Subsidized child care: eligibility.

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 provides for income eligibility standards for families to receive child care and development services. Existing law defines income eligibility, for purposes of the act, as a family's adjusted monthly income at or below 70% of the state median income, adjusted for family size, and adjusted annually. Notwithstanding this provision, existing law sets the income eligibility limits for the 2016–17 fiscal year at 70% of the state median income that was in use for the 2007–08 fiscal year, adjusted for family size. This bill would, for the 2018–19 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, (1) define income eligibility as a family's adjusted monthly income at or below 75% of the state median income, adjusted for family size, and adjusted annually; and (2) establish a phasing-out scale for eligibility levels based on the state median income, as specified. The bill would also require the income of each family receiving state-funded child care under the act to be verified annually. The bill would make conforming changes and nonsubstantive changes to related provisions.