Subsidized child care and development services: eligibility periods.

Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age. Existing law requires the Superintendent to adopt rules and regulations on eligibility, enrollment, and priority of services needed to implement the act. The act, and regulations adopted pursuant to the act, set forth eligibility requirements for families to receive federal and state subsidized child development services and impose various time limits for receipt of services and recertification for continued services. This bill would require that a family, upon establishing initial eligibility or ongoing eligibility for services under the act, be considered to meet all eligibility requirements for those services for not less than 12 months, receive those services for not less than 12 months before having their eligibility redetermined, and not be required to report changes to income or other changes for at least 12 months, except as provided. The bill would revise the definition of "income eligible" and provide that the definition applies for purposes of establishing initial income eligibility for services under the act, and would add a definition of "ongoing income eligible" for purposes of establishing ongoing income eligibility for services under the act. The bill would, except as provided, prohibit a payment made by a child development program for a child, during the period between a family's most recent eligibility determination or redetermination and its next eligibility redetermination, from being considered an error or an improper payment due to a change in the family's circumstances during that same period. The bill would, notwithstanding specified law, authorize the State Department of Education to implement this provision through management bulletins or similar letters of instruction until regulations are filed with the Secretary of State to implement the provision. The bill would require the department to initiate a rulemaking action to implement the provision on or before December 31, 2017. The bill would require the department, before initiating this rulemaking action, to convene a workgroup of parents, advocates, department staff, child development program representatives, and other stakeholders to develop recommendations regarding implementing the provision. The bill would repeal certain provisions that impose time limits for services under the act and a provision that authorizes the Superintendent to grant an extension of services, as specified. The bill would make other conforming changes.