AB 1001: School bonds: School Disaster Resiliency Act.
- Session Year: 2019-2020
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2020-06-29
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| Jul 2, 2020 | Re-referred to Com. on ED. |
| Jun 30, 2020 | Withdrawn from committee. |
| Jun 29, 2020 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Aug 30, 2019 | In committee: Held under submission. |
| Aug 12, 2019 | In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| Jul 9, 2019 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (July 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Jul 3, 2019 | Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HUMAN S. |
| Jul 2, 2019 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on HUMAN S. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 26). |
| Jun 12, 2019 | Referred to Coms. on ED. and HUMAN S. |
| May 30, 2019 | In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. |
| May 29, 2019 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. |
| May 20, 2019 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| May 16, 2019 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (May 16). |
| May 16, 2019 | Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. |
| May 15, 2019 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| May 13, 2019 | Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 1609.) |
| May 1, 2019 | Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Apr 30, 2019 | Read second time and amended. |
| Apr 29, 2019 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 24). |
| Apr 22, 2019 | Re-referred to Com. on ED. |
| Apr 12, 2019 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on ED. Read second time and amended. |
| Apr 10, 2019 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on ED. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (April 9). Re-referred to Com. on ED. |
| Mar 11, 2019 | Referred to Coms. on HUM. S. and ED. |
| Feb 22, 2019 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 24. |
| Feb 21, 2019 | Read first time. To print. |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12, 2019 | Placed on suspense file | Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Jul 8, 2019 | Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar | Senate Standing Committee on Human Services |
Passed |
|
| Jun 26, 2019 | Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Human Services] | Senate Standing Committee on Education |
Passed |
|
| May 29, 2019 | AB 1001 Ting Assembly Third Reading | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| May 16, 2019 | Do pass as amended. | Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Apr 24, 2019 | Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Assembly Standing Committee on Education |
Passed |
|
| Apr 9, 2019 | Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Education] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar | Assembly Standing Committee on Human Services |
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.
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair
2019 - 2020 Regular Session
AB 1001 (Ting) - Child care: strategic planning councils
Version: | Policy Vote: |
Urgency: | Mandate: |
Hearing Date: | Consultant: |
Bill Summary:
This bill updates the composition and duties of local planning councils (LPCs) and provides that they shall collect local input to facilitate local decision-making regarding early childhood education (ECE) services and also develop and implement a strategic plan and investment priorities.
Fiscal Impact:
While the bill provides that the new duties for strategic planning councils would be contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, it could result in one-time General Fund costs, likely in the low millions of dollars statewide, for the state’s 58 planning councils to comply with the bill’s requirements.
Background:
LCPs are designed to provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for childcare and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. State law requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of the LPC and to establish the term of appointments for those members, and requires the LPC to have consumers, childcare providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20 percent of the LPC’s membership. LPCs are charged with a number of responsibilities, including: conducting an assessment of childcare needs at least once every five years, preparing local comprehensive countywide child care plans that are designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs, and encouraging local input into development of community-level priorities.
LPCs were first established in California in the early 1990s with the adoption of AB 2141 (Speier, Chapter 1187, Statutes of 1991) which created local planning processes in response to the federal adoption of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program. The creation of LPCs was intended to ensure the inclusion of local voices when determining priorities for the allocation of CCDBG dollars.
The Child Care and Development Services Act provides a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of childcare and development services for children from infancy up to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs.
Families may be eligible for state and federally subsidized childcare through participation in California Work and Opportunity to Kids (CalWORKs) or based on income and need. Parents participating in CalWORKs, as well as families transitioning off of and no longer receiving CalWORKs aid, can be eligible for subsidized childcare. Income eligibility for families who are not on CalWORKs requires that a family cannot earn more than 70 percent of the state median income, as calculated by the Department of Finance, when they are initially being certified as eligible for subsidized childcare. Per AB 2626 (Mullin, Chapter 945, Statutes of 2018), beginning July 1, 2019 all families (whether first applying for or renewing their eligibility), are allowed to have a state medium income of less than 85 percent to qualify for subsidized childcare.
Subsidized childcare can be acquired through three main types of providers, depending on which program is being used. Providers include licensed childcare centers, licensed family childcare homes, and “license-exempt” settings (i.e. family members, neighbors, or friends).
The three main subsidized childcare programs are:
- CalWORKs childcare for parents who receive or have received CalWORKs. Eligibility for CalWORKs childcare is based on the total income, size, and needs of families. CDSS administers Stage 1 through the county welfare departments and CDE administers Stages 2 and 3 through the alternative payment programs (APP).
- Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) are funded with state and federal funds and offer families an array of childcare options, such as in-home care, family childcare or center-based care; helps families arrange for childcare services and makes payments (by voucher) directly to childcare providers.
- General Child Care and Development Programs are programs that use centers and family childcare home networks operated or administered by either public or private agencies and local educational agencies. They provide child development services for children from birth through 12 years of age and older children with exceptional needs.
Proposed Law:
This bill updates the composition and duties of LPCs, renames them strategic planning councils, and defines requirements of these councils to collect local input and facilitate local decision-making regarding ECE services and to guide local and statewide ECE investments, through the more effective collection and sharing of data between local and statewide agencies. Specific provisions of the bill include:
- Requires the strategic planning council to include specified members, including one representative from a resource and referral agency in the county, appointed by resource and referral agencies in the county, one representative from an alternative payment provider in the county, appointed by alternative payment providers in the county, and one representative from the local First 5 county commission.
- Authorizes an individual to represent more than one of the specified categories and requires members to serve a term of three years.
- Authorizes the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools to appoint the local government agency representatives and “other” representative as specified.
- Authorizes the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools in two or more neighboring counties to merge their strategic planning councils so long as they achieve the required representation.
- Requires the parent advisory committee to be made up of consumers and may include, specified members.
- Specifies membership of the provider advisory committee, including one family childcare home provider or a family, friend, or neighbor provider, one childcare provider that meets the Title 5 licensing requirements, and one childcare provider that meets the Title 22 licensing requirements.
- Revises current requirements placed on LPCs related to identification of local priorities and assessment of childcare needs by, among other things, requiring the CDE to increase standardization of the quinquennial needs assessment through prescription of required elements and development, by 2021, of a needs assessment template, as specified.
- Requires the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Public Health, local departments of social services and welfare, local regional centers, special education local plan and local resource and referral agencies to provide to the department the information necessary for strategic planning councils to complete the needs assessment.
- Requires the CDE to share data and information necessary to complete the needs assessment, with strategic planning councils and counties implementing individualized county childcare subsidy plans.
The following provisions would be contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for those purposes:
- Requires a strategic planning council, by March 30, 2021, and every three years thereafter, to develop and submit to the county board of supervisors and the county board of education a strategic plan and investment priorities using the specified template in collaboration with the strategic planning councils and First 5 California. Places specified requirements on strategic planning councils before the strategic plan and investment priorities can be submitted for approval.
- Requires that the strategic plan address facility needs, workforce needs, family access, quality, and transition planning.
- Requires the county board of supervisors and the county board of education to hold public hearings on the proposed strategic plan and investment priorities at a regularly scheduled meeting that are held prior to adoption of the strategic plan and investment priorities, as specified.
- Requires the county board of supervisors and the county board of education to each approve the strategic plan and investment priorities no later than July1 of each year in which a strategic plan and investment priorities are submitted.
- Requires at least twice each year, a strategic planning council to convene a forum for stakeholders to provide input to and receive updates from the Quality Rating and Improvement System local consortium.
- Requires that the strategic planning county to work with the county office of education, special education local plan areas, and the school districts and regional centers in the county to facilitate the transition of children with exceptional needs into the K-12 system.
Related Legislation:
SB 192 (Liu, 2014) would have required, LPCs to develop a draft of local priorities for early learning and educational support program funding that considers the resources currently available in attendance areas of elementary schools ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, of the Academic Performance Index. Also would have required that the CDE to allocate funding within each county in accordance with the priorities identified by the LPC of that county unless the priorities do not meet the requirements of state or federal law. This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Staff Comments:
The state currently provides a total of $3.5 million in ongoing funds for LPCs through the CDE. LPCs serve as “forums to address the childcare needs of all families,” including subsidized and non-subsidized care. Each LPC is responsible for conducting an assessment of the county’s childcare needs at least every five years and submitting it to CDE. Other responsibilities of LPCs include, but are not limited to, identifying local funding priority areas for childcare services, partnering with local providers such as county welfare departments, regional centers, human services agencies, job training programs and parent organizations.
-- END --
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Senator Hurtado, Chair
2019 - 2020 Regular
Bill No: | AB 1001 | ||
Author: | Ting | ||
Version: | July 3, 2019 | Hearing Date: | July 8, 2019 |
Urgency: | No | Fiscal: | Yes |
Consultant: | Bridgett Hankerson | ||
Subject: Child care: strategic planning councils.
SUMMARY
This bill updates the composition and duties of local planning councils (LPCs), renames them, strategic planning councils (SPCs) and requires SPCs to collect stakeholder input to conduct childcare needs assessments, facilitate local decision-making for early childhood education (ECE) services and guide local and statewide ECE investments.
