SECTIONS 8350-8359.1

8350.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting thisarticle to ensure that recipients of aid under Chapter 2 (commencingwith Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare andInstitutions Code, or any successor program, and former recipientswho have left aid for employment, are connected as soon as possibleto local child care resources, make stable child care arrangements,and continue to receive subsidized child care services after they nolonger receive aid as long as they require those services and meetthe eligibility requirements set forth in Sections 8263 and 8263.1. (b) This article establishes three stages of child care servicesthrough which a recipient of aid under Chapter 2 (commencing withSection 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare andInstitutions Code, or any successor program, will pass. Further, asfamilies' child care needs are met by county welfare departments andlater by other local child care and development contractors, it isthe intent of the Legislature that families experience no break intheir child care services due to a transition between the threestages of child care services.8350.5.  Current CalWORKs recipients are eligible for all child careservices under this article as long as they continue to receive aidunder Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any successor program.Family size and income, for purposes of calculating family fees,shall be determined pursuant to Section 8263.8350.5.  Current CalWORKs recipients are eligible for all child careservices under this article as long as they continue to receive aidunder Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any successor program.Family size and income, for purposes of calculating family fees,shall be determined pursuant to Section 8263.8351.  (a) The county welfare department shall manage the firststage during which a family shall receive a child care subsidy forany legal care chosen by the parent. The first stage begins upon theentry of a person into the program prescribed by Chapter 2(commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of theWelfare and Institutions Code. (b) A county shall move recipients out of this first responsestage as quickly as possible after the county determines that theneed for child care is stable. A recipient may be served in thisstage for a maximum of six months. The six-month time limit may beextended if the county determines that the recipient's situation istoo unstable to be shifted to the second stage or if no funds areavailable to provide child care services in the second stage. (c) Former CalWORKs recipients who cannot be transitioned from thefirst stage of child care because no funded slot is available areeligible to receive the first stage and any subsequent stage twochild care services for up to a total of 24 months after they leavecash aid, or until they are otherwise ineligible within that 24-monthperiod. Family size and income for purposes of determiningeligibility and family fee shall be determined pursuant to Sections8263 and 8263.1. (d) The county welfare department shall also begin the first stageof child care when an individual who applies for aid under theprogram described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) ofPart 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code isparticipating as a volunteer pursuant to Article 3.2 (commencing withSection 11320) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfareand Institutions Code. (e) A county may contract with public or private child careproviders to provide any or all of the services during the firststage. If the county welfare department elects to contract with anychild care provider that is also under contract with the StateDepartment of Education, these contracts shall be consistent withstate law.8352.  (a) As soon as appropriate, a county welfare department shallrefer families needing child care services to the local child careresource and referral program funded pursuant to Article 2(commencing with Section 8210). Resource and referral program staffshall colocate with a county welfare department's case managementoffices for aid under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) ofPart 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or anysuccessor program, or arrange other means of swift communication withparents and case managers of this aid. The local child care resourceand referral program shall assist families to establish stable childcare arrangements as soon as possible. These child care arrangementsmay include licensed and license-exempt care. (b) A program operating pursuant to this article shall, within twobusiness days of being notified of a revocation or a temporarysuspension order for a licensed child day care facility, do both ofthe following: (1) Terminate payment to the facility. (2) Notify each parent and the facility in writing that paymenthas been terminated and the reason for the termination. (c) A program operating pursuant to this article shall, upon beingnotified that a licensed child care facility has been placed onprobation, provide written notice to each parent utilizing thefacility that the facility has been placed on probation and that theparent has the option of selecting a different child day careprovider or remaining with the facility without risk of subsidypayments to the provider being terminated. The Legislature urges eachagency operating pursuant to this section to provide the writtennotice required by this subdivision in the primary language of theparent, to the extent feasible.8353.  (a) The second stage of child care begins when the countydetermines that the recipient's work or approved work activity isstable or when a recipient is transitioning off of aid and child careis available through a local stage two program. Second stage childcare may be provided to a family who elects to receive a lump-sumdiversion payment or diversion services under Section 11266.5 of theWelfare and Institutions Code when a funded space is not immediatelyavailable for the family in third stage. The local stage two agencyshall assist in moving families to stage three as quickly asfeasible. Former CalWORKs recipients are eligible to receive childcare services in stage one and stage two for up to a total of no morethan 24 months after they leave cash aid, or until they areotherwise ineligible within that 24-month period. Family size andincome for purposes of determining eligibility and calculating thefamily fee shall be determined pursuant to Sections 8263 and 8263.1.A family leaving cash aid under the CalWORKS program shall receive upto two years of child care, if otherwise eligible, as needed tocontinue the family's employment. The provision of the two-year timelimit is not intended to limit eligibility for child care underSection 8354. (b) The second stage shall be administered by agencies contractingwith the State Department of Education. These contractors may beeither agencies that have an alternative payment contract pursuant toSection 8220.1 or county welfare departments that choose toadminister this stage in order to continue to provide child careservices for recipients or former recipients of aid. If the countychooses to contract with the department to provide alternativepayment services, this contract shall not displace, or result in thereduction of an existing contract of, a current alternative paymentprogram.8354.  (a) The third stage of child care begins when a funded spaceis available. CalWORKs recipients are eligible for the third stage ofchild care. Persons who received a lump-sum diversion payment ordiversion services and former CalWORKs participants are eligible ifthey have an income that does not exceed 75 percent of the statemedian income. The third stage shall be administered by programscontracting with the State Department of Education. Parents'eligibility for child care and development services will be governedby Section 8263 and regulations adopted by the State Department ofEducation. (b) In order to move welfare recipients and former recipients fromtheir relationship with county welfare departments to relationshipswith institutions providing services to working families, it is theintent of the Legislature that families that are former recipients ofaid, or are transitioning off aid, receive their child careassistance in the same fashion as other low-income working families.Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that families nolonger rely on county welfare departments to obtain child caresubsidies beyond the time they are receiving other services from thewelfare department. (c) A county welfare department shall not administer the thirdstage of child care for CalWORKs recipients except to the extent towhich it delivered those services to families receiving, or withinone year of having received, Aid to Families with Dependent Childrenprior to the enactment of this section. (d) This article does not preclude county welfare departments fromoperating an alternative payment program under contract with theState Department of Education to serve families referred by childprotective services.8355.  Child care during the third stage may be funded with moneysdedicated to current and former recipients of aid under Chapter 2(commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of theWelfare and Institutions Code, or any successor program, includingthe federal funds appropriated to alternative payment programcontractors in the 1996-97 fiscal year using the Budget Act's Section28 process as described in subdivision (b). Nothing shall preventchild care services provided under stage three from being funded withmoneys from other federal or state sources. Nothing in this articleshall preclude current and former recipients of aid under Chapter 2(commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of theWelfare and Institutions Code, or any successor program, fromreceiving child care services pursuant to other provisions of thischapter.8356.  It is the intent of the Legislature that the State Departmentof Education work with Head Start and state preschool programs togenerate extended-day and evening care for recipients of aid underChapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 ofthe Welfare and Institutions Code, or any successor program, throughrecruiting and training parents to be licensed and license-exemptcare providers and shall facilitate connections between Head Startand state preschool contractors and child care certificateadministrators, including counties and other alternative paymentprograms, so that funds available for Sections 8351, 8353, and 8354cover the cost of this care.8356.1.  It is the intent of the Legislature that each countyreceive funding for child care services provided in stage two that isat least equivalent to the amount of funding received in the 1996-97fiscal year for income disregard pursuant to Section 11451.6 of theWelfare and Institutions Code and supplemental child care pursuant toSection 11451.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.8357.  (a) The cost of child care services provided under thisarticle shall be governed by regional market rates. Recipients ofchild care services provided pursuant to this article shall beallowed to choose the child care services of licensed child careproviders or child care providers who are, by law, not required to belicensed, and the cost of that child care shall be reimbursed bycounties or agencies that contract with the State Department ofEducation if the cost is within the regional market rate. Forpurposes of this section, "regional market rate" means care costingno more than 1.5 market standard deviations above the mean cost ofcare for that region. The regional market rate ceilings shall beestablished at the 85th percentile of the 2005 regional market ratesurvey for that region. (b) Reimbursement to license-exempt child care providers shall notexceed 80 percent of the family child care home rate establishedpursuant to subdivision (a). (c) Reimbursement to child care providers shall not exceed the feecharged to private clients for the same service. (d) Reimbursement shall not be made for child care services whencare is provided by parents, legal guardians, or members of theassistance unit. (e) A child care provider located on an Indian reservation orrancheria and exempted from state licensing requirements shall meetapplicable tribal standards. (f) For purposes of this section, "reimbursement" means a directpayment to the provider of child care services, includinglicense-exempt providers. If care is provided in the home of therecipient, payment may be made to the parent as the employer, and theparent shall be informed of his or her concomitant legal andfinancial reporting requirements. To allow time for the developmentof the administrative systems necessary to issue direct payments toproviders, for a period not to exceed six months from the effectivedate of this article, a county or an alternative payment agencycontracting with the State Department of Education may reimburse thecost of child care services through a direct payment to a recipientof aid rather than to the child care provider. (g) Counties and alternative payment programs shall not be boundby the rate limits described in subdivision (a) when there are, inthe region, no more than two child care providers of the type neededby the recipient of child care services provided under this article. (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, reimbursements tochild care providers based upon a daily rate may only be authorizedunder either of the following circumstances: (1) A family has an unscheduled but documented need of six hoursor more per occurrence, such as the parent's need to work on aregularly scheduled day off, that exceeds the certified need forchild care. (2) A family has a documented need of six hours or more per daythat exceeds no more than 14 days per month. In no event shallreimbursements to a provider based on the daily rate over one month'stime exceed the provider's equivalent full-time monthly rate orapplicable monthly ceiling. (3) This subdivision shall not limit providers from beingreimbursed for services using a weekly or monthly rate, pursuant tosubdivision (c) of Section 8222.8358.  (a) By January 31, 1998, the State Department of Educationand the State Department of Social Services shall design a form forlicense-exempt child care providers to use for certifying health andsafety requirements to the extent required by federal law. Until theform is adopted, the information required pursuant to Section 11324of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall continue to be maintainedby the county welfare department or contractor, as appropriate. (b) By January 31, 1998, the State Department of Education and theState Department of Social Services shall do both of the following: (1) Design a standard process for complaints by parents about theprovision of child care that is exempt from licensure. (2) Design, in consultation with local planning councils, a singleapplication for all child care programs and all families. (c) (1) County welfare departments and alternative paymentprograms shall encourage all providers who are licensed or who areexempt from licensure and who are providing care under Section 8351,8353, or 8354, to secure training and education in basic childdevelopment. (2) Child care provider job training provided to CalWORKsrecipients that is funded by either the State Department of Educationor the State Department of Social Services shall include informationon becoming a licensed child care provider. (d) The State Department of Education shall increase consumereducation and consumer awareness activities so that parents will havethe information needed to seek child care of high quality. Highquality child care shall include both licensed and license-exemptcare.8358.5.  Notwithstanding any other confidentiality requirement, thegovernment or private agency administering subsidized child careservices shall share information necessary for the administration ofthe child care programs pursuant to this article and the CalWORKsprogram pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11200) of Part3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, for the timeperiod for which the person receives child care.8359.  (a) County welfare departments and alternative paymentprograms shall provide to the State Department of Education or theState Department of Social Services, whichever is appropriate, andthe local planning council, on a monthly basis, data about child careusage and demand in each of the three stages. The State Departmentof Education and the State Department of Social Services shallforward this data quarterly to the Department of Finance and theJoint Legislative Budget Committee for fiscal planning. (b) By January 10 of each year, the Department of Finance shallpresent to the respective legislative budget committees an estimateof the cost of funding the expected demand for child care asdescribed in subdivision (a) of Section 8351 and Sections 8353 and8354.8359.1.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting thisarticle to provide sufficient funding through an appropriation in theannual Budget Act to fund the estimated cost of providing child carefor all individuals who are anticipated to need child care toparticipate in the welfare-to-work programs and to transition towork. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that child care anddevelopment contracts in existence on the effective date of thissection be allowed to continue until the end of the 1997-98 fiscalyear. (c) Funding for purposes of implementing this article shall beappropriated in the annual Budget Act.