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Assembly Bill 233 (Lopez)
Supporting working families
SUMMARY
The priority of this bill is to provide maximum parental
choice, access and stable child care for eligible working
families for up to 12 months. Additionally, this bill aims
to create greater efficiencies and maximize the use of
public funds to greater support working families.
BACKGROUND
In 1976, Governor Brown’s office set forth a pilot
program to expand the growth of child development
programs in the state. The outcome of that pilot
program was legislation in 19801 to create Alternative
Payment (AP) child care programs in each of California’s
58 counties. The purposes of Alternative Payment
Programs (APPs) were to allow innovative community
based public and private agencies to develop nontraditional regional approaches that best supports the
needs of working families with parental choice of
access for children from birth on to a variety of early
care and education settings.
Today, California’s working families are supported by a
network of 68 APPs. APPs contract with the California
Department of Education to support working families
and those on the California Work Opportunity and
Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) programs with access
to a variety of early care and education settings
inclusive of high quality Title 5 centers, Family Child
Care Home Education Networks (FCCHENs), family child
care providers, and small business early care and
education providers. In 2014/15 APPs are supporting
over 213,000 children and 142,000 families.
Integral to the success of working families attaining
self-sufficiency, is reliable and stable child care that
supports both the needs of a working parent and
supports the immediate and longer term outcomes of
their children. Families that are eligible for a child care
subsidy struggle with a multitude of poverty stressors;
1
AB 3059 (Sieroty); Chapter 798, Statutes of 1980
CCDBG Reauthorization of 2014
3
On Friday, October 8, 2010 Governor Schwarzenegger, in his
completion of the 2010/11 Budget, eliminated $256 million
2
stressors exacerbated by the uncertainty of being able to
support familial necessities such as housing, food, health
care and education.
November 17, 2014, with bipartisan support, President
Barack Obama signed S.1086, the Child Care and
Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 20142 into law. As
part of this law is language to establish a 12 month
redetermination period.
Since 2007, a number of changes have occurred that have
resulted in eligible families losing their child care slots and
subsequently loss of employment for many. In October
2010 alone, 24 separate MBs were issued in response to
the October 20103 elimination of CalWORKs Stage 3. The
California Department of Education (CDE) issues
Management Bulletin (MB) directives that required
agencies to notify, terminate, rescind terminations, track
requirements of those notified, identify and hold open
child care slots, create a child care slot lottery process,
create lottery reporting, re-enrollment notification, and
reporting of re-enrollments. Each action was required to
be followed to the over 54,000 children and their families.
The above scenario alone also created considerable stress
for employers of parents who rely on a child care subsidy
to help pay for the cost of care while working.
Stories have been shared wherein parents chose not to
take a five cent an hour increase or $40 per month increase
because the increase could jeopardize their child care
subsidy.
RATES
The Budget Act of 2006 [Chapter 47, Statutes of 2006, Item
6110-196-0001, Provision 2 (b)] provides for payment of
child care costs up to the 85th percentile of the market
rates charged by providers who offer the same type of
child care for the same age child in that region. It applies to
California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids
(CalWORKs) and other child care programs administered by
the California Department of Education (CDE). Previous
in child care services for low income working families in CalWORKs
Stage 3.
RMRs were based on a statewide survey of over 14,000
child care providers. The resulting reimbursement
ceilings were calculated at the county level, using
county data or regional replacements in cases where
there was insufficientcounty data.
2005 RMR Ceilings
The Budget Act of 2003 required CDE and the
California Department of Social Services (CDSS), in
consultation with the Department of Finance and the
Legislative Analyst’s Office, to develop a new survey
methodology to be employed in future market rate
surveys. CDE contracted with an outside entity to
recommend a new survey methodology, develop a
sampling plan, conduct the survey, and submit the
resulting 2005 RMR ceilings to CDE for review.
The survey developed was based on a methodology
of groupings of zip codes that have similar socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., similar housing
costs, population density, and employment rates).
This methodology created one set of profiles for
licensed family child care homes and another for
licensed child care centers. As a result, there would
be several ceilings per provider-type in a county,
and the ceiling in any one zip code would have been
the same as that in other zip codes with the same
market conditions.
CalWORKs CHILD CARE PROGRAM4
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4
The availability of quality child care is essential to the
success of CalWORKs. To ensure an adequate supply of
child care resources to recipients and those
transitioning off welfare to work, AB 1542 (1988)
eliminated seven former welfare related childcare
programs and consolidated them into the three-stage
CalWORKs childcare programs.
The purpose of this program is to help a family
transition smoothly from the immediate, short-term
child care needed as the parent starts work or work
activities to the stable, long-term child care necessary
for the family to leave and remain off aid.
The CalWORKs Child Care Program is administered in
three stages. Stage One is administered by the county
welfare departments. Stages Two and Three are
administered by Alternative Payment Program (APP)
agencies under contract with the California
Department of Education (CDE).
CDSS http://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/PG78.htm

The three stages of CalWORKs child care are defined as
follows:
o
Stage One begins with a family's entry into the
CalWORKs program. Clients leave Stage One after six
months or when their situation is stable, and when
there is a slot available in Stage Two or Three.
o Stage Two begins after six months or after a recipient's
work or work activity has stabilized, or when the family is
transitioning off of aid. Clients may continue to receive
child care in Stage Two up to two years after they are no
longer eligible for aid.
o Stage Three begins when a funded space is available
and when the client has acquired the 24 months of child
care, after transitioning off of aid (for former CalWORKs
recipients).
WHAT THIS BILL DOES
This bill does the following:
1. Provides maximum parental choice, access and
stable child care for eligible working families for
up to 12 months.
2. Deletes requirements that justify rates paid to
providers when California has current RMR
market rate survey that cites rates, ceilings,
provider types and age of child(ren).
3. Eliminates the Alternative Payment Monitoring
Unit (APMU) with focus to merge into existing
Contract Monitoring Review (CMR).
4. Eliminates requirement that every contracting
agency recompete for continued funding no
less frequently and every 5 years.
SPONSOR
California Alternative Payment Program Association
OPPOSITION
None
CONTACTS
Kristi Lopez
(916) 319.2039
Kristi.Lopez@asm.ca.gov