ABSTRACT
Existing Law:
- Establishes the “Child Care and Development Services Act” to provide childcare 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 support services through full- and part-time programs. (EDC 8200 et seq.)
- States Legislative intent that all families have access to childcare and development services, through resource and referral where appropriate, and regardless of demographic background or special needs, and that families are provided the opportunity to attain financial stability through employment, while maximizing growth and development of their children, and enhancing their parenting skills through participation in childcare and development programs. (EDC 8202)
- Defines “childcare and development services” to mean services designed to meet a wide variety of children’s and families’ needs while parents and guardians are working, in training, seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite and states that these services may include direct care supervision, instructional activities, resource and referral programs, and alternative payment arrangements. (EDC 8208 (j))
- Establishes regional market rate ceilings for voucher-based childcare and states Legislative intent that childcare providers be reimbursed at the 85th percentile of the most recent regional market rate survey. (EDC 8222 and 8357)
- Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer general childcare and development programs to include, among other activities, age- and developmentally-appropriate activities, supervision, parenting education and involvement, and nutrition. Allows such programs to be designed to meet child-related needs identified by parents or guardians, as specified. (EDC 8240 and 8241)
- Defines “block grant” to mean the block grant contained in Title VI of the Childcare and Development Fund, as established by the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. (P.L. 104-193) and (EDC 8499 (a))
- Defines “consumer” to mean a parent or person who receives, or who has received within the past 36 months, childcare services. (EDC 8499 (c))
- Defines “community representative” to mean a person who represents an agency or business that provides private funding for childcare services, or who advocates for childcare services through participation in civic or community-based organizations but is not a childcare provider and does not represent an agency that contracts with the State Department of Education to provide childcare and development services. (EDC 8499 (d))
- Defines “public agency representative” to mean a person who represents a city, county, city and county, or local educational agency. (EDC 8499 (h))
- States Legislative intent that local childcare and development planning councils (also known as LPCs) provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for childcare and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. (EDC 8499.3 (a))
- Requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of the LPC and establish the term of appointments for those members, and requires the LPC to have consumers, childcare providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees, each representing 20 percent of the membership, as specified. (EDC 8499.3 (b))
- Permits the board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to designate an existing childcare planning council or coordinated child and family services council as the LPC, provided representation requirements are met, as specified. (EDC 8499.3 (e))
- Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to allocate childcare funding for LPCs pursuant to the Child Care and Development Services Act based on the amount of state and federal funding that is available. (EDC 8499.5 (a))
- Requires a LPC to, upon approval by the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools, submit the local priorities it has identified that reflect all childcare needs in the county to CDE by May 30 of each year. (EDC 8499.5 (b))
- Requires a LPC to, in order to meet its obligation of annually submit local priorities to CDE, carry out a number of activities including: conduct an assessment of childcare needs in the county at least once every five years; encourage public input in the development of the priorities, include through at least one public hearing; and, prepare a comprehensive countywide childcare plan designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs, as specified. (EDC 8499.5 (b)(1))
- Requires LPCs to include the waitlist for programs funded by CDE and the State Department of Social Services (CDSS), in its annual submission of local priorities. (EDC 8499.5 (b)(1)(C))
- Requires every effort to be made to ensure that the composition of the LPC is reflective of the ethnic, racial, and geographic distribution of the population of the county. (EDC 8499.3 (d))
- Requires CDE, with specified exceptions, to allocate funding within each county in accordance with the priorities identified by the LPC of that county and submitted to the department, unless the priorities do not meet the requirements of state or federal law. (EDC 8499.5 (e))
- Requires each LPC to develop and implement a training plan to provide increased efficiency, productivity, and facilitation of LPC meetings, as specified. (EDC 8499.3 (g))
This Bill:
- Deletes “local planning councils (LPCs)” and “local child care and development planning councils,” and renames them “strategic planning councils (SPCs).”
- Deletes the definitions for “community representative,” “public agency representative” and “block grant.”
- Redefines “consumer” to mean a person who receives, or who has received within the past 36 months, childcare services.
- Adds to existing Legislative intent regarding strategic local childcare and development planning councils the intent that such councils seek to create a local system of support for childcare.
- Deletes the requirement that the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools establish appointment terms for council members.
- Requires the SPC to include the following members:
- One representative from a resource and referral agency in the county, who is appointed by a majority vote of all resource and referral agencies in the county;
- One representative from an alternative payment provider in the county, who is appointed by a majority vote of all alternative payment providers in the county;
- One representative from the local First 5 County Commission;
- One representative from the county office of education;
- One representative from a school district that provides transitional kindergarten within the county;
- One representative from the county board of supervisors;
- One representative from the county human services department;
- One representative from the parent advisory committee, as specified, who is appointed by a majority vote of the members of the parent advisory committee;
- One representative from the provider advisory committee, as specified, who is appointed by a majority vote of the members of the provider advisory committee;
- One representative of a local postsecondary educational institution that receives state or federal funds and offers a degree, training, or professional development courses in childcare, child development or preschool, as specified;
- Other local government agencies, as specified, that provide services to children from birth to 12 years of age; and,
- Other representatives, at the discretion of the strategic planning council.
- Authorizes an individual to represent more than one of the specified categories, and requires council members to serve a three-year term, as specified.
- Authorizes a county’s board of supervisors and superintendent of schools to appoint the local government agency representatives and “other” representatives, as specified.
- Establishes a parent advisory committee and requires it to be made up of consumers and may include, but not be limited to, the following members:
- One consumer who receives services from a family childcare home provider or a
family, friend, and neighbor provider;
- One consumer who receives services from a childcare center provider;
- One consumer who receives services from a transitional kindergarten provider;
- One consumer who represents a tribal organization who receives services from a
childcare provider;
- One consumer who is a parent of a child with exceptional needs who receives services from a childcare provider; and,
- One consumer who receives services from an after school program.
- Establishes a provider advisory committee which includes, but is not limited to, the following members:
- One family childcare home provider or a family, friend, or neighbor provide;
- One childcare provider that meets the Title 5 licensing requirements;
- One childcare provider that meets the Title 22 licensing requirements;
- One Head Start provider;
- One representative from a labor union that represents childcare providers in the county;
- One representative from a childcare provider experienced in providing services to children of migrant families; and,
- One representative from a childcare provider experienced in providing services to children with exceptional needs in a full inclusion environment, as specified.
- Deletes the requirement that the local planning council have consumers, childcare providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20 percent of membership, as specified.
- Authorizes a county’s board of supervisors and superintendent of schools to merge the strategic planning council and the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) local consortia.
- Authorizes two or more contiguous county boards of supervisors and superintendents of schools to merge their SPCs, and for the SPC to make efforts to ensure that meetings and stakeholder forums are accessible to consumers and providers in represented counties, as specified.
- Requires the SPCs to annually submit to CDE its local priorities identified by zip code and prioritized based on greatest childcare need and stipulates that SPCs assessment of childcare needs include defined and prescribed data elements, as specified.
- Deletes requirements that certain childcare data is included in the needs assessment, and instead requires, beginning in 2021, that SPCs use a specified needs assessment template which must be submitted by May in the year it is due.
- Requires CDSS, the California Department of Public Health, local departments of social services and welfare, local regional centers, special education local plan areas and local resource and referral agencies, to provide CDE with the information necessary for SPCs to complete the needs assessment. Further requires CDSS to share data and information necessary to complete the needs assessment, notwithstanding any other law, with SPCs and counties implementing individualized county childcare subsidy plans, as specified.
- Requires SPC, by March 30, 2021, and every three years thereafter, to develop and submit to the county’s board of supervisors and board of education, a strategic plan and investment priorities using the specified template; and requires prior to submitting these for approval that the SPC completes the following:
- Post the most recent needs assessment on the strategic planning council’s website and annually share the needs assessment with school districts, as specified.
- Seek input from the parent advisory committee and the provider advisory committee.
- Identify existing publicly owned facilities that could house a childcare program, as specified.
- Encourage public input in the development of the strategic plan and investment priorities, as specified.
- Requires that the strategic plan address facility needs, workforce needs, family access, quality, and transition planning.
- Requires a county’s board of supervisors and board of education to hold public hearings on the proposed strategic plan and investment priorities at a regularly scheduled meeting held prior to adoption of the strategic plan and investment priorities, as specified.
- Requires a county’s board of supervisors and board of education to each approve the strategic plan and investment priorities no later than July 1 of years that a strategic plan and investment priorities are submitted, and further requires these plan and priorities be effective for three years and updated each intervening year by March 30.
- Requires, that at least twice each year, SPCs convene a forum for stakeholders to provide input to and receive updates from the QRIS local consortium, as specified.
- Requires that SPCs work with county offices of education, special education local plan areas, school districts and regional centers in the county to facilitate the transition of children with exceptional needs into the K-12 system.
- Specifies that the provisions of this bill are contingent upon receipt of an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, and states the Legislative intent that funding for additional conditions imposed upon SPC be funded using federal funds to the greatest extent legally possible.
- Makes conforming and technical changes.
