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AB-452 Childcare: facilities: grants.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 04/30/2019 08:55 AM
AB452:v96#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 29, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 11, 2019
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 452

Introduced by Assembly Members Mullin and McCarty

February 11, 2019

An act to amend Section 8278.3 of, and to add and repeal Section 8278.4 to, of, the Education Code, relating to childcare.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 452, as amended, Mullin. Childcare: facilities: grants.
Existing law establishes the Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund in the State Treasury to provide funding for loans for the renovation, repair, or improvement of an existing building to make the building suitable for licensure for childcare and development services, and for the purchase of new relocatable childcare facilities for the lease to local educational agency or agencies and contracting agency agencies that provides provide childcare and development services. Existing law requires that a local educational agency or a contracting agency using facilities purchased by the use of these funds be charged a leasing fee, as provided, over a 10-year period. Existing law requires title to be transferred from the State of California to the local educational agency or contracting agency upon full repayment of the purchase and relocation costs. Existing law requires the Superintendent to deposit all revenue derived from the lease payments or renovation or repair loan repayments into the Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund.
This bill would repeal that loan program, except as provided below, and would require all moneys in the Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund as of December 31, 2019, to be transferred to the California Childcare Facilities Grant Fund, which would be established by this bill to fund, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, a grant program administered by the State Department of Education. Education, as provided. The bill would would, until July 1, 2030, require the department to use moneys from the fund to support the construction of new childcare centers, or the renovation, repair, or modernization of existing childcare centers, and the renovation, repair, and modernization of family childcare homes, that serve children in state-subsidized subsidized childcare and development programs, as provided. The bill would require the department to annually collect and aggregate specified data relating to the use of the funds and report this data to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by December 31 of each year. The bill would require the department to provide a final report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before December 31, 2029, on the impact of the grant program, as provided.
The bill would continue to require that a local educational agency or a contracting agency using facilities purchased with funds from the Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund before December 31, 2019, be charged a leasing fee, as provided, over a 10-year period. The bill would also continue to require title to be transferred from the State of California to the local educational agency or contracting agency upon full repayment of the purchase and relocation costs. The bill would require the Superintendent to deposit all revenue derived from the lease payments or renovation or repair loan repayments into the California Childcare Facilities Grant Fund.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Infant and toddler childcare in California is prohibitively expensive for many families. According to a Child Care Aware report, in 2016, California was one of the 10 least affordable states for infant care, costing on average 51 percent of the median income of a single parent household. Families have difficulty covering the basic costs of housing, food, childcare, health care, and other necessities. In all 58 counties, the annual salary of a full-time minimum wage worker is not sufficient to cover the basic budget for a single-parent household.
(b) Families in California have limited access to programs, especially those serving children from birth to three years of age, inclusive. Access to publicly funded early childhood education programs for infants and toddlers is extremely limited. Approximately 14 percent of eligible infants and toddlers are enrolled in subsidized programs, a large portion of whom are in family daycare homes or receive license-exempt care, such as care provided by family, a friend, or a neighbor. Subsidized early childhood education for children from birth to three years of age, inclusive, is mostly limited to working families. In 2017, only 7 percent of eligible children younger than three years of age had access to Early Head Start programs.
(c) Very young children are experiencing rising obesity rates and health risks. While nearly one-third of Americans between 17 and 24 years of age, inclusive, are too overweight to qualify for military service, the problem starts much earlier. Children as young as two years of age are experiencing rising obesity rates; among this age group, the obesity rate is 14 percent.
(d) Programs serving infants and toddlers benefit California families and the state’s economy.
(e) Early childhood programs can return about $2 to $4 in benefits to participants, the government, and other members of society for every dollar invested. Childcare subsidies provide job stability and have been shown to increase parents’ earnings.
(f) Children who participate in a Head Start program are less likely to be overweight than low-income children who do not participate in the program.
(g) After participating in an Early Head Start program, three-year-old children have better learning, social, and emotional skills, compared to those who do not participate in the program.
(h) The cost of providing childcare for an infant is, on average, 61 percent higher than the cost of serving a preschooler. However, the infant subsidy rate for subsidies provided through the Child Care and Development Block Grant is, on average, only 27 percent higher than the preschool subsidy rate.
(i) Head Start and Early Head Start programs supported more than 100,000 families and children in 2017 and brought over $1 billion in federal funds to local agencies operating these programs. Twelve states currently provide funds to support Head Start and Early Head Start programs. California does not.
(j) Providing facilities funding for infant and toddler care programs will leverage federal and state funds and promote expansion and greater access to high-quality programs for California families. Facility grants will create the conditions in which providers can serve more children, hire more staff, and support more families on their path to success.

SEC. 2.

 Section 8278.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:

8278.3.
 (a) All moneys in the Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund as of December 31, 2019, shall be transferred to the California Childcare Facilities Grant Fund established pursuant to Section 8278.4.
(b) Local educational agencies and contracting agencies using facilities purchased with funds pursuant to this section before December 31, 2019, shall be charged a leasing fee, either at a fair market value for those facilities or at an amount sufficient to amortize the cost of purchase and relocation, whichever amount is lower, over a 10-year period. Upon full repayment of the purchase and relocation costs, title shall transfer from the State of California to the local educational agency or contracting agency. Loans for renovation or repair shall be repaid within a period that does not exceed 10 years. The Superintendent shall deposit all revenue derived from the lease payments or renovation or repair loan repayments into the California Childcare Facilities Grant Fund.

