fairly with respect to matters within the scope of the certified provider organizations role as exclusive representative of the bargaining unit, without discrimination and without regard to whether the provider is a member of the provider organization.
8434.5.The scope of representation shall include all of the following:
(a)The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
(b)Joint labor-management committees.
(c)Contract grievance arbitration.
(d)Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers, including, but not limited to, through the training partnership established pursuant to Section 8439.5, and state contributions to the training partnership.
(e)Benefits for providers.
(f)Payment procedures for state-funded child care programs.
(g)Reimbursement rates, including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete additional training, and other economic matters.
(h)Expanded access to food and nutrition programs.
(i)The deduction of membership dues and other voluntary deductions authorized by individual family child care providers, including, but not limited to, honoring maintenance of checkoff agreements, and allocation of the costs of implementing such a deduction system.
(j)Expanded access to the state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
(k)Any changes to current practice other than those listed in subdivisions (a) to (j), inclusive, that would do any of the following:
(1)Improve recruitment and retention of qualified providers.
(2)Improve the quality of the programs.
(3)Encourage qualified providers to seek additional education and training.
(4)Promote the health and safety of providers and the children in their care.
8435.(a)The Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent, other state agencies that administer programs of publicly funded child care, and their contractors, as needed, shall meet and confer in good faith regarding all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization and, before arriving at a determination of policy or course of action, shall consider fully the presentations made by the certified provider organization on behalf of the providers it represents.
(b)As used in this section, meet and confer in good faith means that the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and representatives of the certified provider organization shall have the mutual obligation to meet and confer promptly upon request by either party and continue for a reasonable period of time in order to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals. The duty to meet and confer in good faith also requires the parties to begin negotiations sufficiently in advance of the adoption of the states final budget for the ensuing fiscal year so that there is adequate time for agreement to be reached before the adoption of the final budget and for the resolution of an impasse.
8435.5.(a)If agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization, they jointly shall prepare a written memorandum of understanding. Any portions of the memorandum of understanding requiring appropriation by the Legislature or statutory or regulatory revisions shall be subject to legislative approval of those appropriations or statutory or regulatory revisions.
(b)A memorandum of understanding between the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, and the certified provider organization is binding on all state departments and agencies that are involved in the administration of the state-funded child care program, and the relevant contractors or subcontractors of those departments and agencies.
(c)An agreement pursuant to this section may provide for binding arbitration of grievances concerning the interpretation, application, or violation of the agreement.
(d)This article does not alter the requirements governing the child care reimbursement system that are set forth in Section 8222.
8436.(a)A certified provider organization shall have the right to enter into an agreement with the state that provides that the state will require entities that make subsidy payments to providers, including the contractors or subcontractors of state agencies and departments, to deduct membership dues and other voluntary deductions from those subsidy payments.
(b)If the deduction of membership dues or other voluntary deductions for a provider requires action by more than one agency, department, contractor, or subcontractor, the certified provider organization shall establish procedures to ensure both of the following:
(1)The total amount deducted does not exceed the total dues and other voluntary deductions owed by that provider.
(2)The administrative procedures for deducting dues and other voluntary deductions are reasonable.
(c)The state, its agencies and departments, and their contractors and subcontractors shall not be liable in any action by a provider seeking recovery of, or damage for, improper calculation or use of dues or other voluntary deductions.
8436.5.(a)It is unlawful for the state, including its agencies, boards, commissions, departments, public benefit corporations, political subdivisions, contractors, subcontractors, or employees, to do to providers or provider organizations any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519 of the Government Code.
(b)It shall be unlawful for a provider organization to do to the state or to providers any of the things made unlawful under Section 3519.5 of the Government Code.
(c)For purposes of subdivisions (a) and (b), the references in subdivision (e) of Section 3519 of, and subdivision (d) of Section 3519.5 of, the Government Code to the mediation procedure set forth in Section 3518 shall be deemed to refer to the impasse procedures set forth in Section 8437.5.
(d)The initial determination as to whether charges of unfair practices are justified and, if so, what remedy is necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article shall be a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the board.
8437.A provider organization shall not direct or call a strike.
8437.5.If after a reasonable period of time the parties fail to reach agreement, the parties may agree to submit unresolved issues to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service established by the Department of Industrial Relations for mediation or binding arbitration, or either party may declare that an impasse has been reached and request the board to appoint a mediator or an arbitrator from the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service to perform mediation or binding arbitration. A memorandum of understanding reached by means of mediation or arbitration is subject to appropriation by the Legislature and necessary statutory and regulatory revisions.
8438.If orientations are held for providers by the state or any department, contractor, agency, or political subdivision of the state, a certified provider organization shall be permitted to make a brief presentation about the organization and its activities, its negotiations and memorandum of understanding, and membership at the orientation.
8438.5.It is the intent of the Legislature to create ____ additional slots in alternative payment voucher programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50 percent of the federal poverty level, pending approval through the annual budget process.
8439.(a)The ____ shall perform a study of best practices for engaging families in their childrens early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding streams that could support this work without reducing the availability and affordability of child care in California, and shall report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance, on or before January 1, 2017, with its findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest. In performing the study, the ____ shall consult with stakeholders, including the Department of Social Services, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lowerincome and non-English-speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
(b)(1)A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2)The requirement for submitting a report pursuant to this section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2021, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
8439.5.(a)If a provider organization is certified pursuant to Section 8434, the state and the certified provider organization shall establish a training partnership that will consist of a Joint Committee on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement, made up of representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor. The provider organization shall establish a training program that shall carry out the recommendations of the committee.
(b)The committee shall meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and issue recommendations to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers.
(c)The committee shall play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers through the training program meets the states needs for the child care workforce; satisfies the health, safety, and educational standards prescribed by the state; aligns with the states quality rating systems; and identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training.
(d)The committees recommendations may include, but are not limited to: ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing state training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes; ways to support providers who seek to obtain higher education credentials in child development; ways for the training program to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including, but not limited to, resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs; and ways for the training program to make training and education available to child care and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
(e)It is the intent of the Legislature to allocate funds in the Budget Act of 2015, in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000), to carry out the initial recommendations of the committee. It is the intent of the Legislature, that in subsequent years, the recommendations of the committee shall be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, as specified in Section 8435.5.
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2015 | In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending. |
| Sep 4, 2015 | (Corrected September 10). |
| Sep 4, 2015 | Ordered to third reading. |
| Sep 4, 2015 | Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. |
| Sep 4, 2015 | Read third time and amended. |
| Sep 8, 2015 | Joint Rule 62(a) suspended. |
| Sep 10, 2015 | From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (September 10). |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 26. Noes 14. Page 2784.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 26. Noes 14.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Assembly Rule 63 suspended. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | From committee: Be re-referred to Com. on ED. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10(d). (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) Re-referred to Com. on ED. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | From committee: That the Assembly amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 7. Noes 1. Page 2786.) |
| Sep 11, 2015 | From committee: That the Assembly amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) |
| Sep 11, 2015 | From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (September 11). |
| Aug 31, 2015 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Joint Rule 62(a) suspended. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10(d). |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. |
| Sep 11, 2015 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 50. Noes 26. Page 3189.) Ordered to the Senate. |
| Sep 17, 2015 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:45 p.m. |
| Oct 11, 2015 | In Senate. Consideration of Governor's veto pending. |
| Oct 11, 2015 | Vetoed by the Governor. |
| Apr 25, 2016 | Last day to consider Governors veto pursuant to Joint Rule 58.5. |
| Apr 25, 2016 | Last day to consider Governor’s veto pursuant to Joint Rule 58.5. |
| May 18, 2015 | May 18 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file. |
| Feb 27, 2015 | From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 29. |
| Mar 12, 2015 | Referred to Coms. on L. & I.R. and RLS. |
| Apr 14, 2015 | From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on L. & I.R. |
| Apr 15, 2015 | Re-referred to Com. on RLS. |
| Apr 15, 2015 | Withdrawn from committee. |
| Apr 16, 2015 | Re-referred to Coms. on ED. and L. & I.R. |
| Apr 17, 2015 | Set for hearing April 22. |
| Apr 22, 2015 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on L. & I.R. (Ayes 7. Noes 2. Page 723.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on L. & I.R. |
| Apr 24, 2015 | Set for hearing April 29. |
| Apr 29, 2015 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1. Page 820.) (April 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Apr 29, 2015 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (April 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| May 8, 2015 | Set for hearing May 18. |
| Feb 26, 2015 | Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. |
| May 23, 2015 | Set for hearing May 28. |
| May 28, 2015 | From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 1156.) (May 28). |
| May 28, 2015 | From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (May 28). |
| Jun 1, 2015 | Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. |
| Jun 3, 2015 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 25. Noes 12. Page 1307.) Ordered to the Assembly. |
| Jun 3, 2015 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 25. Noes 12.) Ordered to the Assembly. |
| Jun 4, 2015 | In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. |
| Jun 18, 2015 | Referred to Com. on L. & E. |
| Jul 9, 2015 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (July 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Aug 17, 2015 | From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Aug 19, 2015 | August 19 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file. |
| Aug 28, 2015 | From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 5.) (August 27). |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2015 | Unfinished Business (Supplemental File 6) SB548 De León Concurrence | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| Sep 11, 2015 | SB 548 De León Senate Third Reading By ALEJO | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Sep 11, 2015 | Do pass as amended. | Assembly Standing Committee on Human Services |
Passed |
|
| Sep 11, 2015 | That the Assembly amendments be concurred in | Senate Standing Committee on Education |
Passed |
|
| Sep 10, 2015 | Do pass as amended. | Assembly Standing Committee on Human Services |
Passed |
|
| Aug 27, 2015 | Do pass. | Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Jul 8, 2015 | Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Assembly Standing Committee on Labor and Employment |
Passed |
|
| Jun 3, 2015 | Senate 3rd Reading SB548 De León | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| May 28, 2015 | Do pass as amended | Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| May 18, 2015 | Placed on suspense file | Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Apr 29, 2015 | Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Senate Standing Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations |
Passed |
|
| Apr 22, 2015 | Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Labor and Industrial Relations] | Senate Standing Committee on Education |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| 9 to 5 | ** Support | Jun 3, 2015 |
| 9to5-CA Chapter | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| AFSCME Local 3930 | * Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| American Association of University Women | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| american federation of state county and municipal employees | * Indeterminate | Jul 8, 2015 |
| American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees | * Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| BANANAS | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Berkeley City Council | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| black women for wellness | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| California Alliance For Retired Americans | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| California Labor Federation, Afl-Cio | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| California National Organization For Women | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| California Partnership | * Indeterminate | Jul 8, 2015 |
| California Women Lawyers | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Child Care Law Center | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Children Now | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Children's Defense Fund - CA | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Community Coalition | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Community Education Partnerships | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Congressman Ted Lieu | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Consumer Attorneys Of California | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco, City of San Jose | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Courage Campaign, CA | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Educators Excellence | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Equal Rights Advocates | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Home care agency | * Indeterminate | Jul 8, 2015 |
| InnerCity Struggle | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Monterey County Board of Supervisors | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| National Council of Jewish Women | * Indeterminate | Jul 8, 2015 |
| National Council of Jewish Women California | * Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| National Right to Work | ** Against | Jul 8, 2015 |
| National Right to Work Committee | ** Against | May 18, 2015 |
| Our Family Coalition | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Page W | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Page X | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Page Y | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Parent Institute for Quality Education | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| SAIU local 1000 Parent Council | * Indeterminate | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Service Employees International Union - CA | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| St. Paul Lutheran Church | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| u None on current version of the bill. | ** Against | Apr 22, 2015 |
| UAW Local 2865 | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| UAW Local 5810 | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| UDW AFSME Local 3930 | * Indeterminate | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Western Center On Law And Poverty Inc. | ** Support | May 18, 2015 |
| Western Regional Advocacy Project | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
| Young Invincibles | ** Support | Jul 8, 2015 |
SB 548
Page 8
|
Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 |
SB 548 |
VETO
Bill No: SB 548
Amended: 9/11/15
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-1, 9/11/15 (Pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10)
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan
NOES: Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
SENATE FLOOR: 26-14, 9/11/15
AYES: Allen, Beall, Block, De León, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Runner, Stone, Vidak
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 50-26, 9/11/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Child care: family child care providers: orientation training
DIGEST: This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to ensure that all family child care providers attend in-person orientation training, as specified and requires the CDE and California Department of Social Services (DSS) to make information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, as specified.
Establishes the Child Care and Development Services Act to provide child care and development services as part of a coordinated, comprehensive, and cost-effective system serving children from birth to 13 years old and their parents including a full range of supervision, health, and other support services through full- and part-time programs. (Education Code § 8200, et seq.)
Establishes the California Child Day Care Facilities Act provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the DSS and encourages the development of licensing staff with knowledge and understanding of children and child care needs. (Health and Safety Code § 1596.73)
This bill establishes the Raising Child Care Quality Act for the purpose of ensuring that family child care providers receive orientation training on specified subjects, inform family child care providers about training opportunities, and increase the possibility that family child care providers form and join provider organizations to share concerns and advocate for improvements to the system of state-funded child care. Specifically it:
Requires CDE to ensure all family child care providers attend in-person orientation training and establishes deadlines by which providers must complete such training. Specifically it:
Requires a provider who is newly participating in a state-funded child care program to complete orientation training within three months of participation.
Requires a provider already participating in a state-funded child care to complete orientation training within two years after the training is first offered.
Authorizes other child care providers not subject to these requirements to be invited to attend training at no cost to the provider, as specified.