FISCAL IMPACT
According to an analysis dated May 21, 2019 prepared by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, on a previous version of the bill, would have the following fiscal impact:
This bill may result in estimated one-time costs, likely in the low millions of dollars (General Fund) statewide, for 58 planning councils to carry out the new duties in the bill. This bill states these duties are contingent upon an appropriation in the annual budget act. If the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill's requirements to be a reimbursable state mandate, the state would need to reimburse these costs to counties or provide funding to local education agencies through the K-12 Mandate Block Grant.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the Bill:
According to the author, “The state lacks comprehensive data to inform, and infrastructure to support, new investments in our complex mixed-delivery system. Various state and local agencies collect valuable data on programs that serve children ages 0 to 12, but without a comprehensive data system, state leadership and local planning bodies do not have a complete picture of the availability, capacity, and need for care among all ages and settings.
The Speaker’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Early [Childhood] Education (ECE) has identified improving local planning, data collection, and coordination as a critical step for the expansion of ECE programs in California. [This bill seeks to] improve local early care and education strategic planning by standardizing the needs assessment, linking K-12 investments in programs serving the 0 to 12 population, and by requiring planning bodies identify local investment priorities...and ensuring that [stakeholders] are included in decision-making to identify investment priorities.”
Subsidized Childcare
The Child Care and Development Services Act provides a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of childcare and development services for children from infancy up to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs.
Families may be eligible for state and federally subsidized childcare through participation in California Work and Opportunity to Kids (CalWORKs) or based on income and need. Parents participating in CalWORKs, as well as families transitioning off of and no longer receiving CalWORKs aid, can be eligible for subsidized childcare. Income eligibility for families who are not on CalWORKs requires that a family cannot earn more than 70 percent of the state median income, as calculated by the Department of Finance, when they are initially being certified as eligible for subsidized childcare. Per AB 2626 (Mullin, Chapter 945, Statutes of 2018), beginning July 1, 2019 all families (whether first applying for or renewing their eligibility), are allowed to have a state medium income of less than 85 percent to qualify for subsidized childcare.[1]
Subsidized childcare can be acquired through three main types of providers, depending on which program is being used. Providers include licensed childcare centers, licensed family childcare homes, and “license-exempt” settings (i.e. family members, neighbors, or friends).
The three main subsidized childcare programs are:
- CalWORKs childcare for parents who receive or have received CalWORKs. Eligibility for CalWORKs childcare is based on the total income, size, and needs of families. CDSS administers Stage 1 through the county welfare departments and CDE administers Stages 2 and 3 through the alternative payment programs (APP).
- Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) are funded with state and federal funds and offer families an array of childcare options, such as in-home care, family childcare or center-based care; helps families arrange for childcare services and makes payments (by voucher) directly to childcare providers.
- General Child Care and Development Programs are programs that use centers and family childcare home networks operated or administered by either public or private agencies and local educational agencies. They provide child development services for children from birth through 12 years of age and older children with exceptional needs.
Space in childcare and ECE programs has historically been limited and decreased substantially during the Great Recession. In response to families’ need for safe and affordable childcare, the enacted FY 2019-20 Budget increases access to a number of childcare programs by providing increased funding to expand CDE’s Early Learning and Care Division, the Full-Day Kindergarten Facilities Grant program, and CalWorks Stage 1 Childcare. Also, the Early Childhood Policy Council has been established to provide recommendations to policymakers on improving statewide ECE policy.
Local Planning Councils (LPCs)
Under current law, LPCs identify local priorities for childcare, and develop policies to meet the identified needs. They are located in all 58 counties in California. LPCs were created by AB 2141 (Speier, Chapter 1187, Statutes of 1991) in response to the implementation of the federal Child Care and Development Block Grants program. Each county’s board of supervisors and superintendent of schools are required to select the members of the LPC, establish the terms for those members, and have consumers, childcare providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20 percent of the LPC’s membership. The state provides a total of $3.5 million ongoing funding to LPCs through CDE.
LPCs serve as “forums to address the childcare needs of all families,” including subsidized and non-subsidized care. Each LPC is responsible for conducting an assessment of the county’s childcare needs at least every five years and submitting it to CDE. Other responsibilities of LPCs include, but are not limited to, identifying local funding priority areas for childcare services, partnering with local providers such as county welfare departments, regional centers, human services agencies, job training programs and parent organizations. This bill would change the name of LPCs to SPCs, specify who should be considered for membership on the SPCs, and set SPCs appointment terms to three years.
A March 2019 report by the LAO on early education found that the state “lacks data to make informed spending decisions about the childcare workforce and facilities.” Per the LAO, the state collects limited data about how the availability of care aligns with the needs and preferences of families. LAO also reports that the state does not collect data on geographic areas that need additional childcare and preschool workers or need additional education and training for workers in ECE. The LAO recommends that the state invest in studies to identify the statewide needs so that funding can be more targeted at the local level.
Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on ECE
The Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on ECE was created “to plan an early learning system that works for, and meets the needs of, children, families, and providers.” The BRC, which is comprised of members of the Assembly, ECE providers, and families, began its work in 2017. The BRC released its final report in April 2019, which provided recommendations including, but not limited to, increasing transparency, accountability, and integrated data systems. The final report also recommends that “new funding should be directed to areas of greatest need, that barriers to linking administrative data across systems should be decreased and increase the alignment of intra-agency data at CDE and between ECE programs.” According to the author, “This bill refreshes the existing LPC’s to make their membership reflect the broader world of ECE stakeholders and provides these entities with more direction and data to allow the State expansions to these programs to be better informed by local childcare needs assessments."
Related/Prior Legislation:
AB 2141 (Speier, Chapter 1187, Statutes of 1991) established a local planning process, using local childcare and development planning councils, for the allocation of childcare funding received under the federal Childcare and Development Block Grant.
SB 192 (Liu, 2014) would have required that CDE allocate funding within each county in accordance with the priorities identified by the LPC unless the priorities did not meet the requirements of state or federal law. The bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
PRIOR VOTES
Senate Education Committee: | 7 - 0 |
Assembly Floor: | 78 - 0 |
Assembly Appropriations Committee: | 13 - 0 |
Assembly Education Committee: | 7 - 0 |
Assembly Human Services Committee: | 8 - 0 |
POSITIONS
Support:
Alameda County Board Of Supervisors
Everychild California
First 5 La
League of Women Voters of California
San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
Santa Clara County Office of Education
Oppose:
None received
-- END --
Early Learning and Care Division, “State Median Income and Income Ranking Table for FY 2019-20”,Management Bulletin 19-03, <https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/mb1903.asp> ↑
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Connie Leyva, Chair
2019 - 2020 Regular
Bill No: AB 1001 Hearing Date: June 26, 2019
Author: | |||
Version: | May 16, 2019 | ||
Urgency: | No | Fiscal: | Yes |
Consultant: | Olgalilia Ramirez | ||
Subject: Child care: strategic planning councils.
NOTE: This bill has been referred to the Committees on Education and Human Services. A "do pass" motion should include referral to the Committee on Human Services.
SUMMARY
This bill updates the composition and duties of local planning councils (LPCs), renames them strategic planning councils, and defines requirements of these councils to collect local input and facilitate local decision-making regarding early childhood education (ECE) services and to guide local and statewide ECE investments, through the more effective collection and sharing of data between local and statewide agencies.
BACKGROUND
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 support services. (Education Code (EC) § 8200 et seq.)
- Defines “child care and development services” to mean services designed to meet a wide variety of children’s and families’ needs while parents and guardians are working, in training, seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite and states that these services may include direct care supervision, instructional activities, resource and referral programs, and alternative payment arrangements. (EC § 8208)
- States Legislative intent that LPCs provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for child care and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. (EC § 8499.3)
- Requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of the LPC and establish the term of appointments for those members, and requires the LPC to have consumers, child care providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees, each representing 20 percent of the membership, as specified. (EC § 8499.3)
- Requires every effort to be made to ensure that the ethnic, racial, and geographic composition of the LPC is reflective of the ethnic, racial, and geographic distribution of the population of the county. (EC § 8499.3)
- Permits the board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to designate an existing child care planning council or coordinated child and family services council as the LPC, provided representation requirements are met, as specified. (EC § 8499.3)
- Requires each LPC to develop and implement a training plan to provide increased efficiency, productivity, and facilitation of LPC meetings, as specified. (EC § 8499.3)
- Requires an LPC to, upon approval by the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools, submit the local priorities it has identified that reflect all child care needs in the county to California Department of Education (CDE) by May 30 of each year. (EC § 8499.5)
- Requires an LPC to, in order to meet its obligation of annually submitting local priorities to CDE, carry out a number of activities including, among others: conducting an assessment of child care needs in the county at least once every five years; encouraging public input in the development of the priorities, including through at least one public hearing; and, preparing a comprehensive countywide child care plan designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs, as specified. (EC § 8499.5)
- Requires CDE, with specified exceptions, to allocate funding within each county in accordance with the priorities identified by the LPC of that county and submitted to the CDE, unless the priorities do not meet the requirements of state or federal law. (EC § 8499.5)
ANALYSIS
This bill updates the composition and duties of LPCs, renames them strategic planning councils, and defines requirements of these councils to collect local input and facilitate local decision-making regarding ECE services and to guide local and statewide ECE investments, through the more effective collection and sharing of data between local and statewide agencies. Specifically, it:
Composition of the strategic planning council
- Removes the requirement that the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools select the members of the LPC and establish the term of appointment of members.
