Child care subsidy plans: Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and Sonoma.

(1) The Child Care and Development Services Act has a purpose of providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and development services for children from infancy to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop standards for the implementation of quality child care programs. Existing law authorizes the County of Alameda and the County of Santa Clara, as a pilot project, to develop an individualized county child care subsidy plan, as provided. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2023, the Counties of Contra Costa, Marin, and Sonoma to develop individualized county child care subsidy plans, as specified. The bill would require the plans to be submitted by the counties to their local planning council and their respective county board of supervisors for approval, as specified. The bill would require the Early Education and Support Division of the State Department of Education to review and approve or disapprove the plans and any subsequent modifications to the plans and, in specified situations, would require the State Department of Social Services to review the plans. The bill would require the counties to annually prepare and submit to the Legislature, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Education a report that contains specified information relating to the success of the counties' plans. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Contra Costa, Marin, and Sonoma. (2) Existing law authorizes the County of Alameda, as a pilot project, to develop an individualized county child care subsidy plan, as provided. Existing law requires the plan to include specified elements, including the development of a local policy, as provided. Existing law requires the local policy to, among other things, authorize an agency that provides child care and development services in the county through a contract with the State Department of Education and either provides direct services or contracts with licensed providers or centers to apply to the department to amend existing contracts in order to benefit from the local policy. This bill would instead require the local policy, among other things, to authorize an agency that provides child care and development services in the county through a contract with the department to apply to the department to amend existing contracts in order to benefit from the local policy. Existing law authorizes the local policy to supersede state law concerning child care subsidy programs with regard to certain factors, including eligibility criteria relating to CalWORKs participation, with exceptions. This bill would also authorize the local policy to supersede California state preschool eligibility periods, as specified, and would delete the above provisions relating to superseding eligibility criteria relating to CalWORKs participation and the exceptions. Existing law requires the plan to include a recognition that all funding sources utilized by direct service contractors that provide child care and development services in the County of Alameda and contractors that contract with licensed providers and centers are eligible to be included in the county's plan. This bill would instead require the plan to include a recognition that all funding sources utilized by contractors that provide child care and development services in the County of Alameda are eligible to be included in the county's plan.