Requires family child care providers to be compensated for time spent attending orientation training.
Requires orientation training to be:
Offered at times and in settings convenient and access to family child care providers.
Made available in languages other than English, as specified, if specified criteria are met.
Offered in an alternative manner on a case by case basis to providers who are unable to comply with the training requirements.
Requires the orientation training to:
Consist of at least four-hours of instruction (beyond that already provided by existing training offered by resources and referral programs for the purpose of meeting specified federal law requirements).
Include all of the following:
Information on the minimum health and safety standards including emergency preparedness and response planning.
Information on occupational health and safety for family child care providers, as specified.
Information about state-funded child care including, referral and listing process of resource and referral agencies, alternative payment programs, as specified, and the process for becoming a licensed family child care provider.
Information about the state’s early learning foundations and the way in which they align with K-5 standards.
Information on resources available to providers and the children and families they serve including:
The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program.
The state early intervention system, First 5 county commissions and other resources, as specified.
Information from provider organizations that meet specified criteria, to be delivered as specified.
Requires California Department of Education (CDE) to offer the orientation training either directly or through contracts and specifically requires that the portion of training covering occupational health and safety be offered through contracts with a statewide organization that meets specified criteria.
Limits the curriculum to be used for orientation training to only that approved by CDE and requires that occupational health and safety training only be approved by CDE if it has been developed with input from family child care providers or their representatives.
Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation trainings required by this bill, as specified.
Makes the training provisions of the bill contingent upon appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act, or other statutes, for this purpose.
Establishes deadlines and conditions for collection of data for purposes of compiling a list of child care providers and declares Legislative intent that the specified list will assist the California Department of Social Services (DSS) and CDE and their contractors in tracking provider compliance. Specifically it:
Requires the DSS to make available each family child care provider’s name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization.
Requires the CDE, with assistance from DSS and other entities, as specified, to collect information regarding family child care providers, as specified, within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization.
Requires, to the extent the state is not already collecting or required by federal or state law to collect the information, that the provider organization bear the costs of collecting information described and that any payment go to reimburse the affected entity for costs incurred to compile the list.
Permits provider organizations to have access to such information within the limits of existing confidentiality requirements, as specified.
Requires CDE and DSS, upon the written request of family child care providers, to remove the provider’s home address and telephone number for mailing lists, as specified, before releasing those lists.
Defines all of the following for purposes of this article:
“Family child care provider” means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either:
A family day care home provider, as specified; or
An individual who is exempt from licensing requirements, as specified, and who provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
“Provider organization” means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
Includes family child care providers as members;
Has the representation of family child care providers or advancing the concerns of providers, as specified, as one of its main purposes; and
Does not contract with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state funded child care program.
“State Funded Child Care program” means a program administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), the Department of Social Services (DSS), or other specified entities, to subsidize early learning and care for children. The public education system is excluded from this definition.
Makes a number of related declarations and findings.
Comments
Need for the bill. The author notes that the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 mandates that states meet specified health and safety training requirements related to child care providers who serve children receiving federal assistance. In addition, the author contends that the lack of orientation and training, coupled with the lack of opportunity for child care workers to share common concerns and advocate for improvements, results in a subsidized child care system that is not as stable or reliable as necessary to support working families.
This bill seeks to ensure that family child care providers are better informed about the state’s subsidized child care system, occupational health and safety practices and related resources by requiring in-person orientation training and the creation of a statewide list of family child-care providers.
Dual objectives. While existing training programs are available, this bill would require additional training of all licensed and license-exempt family child care providers and require that the training include health and safety practices and standards for family child care providers. Additionally, the training would be required to include information about provider organizations, in an attempt to inform family child care providers how to form and join them.
Provider lists. Currently, Alternative Payment Providers maintain lists of family child care providers by county, but no statewide list of family child care providers exists. This bill would require California Department of Education (CDE) to collect the identifying information necessary to develop a centralized list of all family child care providers statewide.
If a provider organization requests information from CDE that is not already collected or required to be collected by state or federal law, the provider organization would be responsible for the costs of collecting the additional information.
Fiscal impact. This bill makes funding for orientation training contingent upon an appropriation for this purpose. According to CDE, providing training to all family care providers will cost approximately $12.7 million and require additional staff. Notwithstanding the bill requirements that costs for collection of data be reimbursed, CDE estimates additional one-time and on-going staffing costs to maintain a list of family child care providers.
It is unclear whether funding for this bill would compete with funding allocated for subsidized child care slots in the annual Budget Act or impact other state allocations for child care programs.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No
Unknown with latest amendments.
Services Employees International Union, California
UDW/AFSCME Local 3930
OPPOSITION: (Verified 10/29/15)
California Alternative Payment Program
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
Senate Bill 548 establishes training requirements for both licensed and license-exempt family child care providers and requires both the Department of Social Services and the Department of Education to collect and deliver providers' personal information to provider organizations, upon their request.
I am returning SB 548 without my signature, because the bill prematurely anticipates what will be necessary to comply with the new federal Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014.
California will need to be in compliance with an abundance of new requirements, not all of which are clear at this juncture. The Department of Education is currently working with stakeholders to update our state's plan, to be submitted by March 1, 2016, after further federal guidance is issued. Public input will be sought prior to the finalization of the plan.
As part of that work, I will direct the State Advisory Council on Early Learning and Care to work with the department and review how the state can best position itself to meet those requirements efficiently and effectively, including the delivery of any training.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 50-26, 9/11/15
AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Ting, Weber, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Chávez, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Maienschein, Mathis, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Linder, Mayes, Thurmond, Williams
Prepared by: Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
11/4/15 14:01:21
**** END ****
SB 548
Page 4
(Without Reference to File)
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 548
(De León)
As Amended September 11, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: Vote not relevant
Committee |
Votes |
Ayes |
Noes |
Labor (vote not relevant) |
|
|
|
Appropriations (vote not relevant) |
|
|
|
Human Services |
4-1 |
Chu, Lopez, Mark Stone, Thurmond |
Maienschein |
Human Services |
5-1 |
Chu, Calderon, Lopez, Mark Stone, Thurmond |
Maienschein |
SUMMARY: Enacts the Raising Child Care Quality Act. Specifically, this bill:
Makes a number of legislative findings and declarations related to: the importance of quality, affordable child care, the flexibility of care offered by family child care settings, family child care providers' economic contributions to their communities and the state, the benefits that training offer to family child care providers and families, and the current lack in California of a single list of all family child care providers who participate in state-funded child care.
States that the purpose of this bill is to:
Ensure that family child care providers receive orientation training on specified subjects;
Make it more possible for family child care providers to be informed about training opportunities; and
Make it more possible for family child care providers to form and join provider organizations.
Defines "family child care provider" ("provider") to mean a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either:
A family day care home provider, as specified; or
An individual who is exempt from licensing requirements, as specified, and who provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
Defines "provider organization" to mean an organization that meets all of the following criteria:
Includes family child care providers as members;
Has the representation of family child care providers, as specified, as one of its main purposes; and
Does not contract with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
Defines "state-funded child care program" to mean a program administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), the Department of Social Services (DSS), or other entities, as specified, to subsidize early learning and care for children. Further, states that the public education system is not included in this definition.
Requires CDE to ensure that all family child care providers attend an in-person orientation training.
Sets deadlines by which various providers must complete training, as follows:
Requires a provider who is newly participating in a state-funded child care program to complete orientation training within three months from the date he or she began participation; and
Requires a provider already participating in a state-funded child care program to complete orientation training within two years of such training becoming available.
Permits other child care providers who are not required to complete the orientation training to be invited to attend such training at no cost to the provider.
Requires family child care providers to be compensated from time spent attending the orientation training.
Requires the orientation training to be offered at times and in settings convenient and accessible to family child care providers.
Requires the orientation training and related materials to be made available in languages other than English if certain criteria are met, as specified.
Requires alternatives to in-person orientation training to be offered on a case-by-case basis if certain criteria are met, as specified.
Requires the orientation to include at least four hours of instruction in addition to training currently offered by resource and referral programs. Further, states that this four hours of training is intended to count towards federal requirements, as specified, and is to include information on all of the following:
Minimum health and safety standards, as specified;
Occupational health and safety for family child care providers, as specified;
Information about state-funded child care, as specified;
Information about the state's early learning foundations and the ways in which they align with K-5 standards; and
Information on resources available to providers and the children and families they serve, as specified.
Requires CDE to offer the orientation training either directly or through contracts, as follows:
Requires that the portion of training covering occupational health and safety be offered through contracts with a statewide organization that meets the following criteria:
Has expertise in state-funded child care programs;
Includes family child care providers as members; and
Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
Requires the remainder of the training to be offered primarily through local resource and referral programs, as defined.
Requires that curriculum used for orientation training be approved by CDE. Further, requires that the portion of training covering occupational health and safety only be approved by CDE if it has been developed with input from family child care providers or their representatives.
Permits the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation trainings required by this bill, as specified.
States that the requirements of this bill are contingent upon appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act or other statutes.
Requires DSS to, within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, make available each family child care provider's name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number.
Requires CDE, with assistance from specified entities and within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, to collect information regarding family child care providers, including but not limited to, each provider's name, home address, and telephone number. Further, states Legislative intent that this list will assist DSS, CDE, and their contractors in tracking provider compliance.
Requires the provider organization requesting provider information to bear the costs of collecting this information with any such payment going to reimburse the entity that incurred the cost of compiling the list, as specified, and permits provider organizations to have access to such information within the bounds of confidentiality requirements, as specified.
Restricts provider organization use of provider information to purposes of advocating on behalf of and educating family child care providers, as specified.
Requires CDE and DSS, upon the written request of a family child care provider, to remove his or her home address and telephone number from mailing lists before releasing those lists.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Subsidized child care: Subsidized child care may be available to low-income families through a number of programs. Additionally, California offers State Preschool Programs to eligible three-and four-year-olds.
California offers subsidized child care to parents participating in CalWORKs and to families transitioning off of and no longer receiving aid. This child care is offered in three "stages"; DSS administers Stage 1, and CDE administers Stages 2 and 3. CDE also administers non-CalWORKs child care. The largest programs are: General Child Care, which includes contracted centers and family child care homes; the California State Preschool Program, which includes contracted centers and family child care homes for three- and four-year olds; and APPs, which provide vouchers that can be used to obtain child care in a center, family child care home, or from a license-exempt provider.
Child Care and Development Block Grant: The federal Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-186) reauthorized the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 1990. This reauthorization brought about a number of changes aimed at addressing health and safety requirements, quality of care, and consumer and provider education. Among the new provisions are that child care providers serving children receiving assistance through the Child Care Development Fund must receive training on certain health and safety topics.
This bill seeks to increase quality and safety for children and providers in the state's subsidized child care programs, and to help meet the new federal requirements as set forth by the Child Care and Development Block Grant.
Analysis Prepared by: Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0002443
SB 548
Page 4
Date of Hearing: September 11, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Kansen Chu, Chair
SB 548
(De León) – As Amended September 11, 2015
SENATE VOTE: Vote not relevant
SUBJECT: Child care: family child care providers: orientation training
SUMMARY: Enacts the Raising Child Care Quality Act. Specifically, this bill:
Makes a number of legislative findings and declarations related to: the importance of quality, affordable child care, the flexibility of care offered by family child care settings, family child care providers' economic contributions to their communities and the state, the benefits that training offer to family child care providers and families, and the current lack in California of a single list of all family child care providers who participate in state-funded child care.
States that the purpose of this bill is to:
Ensure that family child care providers receive orientation training on specified subjects;
Make it more possible for family child care providers to be informed about training opportunities; and
Make it more possible for family child care providers to form and join provider organizations.
Defines "family child care provider" ("provider") to mean a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either:
A family day care home provider, as specified; or
An individual who is exempt from licensing requirements, as specified, and who provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
Defines "provider organization" to mean an organization that meets all of the following criteria:
Includes family child care providers as members;
Has the representation of family child care providers, as specified, as one of its main purposes; and
Does not contract with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
Defines "state-funded child care program" to mean a program administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), the Department of Social Services (DSS), or other entities, as specified, to subsidize early learning and care for children. Further, states that the public education system is not included in this definition.
Requires CDE to ensure that all family child care providers attend an in-person orientation training.
Sets deadlines by which various providers must complete training, as follows:
Requires a provider who is newly participating in a state-funded child care program to complete orientation training within three months from the date he or she began participation; and
Requires a provider already participating in a state-funded child care program to complete orientation training within two years of such training becoming available.
Permits other child care providers who are not required to complete the orientation training to be invited to attend such training at no cost to the provider.
Requires family child care providers to be compensated from time spent attending the orientation training.
Requires the orientation training to be offered at times and in settings convenient and accessible to family child care providers.
Requires the orientation training and related materials to be made available in languages other than English if certain criteria are met, as specified.
Requires alternatives to in-person orientation training to be offered on a case-by-case basis if certain criteria are met, as specified.
Requires the orientation to include at least four hours of instruction in addition to training currently offered by resource and referral programs. Further, states that this four hours of training is intended to count towards federal requirements, as specified, and is to include information on all of the following:
Minimum health and safety standards, as specified;
Occupational health and safety for family child care providers, as specified;
Information about state-funded child care, as specified;
Information about the state's early learning foundations and the ways in which they align with K-5 standards; and
Information on resources available to providers and the children and families they serve, as specified.
Requires CDE to offer the orientation training either directly or through contracts, as follows:
Requires that the portion of training covering occupational health and safety be offered through contracts with a statewide organization that meets the following criteria:
Has expertise in state-funded child care programs;
Includes family child care providers as members; and
Is not an entity that contracts with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state-funded child care program.