- Requires the strategic planning council to include all of the following:
- One representative from a resource and referral agency in the county,
appointed by resource and referral agencies in the county, as specified.
- One representative from an alternative payment provider in the county,
appointed by alternative payment providers in the county, as specified.
- One representative from the local First 5 county commission.
- One representative from the board of supervisors.
- One representative from the county human services department.
- One representative from the parent advisory committee, as specified.
- One representative from the provider advisory committee, as specified.
- One representative of a local postsecondary educational institution that
receives state or federal fund is nominated by the planning council and
appointed by the county board of supervisors.
- Other local government agencies that provide services to children from
birth to 12 years of age.
- Other representatives, at the discretion of the strategic planning council.
- Authorizes an individual to represent more than one of the specified categories.
- Requires members to serve a term of three years.
- Authorizes the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools to appoint the local government agency representatives and “other” representative as specified.
- Authorizes the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools to merge the strategic planning county and the Quality Rating and Improvement System local consortia.
- Authorizes the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools in two or more neighboring counties to merge their strategic planning councils so long as they achieve the representation outlined in this analysis in 6) above. The bill requires counties that choose to merge councils to make every effort to ensure that meetings are accessible to consumers and providers in all of the counties that the council represents.
Parent advisory committee
- Requires the parent advisory committee to be made up of consumers and may include, the following members:
- One consumer who receives services from a family childcare home
provider or a family, friend, and neighbor provider.
- One consumer who receives services from a childcare center provider.
- One consumer who receives services from a transitional kindergarten
provider.
- One consumer who represents a tribal organization who receives services
from a childcare provider.
- One consumer who is a parent of a child with exceptional needs who
receives services from a child care provider.
- One consumer who receives services from an after school program.
Provider advisory committee
- Specifies that the provider advisory committee:
- One family childcare home provider or a family, friend, or neighbor
provider.
- One childcare provider that meets the Title 5 licensing requirements.
- One childcare provider that meets the Title 22 licensing requirements.
- One Head Start provider.
- One representative from a labor union that represents child care providers
in the county.
- One representative from a childcare provider experienced in providing
services to children with exceptional needs in a full inclusion environment.
Needs assessment and data sharing
- Revises current requirements placed on planning councils related to identification of local priorities and assessment of childcare needs by, among other things, requiring the CDE to increase standardization of the quinquennial needs assessment through prescription of required elements and development, by 2021, of a needs assessment template, as specified.
- Requires the State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Public Health, local departments of social services and welfare, local regional centers, special education local plan and local resource and referral agencies to provide to the department the information necessary for strategic planning councils to complete the needs assessment.
- Requires the department to share data and information necessary to complete the needs assessment, with strategic planning councils and counties implementing individualized county childcare subsidy plans.
Strategic plan and investment priorities
- Requires the strategic planning councils, by March 30, 2021, and every three years thereafter, to develop and submit to the county board of supervisors and the county board of education a strategic plan and investment priorities using the specified template and requires prior the strategic plan and investment priorities can be submitted for approval the strategic planning council do all of the following:
- Post the most recent needs assessment on the strategic planning
council’s website and annually share the needs assessment with school districts.
- Seek input from the parent advisory committee and the provider advisory
committee.
- Identify existing publicly owned facilities that could house a childcare
program, as specified.
- Encourage public input in the development of the strategic plan and
investment priorities, as specified.
- Requires that the strategic plan address facility needs, workforce needs, family access, quality, and transition planning.
- Requires the county board of supervisors and the county board of education to hold public hearings on the proposed strategic plan and investment priorities at a regularly scheduled meeting that are held prior to adoption of the strategic plan and investment priorities, as specified.
- Requires the county board of supervisors and the county board of education to each approve the strategic plan and investment priorities no later than July1 of each year in which a strategic plan and investment priorities are submitted.
- Requires that the strategic plan and investment priorities be effective for a period of three years and updated each intervening year by March 30.
- Requires at least twice each year, a strategic planning council to convene a forum for stakeholders to provide input to and receive updates from the Quality Rating and Improvement System local consortium.
- Requires that the strategic planning county to work with the county office of education, special education local plan areas, and the school districts and regional centers in the county to facilitate the transition of children with exceptional needs into the K-12 system.
- Makes the bill’s provisions regarding develop and submission of a strategic plan and investment priorities.
Misc.
- Makes other technical and conforming changes.
- Replaces the term “local child care and development planning council” with “strategic planning council.”
- Adds to Legislative intent language regarding local childcare and development planning councils the intent that such councils seek to create a local system of support for childcare.
- Adds early childhood education services to the “child care,” definition.
- Strikes the definitions for community and public agency representative.
STAFF COMMENTS
- Need for the bill. According to the author, “Under current law, Local Planning Council’s produce a county needs assessment that is intended to articulate the county’s need for child care. However, the lack of comprehensive data, missing agencies that are vital to decision-making, inconsistent reporting, and gaps in scope, limit both the state’s ability to use the assessment as a roadmap to improve and expand California’s ECE system, and local communities’ ability to build consensus around investment priorities.”
This bill seeks to improve local early care and education strategic planning by standardizing the needs assessment process, ensuring stakeholder input and requiring planning bodies to identify investment priorities.
- Local planning councils. According to the Assembly Education Committee analysis, each county in California has an LPC. These LCPs are designed to provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for childcare, and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. State law requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of the LPC and to establish the term of appointments for those members, and requires the LPC to have consumers, childcare providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20 percent of the LPC’s membership. LPCs are charged with a number of responsibilities, including: conducting an assessment of childcare needs at least once every five years, preparing local comprehensive countywide child care plans that are designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs, and encouraging local input into development of community-level priorities.
LPCs were first established in California in the early 1990s, with the adoption of AB 2141 (Speier) which created local planning processes in response to the federal adoption of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program in 1991. The creation of local planning councils, was intended to ensure the inclusion of local voices when determining priorities for allocation of CCDBG dollars. LPCs were formalized in 1997 with the adoption of AB 1542 (Ducheny).
- Childcare in California. The childcare and development system in California is a complex system. General childcare and development programs are state and federally funded programs that use centers and family childcare home networks operated or administered by either public or private agencies and LEAs. These agencies provide child development services for children from birth through 12 years of age and older children with exceptional needs.
Families may be eligible for state-subsidized childcare through participation in CalWORKs, or based on income and if they can show need for child care services. Income eligibility for families that are not current recipients of CalWORKs (general childcare) is established, initially, at 70 percent of state median income. Families remain income eligible until their adjusted monthly income exceeds 85 percent of the most recent state median income, adjusted for family size. The state’s child care and development services are delivered to eligible families through three categories of providers, providers with a direct service contract with the CDE (Title 5) and voucher-based licensed and licensed-exempt (Title 22) and CalWORKs (Title 22). This mixed delivery system allows families to choose from center-based care, family childcare homes and in-home care. This bill seeks to restructure LPCs to ensure that key stakeholders in early learning programs, including local early learning organizations, parents, providers, county agencies, and other organizations that serve children in a specific county, are included in the decision-making process for identifying local priorities as well as guiding local and statewide investments.
- Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education: The Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission held a hearing on March 11, 2019 in its final report regarding development of an early learning system that meets the needs of children, families, and providers. The commission asserts that the current funding for the system is outdated and the need for access to childcare continues to grow. The report provides numerous recommendations for topics within early childhood education, some of which relate to data collection and implementation of an effective coordinating body. Recommendations related to the provisions in this bill include, among other things:
- Each region, county or sub-county should have an effective local coordinating body that does local needs assessments, that collects data, identifies equity goals and implementation for targeted resources and policies, that supports local innovation, coordinates local partnerships, and evaluates local efforts. This body should have robust parent and provider as well as agency, Tribal and local government involvement. They should be linked to state bodies. The state should adequately support these bodies including stipends for parents and providers to participate.
- Ongoing data collection and mapping should identify geographic disparities and childcare deserts on an ongoing basis and develop proposals with an equity lens to incentivize creation of supply particularly in childcare deserts. New funding should be directed to areas of greatest need and we should consider contracts and other incentives to develop resources in areas with little supply.
- Decrease barriers to linking administrative data across systems and build on existing administrative data systems to provide timely data on the array of federal, state and locally funded programs serving families with young children. Use linked administrative data to support cross-agency planning, inform decision-making and guide resource allocation based on key outcomes for children.
- Migrant Child Care. The state also subsidizes care for two specific populations—children of migrant workers and children with severe handicaps. Migrant childcare and development programs provide services to families who earn at least 50 percent of their total gross income from employment in fishing, agriculture or agriculturally related work during the twelve-month period immediately preceding the date of application. Although the migrant population in California is declining, staff understands that California is home to the largest number of migrant students in the country and one in three migrant students reside in the state. Staff notes that the bill specifics that the provider advisory committee have representative from a child care provider experienced in providing services to children with exceptional needs
To ensure representation of children of migrant workers and their unique needs on the provider advisory council, staff recommends that the bill be amended to add to the provider advisory committee one representative from a childcare provider experienced in providing services to children of migrant families.