SEC. 3.

 Section 8278.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:

8278.4.
 (a) The California Childcare Facilities Grant Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund shall be used, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes described in this section.
(b) The department shall develop and administer the California Childcare Facilities Grant Program to support both of the following programs:
(1) The construction of new childcare centers or the renovation, repair, or modernization of existing childcare centers that serve children in state-subsidized subsidized childcare and development programs.
(2) The renovation, repair, and modernization of family childcare homes that serve children in state-subsidized subsidized childcare and development programs.
(c) The department may contract with one or more community development financial institutions, as defined in Section 95502 of the Government Code, or equivalent organizations, with expertise in supporting the development of childcare facilities, to serve as an intermediary in the provision of technical assistance and training to childcare providers participating in the grant program.
(d) The department shall determine the appropriate grant amount for each grantee, not to exceed the maximum levels described in paragraphs (1) of subdivisions (e) and (f), based upon factors that include, but are not limited to, the scope of the project, regional costs, the use of universal design to provide inclusive environments, and the need to meet licensing requirements or health and safety standards in order to serve infants and toddlers.

(c)

(e) The department shall ensure that the program developed pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) does all of the following:
(1) Awards grants of up to one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the construction of licensed childcare facilities facilities, or for the renovation, repair, or modernization of childcare facilities, that make at least 50 percent of their slots available for subsidized childcare for a period of no less than 10 years. Grants shall be targeted towards communities with the most need, as defined by the department in consultation with local childcare and development planning councils.
(2) Uses a simple application process.
(3) Prioritizes provider applicants that are either of the following:
(A) Serving infants and toddlers. toddlers, including those with exceptional needs, in inclusive environments.
(B) Recovering from a disaster.
(4) Allows, in order to avoid disadvantaging providers who prefer to rent, nonprovider entities, such as developers, developers or landlords, to partner with providers to apply for grants.
(5) Includes a mechanism for recouping grant moneys spent on projects that do not make at least 50 percent of their slots available for subsidized childcare for at least 10 years.
(6) Offers technical assistance to applicants prior to before being awarded a grant that includes, but is not limited to, project development support and financial expertise, including assistance with coordinating financing from multiple sources. sources, either directly or through an intermediary, as provided in subdivision (c).
(7) Requires grantees to report to the department, on an annual basis for the first 10 years of operation in the newly constructed facility, all of the following:
(A) The total number of children served, by age.
(B) The total number of children served who received subsidized childcare, by age.
(C) The total number of children served with exceptional needs.

(d)

(f) The department shall ensure that the program developed pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) does all of the following:
(1) Awards grants of up to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the renovation, repair, or modernization of licensed family childcare homes that make at least 50 percent of their slots available for subsidized childcare for a period of no less than five years. Grants shall be targeted towards communities with the most need, as defined by the department in consultation with local childcare and development planning councils.
(2) Uses a simple application process.
(3) Prioritizes provider applicants that are either of the following:
(A) Serving infants and toddlers. toddlers, including those with exceptional needs, in inclusive environments.
(B) Recovering from a disaster.
(4) Includes a mechanism for recouping grant moneys spent on projects that do not make at least 50 percent of their slots available for subsidized childcare for at least five years, and provides for hardship waivers to recoupment requirements.
(5) Offers technical assistance to applicants prior to before being awarded a grant that includes, but is not limited to, project development support and financial expertise, including assistance with coordinating financing from multiple sources. sources, either directly or through an intermediary, as provided in subdivision (c).
(6) Requires grantees to report to the department, on an annual basis for the first five years of operation after completion of renovation, repair, or modernization, all of the following:
(A) The total number of children served, by age.
(B) The total number of children served who received subsidized childcare, by age.
(C) The total number of children served with exceptional needs.

(e)

(g) (1) The department shall annually collect and aggregate the data required in paragraph (7) of subdivision (c) (e) and paragraph (6) of subdivision (d) (f) and report this information to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by December 31 of each year.

(2)A report submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(2) The department shall provide a final report on the impact of the grant program in achieving the goals described in this section, and recommend whether the program should be renewed and any changes that should be considered, to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by December 31, 2029.

(f)

(h) For purposes of this section, “state-subsidized “subsidized childcare and development programs” and “subsidized childcare” includes all of the following: mean programs that offer a full range of services for children from infancy to 13 years of age, for any part of a day, by a public or private agency, in centers and family childcare homes.

(1)A local educational agency that provides childcare pursuant to the California School Age Families Education Program (Article 7.1 (commencing with Section 54740) of Chapter 9 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2).

(2)A Head Start or Early Head Start grantee that will use grant funds for projects that serve infants and toddlers.

(3)A state-subsidized childcare program provider.

(4)A family childcare home education network provider.

(i) For purposes of this section, “recovering from a disaster” means those childcare providers operating in those counties subject to a Presidential declaration of an emergency or major disaster, pursuant to the federal Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 5121 et seq.).
(j) This section shall remain in effect only until July 1, 2030, and as January 1, 2031, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2031, deletes or extends that date.