Requires the remainder of the training to be offered through local resource and referral programs, as defined.
Requires that curriculum used for orientation training be approved by CDE. Further, requires that the portion of training covering occupational health and safety only be approved by CDE if it has been developed with input from family child care providers or their representatives.
Permits the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation trainings required by this bill, as specified.
States that the training requirements of this bill are contingent upon appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act or other statutes.
Requires DSS to, within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, make available each family child care provider's name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number.
Requires CDE, with assistance from specified entities and within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, to collect information regarding family child care providers, including but not limited to, each provider's name, home address, and telephone number. Further, states Legislative intent that this list will assist DSS, CDE, and their contractors in tracking provider compliance.
Requires the provider organization requesting provider information to bear the costs of collecting this information with any such payment going to reimburse the entity that incurred the cost of compiling the list, as specified, and permits provider organizations to have access to such information within the bounds of confidentiality requirements, as specified.
Requires CDE and DSS, upon the written request of a family child care provider, to remove his or her home address and telephone number from mailing lists before releasing those lists.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Subsidized child care: Subsidized child care may be available to low-income families through a number of programs. Additionally, California offers State Preschool Programs to eligible three-and four-year-olds.
California offers subsidized child care to parents participating in CalWORKs and to families transitioning off of and no longer receiving aid. This child care is offered in three "stages"; DSS administers Stage 1, and CDE administers Stages 2 and 3. CDE also administers non-CalWORKs child care. The largest programs are: General Child Care, which includes contracted centers and family child care homes; the California State Preschool Program, which includes contracted centers and family child care homes for three- and four-year olds; and APPs, which provide vouchers that can be used to obtain child care in a center, family child care home, or from a license-exempt provider.
Child Care and Development Block Grant: The federal Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-186) reauthorized the Child Care and Development Block
Grant Act of 1990. This reauthorization brought about a number of changes aimed at addressing health and safety requirements, quality of care, and consumer and provider education. Among the new provisions are that child care providers serving children receiving assistance through the Child Care Development Fund must receive training on certain health and safety topics.
This bill seeks to increase quality and safety for children and providers in the state's subsidized child care programs, and to help meet the new federal requirements as set forth by the Child Care and Development Block Grant.
Analysis Prepared by: Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
SB 548
Page 7
|
Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 |
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 548
Amended: 9/11/15
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-2, 4/22/15
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan
NOES: Runner, Vidak
SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 4/29/15
AYES: Mendoza, Jackson, Leno, Mitchell
NOES: Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 25-12, 6/3/15
AYES: Allen, Beall, Block, De León, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Bates, Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Runner, Stone, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Cannella, Glazer
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: Not available
SUBJECT: Child care: family child care providers: orientation training
DIGEST: This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to ensure that all family child care providers attend in-person orientation training, as specified and requires the CDE and California Department of Social Services (DSS) to make information regarding family child care providers available to provider organizations, as specified.
Assembly Amendments are substantive and replace the previous contents of this measure regarding bargaining representation for family child care providers with provisions dealing with in-person orientation training for providers.
Existing law:
Establishes the Child Care and Development Services Act to provide child care and development services as part of a coordinated, comprehensive, and cost-effective system serving children from birth to 13 years old and their parents including a full range of supervision, health, and other support services through full- and part-time programs. (Education Code § 8200, et seq.)
Establishes the California Child Day Care Facilities Act provides for the licensure and regulation of family day care homes by the DSS and encourages the development of licensing staff with knowledge and understanding of children and child care needs. (Health and Safety Code § 1596.73)
This bill establishes the Raising Child Care Quality Act for the purpose of ensuring that family child care providers receive orientation training on specified subjects, inform family child care providers about training opportunities, and increase the possibility that family child care providers form and join provider organizations to share concerns and advocate for improvements to the system of state-funded child care. Specifically it:
Requires CDE to ensure all family child care providers attend in-person orientation training and establishes deadlines by which providers must complete such training. Specifically it:
Requires a provider who is newly participating in a state-funded child care program to complete orientation training within three months of participation.
Requires a provider already participating in a state-funded child care to complete orientation training within two years after the training is first offered.
Authorizes other child care providers not subject to these requirements to be invited to attend training at no cost to the provider, as specified.
Requires family child care providers to be compensated for time spent attending orientation training.
Requires orientation training to be:
Offered at times and in settings convenient and access to family child care providers.
Made available in languages other than English, as specified, if specified criteria are met.
Offered in an alternative manner on a case by case basis to providers who are unable to comply with the training requirements.
Requires the orientation training to:
Consist of at least four-hours of instruction (beyond that already provided by existing training offered by resources and referral programs for the purpose of meeting specified federal law requirements).
Include all of the following:
Information on the minimum health and safety standards including emergency preparedness and response planning.
Information on occupational health and safety for family child care providers, as specified.
Information about state-funded child care including, referral and listing process of resource and referral agencies, alternative payment programs, as specified, and the process for becoming a licensed family child care provider.
Information about the state’s early learning foundations and the way in which they align with K-5 standards.
Information on resources available to providers and the children and families they serve including:
The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program.
The state early intervention system, First 5 county commissions and other resources, as specified.
Information from provider organizations that meet specified criteria, to be delivered as specified.
Requires California Department of Education (CDE) to offer the orientation training either directly or through contracts and specifically requires that the portion of training covering occupational health and safety be offered through contracts with a statewide organization that meets specified criteria.
Limits the curriculum to be used for orientation training to only that approved by CDE and requires that occupational health and safety training only be approved by CDE if it has been developed with input from family child care providers or their representatives.
Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to adopt rules and regulations regarding the orientation trainings required by this bill, as specified.
Makes the training provisions of the bill contingent upon appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act, or other statutes, for this purpose.
Establishes deadlines and conditions for collection of data for purposes of compiling a list of child care providers and declares Legislative intent that the specified list will assist the California Department of Social Services (DSS) and CDE and their contractors in tracking provider compliance. Specifically it:
Requires the DSS to make available each family child care provider’s name, home address, mailing address, telephone number, email address, if known, and license number within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization.
Requires the CDE, with assistance from DSS and other entities, as specified, to collect information regarding family child care providers, as specified, within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization.
Requires, to the extent the state is not already collecting or required by federal or state law to collect the information, that the provider organization bear the costs of collecting information described and that any payment go to reimburse the affected entity for costs incurred to compile the list.
Permits provider organizations to have access to such information within the limits of existing confidentiality requirements, as specified.
Requires CDE and DSS, upon the written request of family child care providers, to remove the provider’s home address and telephone number for mailing lists, as specified, before releasing those lists.
Defines all of the following for purposes of this article:
“Family child care provider” means a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either:
A family day care home provider, as specified; or
An individual who is exempt from licensing requirements, as specified, and who provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
“Provider organization” means an organization that has all of the following characteristics:
Includes family child care providers as members;
Has the representation of family child care providers or advancing the concerns of providers, as specified, as one of its main purposes; and
Does not contract with the state or a county to administer or process payments for a state funded child care program.
“State Funded Child Care program” means a program administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), the Department of Social Services (DSS), or other specified entities, to subsidize early learning and care for children. The public education system is excluded from this definition.
Makes a number of related declarations and findings.
Comments
Need for the bill. The author notes that the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 mandates that states meet specified health and safety training requirements related to child care providers who serve children receiving federal assistance. In addition, the author contends that the lack of orientation and training, coupled with the lack of opportunity for child care workers to share common concerns and advocate for improvements, results in a subsidized child care system that is not as stable or reliable as necessary to support working families.
This bill seeks to ensure that family child care providers are better informed about the state’s subsidized child care system, occupational health and safety practices and related resources by requiring in-person orientation training and the creation of a statewide list of family child-care providers.
Dual objectives. While existing training programs are available, this bill would require additional training of all licensed and license-exempt family child care providers and require that the training include health and safety practices and standards for family child care providers. Additionally, the training would be required to include information about provider organizations, in an attempt to inform family child care providers how to form and join them.
Provider lists. Currently, Alternative Payment Providers maintain lists of family child care providers by county, but no statewide list of family child care providers exists. This bill would require California Department of Education (CDE) to collect the identifying information necessary to develop a centralized list of all family child care providers statewide.
If a provider organization requests information from CDE that is not already collected or required to be collected by state or federal law, the provider organization would be responsible for the costs of collecting the additional information.
Fiscal impact. This bill makes funding for orientation training contingent upon an appropriation for this purpose. According to CDE, providing training to all family care providers will cost approximately $12.7 million and require additional staff. Notwithstanding the bill requirements that costs for collection of data be reimbursed, CDE estimates additional one-time and on-going staffing costs to maintain a list of family child care providers.
It is unclear whether funding for this bill would compete with funding allocated for subsidized child care slots in the annual Budget Act or impact other state allocations for child care programs.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No
Unknown with latest amendments
Services Employees International Union, California
OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/11/15)
None received
Prepared by: Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105
9/11/15 21:24:05
**** END ****
SB 548
Page 6
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 548
(De León)
As Amended August 17, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 25-12
Committee |
Votes |
Ayes |
Noes |
Labor |
5-2 |
Roger Hernández, Chu, Low, McCarty, Thurmond |
Harper, Patterson |
Appropriations |
12-5 |
Gomez, Bloom, Bonta, Calderon, Nazarian, Eggman, Eduardo Garcia, Holden, Quirk, Rendon, Weber, Wood |
Bigelow, Chang, Gallagher, Jones, Wagner |
SUMMARY: Authorizes family child care providers to form, join and participate in "provider organizations" for purposes of negotiating with state agencies on specified matters, among other provisions. Specifically, this bill:
Defines "family child care provider" as a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
A family day care home provider who is licensed.
An individual who meets both of the following:
Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
Is exempt from licensing requirements.
Gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented.
Extends the state action antitrust exemption to the activities of the family child care providers and their representatives. This bill also states, however, that the status of family child care providers as independent business owners does not change, nor does this bill classify family child care providers as public employees.
Creates a right for family child care providers to form provider organizations. Child care providers would retain the right to join or not join such an organization.
Requires that, within ten days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services (DSS) must make available to that provider organization information regarding licensed family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information.
Requires that, within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the California Department of Education (CDE), with the assistance of the relevant organization, must collect information regarding family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information. The provider organization must bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information.
Requires that, upon written request of a family child care provider, the CDE and the DSS must remove the family child care provider’s home address and telephone number from the above-described lists.
Provides that a unit of provider organizations may choose to designate the provider organization that shall be the exclusive representative for negotiations with the state. In order for a unit of provider organizations to be considered appropriate, the unit must be statewide and include all family child care providers.
Provides that the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) must conduct an election to certify the provider organization as the exclusive bargaining representative. PERB is also required to receive and act upon challenges, petitions for unit certification, and other representation issues. A provider organization petitioning for an election to be certified is required to include in its petition proof of a 30% showing of interest designating the provider organization to act as the exclusive representative. The provider organization must pay the reasonable costs of verifying this showing of interest.
Empowers PERB to contract with a neutral third party to conduct all necessary elections and other representation requests.
Provides that there shall be no more than one bargaining unit at any time. A certified provider organization may file a request with the PERB for an election to add providers to an existing unit.
Provides that the child care organization would represent all child care providers in negotiations with the Governor and state agencies on issues that fall within the child care provider organization’s scope of representation.
Provide that issues within the scope of representation include:
The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
Joint labor-management committees.
Contract grievance arbitration.
Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers.
Benefits for providers.
Payment procedures for child care subsidy programs.
Reimbursement rates for providers participating in a child care subsidy program including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete extra training.
Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
The deduction of membership dues and fair share fees.
Expanded access to state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
Any changes to current practice other than those listed in above that would improve recruitment and retention of child care providers, quality of child care programs, additional education of qualified child care providers, and the promotion the health and safety of providers and the children in their care.
Requires that the Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, must meet and confer in good faith regarding all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization.
Provides that if an agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, and the certified provider organization, they jointly shall prepare a written memorandum of understanding.
Provides the child care provider organization with the right to enter an agreement with the state for the deduction of membership dues and fair share fees from child care subsidy payments made to providers.
Prohibits the child care provider organization from directing or calling a strike. The bill would also allow for disputes to be submitted to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation.
Requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the state and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership consisting of a Joint Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement. The membership of the Joint Partnership is to include representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor.
Requires the partnership to make recommendations regarding, and oversee, the expenditures. Authorizes the partnership to consult with other early education and care advocates, the SPI or designees, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, unions that operate training programs, apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers. Requires the certified provider organization to carry out the recommendations of the partnership.
Requires the partnership to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and license-exempt family child care providers.
Requires the partnership to play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers:
Meets the State's needs for the overall child care workforce.
Satisfies the health, safety and educational standards prescribed by the State.
Aligns with the State’s quality rating systems.
Identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training in order to create a sustainable career pathway for the early education workforce.
Authorizes the partnership's recommendations to include, but not be limited to:
Ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing State training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes.
Ways to expand and improve provider training and skills on subjects including but not limited to child literacy, children with special needs, and children's social and emotional development.
Ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development or a related field.
Ways to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including but not limited to resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs.
Ways to make training and education, which may include unit-bearing courses and training, available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
States it is the intent of the Legislature that the recommendations of the partnership be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor.
Requires the Governor or designee to conduct a study of best practices for engaging families in their children's early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding that could support parental engagement efforts without reducing the availability and affordability of child care.