- Prior legislation. SB 192 (Liu, 2014) would have required, LPCs to develop a draft of local priorities for early learning and educational support program funding that considers the resources currently available in attendance areas of elementary schools ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, of the Academic Performance Index. Also would have required that the CDE to allocate funding within each county in accordance with the priorities identified by the LPC of that county unless the priorities do not meet the requirements of state or federal law. This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Association of California School Administrators
California Child Care Coordinators Association
California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (Sponsor)
Child Advisory Council of Santa Cruz County
Child Care Coordinating Council of Nevada County
Child Care Planning Council of Sonoma County
County of San Mateo
Early Care and Education Planning Council Alameda
El Dorado County Office of Education
Every Child California
Everychild California
First 5 California
First 5 LA
First 5 San Bernardino
First 5 San Francisco
First 5 San Mateo County
Head Start California
Heard Start California
Kidango
League of Women Voters of California
Local Child Care Planning Council Glenn County
Local Early Education Planning Council of Santa Clara County
Local Planning Council of Venture County
Riverside County Office of Education
San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
San Mateo County Office of Education
Santa Clara County Office of Education
Santa Cruz County Childhood Advisory Council
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Yuba County Office of Education
OPPOSITION
None received
-- END --
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
ATR Bill Id:AB 1001
Author:(Ting)
As Amended Ver:May 16, 2019
Majority vote
SUMMARY:
Revises the mandated composition of, and requirements for, local child care and development planning councils.
Major Provisions
- Deletes language requiring a local planning council to have consumers, child care providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20% of membership, as specified, and instead, changes the name of local child care and development planning councils to "strategic local child care and development councils" ("strategic planning councils"), and requires them to include a wide breadth of members that serve 3-year terms, including, as specified: one representative from a resource and referral agency in the county; one representative from an alternative payment provider in the county; one representative from the local First 5 county commission; one representative from the county office of education; one representative from the county human services department; and, a number of others.
- Permits the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools to mutually agree to merge the strategic planning council and the Quality Rating and Improvement System local consortia and, further, permits county boards of supervisors and county superintendents of schools in two or more contiguous counties to merge their strategic planning councils, as specified.
- Revises current requirements placed on planning councils related to their identification of local priorities and assessment of child care needs by, among other things, requiring the California Department of Education to increase standardization of the quinquennial needs assessment through prescription of required elements and development, by 2021, of a needs assessment template, as specified.
- Requires, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act, a strategic planning council, by March 30, 2021, and every three years thereafter, to develop and submit to the county board of supervisors and the county board of education a strategic plan and investment priorities, and establishes requirements and processes related to the development and submission of the plan and priorities, as specified.
COMMENTS:
Local planning councils: Each county in California has a local child care and development planning council. These local planning councils, per Legislative intent, are designed to provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for child care, and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. State law (Education Code Section 8499.3) requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of the local planning council and to establish the term of appointments for those members, and requires the local planning council to have consumers, child care providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20% of the local planning council's membership. Local planning councils are charged with a number of responsibilities, including, among others: conducting an assessment of child care needs at least once every five years, preparing local comprehensive countywide child care plans that are designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs, and encouraging local input into development of community-level priorities. Local planning councils were first established in California in the early 1990s, with the adoption of AB 2141 (Speier), Chapter 1187, Statutes of 1991, which created local planning processes in response to the federal adoption, in 1991, of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program. AB 2141, with its creation of local planning councils, sought to ensure the inclusion of local voices when determining priorities for allocation of CCDBG dollars.
Need for this bill: This bill seeks to update the composition and responsibilities of local child care and development planning councils in order to better identify and address the needs of the state's evolving early care and education programs.
According to the Author:
"The Speaker's Blue Ribbon Commission of Early Care and Education has identified improving local planning, data collection, and coordination is a critical step for the expansion of Early Childhood Education programs in California. [This bill] refreshes the existing Local Planning Councils to make their membership reflect the broader world of ECE stakeholders and provides these entities with more direction and data to allow the State expansions to these programs to be better informed by local child care needs assessments."
Arguments in Support:
Writing in support, First 5 San Bernardino states that, "[This bill] would ensure that all agencies who receive significant funding to operate or support ECE [early care and education] programs are included in local decision-making, align the local planning body with the newly created Quality Counts California structure, institutionalize a relationship between ECE providers, K12 providers, and higher education, give counties the flexibility to merge and align quality investments and planning efforts, and task local planning bodies with addressing barriers to ECE expansion."
Arguments in Opposition:
None on file
FISCAL COMMENTS:
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill may result in estimated one-time costs, likely in the low millions of dollars (General Fund) statewide, for 58 planning councils to carry out the new duties in the bill. This bill states these duties are contingent upon an appropriation in the annual budget act. If the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill's requirements to be a reimbursable state mandate, the state would need to reimburse these costs to counties or provide funding to local education agencies through the K-12 Mandate Block Grant.
VOTES:
ASM HUMAN SERVICES: 8-0-0
YES: Reyes, Mathis, Berman, Choi, Friedman, Gipson, Maienschein, Mark Stone
ASM EDUCATION: 7-0-0
YES: O'Donnell, Kiley, Kalra, McCarty, Smith, Voepel, Weber
ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 13-0-5
YES: Gonzalez, Bloom, Bonta, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Eggman, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas
ABS, ABST OR NV: Bigelow, Brough, Diep, Fong, Obernolte
UPDATED:
VERSION: May 16, 2019
CONSULTANT: Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0000909
Date of Hearing: May 16, 2019
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1001
Author:(Ting) – As Amended Ver:April 30, 2019
Policy Committee: | Human Services | Vote: | 8 - 0 |
Education | 7 - 0 | ||
|
|
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill updates the composition and duties of local planning councils (LPCs) and renames them strategic planning councils. The bill defines requirements of these councils to collect local input and facilitate local decision-making regarding early childhood education (ECE) services and to guide local and statewide ECE investments, through the more-effective collection and sharing of data between local and statewide agencies.
The bill requires a strategic planning council to prepare and submit, by March 30, 2021, to the county board of supervisors and the county board of education a strategic plan and investment priorities, is contingent upon an appropriation in the annual budget act.
The bill also states intent that any additional duties imposed on a strategic planning council be funded from available federal funds.
FISCAL EFFECT:
- Estimated one-time costs, likely in the low millions of dollars (GF) statewide, for 58 LPCs to carry out the new duties in the bill. The bill states these duties are contingent upon an appropriation in the annual budget act.
- If the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill’s requirements to be a reimbursable state mandate, the state would need to reimburse these costs to counties or provide funding to local education agencies through the K-12 Mandate Block Grant.
(This proposal is also being considered in the legislative budget process.)
COMMENTS:
- Purpose. According to the author:
The Speaker’s Blue Ribbon Commission has identified improving local planning, data collection, and coordination as a critical step for the expansion of early childhood education (ECE) programs in California. [This bill] refreshes the existing Local Planning Councils to make their membership reflect the broader world of ECE stakeholders and provides these entities with more direction and data to allow the state expansions to these programs to be better informed by local child care needs assessments.
- LPCs. Each county in California has an LPC. Existing law states legislative intent that every LCP serve as a local forum to identify and address local childcare needs and priorities. Specifically, existing law requires every LPC to conduct regional need assessments and prepare regional child care plans. Existing law requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of an LPC and requires LPC to membership to include consumers, child care providers, public agency representatives, community representatives and agency appointees.
Statewide, LCPs receive about $3.6 million annually. The majority comes from federal Care and Development Block Grant funds (roughly $3.3 million) and the remainder is state General Fund.
- Prior and related legislation.
AB 124 (McCarty), of this legislative session, requires each LPC to provide information to cities and counties regarding facility needs for early childhood education, including, but not limited to, childcare and preschool, in its jurisdiction. The bill is pending in this committee.
SB 192 (Liu), of the 2013-14 Legislative Session, would have required each LPC to develop a draft of local priorities for early learning and educational support program funding that considers the resources currently available in attendance areas of elementary schools ranked in deciles one to three, inclusive, of the Academic Performance Index. It also would have required that the CDE to allocate funding within each county in accordance with the priorities identified by the LPC of the county unless the priorities did not meet the requirements of state or federal law. The bill was held on this committee’s Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2019
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1001 (
Author:Ting) – As Amended Ver:April 12, 2019
[Note: This bill was double referred to the Assembly Human Services Committee and was heard by that Committee as it relates to issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT: Child care: strategic planning councils
SUMMARY: Updates the composition and duties of local planning councils (LPCs), renames them strategic planning councils, and defines requirements of these councils to collect local input and facilitate local decision-making regarding early childhood education (ECE) services and to guide local and statewide ECE investments, through the more effective collection and sharing of data between local and statewide agencies. Specifically, this bill:
- Replaces the term “local child care and development planning council” with “strategic planning council.”
- Adds to Legislative intent language regarding local child care and development planning councils the intent that such councils seek to create a local system of support for child care.
- Removes the requirement that the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools select the members of the local planning council and establish the term of appointment of the members.
