Child care services: CalWORKs: Stage 2.

The Child Care and Development Services Act has a purpose to provide 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. The act provides that it is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that recipients and former recipients of CalWORKs are connected as soon as possible to local child care resources, make stable child care arrangements, and continue to receive subsidized child care services after they no longer receive aid as long as they require those services and meet eligibility requirements. The act establishes 3 stages of child care services through which a recipient of CalWORKs will pass. The act provides that the 2nd stage of child care begins when a county determines that a recipient's work or approved work activity is stable or when a recipient is transitioning off of aid and child care is available through a local stage 2 program. The act authorizes 2nd stage child care to be provided to a family who elects to receive a lump-sum diversion payment or diversion services, as provided, when a funded space is not immediately available for the family in 3rd stage. This bill would instead authorize 2nd stage child care to be provided to a family who elects to receive a lump-sum diversion payment or diversion services, as provided. The act requires the local stage 2 agency to assist moving families to stage 3 as quickly as feasible. This bill would delete this provision. The act provides that former CalWORKs recipients are eligible to receive child care services in stage one and 2 for up to a total of no more than 24 months after they leave cash aid or until they are otherwise ineligible within that 24-month period. This bill would instead provide that former CalWORKs recipients are eligible to receive child care services in stage one and 2 until they are otherwise income ineligible. The act requires a family leaving cash aid under CalWORKs to receive up to 2 years of child care, if otherwise eligible, as provided. This bill would instead require a family leaving cash aid under CalWORKs to receive child care, if otherwise eligible, as provided. The bill would provide that a family remains income eligible when the family's adjusted monthly income is at or below 85% of the state median income, adjusted for family size. The act requires the 2nd stage of child care to be administered by agencies contracting with the State Department of Education, as provided. This bill would delete these provisions. The bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature that families that are former recipients of aid, or are transitioning off aid, receive their child care assistance in the same fashion as other low-income working families and that it is the intent of the Legislature that families no longer rely on county welfare departments to obtain child care subsidies beyond the time they are receiving other services from the county welfare department. The bill would prohibit a county welfare department from administering stage 2 child care for CalWORKs recipients except to the extent to which it delivered those services to families receiving, or within one year of having received, Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits before to January 1, 2019.