Requires the Governor or designee to report to the Legislature and Department of Finance, by January 1, 2017, with the findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
Requires the Governor or designee, in conducting the study, to consult with stakeholders, including the DSS, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
Makes related legislative findings and declarations.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill would result in the following:
Unknown General Fund costs, potentially in the hundreds of millions, to the extent collective bargaining leads to increased salary and benefits and better working conditions for providers, which will lead to higher child care costs.
Ongoing General Fund administrative costs to the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), in the range of $450,000, to process regulations and adjudicate increased unfair practice caseload. Costs are based on the estimate that 85,000 providers will be added to PERB's current jurisdiction of over 2.2 million public employees. PERB will also need to expend staff resources to determine the appropriate bargaining unit for family child care workers. This bill specifically provides that the election costs relative to this process will be reimbursed by participating provider organizations.
Ongoing General Fund administrative costs to CalHR, potentially in the range of $1 million, for workload related to negotiating and administering a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the certified provider organization. CalHR workload includes litigation of unfair labor practices before the PERB, arbitrations over MOU disputes, and lawsuits over alleged wage and hour violations. Potentially significant costs would result if the provider organization and the state are unable to reach future agreements in any area within the scope of representation.
Onetime General Fund administrative costs to the CDE of approximately $106,000 and ongoing costs of approximately $57,000 to collect information from providers. CDE does not currently maintain a list of family child care providers. The CDE would need to compile the information from Alternative Payment Providers and maintain information in a database.
General Fund cost pressure, likely in the low hundreds of thousands, for staffing of the Partnership on Child Care Training, Education and Quality Improvement. The bill expresses the intent of the Legislature that recommendations made by the partnership are funded with contributions agreed to in an MOU between the provider organization and the Governor.
General Fund costs in the low hundreds of thousands for the Governor or his designee to perform the best practices study for engaging families which would increase costs to an unspecified department. Additional cost pressure to implement identified best practices.
COMMENTS: This bill proposes to enact the Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act. According to the author, "The current subsidized child care system encompasses more than 120 different agencies contracting with the state as middlemen, who in turn administer access to the system for subsidized families and reimburse providers who care for children whose families receive subsidies. Low income children have uneven access to quality child care. Given low reimbursement rates and a fragmented system, there is also extremely high turnover among providers. One of the primary work-related costs that providers struggle to afford is higher education and training to increase their knowledge of child development and stay current on the latest theory and practice of early education and care."
The sponsors state that our current system of child care is fragmented, standards vary greatly, and it is plagued by high turnover among providers, as approximately 40% of providers are leaving the profession each year. In addition, the sponsors note that income inequality is at the forefront of the nation and our state. They state that, according to data from the United States Census Bureau, 47% of California's poor children live in single-mother families and that the majority of California’s single-mother households earned less than 200% of the poverty threshold. Noting these two factors, the sponsors argue that California must implement policies that support families in achieving economic stability and ensure they can access a stable, affordable, quality child care system so that they can find work and stay employed. The sponsors believe that this bill will help achieve this by creating more child care slots and allowing childcare providers to organize, creating a more stable workforce and allowing family child care providers to join together on matters that affect their profession.
The National Right to Work Committee opposes this bill, arguing that it would force childcare providers to join a union, depriving childcare providers of the right to negotiate workplace conditions for themselves. The National Right to Work Committee argues that allowing childcare workers to organize will increase state costs and hurt taxpayers, childcare providers, and the State of California.
Analysis Prepared by: Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091 FN: 0001631
Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 548
(De León) – As Amended August 17, 2015
Policy Committee: |
Labor and Employment |
Vote: |
5 - 2 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes family child care providers to form, join and participate in "provider organizations" for purposes of negotiating with state agencies. Specifically, this bill:
Extends the state action antitrust exemption to the activities of family child care providers and their representatives. This bill also states, however, that the status of family child care providers as independent business owners does not change, nor does this bill classify family child care providers as public employees.
Creates a right for family child care providers to form provider organizations. Child care providers would retain the right to join or not join such an organization.
Requires that, within ten days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services (DSS) must make available to that provider organization information regarding licensed family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information.
Requires that, within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the California Department of Education (CDE), with the assistance of the relevant organization, must collect information regarding family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information. The provider organization must bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information. Further requires, upon written request of a family child care provider, the CDE and the DSS to remove the provider’s home address and telephone number from the above-described lists.
Provides that a unit of provider organizations may choose to designate the provider organization that will be required to be the exclusive representative for negotiations with the state. In order for a unit of provider organizations to be considered appropriate, the unit must be statewide and include all family child care providers.
Requires the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to conduct an election to certify the provider organization as the exclusive bargaining representative. PERB is also required to receive and act upon challenges, petitions for unit certification, and other representation issues. The provider organization must pay the reasonable costs of verifying this showing of interest. PERB is authorized to contract with a neutral third party to conduct all necessary elections and other representation requests.
Authorizes no more than one bargaining unit at any time. A certified provider organization may file a request with the PERB for an election to add providers to an existing unit.
Specifies that the child care organization will represent all child care providers in negotiations with the Governor and state agencies on issues that fall within the child care provider organization’s scope of representation.
Requires that the Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, to meet and confer in good faith regarding all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization.
Requires, if an agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, and the certified provider organization, preparation of a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Prohibits the child care provider organization from directing or calling a strike. The bill would also allow for disputes to be submitted to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation.
Requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the state and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership consisting of a Joint Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement. The membership of the Joint Partnership is to include representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor.
Requires the joint partnership to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and licensed-exempt family child care providers.
Specifies Legislative intent that the recommendations of the partnership be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the MOU between the provider organization and the Governor.
Requires the Governor or designee to conduct a study of best practices for engaging families in their children’s early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding that could support parental engagement efforts without reducing the availability and affordability of child care. Requires the Governor or designee to report to the Legislature and Department of Finance, by January 1, 2017, with the findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Unknown General Fund costs, potentially in the hundreds of millions, to the extent collective bargaining leads to increased salary and benefits and better working conditions for providers, which will lead to higher child care costs.
Ongoing General Fund administrative costs to the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), in the range of $450,000, to process regulations and adjudicate increased unfair practice caseload. Costs are based on the estimate that 85,000 providers will be added to PERB's current jurisdiction of over 2.2 million public employees. PERB will also need to expend staff resources to determine the appropriate bargaining unit for family child care workers. This bill specifically provides that the election costs relative to this process will be reimbursed by participating provider organizations.
Ongoing General Fund administrative costs to CalHR, potentially in the range of $1 million, for workload related to negotiating and administering a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the certified provider organization. CalHR workload includes litigation of unfair labor practices before the PERB, arbitrations over MOU disputes, and lawsuits over alleged wage and hour violations. Potentially significant costs would result if the provider organization and the state are unable to reach future agreements in any area within the scope of representation.
Onetime General Fund administrative costs to the CDE of approximately $106,000 and ongoing costs of approximately $57,000 to collect information from providers. CDE does not currently maintain a list of family child care providers. The CDE would need to compile the information from Alternative Payment Providers and maintain information in a database.
General Fund cost pressure, likely in the low hundreds of thousands, for staffing of the Partnership on Child Care Training, Education and Quality Improvement. The bill expresses the intent of the Legislature that recommendations made by the partnership are funded with contributions agreed to in an MOU between the provider organization and the Governor.
General Fund costs in the low hundreds of thousands for the Governor or his designee to perform the best practices study for engaging families which would increase costs to an unspecified department. Additional cost pressure to implement identified best practices.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. According to the author, low income children have uneven access to quality child care. Given low reimbursement rates and a fragmented system, there is also extremely high turnover among providers. One of the primary work-related costs that providers struggle to afford is higher education and training to increase their knowledge of child development and stay current on the latest theory and practice of early education and care.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) are sponsoring this bill in response to California's fragmented child care system, where standards vary greatly and turnover is high. According to the sponsors, approximately 40% of providers leave the profession each year. The sponsors believe that allowing childcare providers to organize will create a more stable workforce and allow family child care providers to join together on matters that affect their profession.
Previous legislation.
AB 641 (Rendon, 2013) authorized family child care providers to form, join, participate in, and to seek the certification of, a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative on matters related to child care subsidy programs. AB 641 was held on the Senate Floor.
AB 2573 (Furutani), 2012, was similar to this measure. This measure passed out of Assembly Labor and Employment Committee with a 5-2 vote. The author, however, did not set the bill for hearing in this committee.
AB 101 (J. Perez), similar to this measure, was vetoed by Gov. Brown in October 2011, with the following message: “Maintaining the quality and affordability of childcare is a very important goal. So too is making sure that working conditions are decent and fair for those who take care of our children. Balancing these objectives, however, as this bill attempts to do, is not easy or free from dispute. Today California, like the nation itself, is facing huge budget challenges. Given that reality, I am reluctant to embark on a program of this magnitude and potential cost.”
SB 867 (Cedillo), similar to this measure, was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger in March 2008, with the following message: “Given California's significant budget challenge, I cannot consider bills that would add significant fiscal pressures to the State's structural budget deficit.”'
AB 1164 (De Leon), similar to SB 867 (Cedillo), was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger in October 2007.
Analysis Prepared by: Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
SB 548
Page 12
Date of Hearing: July 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Roger Hernández, Chair
SB 548
(De León) – As Amended June 1, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 25-12
SUBJECT: Child care: family child care providers: bargaining representative.
SUMMARY: Authorizes family child care providers to form, join and participate in "provider organizations" for purposes of negotiating with state agencies on specified matters, among other provisions. Specifically, this bill:
Defines “family child care provider” as a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
A family day care home provider who is licensed.
An individual who meets both of the following:
Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
Is exempt from licensing requirements.
Gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented.
Extends the state action antitrust exemption to the activities of the family child care providers and their representatives. This bill also states, however, that the status of family child care providers as independent business owners does not change, nor does this bill classify family child care providers as public employees.
Creates a right for family child care providers to form provider organizations. Child care providers would retain the right to join or not join such an organization.
Requires that, within ten days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services (DSS) must make available to that provider organization information regarding licensed family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information.
Requires that, within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the California Department of Education (CDE), with the assistance of the relevant organization, must collect information regarding family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information. The provider organization must bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information.
Requires that, upon written request of a family child care provider, the CDE and the DSS must remove the family child care provider’s home address and telephone number from the above-described lists.
Provides that a unit of provider organizations may choose to designate the provider organization that shall be the exclusive representative for negotiations with the state. In order for a unit of provider organizations to be considered appropriate, the unit must be statewide and include all family child care providers.
Provides that the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) must conduct an election to certify the provider organization as the exclusive bargaining representative. PERB is also required to receive and act upon challenges, petitions for unit certification, and other representation issues. A provider organization petitioning for an election to be certified is required to include in its petition proof of a 30 percent showing of interest designating the provider organization to act as the exclusive representative. The provider organization must pay the reasonable costs of verifying this showing of interest.
Empowers PERB to contract with a neutral third party to conduct all necessary elections and other representation requests.
Provides that there shall be no more than one bargaining unit at any time. A certified provider organization may file a request with the PERB for an election to add providers to an existing unit.
Provides that the child care organization would represent all child care providers in negotiations with the Governor and state agencies on issues that fall within the child care provider organization’s scope of representation.
Provide that issues within the scope of representation include:
The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
Joint labor-management committees.
Contract grievance arbitration.
Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers.
Benefits for providers.
Payment procedures for child care subsidy programs.
Reimbursement rates for providers participating in a child care subsidy program including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete extra training.
Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
The deduction of membership dues and fair share fees.
Expanded access to state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
Any changes to current practice other than those listed in above that would improve recruitment and retention of child care providers, quality of child care programs, additional education of qualified child care providers, and the promotion the health and safety of providers and the children in their care.
Requires that the Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, must meet and confer in good faith regarding all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization.
Provides that if an agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, and the certified provider organization, they jointly shall prepare a written memorandum of understanding.
Provides the child care provider organization with the right to enter an agreement with the state for the deduction of membership dues and fair share fees from child care subsidy payments made to providers.
Prohibits the child care provider organization from directing or calling a strike. The bill would also allow for disputes to be submitted to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation.
Requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the state and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership consisting of a Joint Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement. The membership of the Joint Partnership is to include representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor.
Requires the partnership to make recommendations regarding, and oversee, the expenditures. Authorizes the partnership to consult with other early education and care advocates, the SPI or designees, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, unions that operate training programs, apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers. Requires the certified provider organization to carry out the recommendations of the partnership.
Requires the partnership to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and license-exempt family child care providers.
Requires the partnership to play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers:
Meets the State’s needs for the child care workforce.
Satisfies the health, safety and educational standards prescribed by the State.
Aligns with the State’s quality rating systems.
Identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training.
Authorizes the partnership’s recommendations to include, but not be limited to:
Ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing State training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes.
Ways to expand and improve provider training and skills on subjects including but not limited to child literacy, children with special needs, and children’s social and emotional development.
Ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development or a related field.
Ways to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including but not limited to resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs.
Ways to make training and education, which may include unit-bearing courses and training, available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
States it is the intent of the Legislature to allocate $1 million in the 2015 Budget to carry out the initial recommendations of the partnership, and that in subsequent years, the recommendations of the partnership be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor.
Requires the Governor or designee to conduct a study of best practices for engaging families in their children’s early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding that could support parental engagement efforts without reducing the availability and affordability of child care.