- Requires the strategic planning council to include all of the following:
- One representative from a resource and referral agency or an alternative payment provider in the county, to be appointed by majority vote of all resource and referral agencies and alternative payment providers in the county.
- One representative from the local First 5 county commission.
- One representative from the county office of education.
- One representative from a school district that provides transitional kindergarten within the county.
- One representative from the board of supervisors.
- One representative from the county human services department.
- One representative from the parent advisory committee, appointed by a majority vote of the members of the parent advisory committee.
- One representative from the provider advisory committee, appointed by a majority vote of the members of the provider advisory committee.
- One representative of a local postsecondary educational institution that receives state or federal funds and offers a degree, training, or professional development courses in child care, child development, or preschool; who is appointed by a majority vote of the other members of the council.
- Other local government agencies, such as health, human services, social services, regional centers, school districts, and special education local plan areas (SELPAs), that provide services to children from birth to 12 years; who may be appointed at the discretion of the other members of the council.
- Specifies that one individual may represent more than one of the categories identified in subparagraphs (a) to (h) of paragraph (3).
- Requires that the members of the strategic planning council serve a term of three years, with the exception of members identified in subparagraphs (a), (e), and (f), who are required to serve for one term.
- Requires the parent advisory committee to be comprised of consumers to include, but not be limited to, the following members:
- One consumer who receives services from a family child care home provider or a family, friend, and neighbor provider.
- One consumer who receives services from a child care center provider.
- One consumer who receives services from a transitional kindergarten provider.
- Authorizes the provider advisory committee to include, but not be limited to, the following members:
- One family child care home provider or a family, friend, or neighbor provider.
- One child care provider licensed pursuant to Title 5 regulations.
- One child care provider licensed pursuant to Title 22 regulations.
- One Head Start provider.
- One representative from a labor union that represents child care providers in the county.
- Authorizes the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools to mutually agree to merge the strategic planning council and the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) local consortia, as defined, as long as it can achieve the representation, as specified.
- Authorizes the county boards of supervisors and the county superintendents of schools in two or more contiguous counties to mutually agree to merge their strategic planning councils, as long as it can achieve the representation, as specified.
- Requires, if two or more counties merge their strategic planning councils, the strategic planning council to make every effort to ensure that meetings and stakeholder forums are accessible to consumers and providers in all of the relevant counties. Specifies that this may be achieved by alternating the location of meetings between the counties, hosting meetings at a central point between the counties, or live broadcasting strategic planning council meetings at multiple locations within the counties.
- Requires the strategic planning council to submit to the California Department of Education (CDE), upon approval by the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools, its local priorities, identified by ZIP Code and prioritized by the strategic planning council according to the greatest child care needs in the county, by May 30 of each year.
- Requires the strategic planning council to do both of the following in the development of the annual local priorities, identified above:
- Encourage public input in the development of the strategic planning council’s local priorities, including at least one public hearing, during which members of the public can comment on the proposed priorities.
- Collaborate with subsidized and nonsubsidized child care providers, specified local government agencies, community agencies, and other interested partners to foster partnerships designed to meet local child care needs.
- Requires a strategic planning council to conduct a needs assessment of child care needs in the county at least once every five years, and to submit it to the CDE by May 30 of each year in which it is due.
- Requires the CDE to define and prescribe data elements to be included in the needs assessment, to specify the format for the data reporting, and to develop a needs assessment template in collaboration with the strategic planning councils.
- Requires the strategic planning councils, beginning in 2020, to use the needs assessment template developed by the CDE, in submitting their needs assessments.
- Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS), the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), local departments of social services and welfare, local regional centers, SELPAs, and local resource and referral agencies, to provide to the CDE the information necessary for the strategic planning councils to complete the needs assessment. Requires the CDE to share data and information necessary to complete the needs assessment with strategic planning councils and counties implementing individualized county child care subsidy plans, as specified.
- Requires, on or before March 30, 2020, and every three years thereafter, a strategic planning council to develop and submit to the county board of supervisors and the county board of education a strategic plan and investment priorities using the template adopted by the CDE and First 5 California in collaboration with the strategic planning councils. Requires, before the strategic plan and investment priorities are submitted for approval, the strategic planning council do all of the following:
- Post the most recent needs assessment developed, as specified, on the strategic planning council’s website and share the needs assessment with all school districts in the county no later than January 1 of each year in which a strategic plan and investment priorities will be submitted.
- Seek input from the relevant parent advisory committee and the provider advisory committee.
- Identify existing publicly owned facilities that could house a child care program and periodically survey school districts, county offices of education, and city and county governments to identify sites that could house a child care program and the modifications that each site would need to meet child care health and safety requirements.
- Encourage public input in the development of the strategic plan and investment priorities, including at least one public hearing during which members of the public can comment on the proposed strategic plan and investment priorities before submission to the county board of supervisors and the county board of education.
- Requires the strategic plan to address facility needs, workforce needs, family access, and quality and transition planning; and to include the investment priorities for the county board of supervisors, the county board of education, and the Legislature.
- Requires the county board of supervisors and the county board of education to hold public hearings on the proposed strategic plan and investment priorities at a regularly scheduled meeting, before adoption of the strategic plan and investment priorities and may be no sooner than three days after the proposed strategic plan and investment priorities are posted on the strategic planning council’s website. Requires the county board of supervisors and the county board of education to each approve the strategic plan and investment priorities no later than July 1 of each year in which a strategic plan and investment priorities are submitted.
- Requires the strategic plan and investment priorities to be effective for a period of three years and to be updated each intervening year by March 30.
- Requires at least twice each year, a strategic planning council to convene a forum for stakeholders to provide input to and receive updates from the QRIS local consortium.
- Requires a strategic planning council to work with the county office of education, SELPAs, and the school districts and regional centers in the county to facilitate the transition of children with exceptional needs into the K–12 system.
- Specifies that the operation of this section is contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for these purposes.
- Expresses the intent of the Legislature that any additional conditions imposed upon strategic planning councils shall be funded from available federal funds to the greatest extent legally possible.
- Makes other technical and clarifying changes.
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 support services. (EC 8200 et seq.)
- Defines “child care and development services” to mean services designed to meet a wide variety of children’s and families’ needs while parents and guardians are working, in training, seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite and states that these services may include direct care supervision, instructional activities, resource and referral programs, and alternative payment arrangements. (EC 8208)
- States Legislative intent that LPCs provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for child care and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. (EC 8499.3)
- Requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of the LPC and establish the term of appointments for those members, and requires the LPC to have consumers, child care providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees, each representing 20 percent of the membership, as specified. (EC 8499.3)
- Requires every effort to be made to ensure that the ethnic, racial, and geographic composition of the LPC is reflective of the ethnic, racial, and geographic distribution of the population of the county. (EC 8499.3)
- Permits the board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to designate an existing child care planning council or coordinated child and family services council as the LPC, provided representation requirements are met, as specified. (EC 8499.3)
- Requires each LPC to develop and implement a training plan to provide increased efficiency, productivity, and facilitation of LPC meetings, as specified. (EC 8499.3)
- Requires an LPC to, upon approval by the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools, submit the local priorities it has identified that reflect all child care needs in the county to CDE by May 30 of each year. (EC 8499.5)
- Requires an LPC to, in order to meets its obligation of annually submitting local priorities to CDE, carry out a number of activities including, among others: conducting an assessment of child care needs in the county at least once every five years; encouraging public input in the development of the priorities, including through at least one public hearing; and, preparing a comprehensive countywide child care plan designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs, as specified. (EC 8499.5)
- Requires CDE, with specified exceptions, to allocate funding within each county in accordance with the priorities identified by the LPC of that county and submitted to the CDE, unless the priorities do not meet the requirements of state or federal law. (EC 8499.5)
FISCAL EFFECT: The Office of Legislative Counsel has keyed this as a possible state-mandated local program.
COMMENTS
Need for the bill. According to the author, “The Speaker’s Blue Ribbon Commission has identified improving local planning, data collection, and coordination as a critical step for the expansion of early childhood education (ECE) programs in California. AB 1001 refreshes the existing Local Planning Councils to make their membership reflect the broader world of ECE stakeholders and provides these entities with more direction and data to allow the State expansions to these programs to be better informed by local child care needs assessments.”
Local planning councils. Each county in California has an LPC. These LCPs are designed to provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for child care, and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. State law requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of the LPC and to establish the term of appointments for those members, and requires the LPC to have consumers, child care providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20% of the LPC’s membership. LPCs are charged with a number of responsibilities, including: conducting an assessment of child care needs at least once every five years, preparing local comprehensive countywide child care plans that are designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs, and encouraging local input into development of community-level priorities.
LPCs were first established in California in the early 1990s, with the adoption of AB 2141 (Speier) which created local planning processes in response to the federal adoption of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program in 1991. The creation of local planning councils, was intended to ensure the inclusion of local voices when determining priorities for allocation of CCDBG dollars. LPCs were formalized in 1997 with the adoption of AB 1542 (Ducheny).
