Childcare: individualized county childcare subsidy plans.

Existing law establishes the Child Care and Development Services Act and the Early Education act, administered by the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services, respectively. Existing law provides that the Child Care and Development Services Act has as one of its purposes the provision of a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of childcare and development services that includes a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs. Existing law provides that the Early Education Act has as one of its purposes the provision of an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program that provides high-quality learning experiences, coordinated services, and referrals for families to access health and social-emotional support services through full- and part-time programs. Existing law authorizes the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Marin, Monterey, San Benito, San Diego, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma, as individual pilot projects, to develop an individualized county childcare subsidy plan, as provided. Existing law concludes that pilot program for the County of Santa Clara on July 1, 2022, and concludes the pilot programs for the remaining counties on July 1, 2023. This bill would authorize the County of Santa Clara to continue the individualized county childcare subsidy plan initially developed and approved under the pilot project described above until July 1, 2023. This bill would also require the State Department of Education and the State Department of Social Services to review the existing individualized county childcare pilot programs and to provide a report containing specified recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before June 30, 2022. The bill would repeal this requirement January 1, 2024. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Santa Clara. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.