Requires the Governor or designee to report to the Legislature and Department of Finance, by January 1, 2017, with the findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
Requires the Governor or designee, in conducting the study, to consult with stakeholders, including the DSS, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
States it is the intent of the Legislature to create an unspecified number of additional slots in alternative payment programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of the federal poverty level, if funding is allocated in the Budget.
EXISTING LAW:
Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop standards for quality child care programs and to enter into contracts with child care centers and family child care homes for the provision of child care and development services. Family child care is provided by someone who resides in the home where care is provided.
Establishes a reimbursement system for subsidized child care in which:
Parents can choose a licensed center or family child care home, and the state reimburses the provider the same rate that the provider charges a family who is not subsidized, up to a ceiling established by the state.
Parents can choose a provider who is not required to be licensed (usually a relative, neighbor or friend), and the state reimburses that provider a rate set within each county based on the mean cost of licensed care in the county.
Parents can enroll their children in a center or network of family child care homes that has a direct contract with the State Department of Education. Child care in these programs is reimbursed at a daily rate established in the contract. For most contractors, the daily rate is the Standard Reimbursement Rate, set in statute and adjusted by the Legislature to reflect changes in the cost of living.
The daily rate for direct contractors is adjusted by a statutory formula for infants, school-aged children, children with disabilities, children at-risk of abuse or neglect, children who have limited English proficiency and children who spend less than six hours per day in care or more than eight-and-one-half hours per day in care.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill would impose major costs to the state attributed to various state agencies being involved in the collective bargaining process, potential increases in provider wages and benefits derived from negotiations, potential additional child care slots, the establishment of a training partnership committee, the intent to provide $1 million to implement initial committee recommendations, and a best practices study for parent engagement.
COMMENTS: This bill proposes to enact the Raising Child Care Quality and Accessibility Act. The bill states that it is intended:
"to promote quality, access, and stability in the child care system by increasing the number of child care slots available to California’s neediest children; by authorizing an appropriate unit of family child care providers to choose a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative for purposes of the meet and confer process set forth in this article and the administration and enforcement of any resulting memorandum of understanding; by establishing a training partnership between the state and that exclusive representative; and by conducting a study of best practices for parent engagement in home-based early care and education. It is also the purpose of this article to promote full communication between family child care providers and the state by permitting a provider organization certified as the representative of family child care providers to meet and confer with the state regarding the state’s child care system."
Brief Background on Child Care in California
The state's subsidized child care system serves around 360,000 subsidized children. Care is provided to children in families currently or previously receiving CalWORKs, as well as to other working families subject to available resources. The state spends a total of approximately $2.2 billion on child care, which is made up of a mix of state funds and federal funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Child Care and Development block grants. An estimated 300,000 eligible children are unserved because of a shortage of resources.
The state's child care system has a dual purpose: caring for children while their parents work, and enhancing their developmental potential as they prepare for and attend school. Two state departments administer child care programs: the Department of Education (responsible for more than 2/3 of the funds) and the Department of Social Services (responsible for administering the first stage of child care for CalWORKs recipients).
Families are eligible for subsidized care when their incomes are lower than 70% of the State Median Income (SMI). Above 50% of SMI, a graduated schedule of family fees applies, up to 8% of gross income.
Slightly less than half of the total cost of subsidized child care is spent for current or former recipients of CalWORKs. Delivery of care for this population is provided through a 3-stage process. In Stage 1, CalWORKs applicants and recipients are provided care early in their welfare-to-work activities before their care situation becomes stabilized. In Stage 2, current and former recipients are guaranteed care while they continue to participate and for two years after they leave aid. Stage 3 has been provided since CalWORKs began, covering families after Stage 2 until they no longer need care or exceed the general subsidized care income eligibility limits.
Child care to low-income families, whether in CalWORKs or not, is provided by a variety of entities: child care centers, which contract directly with the Department of Education (SDE) and must meet established educational and health and safety standards enforced by SDE; licensed family day care, which must meet health and safety standards enforced by the Department of Social Services; specialized care such as migrant care; and informal license-exempt care provided by relatives or for a single child or children from a single family. Alternative payment programs administer voucher payments, and resource and referral agencies provide education, training and support and help families find appropriate care.
Providers are exempt from the licensing requirement if they provide care for the children of only one family in addition to his or her own children, or if they participate in a cooperative arrangement with other parents when no payment is involved and specified conditions are met. SDE estimates that there are approximately 48,000 license-exempt child care providers in the state (although this number may have decreased with recent budget cuts).
A recent study1 by the U.C. Berkeley Labor Center found that early care and education (ECE) is an important industry in California, serving more than 850,000 California children and their families and bringing in gross receipts of at least $5.6 billion annually. The study reported that the industry not only benefits the children who receive care, but also strengthens the California economy as a whole by promoting and facilitating parents' ability to participate in the paid workforce, something that is especially important during this time in which California is struggling with high unemployment and a weak economic recovery. In particular, the study noted that analyses of the costs and benefits of ECE have found impressive returns on investments to the public, ranging from $2.69 to $7.16 per dollar invested.
Antitrust Issues and the "State Action" Doctrine
This bill seeks to allow family child care providers to engage in specified collective activity under the "state action doctrine" to federal and state antitrust laws. Therefore, as a preliminary matter it is necessary to discuss some general principals of antitrust law and the state action doctrine:
Antitrust Issues Under Federal Law
The primary purpose of federal and state statutory antitrust law is to prevent businesses from creating unjust monopolies or competing unfairly in the marketplace.
However, at common law throughout the nineteenth century, most courts regarded labor unions as unlawful conspiracies in restraint of trade, punishable civilly or criminally. In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the basic federal antitrust statute, which declared illegal "every contract, combination…or conspiracy in restraint of trade." In the years following passage of the Sherman Act, the courts proceeded to hold unions liable for antitrust violations in more instances than businesses, which were the primary objects of concern under the Act.
Application of the federal antitrust laws to organized labor culminated in the Supreme Court decision in Loewe v. Lawlor (1908) 208 U.S. 274, the famous "Danbury Hatters" case, in which the Court upheld the applicability of the Sherman Act to unions and union activities.
Resentment generated by the "Danbury Hatters" case placed substantial pressure on Congress for a labor exemption to the Sherman Act, and in 1914 the Clayton Act was passed. The labor exemption was further articulated with the passage of the Norris-LaGuardia Act in 1932. Both of these provisions declare that labor unions are not combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade, and specifically exempt certain union activities such as secondary picketing and group boycotts from the application of federal antitrust laws.
Antitrust Issues Under State Law
California's general antitrust law, known as the Cartwright Act, generally prohibits combinations of two or more persons' capital, skill, or acts to restrict trade or commerce, reduce the production of merchandise, increase the price of a commodity, prevent competition, or control or fix at a standard or figure any commodity. (California Business and Professions Code Section 16600, et seq.)
Like its federal counterpart, the Cartwright Act contains a labor exemption. This exemption is found in Business and Professions Code Section 16703, which provides: "Within the meaning of this chapter, labor, whether skilled or unskilled, is not a commodity." Like its federal Clayton Act counterpart, Section 16703 was intended to insulate from antitrust liability concerted activities by workers seeking to improve their working terms and conditions.
Interplay Between Federal and State Regulation: The "State Action" Doctrine
The "state action" doctrine recognizes that the federal government did not intend to supersede the authority of the states through antitrust regulation. This doctrine was first articulated by the Supreme Court in 1943 in the case of Parker v. Brown, 317 U.S. 341, in which the Court declared that the Sherman Act was not intended to apply to the activities of the States. Under this doctrine, a state acting within its own domain may structure its economic market as it sees fit. The state may allow completely unfettered competition, or substitute a competitive market structure with regulation.
The state action doctrine provides that a private party is immune from federal antitrust law if it can show that the state has displaced competition via regulation. As articulated in Parker v. Brown, a two-part test is utilized to show requisite state action. First, the conduct is exempt if it is undertaken pursuant to a "clearly articulated" state law that displaces competition with a regulatory scheme. Second, the conduct is exempt if it is "actively supervised" by the state. This latter requirement is generally seen as ensuring that the private parties are acting to fulfill the state's objectives, rather than for purely self-motivated purposes.
Similar Efforts in Other States
Establishing collective bargaining rights for the child care workforce is not entirely without precedent. Nationally, a small percentage of child care centers and Head Start programs have been unionized for decades. What is relatively new is the effort to begin organizing home-based child care providers.
A recent report by the National Women's Law Center2 discussed recent developments in other states to authorize home-based child care providers to join unions and negotiate with the state for better compensation and working conditions. The report noted that home-based child care providers are not in a traditional employer– employee relationship that permits them to unionize. Most are independent contractors and need special legal authority to organize into unions that can bargain with the state over rates, benefits, and similar matters.
According to the report, 14 states have authorized child care providers to organize and negotiate with the state. These states include Illinois, Washington, Oregon, Iowa, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio, Maine and New Mexico.
The legal authority needed for child care providers to unionize and negotiate with the state generally has been derived from an executive order from the governor, state legislation, or both. The executive order or legislation granting legal authority generally defines the bargaining unit (which type of providers may be organized and how they are grouped together for representation and bargaining); specifies the process for electing a representative, if not covered by existing state law; identifies the issues the union may bargain over; and defines the strength of the bargaining mandate and the enforceability of any negotiated agreement. Agreements often create institutional arrangements to ensure that providers have some voice in policy and regulatory changes that affect their interests.
OTHER KEY PROVISIONS OF THE BILL
In addition to the provisions discussed above related to provider organizations and collective bargaining, this bill also contains provisions related to training, best practices, and additional child care slots.
Joint Partnership on Child Care Training, Education and Quality Improvement
According to the author, existing training opportunities are limited and unavailable or inaccessible to early education and care providers in many areas of the state.
Therefore, this bill requires a certified child care provider organization and the state to establish a training partnership consisting of a Joint Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement. The membership of the Joint Partnership is to include representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor. Among other things, the bill requires the partnership to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and license-exempt family child care providers.
Best Practices for Parent Engagement
This bill requires the Governor or designee to conduct a study of best practices for engaging families in their children’s early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding that could support parental engagement efforts without reducing the availability and affordability of child care. The bill requires the Governor or designee to report to the Legislature and Department of Finance, by January 1, 2017, with the findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest. In addition, the bill requires the Governor or designee, in conducting the study, to consult with stakeholders, including the DSS, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
According to the sponsors, parent engagement is a crucial part of children’s success in early care, in school and later in life. Family child care providers’ role in the state’s child care program gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. Many parents choose home-based providers due to shared values, language, and cultural background, close personal relationships, and provider flexibility with erratic work schedules. Under this bill, the state will sponsor a study of best practices for culturally competent parent engagement in home-based early care and education to determine how to most effectively ensure that parents are involved with their children’s development and are better able to provide learning and other developmental opportunities for their children at home.
Additional Child Care Slots
This bill states legislative intent to create an unspecified number of additional slots in alternative payment programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of the federal poverty level, if funding is allocated in the budget.
The recently-enacted budget contained a substantial increase in funding and slots for child care. As described by the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO):
"[T]he budget funds almost 23,000 (7 percent) more preschool and child care slots in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15. This includes about 17,400 (9 percent) additional slots in non-CalWORKs programs and 5,600 (4 percent) additional slots in the CalWORKs programs. Of the increase in slots for non-CalWORKs programs, about 7,500 are full-day preschool slots and 2,900 are part-day preschool slots. (These reflect annualized slots, as the budget funds additional slots for the full- and part-day programs starting at different times.) The budget also funds 6,800 additional Alternative Payment Program slots. For the CalWORKs programs, the 4 percent increase in caseload primarily is due to more families projected to participate in welfare-to-work activities and, as a result, use Stage 1 child care.
In light of this budget action, the author has agreed to eliminate this language from the bill in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
ARUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, “The current subsidized child care system encompasses more than 120 different agencies contracting with the state as middlemen, who in turn administer access to the system for subsidized families and reimburse providers who care for children whose families receive subsidies. Low income children have uneven access to quality child care. Given low reimbursement rates and a fragmented system, there is also extremely high turnover among providers. One of the primary work-related costs that providers struggle to afford is higher education and training to increase their knowledge of child development and stay current on the latest theory and practice of early education and care.”
The sponsors state that our current system of child care is fragmented, standards vary greatly, and it is plagued by high turnover among providers, as approximately 40% of providers are leaving the profession each year. In addition, the sponsors note that income inequality is at the forefront of the nation and our state. They state that, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 47% of California’s poor children live in single-mother families and that the majority of California’s single-mother households earned less than 200% of the poverty threshold. Noting these two factors, the sponsors argue that California must implement policies that support families in achieving economic stability and ensure they can access a stable, affordable, quality child care system so that they can find work and stay employed. The sponsors believe that this bill will help achieve this by creating more child care slots and allowing childcare providers to organize, creating a more stable workforce and allowing family child care providers to join together on matters that affect their profession.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
The National Right to Work Committee opposes this bill, arguing that it would force childcare providers to join a union, depriving childcare providers of the right to negotiate workplace conditions for themselves. The National Right to Work Committee argues that allowing childcare workers to organize will increase state costs and hurt taxpayers, childcare providers, and the State of California.
PRIOR AND RELATED LEGISLATION
AB 641 (Rendon) of 2013, among other things, authorized family child care providers to form, join, participate in, and to seek the certification of, a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative on matters related to child care subsidy programs. AB 641 was held on the Senate Floor.
This bill is similar, but not identical to AB 2573 (Furutani) of 2012. AB 2573 was referred to, but never heard, in the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment.