California has a complex system of early childhood programs. California’s system of subsidized early care and education (ECE) is made up of a complex system of programs serving children from birth through 13 years, funded through a mix of federal and state dollars, and administered through a mixed delivery system by local education agencies, and community-based providers. The major direct service ECE programs include, but are not limited to, the programs listed on the next page.
Program | Description | 2018-19 Enrollment |
General Child Care | Provided through contracted centers and family child care home networks that are administered through private or public agencies and offer child care, education, and development services. | 28,427* |
Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) | Offers families vouchers that allow them to choose their own child care in either centers, family child care homes, or license-exempt settings. | 47,526* |
California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) child care | For parents who receive or have received CalWORKs. CalWORKs child care can be provided in centers, family child care homes, or license-exempt settings and is paid for using vouchers. Stage 1 is administered by DSS and Stages 2 & 3 are administered by CDE. | 141,837* |
California State Preschool Program (CSPP) | Provides both part-day and full-day services to eligible three- and four-year-olds, including: developmentally appropriate curriculum, parent education, and meals and snacks. CSPP can be offered in various settings, including child care centers, family child care network homes, school districts, or county offices of education. | 168,478* |
Head Start | A national program providing comprehensive developmental services for low-income children from birth to entry into elementary school. California's Head Start program is the largest in the nation. | Estimated at more than 100,000 children |
*Based upon the 2018-19 Governor’s Budget.
Lack of capacity to provide ECE services to eligible children. A 2017 report by the Learning Policy Institute, “Understanding California’s Early Care and Education System” examined the need for child care and the capacity of the system to meet that need. They note that it is difficult to gain an accurate count of the number of unique children served in each program for a number of reasons. Children enter and leave programs throughout the year and due to a lack of a unique child identifier, these children may be counted multiple times. Many children receive service from multiple programs simultaneously for different parts of the day and thus may again be counted more than once.
In addition, due to a lack of a statewide eligibility database, it is difficult to identify the total number of children and families eligible for care or the number of children and families currently waiting for care. Based upon data from the American Institute of Research, the California Child Care Resource Center provides estimates on the share of children eligible for subsidized child care programs who are currently being served in California:
Age group | Number of income eligible children (70% of SMI) | Eligible children served in subsidized programs |
0 | 212,871 | 5% |
1-year-olds | 238,869 | 6.5% |
2-year-olds | 245,574 | 9% |
3-year-olds | 255,327 | 35% |
4-year-olds | 260,408 | 67% |
Statewide, approximately 67 to 69 percent of eligible four-year-old children are served, while less than 10 percent of eligible children from birth-2 years are currently being served in California’s subsidized early care and education programs. These figures vary significantly from one county to another.
Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education (BRC): The BRC was established with the intent to “plan an early learning system that works for and meets the needs of children, families, and providers.” The BRC, consisting of members appointed from the Assembly and stakeholders, began its work in early 2017, holding quarterly hearings and establishing subcommittees. Quarterly hearings and subcommittee meetings continued during 2018, and work was done to develop BRC recommendations. On March 11, 2019, draft recommendations were released, including the following, relevant to this bill:
- Each region, county or sub-county should have an effective local coordinating body that does local needs assessments, that collects data, identifies equity goals and implementation for targeted resources and policies, that supports local innovation, coordinates local partnerships, and evaluates local efforts. This body should have robust parent and provider as well as agency, Tribal and local government involvement. They should be linked to state bodies. The state should adequately support these bodies including stipends for parents and providers to participate.
- Ongoing data collection and mapping should identify geographic disparities and child care deserts on an ongoing basis and develop proposals with an equity lens to incentivize creation of supply particularly in child care deserts. New funding should be directed to areas of greatest need and we should consider contracts and other incentives to develop resources in areas with little supply.
- Decrease barriers to linking administrative data across systems and build on existing administrative data systems to provide timely data on the array of federal, state and locally funded programs serving families with young children. Use linked administrative data to support cross-agency planning, inform decision-making and guide resource allocation based on key outcomes for children.
Arguments in support. Supporters state that as California contemplates the expansion of ECE, the state lacks a comprehensive data system to inform, and a local planning infrastructure to support, new investments in the state’s mixed delivery system. In 1997, the LPCs were established to bring together ECE agencies, parents, and stakeholders in each county to identify local child care needs and priorities. LPC’s funding and structure has not kept pace with the changing needs of families and relevant state and federal laws. AB 1001 would ensure that all agencies who operate or support ECE programs are included in local decision-making, align the local planning body with the newly created Quality Counts California, institutionalize the relationship between ECE providers, K-12 providers, and higher education, and give counties the flexibility to merge and align quality investments and planning efforts to maximize the number of children receiving services.
Recommended amendments. Staff recommends that the bill be amended to:
- Require every member of the strategic planning council to serve a three-year term.
- Add a requirement that a tribal government representative, a parent of a children with special needs, and an after school consumer be included on parent advisory committees.
- Add a requirement that providers experienced in full inclusion of children with special needs be included on the provider advisory committees.
- Provide flexibility in the composition of committees, including allowing other representatives to be included at the discretion of the council.
- Amend the appointment process for specified members of the council to provide clarity on the appointment process and ensure that the COE and Board of Supervisors continue to be invested in the Council.
- Remove the requirement that the First 5 California adopt the strategic plan template to be developed by the CDE, and instead require the CDE to collaborate with First 5 California.
- Amend the start date for the new needs assessment and strategic plan to 2021 to allow time for the CDE to collaborate with stakeholders on the strategic plan template.
Prior and related legislation.
AB 124 (McCarty) of this Session requires LPCs to provide information to cities and counties regarding facility needs for early childhood education, including but not limited to, childcare and preschool, in their jurisdictions. This bill is pending before this Committee.
SB 192 (Liu) of the 2013-14 Session would have required, LPCs to develop a draft of local priorities for early learning and educational support program funding that considers the resources currently available in attendance areas of elementary schools ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, of the Academic Performance Index. Also would have required that the CDE to allocate funding within each county in accordance with the priorities identified by the LPC of that county unless the priorities do not meet the requirements of state or federal law. This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1542 (Ducheny) Chapter 270, Statutes of 1997 established Local Planning Councils, among other things.
AB 2141 (Speier), Chapter 1187, Statutes of 1991 created local planning processes in response to the federal adoption, in 1991, of the CCDBG program.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Child Care Coordinators Association
California County Superintendents Educational Services Association
Child Care Coordinating Council of Nevada County
El Dorado County Office of Education
First 5 San Francisco
First 5 San Mateo County
Kidango
Lake County Child Care Planning Council, Lake County Office of Education
League of Women Voters of California
Riverside County Office of Education
San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
San Francisco Child Care Planning and Advisory Council
San Mateo County Office of Education
Santa Clara County Office of Education
Santa Cruz County Childhood Advisory Council
UDW/AFSCME Local 3930
Numerous individuals
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by: Debbie Look / ED. / (916) 319-2087
Date of Hearing: April 9, 2019
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Eloise Gómez Reyes, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1001 (
Author:Ting) – As Introduced Ver:February 21, 2019
SUBJECT: Childcare: local planning councils
SUMMARY: Revises the mandated composition of, and requirements for, local child care and development planning councils, and states Legislative intent to appropriate at least $10 million annually for local planning councils. Specifically, this bill:
- States Legislative intent that the total annual appropriation for local planning councils be at least $10 million, beginning with the 2019-20 fiscal year.
- Adds to Legislative intent language regarding local child care and development planning councils the intent that such councils seek to create a local system of support for child care.
- Deletes language requiring the local planning council to have consumers, child care providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20% of membership, as specified, and instead, requires the local planning council to include the following members:
- One representative from each resource and referral agency in the county;
- One representative from each alternative payment program contractor in the county;
- One representative from the local First 5 county commission;
- One representative from the Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) local consortium, as specified;
- One representative from the county office of education;
- One representative from a school district within the county;
- One representative from the board of supervisors;
- One representative from the county health department;
- Once representative from a regional center within the county;
- One representative who is a consumer;
- Two representatives who are child care providers; and,
- One representative who is a community representative.
- Revises current requirements placed on local planning councils related to their identification of local priorities by making the following requirements contingent upon the California Department of Education (CDE) adopting a statewide database to collect information about families seeking, qualifying for, and enrolling in child care, as specified:
- Conducting an assessment of a county’s child care needs every five years;
- Documenting certain information gathered during the needs assessment;
- Preparing a comprehensive countywide child care plan;
- Conducting a periodic review of CDE- and California Department of Social Services- (CDSS-) funded child care programs to determine if identified priorities are being met;
- Designing a system to consolidate local childcare waiting lists, if a centralized eligibility list doesn’t exist;
- Submitting the results of the needs assessment and local priorities to the board of supervisors and to the county superintendent for approval prior to submitting them to CDE; and,
- Identifying one to two members to serve as part of CDE’s team that reviews and scores proposals for the provision of services through contracts with CDE.
- Requires, contingent upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act for these purposes, a local planning council to, as specified:
- Convene, at least twice per year, a forum for stakeholders to provide input to and receive updates from the QRIS local consortium;
- Work with resource and referral agencies, alternative payment program contractors, regional centers, and the QRIS local consortia to identify entities or single locations in the county that provide comprehensive information to families about child care and health-related services;
- Work with the QRIS local consortia and the school districts in a county to both: create opportunities for transition planning from child care to transitional kindergarten and kindergarten, to include convening two forums for providers and educators each year; and, coordinate enrollment from child care to transitional kindergarten and kindergarten.
