Family child care home education networks.

Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to contract with entities organized to operate family child care home education networks that support educational objectives for children in licensed family child care homes that serve families eligible for subsidized care. Existing law requires the family child care home education network programs to include certain components, including an assessment of each family child care home provider to ensure that services are of high quality and are educationally and developmentally appropriate. This bill would require that tools used to make these assessments be appropriate to family child care home settings, and would require a family child care home education network program to include the maintenance of a developmental portfolio for each child, as provided, and opportunities for parent involvement. Existing law imposes various requirements on family child care home education network contractors, including ensuring that a developmental profile is completed for each child. This bill would impose additional requirements on those contractors, including that the developmental profiles specified above be completed in accordance with the provider's observations, and that those contractors conduct site visits and offer training and technical assistance, as specified. The bill would also impose various duties on family child care home education network providers, including requiring those providers to adopt and use a curriculum and to provide age- and developmentally-appropriate educational activities for children.