Childcare services: alternative payment programs.

Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age. Existing law requires the department to contract with local contracting agencies for alternative payment programs for childcare services to be provided throughout the state. Existing law establishes a payment schedule for those programs. Existing law requires a childcare provider to submit to the alternative payment program a monthly attendance record or invoice, maintained in the unaltered original format in which it was created, for each child who received services. Existing law requires the alternative payment program to reimburse childcare providers based upon specified criteria, including the actual days and hours of attendance for those families with variable schedules. This bill would remove the requirement that alternative payment programs reimburse childcare providers based on specified criteria and the requirement that an invoice be maintained in the unaltered original format in which it was created. The bill would require the department to ensure that childcare providers are reimbursed at the applicable regional market rate ceiling. The bill would also require that, commencing on April 30, 2026, alternative payment programs provide payment to childcare providers prior to the day the childcare begins for the child and require the department to issue guidance for prospective payments to the alternative payment programs that reimburse childcare providers for the provision of state-funded subsidized childcare and development services no later than April 30, 2025.