- Work with the county office of education, special education local plan areas, and the school districts and regional centers to facilitate the transition of children with exceptional needs into the K-12 system; and,
- Work with the county office of education, school districts, and child care providers to regularly identify facilities that could house a child care program, and share a list of these facilities with the county superintendent and the county board of supervisors.
- Makes technical changes.
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 support services through full- and part-time programs. (Education Code [EDC] Section 8200 et seq.)
- Defines “child care and development services” to mean services designed to meet a wide variety of children’s and families’ needs while parents and guardians are working, in training, seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite and states that these services may include direct care supervision, instructional activities, resource and referral programs, and alternative payment arrangements. (EDC 8208 (j))
- States the intent of the Legislature that all families have access to child care and development services, through resource and referral where appropriate, and regardless of demographic background or special needs, and that families are provided the opportunity to attain financial stability through employment, while maximizing growth and development of their children, and enhancing their parenting skills through participation in child care and development programs. (EDC 8202)
- Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer general child care and development programs to include, among other things as specified, age- and developmentally-appropriate activities, supervision, parenting education and involvement, and nutrition. Further allows such programs to be designed to meet child-related needs identified by parents or guardians, as specified. (EDC 8240 and 8241)
- Requires families to meet certain criteria in order to be eligible for federal and state subsidized child development services, including that a family must be either a current aid recipient, income eligible, homeless, or one whose children are recipients of protective services or have been identified as being, or at risk of being, abused, or neglected, as specified. (EDC 8263)
- Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to implement a plan that establishes reasonable standards and assigned reimbursement rates for child care and development services, to vary by length of program year and hours of service, and establishes amounts for, and provides for an annual cost-of-living adjustment to, the standard reimbursement rate for contracted providers. (EDC 8265)
- Provides for the establishment of regional market rate ceilings for voucher-based child care and states Legislative intent that child care providers be reimbursed at the 85th percentile of the most recent regional market rate survey. (EDC 8222, 8357)
- States Legislative intent that local child care and development planning councils (also known as local planning councils) provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for child care and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. (EDC 8499.3 (a))
- Requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of the local planning council and establish the term of appointments for those members, and requires the local planning council to have consumers, child care providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20% of membership, as specified. (EDC 8499.3 (b) and (c))
- Requires every effort to be made to ensure that the ethnic, racial, and geographic composition of the local planning council is reflective of the ethnic, racial, and geographic distribution of the population of the county. (EDC 8499.3 (d))
- Permits the board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to designate an existing child care planning council or coordinated child and family services council as the local planning council, provided representation requirements are met, as specified. (EDC 8499.3 (e))
- Requires each local planning council to develop and implement a training plan to provide increased efficiency, productivity, and facilitation of local planning council meetings, as specified. (EDC 8499.3 (g))
- Requires, regarding local planning councils, CDE to allocate child care funding pursuant to the Child Care and Development Services Act based on the amount of state and federal funding that is available. (EDC 8499.5 (a))
- Requires a local planning council to, upon approval by the county board of supervisors and the county superintendent of schools, submit the local priorities it has identified that reflect all child care needs in the county to CDE by May 30 of each year. (EDC 8499.5 (b))
- Requires a local planning council to, in order to meets its obligation of annually submitting local priorities to CDE, carry out a number of activities including, among others: conducting an assessment of child care needs in the county at least once every five years; encouraging public input in the development of the priorities, including through at least one public hearing; and, preparing a comprehensive countywide child care plan designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs, as specified. (EDC 8499.5 (b))
- Requires CDE, with specified exceptions, to allocate funding within each county in accordance with the priorities identified by the local planning council of that county and submitted to the department, unless the priorities do not meet the requirements of state or federal law. (EDC 8499.5 (e))
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Subsidized child care and development: Paying for child care can place significant financial stress on many families, particularly those with lower incomes. The average cost in California of child care in a family child care home for an infant in 2014 was $8,462 ($705 per month). The average annual cost for an infant in child care centers in 2014 was $13,327 ($1,111 per month). The state’s subsidized child care system offers services to families with parents or guardians who are working, in training, seeking employment, experiencing homelessness, incapacitated, or in need of respite. Generally, families are eligible for subsidized child care if they meet income-related and other requirements, such as having a need related to work, training, or education, and having children who are under 13 years old (or under 22 years old if they have exceptional needs). Parents are currently income-eligible if they earn incomes less than 70% of the most recent state median income (SMI) when first applying – up to $54,027 per year for a family of 3, and less than 85% of the most recent SMI – up to $65,604 per year for a family of 3 – when renewing eligibility. Beginning on July 1 of this year, as a result of the adoption of AB 2626 (Mullin), Chapter 945, Statutes of 2018, all families – whether applying for or renewing their eligibility for subsidized child care – can have incomes less than 85% of the SMI to qualify.
Subsidized child care can be obtained through three main types of providers, depending on which program is being used. These types of providers include licensed child care centers, licensed family child care homes, and license-exempt providers (for example, family members, neighbors, or friends).
The three main subsidized child care programs are:
- California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) child care, for parents who receive or have received CalWORKs. CalWORKs child care can be provided in either centers, family child care homes, or license-exempt settings and is paid for using vouchers;
- Alternative Payment Programs (APPs), which offers families vouchers that allow them to choose their own child care in either centers, family child care homes, or license-exempt settings; and,
- General Child Care, which is provided through contracted centers and family child care home networks that are administered through private or public agencies and offer child care, education, and development services.
For eligible three-and four-year-olds, the state also offers California state preschool programs (CSPPs), which provide services that include developmentally appropriate curriculum, parent education, meals and snacks, and referral to social and health services for families. CSPPs operate on either a part-day or full-day basis and can be offered in a number of different settings, including child care centers, family child care network homes, school districts, or county offices of education. Teachers in CSPPs must have a Child Development Teacher Permit, including 24 units in early childhood education and/or child development and 16 general education units.
Access to subsidized child care: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19, there are approximately 210,000 subsidized child care slots offered across the various programs, including:
- 137,000 CalWORKs slots;
- 45,000 Alternative Payment slots; and,
- 28,000 General Child Care slots.
Additionally, for FY 2018-19, there are approximately:
- 170,000 CSPP (103,000 part-day and 67,000 full-day) slots; and,
- 90,000 Transitional Kindergarten slots.
The state’s current capacity to provide adequate affordable child care services is far below what is required to meet families’ needs across California. A January 2019 analysis by the California Budget and Policy Center found that, in 2017, only 1 in 9 children who were eligible for subsidized child care and development programs in California were actually enrolled in a program capable of meeting their family’s needs for more than a couple hours per day and throughout the entirety of the year. Analyzing federal survey data, the California Budget and Policy Center determined that approximately 2 million California children from birth through 12 years of age were eligible for subsidized child care in 2017, yet only 228,100 were able to participate in full-day, year-round programs. The California Budget and Policy Center concluded that, along with wage stagnation and its impacts on families’ incomes, “This mismatch between eligibility for care and available spaces largely reflects inadequate state and federal funding.”
Local planning councils: Each county in California has a local child care and development planning council. These local planning councils, per Legislative intent, are designed to provide a forum for the identification of local priorities for child care, and the development of policies to meet the needs identified within those priorities. State law (EDC 8499.3) requires the county board of supervisors and county superintendent of schools to select the members of the local planning council and to establish the term of appointments for those members, and requires the local planning council to have consumers, child care providers, public agency representatives, community representatives, and agency appointees each represent 20% of the local planning council’s membership. Local planning councils are charged with a number of responsibilities, including, among others: conducting an assessment of child care needs at least once every five years, preparing local comprehensive countywide child care plans that are designed to mobilize public and private resources to address identified needs, and encouraging local input into development of community-level priorities.
Local planning councils were first established in California in the early 1990s, with the adoption of AB 2141 (Speier), Chapter 1187, Statutes of 1991, which created local planning processes in response to the federal adoption, in 1991, of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program. AB 2141, with its creation of local planning councils, sought to ensure the inclusion of local voices when determining priorities for allocation of CCDBG dollars.
Need for this bill: This bill seeks to update the composition and responsibilities of local child care and development planning councils in order to better identify and address the needs of the state’s evolving early care and education programs.
According to the author, “The Speaker’s Blue Ribbon Commission of Early Care and Education has identified improving local planning, data collection, and coordination is a critical step for the expansion of Early Childhood Education programs in California. AB 1001 refreshes the existing Local Planning Councils to make their membership reflect the broader world of ECE stakeholders and provides these entities with more direction and data to allow the State expansions to these programs to be better informed by local child care needs assessments.”
Double referral: This bill will be referred to the Assembly Education Committee should it pass out of this committee.
PRIOR LEGISLATION:
AB 2141 (Speier), Chapter 1187, Statutes of 1991, established a local planning process, using local child care and development planning councils, for the allocation of child care funding received under the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California County Superintendents Educational Services Association
Kidango
UDW/AFSCME Local 3930
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):