This bill is also similar to AB 101 (John A. Pérez) of 2011. AB 101 was vetoed by Governor Brown, who stated the following in his veto message:
"Maintaining the quality and affordability of childcare is a very important goal. So too is making sure that working conditions are decent and fair for those who take care of our children. Balancing these objectives, however, as this bill attempts to do, is not easy or free from dispute.
Today California, like the nation itself, is facing huge budget challenges. Given that reality, I am reluctant to embark on a program of this magnitude and potential cost."
This bill is also similar, but not identical to SB 867 (Cedillo) of 2008. SB 867 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who, in his veto message stated, "Given California's significant budget challenge, I cannot consider bills that would add significant fiscal pressures to the state's structural budget deficit."
Other similar prior legislation includes AB 1164 (De León) of 2007 (which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger), SB 697 (Kuehl) of 2006 (which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger), SB 1600 (Kuehl) of 2006 (which was held under submission by the Senate Committee on Appropriations), and SB 1897 (Burton) of 2004 (which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger).
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
9to5-CA Chapter
American Association of University Women
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (co-sponsor)
BANANAS
Berkeley City Council
Black Women for Wellness
California Alliance for Retired Americans
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California National Organization for Women
California Women Lawyers
Child Care Law Center
Children Now
Children's Defense Fund – CA
Community Coalition
Community Education Partnerships
Congressman Ted Lieu
Consumer Attorneys of California
Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco, City of San Jose
Courage Campaign, CA
Educators Excellence
Equal Rights Advocates
InnerCity Struggle
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
National Council of Jewish Women California
Numerous Individuals
Our Family Coalition
Parent Institute for Quality Education
Service Employees International Union – CA (sponsor)
Special Needs Network
St. Paul Lutheran Church
UAW Local 2865
UAW Local 5810
UDW/AFSCME Local 3930
Western Center on Law & Poverty
Western Regional Advocacy Project
Young Invincibles
Opposition
National Right to Work
Analysis Prepared by: Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091
1 MacGilvray, Jennifer and Laurel Lucia. "Economic Impacts in Early Care and Education in California." U.C. Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education (August 2011).
2 Blank, Helen, Nancy Duff Campbell and Joan Entmacher. "Getting Organized: Unionizing Home-Based Child Care Providers (2010 Update)." National Women's Law Center (June 2010).
SB 548
Page 9
|
Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 |
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 548
Amended: 6/1/15
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-2, 4/22/15
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan
NOES: Runner, Vidak
SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 4/29/15
AYES: Mendoza, Jackson, Leno, Mitchell
NOES: Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Child care: family child care providers: bargaining representatives
SOURCE: Service Employees International Union State Council
DIGEST: This bill gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations, requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the State and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership committee to make and implement recommendations regarding training resources.
Existing law:
Requires that full-day care centers and family child care homes, with certain exceptions, be licensed and registered with the state. The licensing fee is dependent on the number of children that the centers or homes take care of. Family child care homes, where the child care is provided by someone who resides in the home where the care is provided, may only take care of up to 14 children, while day care centers may be licensed for additional children. (Health and Safety Code §§ 1596.78, 1596.80, and 1596.803)
Allows the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to develop standards for quality child care programs and to enter into contracts with child care centers and family child care homes. Existing law also authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to create alternative payment providers in each county to establish a reimbursement system for subsidized child care. (Education Code § 8220-8227, 8263)
This bill:
Defines “family child care providers” as a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
A family day care home provider who is licensed.
An individual who meets both of the following:
Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
Is exempt from licensing requirements.
Provider organizations
Gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented.
Extends the state action antitrust exemption to the activities of the family child care providers and their representatives. This bill also states, however, that the status of family child care providers as independent business owners does not change, nor does this bill classify family child care providers as public employees.
Creates a right for family child care providers to form provider organizations. Child care providers would retain the right to join or not join such an organization.
Requires that, within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services (DSS) must make available to that provider organization information regarding licensed family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information.
Requires that, within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the CDE, with the assistance of the relevant organization, must collect information regarding family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information. The provider organization must bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information.
Requires that, upon written request of a family child care provider, the CDE and the DSS must remove the family child care provider’s home address and telephone number from the above-described lists.
Provides that a unit of provider organizations may choose to designate the provider organization that shall be the exclusive representative for negotiations with the state. In order for a unit of provider organizations to be considered appropriate, the unit must be statewide and include all family child care providers.
Provides that the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) must conduct an election to certify the provider organization as the exclusive bargaining representative. PERB is also required to receive and act upon challenges, petitions for unit certification, and other representation issues. A provider organization petitioning for an election to be certified is required to include in its petition proof of a 30% showing of interest designating the provider organization to act as the exclusive representative. The provider organization must pay the reasonable costs of verifying this showing of interest.
Empowers PERB to contract with a neutral third party to conduct all necessary elections and other representation requests.
Provides that there shall be no more than one bargaining unit at any time. A certified provider organization may file a request with the PERB for an election to add providers to an existing unit.
Provides that the child care organization would represent all child care providers in negotiations with the Governor and state agencies on issues that fall within the child care provider organization’s scope of representation.
Provide that issues within the scope of representation include:
The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
Joint labor-management committees.
Contract grievance arbitration.
Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers.
Benefits for providers.
Payment procedures for child care subsidy programs.
Reimbursement rates for providers participating in a child care subsidy program including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete extra training.
Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
The deduction of membership dues and fair share fees.
Expanded access to state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
Any changes to current practice other than those listed in above that would improve recruitment and retention of child care providers, quality of child care programs, additional education of qualified child care providers, and the promotion the health and safety of providers and the children in their care.
Requires that The Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, in consultation with the SPI, other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, must meet and confer in good faith regarding on all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization.
Provides that if an agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, and the certified provider organization, they jointly shall prepare a written memorandum of understanding.
Provides the child care provider organization with the right to enter an agreement with the state for the deduction of membership dues and fair share fees from child care subsidy payments made to providers.
Prohibits the child care provider organization from directing or calling a strike. These amendments would also allow for disputes to be submitted to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation.
Training
Requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the State and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership consisting of a Joint Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement. The membership of the Joint Partnership is to include representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor.
Requires the partnership to make recommendations regarding, and oversee, the expenditures. Authorizes the partnership to consult with other early education and care advocates, the SPI or designees, representatives of community colleges, higher education institutions, resource and referral networks, unions that operate training programs, apprenticeship programs, and early education and care employers. Requires the certified provider organization to carry out the recommendations of the partnership.
Requires the partnership to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and license-exempt family child care providers.
Requires the partnership to play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers:
Meets the State’s needs for the child care workforce.
Satisfies the health, safety and educational standards prescribed by the State.
Aligns with the State’s quality rating systems.
Identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training.
Authorizes the partnership’s recommendations to include, but not be limited to:
Ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing State training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes.
Ways to expand and improve provider training and skills on subjects including but not limited to child literacy, children with special needs, and children’s social and emotional development.
Ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development or a related field.
Ways to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including but not limited to resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs.
Ways to make training and education, which may include unit-bearing courses and training, available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
States it is the intent of the Legislature to allocate $1 million in the 2015 Budget to carry out the initial recommendations of the partnership, and that in subsequent years, the recommendations of the partnership be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor.
Best practices
Requires the Governor or designee to conduct a study of best practices for engaging families in their children’s early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding that could support parental engagement efforts without reducing the availability and affordability of child care.
Requires the Governor or designee to report to the Legislature and Department of Finance, by January 1, 2017, with the findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
Requires the Governor or designee, in conducting the study, to consult with stakeholders, including the DSS, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
Additional child care slots
States it is the intent of the Legislature to create an unspecified number of additional slots in alternative payment programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of the federal poverty level, if funding is allocated in the Budget.
Comments
Antitrust Law and the “State Action” Doctrine. As family child care home providers are self-employed, any arrangement where the providers would get together and fix prices and level of services would immediately encounter antitrust difficulties. California state antitrust laws are based on the federal Sherman Act of 1890, which prohibits "every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade", as well as the Clayton Act of 1914. However, court decisions since the creation of these antitrust laws, particularly Parker v. Brown (317 U.S. 341) in 1943, have acknowledged that the federal government did not intend for antitrust laws to apply to states and their agents when those agents are engaged in activities that are tied to a state policy and are under some management or supervision from the state. By explicitly stating that the formation of provider organizations are exempted under the “state action” doctrine in antitrust law, this bill exempts the activities of family child care providers and their representatives from federal and state antitrust laws.
Training programs. This bill requires the training partnership to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education. According to the author, existing training opportunities are limited and unavailable or inaccessible to early education and care providers in many areas of the state.
Role for the Governor. This bill provides the Governor with a significant role in designating representatives for participation on the training partnership, and the development of best practices. According to the author, the goal is to engage the Governor and secure his full participation in these endeavors. The author may wish to consider expanding participation on the training committee to include the DSS, the Department of Education, and parents, and include consultation with the CDE in the study of best practices.
Additional slots. This bill states legislative intent to create an unspecified number of additional slots in alternative payment programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of the federal poverty level, if funding is allocated in the Budget. According to the author, this bill addresses additional slots only for alternative payment programs to focus on the greatest area of need, and provide a balance with recent adjustments that were made for other types of early education and care programs.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill would impose major costs to the state attributed to various state agencies being involved in the collective bargaining process, potential increases in provider wages and benefits derived from negotiations, potential additional child care slots, the establishment of a training partnership committee, the intent to provide $1 million to implement initial committee recommendations, and a best practices study for parent engagement. See staff comments in the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis for a full discussion of cost estimates.
Service Employees International Union (source)
9 to 5
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Berkeley City Council
California Labor Federation
California National Organization for Women
Children Now
Congressman Ted Lieu
Consumer Attorneys of California
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
National Council of Jewish Women California
Our Family Coalition
Special Needs Network
St. Paul Lutheran Church
UAW Local 2865
UAW Local 5810
Western Center on Law & Poverty
OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/29/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the California Labor Federation, this bill helps the poorest working parents lift their families out of poverty, help close the educational achievement gap for low-income children, help support parents’ efforts to provide learning and development opportunities at home, and strengthen jobs in the child care and development sector. High quality, affordable child care can help break the cycle of poverty by better preparing children for school and life. A quality child care system depends upon dedicated and stable providers.
Prepared by: Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105
6/1/15 18:16:48
**** END ****
SB 548 (De León) Page 6 of 6
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 548 (De León) - Child care: family child care providers: bargaining representatives.
|
|
Version: April 14, 2015 |
Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 2, L. & I.R. 4 - 1 |
Urgency: No |
Mandate: No |
Hearing Date: May 28, 2015 |
Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
SUSPENSE
FILE. AS AMENDED.
Bill Summary:
This bill gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations that will act as their exclusive representative, and requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the state and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership committee to make and implement recommendations regarding training resources.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on May 28, 2015):
Major costs to the state attributed to various state agencies being involved in the collective bargaining process, potential increases in provider wages and benefits derived from negotiations, potential additional child care slots, the establishment of a training partnership committee, the intent to provide $1 million to implement initial committee recommendations, and a best practices study for parent engagement. See staff comments.
Background:
California’s early education and care system includes several types of programs in various settings, including the Alternative Payment Program. This program is essentially a voucher program, where funding for child care follows the child and the family chooses the child care setting in which they want their child to attend. Care may be in a licensed center or family child care home, or be provided by license-exempt providers.
Proposed Law:
This bill gives
family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate
in provider organizations, and requires, if a family child care
provider organization is certified by the Public Employment Relations
Board, the state and the certified provider organization to establish
a training partnership committee to make and implement
recommendations regarding training resources. Specifically, this
bill:
Defines “family child care providers” as a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
A family day care home provider that is licensed.
An individual who meets both of the following:
(1) Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(2) Is exempt from licensing requirements.
Provider organizations
Gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented.
Includes all of the following in the scope of representation:
The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
Joint labor-management committees.
Contract grievance arbitration.
Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers, including, but not limited to, through the training partnership established pursuant to this bill, and state contributions to the training partnership.
Benefits for providers.
Payment procedures for state-funded child care programs.
Reimbursement rates, including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete additional training, and other economic matters.
Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
The deduction of membership dues and other voluntary deductions authorized by individual family child care providers, including, but not limited to, honoring maintenance of check off agreements, and allocation of the costs of implementing such a deduction system.
Expanded access to the state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
Any changes to current practice, as specified.
At the request of a provider organization for information on child care providers, the State Department of Social Services must make specified provider information available within 10 days and the California Department of Education, within 30 days.
Requires a certification process, as specified, that includes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to conduct an election to certify a provider organization as the exclusive bargaining representative.
Creates a representation process that, among other things, requires the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, to meet and confer in good faith regarding on all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization.
Training
Requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the state and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership consisting of a Joint Committee on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement (training committee). The membership of the training committee is to include representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor.
Requires the provider organization to establish a training program that carries out the recommendations of the training committee.
Requires the training committee to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and license-exempt family child care providers.
Requires the training committee to play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers through the training program:
Meets the state’s needs for the child care workforce.
Satisfies the health, safety and educational standards prescribed by the state.
Aligns with the state’s quality rating systems.
Identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training.
Authorizes the training committee’s recommendations to include, but not be limited to:
Ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing state training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes.
Ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development.
Ways for the training program to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including but not limited to resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs.
Ways for the training program to make training and education available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
States it is the intent of the Legislature to allocate $1 million in the 2015 Budget to carry out the initial recommendations of the training committee, and that in subsequent years, the recommendations of the training committee be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor.
Best practices
Requires the Governor or designee to conduct a study of best practices for engaging families in their children’s early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding that could support parental engagement efforts without reducing the availability and affordability of child care.
Requires the Governor or designee to report to the Legislature and Department of Finance, by January 1, 2017, with the findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
Requires the Governor or designee, in conducting the study, to consult with stakeholders, including the Department of Social Services, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
Additional child care slots
States it is the intent of the Legislature to create an unspecified number of additional slots in alternative payment programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of the federal poverty level, if funding is allocated in the Budget.
Related Legislation:
AB 641 (Rendon, 2013), among other things, authorized family child care providers to form, join, participate in, and to seek the certification of, a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative on matters related to child care subsidy programs. AB 641 was held on the Senate Floor.
AB 2573 (Furutani, 2012) authorized family child care providers to form, join and participate in provider organizations for purposes of negotiating with state agencies. AB 2573 was never heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 101 (John Perez, 2011), among other things, authorized family child care providers to choose whether to be represented by a single provider organization. AB 101 was vetoed by the Governor, who cited budget constraints. SB 867 (Cedillo, 2008) and AB 1164 (De Leon, 2007), similar to AB 101, were also vetoed by the Governor for similar reasons.
Staff Comments:
Ultimately, the costs of this bill are unknown. However, significant
increases in costs sustained by the state can be anticipated in the
following areas:
Additional slots: This bill includes Legislative intent to crease an unspecified amount of additional slots in alternative payment voucher programs for children living in extreme poverty. For illustrative purposes, an additional 1,000 slots would cost roughly $8 million at current child care reimbursement rates.
PERB: Significant upfront administrative costs to determine the bargaining unit, including holding an election. The PERB would require 3 positions (1 administrative law judge, 1 mediator, and 1 staff attorney) to complete this workload. This bill specifically provides that the election costs will be reimbursed by participating provider organizations.
State Negotiations: Significant workload to CalHR for negotiating and administering a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the certified provider organization that is binding on CDE and DSS. The level of increased staffing needed at CalHR is unknown since the actual number of potential unit members is unknown, as this would drive the number of grievances and litigation. Additional workload of CalHR would include litigating unfair labor practices before the PERB, arbitrations over MOU disputes, and lawsuits over alleged wage and hour violations. To the extent increases in salaries and benefits for child care providers result from negotiations, it would lead to higher child care costs. Potentially significant costs would result if the provider organization and state are unable to reach future agreements in any area within the scope of representation.
Best practices study: The Governor or his designee is required to perform the best practices study for engaging families which would increase costs to an unspecified department. These costs could be in the low hundreds of thousands, with an additional cost pressure to implement identified best practices.
Partnership on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement: This committee is to be made up of representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor. Establishment of the committee increases costs to an unspecified department, potentially in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, to staff the committee. This bill also provides that it is the Legislature’s intent to allocate $1 million in the Budget Act of 2015 to carry out the initial recommendations of the committee.
Author Amendments (as adopted on May 28, 2015): Amendments would provide various clarifications such as (1) the requirements regarding the petitions to be certified as the exclusive representative for an appropriate group of providers, (2) defining an appropriate unit of providers, (3) the procedures for adding providers to an existing unit, and (4) the scope of the training committee.
-- END --
SB 548 (De León) Page 5 of 5
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 548 (De León) - Child care: family child care providers: bargaining representatives.
|
|
Version: April 14, 2015 |
Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 2, L. & I.R. 4 - 1 |
Urgency: No |
Mandate: No |
Hearing Date: May 18, 2015 |
Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary:
This bill gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations that will act as their exclusive representative, and requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the state and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership committee to make and implement recommendations regarding training resources.
Fiscal Impact:
Major costs to the state attributed to various state agencies being involved in the collective bargaining process, potential increases in provider wages and benefits derived from negotiations, potential additional child care slots, the establishment of a training committee and the intent to provide $1 million to implement initial committee recommendations, and a best practices study for parent engagement. See staff comments.
Background:
California’s early education and care system includes several types of programs in various settings, including the Alternative Payment Program. This program is essentially a voucher program, where funding for child care follows the child and the family chooses the child care setting in which they want their child to attend. Care may be in a licensed center or family child care home, or be provided by license-exempt providers.
Proposed Law:
This bill gives
family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate
in provider organizations, and requires, if a family child care
provider organization is certified by the Public Employment Relations
Board, the state and the certified provider organization to establish
a training partnership committee to make and implement
recommendations regarding training resources. Specifically, this
bill:
Defines “family child care providers” as a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
A family day care home provider that is licensed.
An individual who meets both of the following:
(1) Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
(2) Is exempt from licensing requirements.
Provider organizations
Gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented.
Includes all of the following in the scope of representation:
The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers.
Joint labor-management committees.
Contract grievance arbitration.
Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers, including, but not limited to, through the training partnership established pursuant to this bill, and state contributions to the training partnership.
Benefits for providers.
Payment procedures for state-funded child care programs.
Reimbursement rates, including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete additional training, and other economic matters.
Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
The deduction of membership dues and other voluntary deductions authorized by individual family child care providers, including, but not limited to, honoring maintenance of check off agreements, and allocation of the costs of implementing such a deduction system.
Expanded access to the state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
Any changes to current practice, as specified.
At the request of a provider organization for information on child care providers, the State Department of Social Services must make specified provider information available within 10 days and the California Department of Education, within 30 days.
Requires a certification process, as specified, that includes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to conduct an election to certify a provider organization as the exclusive bargaining representative.
Creates a representation process that, among other things, requires the Governor, through the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, to meet and confer in good faith regarding on all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization.
Training
Requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the state and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership consisting of a Joint Committee on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement. The membership of the Joint Committee (training committee) is to include representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor.
Requires the provider organization to establish a training program that carries out the recommendations of the training committee.
Requires the training committee to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and license-exempt family child care providers.
Requires the training committee to play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers through the training program:
Meets the state’s needs for the child care workforce.
Satisfies the health, safety and educational standards prescribed by the state.
Aligns with the state’s quality rating systems.
Identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training.
Authorizes the training committee’s recommendations to include, but not be limited to:
Ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing state training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes.
Ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development.
Ways for the training program to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including but not limited to resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs.
Ways for the training program to make training and education available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
States it is the intent of the Legislature to allocate $1 million in the 2015 Budget to carry out the initial recommendations of the training committee, and that in subsequent years, the recommendations of the training committee be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor.
Best practices
Requires the Governor or designee to conduct a study of best practices for engaging families in their children’s early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding that could support parental engagement efforts without reducing the availability and affordability of child care.
Requires the Governor or designee to report to the Legislature and Department of Finance, by January 1, 2017, with the findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
Requires the Governor or designee, in conducting the study, to consult with stakeholders, including the Department of Social Services, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
Additional child care slots
States it is the intent of the Legislature to create an unspecified number of additional slots in alternative payment programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of the federal poverty level, if funding is allocated in the Budget.
Related Legislation:
AB 641 (Rendon, 2013), among other things, authorized family child care providers to form, join, participate in, and to seek the certification of, a provider organization to act as their exclusive representative on matters related to child care subsidy programs. AB 641 was held on the Senate Floor.
AB 2573 (Furutani, 2012) authorized family child care providers to form, join and participate in provider organizations for purposes of negotiating with state agencies. AB 2573 was never heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 101 (John Perez, 2011), among other things, authorized family child care providers to choose whether to be represented by a single provider organization. AB 101 was vetoed by the Governor, who cited budget constraints. SB 867 (Cedillo, 2008) and AB 1164 (De Leon, 2007), similar to AB 101, were also vetoed by the Governor for similar reasons.
Staff Comments:
Ultimately, the costs of this bill are unknown. However, increases
in costs sustained by the state can be anticipated in the following
areas:
Additional slots: This bill includes Legislative intent to crease an unspecified amount of additional slots in alternative payment voucher programs for children living in extreme poverty. For illustrative purposes, an additional 1,000 slots would cost roughly $8 million at current child care reimbursement rates.
PERB: Significant upfront administrative costs to determine the bargaining unit, including holding an election. The PERB would require 3 positions (1 administrative law judge, 1 mediator, and 1 staff attorney) to complete this workload. This bill specifically provides that the election costs will be reimbursed by participating provider organizations.
State Negotiations: Significant workload to CalHR for negotiating and administering a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the certified provider organization that is binding on CDE and DSS. The level of increased staffing needed at CalHR is unknown since the actual number of potential unit members is unknown as this would drive the number of grievances and litigation. Additional workload of CalHR would include litigating unfair labor practices before the PERB, arbitrations over MOU disputes, and lawsuits over alleged wage and hour violations. To the extent increases in salaries and benefits for child care providers result from negotiations, it would lead to higher child care costs. Potentially significant costs would result if the provider organization and state are unable to reach future agreements in any area within the scope of representation.
Best practices study: The Governor or his designee is required to perform the best practices study for engaging families which would increase costs to an unspecified department. These costs could be in the low hundreds of thousands, with an additional cost pressure to implement identified best practices.
Joint Committee on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement: This committee is to be made up of representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor. Establishment of the committee increases costs to an unspecified department, potentially in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, to staff the committee. This bill also provides that it is the Legislature’s intent to allocate $1 million in the Budget Act of 2015 to carry out the initial recommendations of the committee.
-- END --
SB 548 (De León) Page 7 of 7
SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Senator Tony Mendoza, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 548 Hearing Date: April 29, 2015
Author: |
De León |
||
Version: |
April 14, 2015 |
||
Urgency: |
No |
Fiscal: |
Yes |
Consultant: |
Gideon Baum |
||
Subject: Child care: family child care providers: bargaining representatives
KEY ISSUE
Should the Legislature exempt family child care providers from antitrust laws and allow them to organize to negotiate over wages, benefits, and other occupational matters?
Should the Legislature state its intent to create additional childcare slots for children living in extreme poverty?
ANALYSIS
Existing law requires that all day care centers and family child care homes, with certain exceptions, be licensed and registered with the state. The licensing fee is dependent on the number of children that the centers or homes take care of. Family child care homes, where the child care is provided by someone who resides in the home where the care is provided, may only take care of up to 14 children, while day care centers may be licensed for more.
(Health and Safety Code §§ 1596.78, 1596.80, and 1596.803)
Existing law exempts family child care providers from the licensing requirement if they meet certain circumstances. These include:
The family day care home is providing care for only one family in addition to the provider’s own children;
Parents have come together for a cooperative arrangement to combine their efforts for the care of all of their children and no payment is involved;
The provider is taking care of a relative’s child;
The family child care program operates only one day per week for no more than four hours.
(Health and Safety Code §§ 1596.792 & 1597.53)
Existing law allows the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop standards for quality child care programs and to enter into contracts with child care centers and family child care homes. Existing law also authorizes the Department of Education to create alternative payment providers in each county to establish a reimbursement system for subsidized child care in which:
a) Eligible parents can choose a licensed day care center or family child care home, and the state reimburses the provider the same rate that the provider charges a family that is not subsidized, up to a ceiling established by the state;
b) Eligible parents can choose a provider that is exempt from the licensing requirements, and the state reimburses that provider at a rate set within each county, based on the mean cost of licensed care in the county;
c) Eligible parents can enroll their children in a center or network of family child care homes that has a direct contract with the State Department of Education. Child care in these programs is reimbursed at a daily rate established in the contract. For most contractors, the daily rate is the Standard Reimbursement Rate, set in statute and adjusted by the Legislature to reflect changes in the cost of living;
d) The daily rate for providers that contract directly with the state is adjusted by a statutory formula for infants, school-aged children, children with disabilities, and children at-risk of abuse or neglect.
(Education Code §§ 8220-8227, 8263)
This bill would give licensed and unlicensed child care providers the right form a single, statewide child care provider organization to negotiate collectively with the state.
Specifically, this bill would:
State that the purpose of this bill would be to promote quality, access, and stability in the child care system by authorizing family child care providers to form a provider organization and establish a training partnership with the state;
Extend the state action antitrust exemption to the activities of the family child care providers and their representatives. This bill also states, however, that the status of family child care providers as independent business owners does not change, nor does this bill classify family child care providers as public employees;
Create a right for family child care providers to form provider organizations. Child care providers would retain the right to join or not join such an organization;
Require that, within 10 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the State Department of Social Services must make available to that provider organization information regarding licensed family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information;
Require that, within 30 days of receipt of a request from a provider organization, the Department of Education, with the assistance of the relevant organization, must collect information regarding family child care providers, including each provider’s contact information. The provider organization must bear the reasonable costs of collecting the information.
Require that, upon written request of a family child care provider, the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services must remove the family child care provider’s home address and telephone number from the above-described lists.
This bill would also create a certification process as follows:
Provides that a unit of provider organizations may choose to designate the provider organization that shall be the exclusive representative for negotiations with the state. In order for a unit of provider organizations to be considered appropriate, the unit must be statewide and include all family child care providers.
Provides that the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) must conduct an election to certify the provider organization as the exclusive bargaining representative. PERB is also required to receive and act upon challenges, petitions for unit certification, and other representation issues. All provider organizations on the ballot must share equally in the cost of the election;
Empowers PERB to contract with a neutral third party to conduct all necessary elections and other representation requests.
This bill would also create a representation process as follows:
Provides that the child care organization would represent all child care providers in negotiations with the Governor and state agencies on issues that fall within the child care provider organization’s scope of representation.
Provide that issues within the scope of representation include:
The administration of laws and regulations governing licensing for providers;
Joint labor-management committees;
Contract grievance arbitration;
Expanded access to professional development and training opportunities for providers;
Benefits for providers;
Payment procedures for child care subsidy programs;
Reimbursement rates for providers participating in a child care subsidy program including, but not limited to, rate add-ons for providers who complete extra training;
Expanded access to and funding for food and nutrition programs.
The deduction of membership dues and fair share fees.
Expanded access to state-funded child care program to families in need of subsidies.
Any changes to current practice other than those listed in above that would improve recruitment and retention of child care providers, quality of child care programs, additional education of qualified child care providers, and the promotion the health and safety of providers and the children in their care.
Requires that The Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, in consultation with the Superintendent, other state agencies that administer state-funded child care programs, and their contractors, must meet and confer in good faith regarding on all matters within the scope of representation with representatives of a certified provider organization;
Provides that if an agreement is reached between the Governor, through the Department of Personnel Administration, and the certified provider organization, they jointly shall prepare a written memorandum of understanding.
Provide the child care provider organization with right to enter an agreement with the state for the deduction of membership dues and fair share fees from child care subsidy payments made to providers.
Prohibit the child care provider organization from directing or calling a strike. These amendments would also allow for disputes to be submitted to the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service for mediation.
This bill would also state that it is the intent of the Legislature to create an unspecified number of additional slots in alternative payment programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of the federal poverty level, if funding is allocated in the budget.
This bill would create the following training provisions:
Requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the State and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership consisting of a Joint Committee on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement. The membership of the Joint Committee (training committee) is to include representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor.
Requires the provider organization to establish a training program that carries out the recommendations of the training committee.
Requires the training committee to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and license-exempt family child care providers.
Requires the training committee to play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers through the training program:
Meets the State’s needs for the child care workforce.
Satisfies the health, safety and educational standards prescribed by the State.
Aligns with the State’s quality rating systems.
Identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training.
Authorizes the training committee’s recommendations to include, but not be limited to:
Ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing State training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes.
Ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development.
Ways for the training program to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including but not limited to resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs.
Ways for the training program to make training and education available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
States it is the intent of the Legislature to allocate $1 million in the 2015 budget to carry out the initial recommendations of the training committee, and that in subsequent years, the recommendations of the training committee be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor.
This
bill would also
require the Governor
or his designee to conduct a study, as specified, of
best practices for
engaging families in their children’s early care and education in
family child care settings, and of federal and other funding that
could support parental engagement efforts without reducing the
availability and affordability of child care.
This bill would also make legislative findings and declarations on the need for quality and affordable child care and the risks of turnover and instability in the child care system among child care providers.
COMMENTS
1. Need for this bill?
According to the author, specific to the provisions of the bill that are within the jurisdiction of this Committee, “The current subsidized child care system encompasses more than 120 different agencies contracting with the state as middlemen, who in turn administer access to the system for subsidized families and reimburse providers who care for children whose families receive subsidies. Low income children have uneven access to quality child care. Given low reimbursement rates and a fragmented system, there is also extremely high turnover among providers. One of the primary work-related costs that providers struggle to afford is higher education and training to increase their knowledge of child development and stay current on the latest theory and practice of early education and care.”
2. Antitrust Law and the “State Action” Doctrine
As family child care home providers are self-employed, any arrangement where the providers would get together and fix prices and level of services would immediately encounter antitrust difficulties. California state antitrust laws are based on the federal Sherman Act of 1890, which prohibits "every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade", as well as the Clayton Act of 1914. However, court decisions since the creation of these antitrust laws, particularly Parker v. Brown (317 U.S. 341) in 1943, have acknowledged that the federal government did not intend for antitrust laws to apply to states and their agents when those agents are engaged in activities that are tied to a state policy and are under some management or supervision from the state. By explicitly stating that the formation of provider organizations are exempted under the “state action” doctrine in antitrust law, this bill exempts the activities of family child care providers and their representatives from federal and state antitrust laws.
3. Proponent Arguments:
The sponsors state that our current system of child care is fragmented, standards vary greatly, and it is plagued by high turnover among providers, as approximately 40% of providers are leaving the profession each year. In addition, sponsors note that income inequality is at the forefront of the nation and our state. Sponsors note that, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 47% of California’s poor children live in single-mother families and that the majority of California’s single-mother households earned less than 200% of the poverty threshold. Noting these two factors, the sponsors argue that California must implement policies that support families in achieving economic stability and ensure they can access a stable, affordable, quality child care system so that they can find work and stay employed. Sponsors believe that SB 548 will help achieve this by creating more child care slots and allowing childcare providers to organize, creating a more stable workforce and allowing family child care providers to join together on matters that affect their profession.
4. Opponent Arguments:
The National Right to Work Committee opposes SB 548, arguing that the bill would force childcare providers to join a union, depriving childcare providers of the right to negotiate workplace conditions for themselves. The National Right to Work Committee argues that allowing childcare workers to organize will increase state costs and hurt taxpayers, childcare providers, and the State of California.
5. Prior Legislation:
AB 101 (John Perez) of 2011 was very similar to this bill and also authorized family child care providers to choose whether to be represented by a single provider organization. AB 101 was vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message read:
Maintaining the quality and
affordability of childcare is a very important goal. So too is
making sure that working conditions are decent and fair for those who
take care of our children. Balancing these objectives, however, as
this bill attempts to do, is not easy or free from dispute.
Today
California, like the nation itself, is facing huge budget challenges.
Given that reality, I am reluctant to embark on a program of this
magnitude and potential cost.
SUPPORT
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (Co-Sponsor)
Service Employees International Union (Co-Sponsor)
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Women Lawyers
Courage Campaign
Equal Rights Advocates
National Council of Jewish Women California
Special Needs Network
Western Center on Law and Poverty
9to5
OPPOSITION
National Right to Work Committee
-- END --
SB 548 (De León) Page 6 of 6
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 548
Author: |
De León |
||
Version: |
April 14, 2015 Hearing Date: April 22, 2015 |
||
Urgency: |
No |
Fiscal: |
Yes |
Consultant: |
Lynn Lorber |
||
Subject: Child care: family child care providers: bargaining representatives
NOTE: This bill has been referred to the Committees on Education and Labor and ………...Industrial Relations. A "do pass" motion should include referral to the ………...Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
SUMMARY
This bill gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations, requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the State and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership committee to make and implement recommendations regarding training resources.
BACKGROUND
California’s early education and care system includes several types of programs in various settings, including the Alternative Payment Program. This program is essentially a voucher program, where funding for child care follows the child and the family chooses the child care setting in which they want their child to attend. Care may be in a licensed center or family child care home, or be provided by license-exempt providers.
ANALYSIS
This bill gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations, and requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the State and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership committee to make and implement recommendations regarding training resources. Specifically, this bill:
Defines “family child care providers” as a child care provider that participates in a state-funded child care program and is either of the following:
A family day care home provider who is licensed.
An individual who meets both of the following:
Provides child care in his or her own home or in the home of the child receiving care.
Is exempt from licensing requirements.
Provider organizations
Gives family child care providers the right to form, join, and participate in provider organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of being represented.
Training
Requires, if a family child care provider organization is certified, the State and the certified provider organization to establish a training partnership consisting of a Joint Committee on Child Care Training, Education, and Quality Improvement. The membership of the Joint Committee (training committee) is to include representatives of the certified provider organization and designees of the Governor.
Requires the provider organization to establish a training program that carries out the recommendations of the training committee.
Requires the training committee to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education, and issue recommendations on an annual basis to improve the quality of care offered by licensed and license-exempt family child care providers.
Requires the training committee to play a coordinating role in ensuring that the training offered to providers through the training program:
Meets the State’s needs for the child care workforce.
Satisfies the health, safety and educational standards prescribed by the State.
Aligns with the State’s quality rating systems.
Identifies and works to eliminate barriers to providers accessing training.
Authorizes the training committee’s recommendations to include, but not be limited to:
Ways to access federal and private funding for training to expand capacity to existing State training resources, such as general education classes and English language learner classes.
Ways to support providers who seek to obtain training or higher education credentials in child development.
Ways for the training program to work with existing training providers and educational institutions, including but not limited to resource and referral networks, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs.
Ways for the training program to make training and education available to child care workers and other workers employed by child care centers and schools.
States it is the intent of the Legislature to allocate $1 million in the 2015 Budget to carry out the initial recommendations of the training committee, and that in subsequent years, the recommendations of the training committee be funded by contributions agreed to for that purpose in the memorandum of understanding between the provider organization and the Governor.
Best practices
Requires the Governor or designee to conduct a study of best practices for engaging families in their children’s early care and education in family child care settings, and of federal and other funding that could support parental engagement efforts without reducing the availability and affordability of child care.
Requires the Governor or designee to report to the Legislature and Department of Finance, by January 1, 2017, with the findings and a proposed framework of priorities in which to invest.
Requires the Governor or designee, in conducting the study, to consult with stakeholders, including the Department of Social Services, First 5 California, and organizations that represent parents with young children, particularly lower income and non-English speaking families, to consider how best to engage and support those families in a culturally competent manner.
Additional child care slots
States it is the intent of the Legislature to create an unspecified number of additional slots in alternative payment programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of the federal poverty level, if funding is allocated in the Budget.
STAFF
COMMENTS
Need for the bill. According to the author, specific to the provisions of the bill that are within the jurisdiction of this Committee, “The current subsidized child care system encompasses more than 120 different agencies contracting with the state as middlemen, who in turn administer access to the system for subsidized families and reimburse providers who care for children whose families receive subsidies. Low income children have uneven access to quality child care. Given low reimbursement rates and a fragmented system, there is also extremely high turnover among providers. One of the primary work-related costs that providers struggle to afford is higher education and training to increase their knowledge of child development and stay current on the latest theory and practice of early education and care.”
Training programs. This bill requires the training committee to meet to identify gaps in the training available to family child care providers and barriers that prevent family child care providers from gaining greater skills and accessing postsecondary education. According to the author, existing training opportunities are limited and unavailable or inaccessible to early education and care providers in many areas of the state.
Role for the Governor. This bill provides the Governor with a significant role in designating representatives for participation on the training committee, and the development of best practices. According to the author, the goal is to engage the Governor and secure his full participation in these endeavors. The author may wish to consider expanding participation on the training committee to include the Department of Social Services, the Department of Education, and parents, and include consultation with the California Department of Education in the study of best practices.
Additional slots. This bill states legislative intent to create an unspecified number of additional slots in alternative payment programs for children living in extreme poverty, defined as 50% of the federal poverty level, if funding is allocated in the Budget. According to the author, this bill addresses additional slots only for alternative payment programs to focus on the greatest area of need, and provide a balance with recent adjustments that were made for other types of early education and care programs.
Organizing family child care providers. Considering the jurisdiction of the Senate Education Committee, this Committee may wish to consider the provisions of this bill that are specific to training programs, best practices, and additional early education and care slots. This bill is double-referred to the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, which may consider the collective bargaining provisions of this bill.
Fiscal impact. This bill states intent that $1 million be allocated to implement the initial recommendations of the training committee, and according to the author, the study on best practices for parental engagement will cost approximately $250,000 to complete. Costs for additional alternative payment programs slots is dependent upon the number of slots that are added.
Related and prior legislation.
AB
641 (Rendon, 2013) among other things, authorized family child care
providers to form, join, participate in, and to seek the
certification of, a provider organization to act as their exclusive
representative on matters related to child care subsidy programs. AB
641 was held on the Senate Floor.
AB 2573 (Furutani, 2012)
authorized family child care providers to form, join and participate
in provider organizations for purposes of negotiating with state
agencies. AB 2573 was never heard in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
AB 101 (John Perez, 2011) among other things, authorized family child care providers to choose whether to be represented by a single provider organization. AB 101 was vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message read:
Maintaining the quality and affordability of childcare is a
very important goal. So too is making sure that working conditions
are decent and fair for those who take care of our children.
Balancing these objectives, however, as this bill attempts to do, is
not easy or free from dispute.
Today California, like the
nation itself, is facing huge budget challenges. Given that reality,
I am reluctant to embark on a program of this magnitude and potential
cost.
SB 867 (Cedillo, 2008) authorized family child care providers to form, join and participate in provider organizations. SB 867 was vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message read:
Given California’s significant budget challenge, I cannot
consider bills that would add significant fiscal pressures to the
State’s structural budget deficit.
AB 1164 (De Leon, 2007) authorized family child care providers to form, join and participate in provider organizations. AB 1164 was vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message read:
While I support efforts to improve the quality of child care
services and have provided increased state funding to expand access
to subsidized child care, I cannot support this bill as it has the
potential to add significant fiscal pressures to the State’s
structural budget deficit. Family child care homes currently receive
prevailing market rates for their services. They are reimbursed for
the state-subsidized families they serve at the same rate as that
paid by the non-subsidized families they serve.
Changes in
the current reimbursement structure, increases in family child care
provider reimbursement rates, expanded provider training efforts, or
other program enhancements could come at the expense of the number of
available child care slots. In light of the current structural budget
deficit, it is imperative that we balance our fiscal reality and the
need to provide services to working families.
SUPPORT
9 to 5
Children Now
National Council of Jewish Women California
Service Employees International Union
Special Needs Network
OPPOSITION
None on current version of the bill.
-- END --
Discussed in Hearing
3MIN
Assembly Floor
2MIN
Senate Floor
1MIN
Assembly Floor
27MIN
Assembly Standing Committee on Labor and Employment
17MIN
Senate Floor
19SEC
Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations
13MIN
Senate Standing Committee on Education
Bill Author
