8263.
(a) (1) The department shall disburse augmentations to the base allocation for the expansion of preschool programs to promote equal access to preschool services across the state. Superintendent shall adopt rules and regulations on eligibility, enrollment, and priority of services needed to implement this chapter. In order to be eligible for federal and state subsidized child development services, families shall meet at least one requirement in each of the following areas: (A) A family is (i) a current aid recipient, (ii) income eligible, (iii) homeless, or (iv) one whose children are recipients of protective services, or whose children have been identified as being abused, neglected, or exploited, or at risk of being abused, neglected, or exploited.
(B) A family needs the childcare services (i) because the child is identified by a legal, medical, or social services agency, a local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths designated pursuant to Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of the United States Code, a Head Start program, or an emergency or transitional shelter as (I) a recipient of protective services, (II) being neglected, abused, or exploited, or at risk of neglect, abuse, or exploitation, or (III) being homeless or (ii) because the parents are (I) engaged in vocational training leading directly to a recognized trade, paraprofession, or profession, (II) engaged in an educational program for English language learners or to attain a high school diploma or general educational development certificate, (III) employed or seeking employment, (IV) seeking permanent housing for family stability, or (V) incapacitated.
(b) (2) (1) Notwithstanding In order to provide progress towards achieving access to full-day, full-year preschool services for all income-eligible four-year-old children and to promote access for all income-eligible four-year-old children to attend at least a part-day California state preschool program, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, in awarding new funding appropriated by the Legislature, in any fiscal year, for the expansion of paragraph (1), after all families meeting at least one of the criteria specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) have been enrolled, a full-day California state preschool programs, use the formula developed pursuant to subdivision (c) and may use the priorities identified by local childcare and development planning councils, as provided for in Section 10486 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and other high-quality data resources available to the department. program may provide services to three- and four-year-old children in families who do not meet at least one of the criteria specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1).
(3) If only one parent has signed an application for enrollment in childcare services, as required by this chapter or regulations adopted to implement this chapter, and the information provided on the application indicates that there is a second parent who has not signed the application, the parent who has signed the application shall self-certify the presence or absence of the second parent under penalty of perjury. The parent who has signed the application shall not be required to submit additional information documenting the presence or absence of the second parent.
(b) Except as provided in Article 15.5 (commencing with Section 8350), priority for federal and state subsidized child development services is as follows:
(1) First priority shall be given to children experiencing homelessness, neglected or abused children who are recipients of child protective services, or children who are at risk of being neglected or abused, upon written referral from a legal, medical, or social services agency. If an agency is unable to enroll a child in the first priority category, the agency shall refer the family to local resource and referral services to locate services for the child.
(2) Second priority shall be given equally to eligible families, regardless of the number of parents in the home, who are income eligible. Within this priority, families with the lowest gross monthly income in relation to family size, as determined by a schedule adopted by the Superintendent, shall be admitted first. If two or more families are in the same priority in relation to income, the family that has a child with exceptional needs shall be admitted first. If there is no family of the same priority with a child with exceptional needs, the same priority family that has been on the waiting list for the longest time shall be admitted first. For purposes of determining order of admission, grants of public assistance recipients shall be counted as income.
(3) The Superintendent shall set criteria for, and may grant specific waivers of, the priorities established in this subdivision for agencies that wish to serve specific populations, including children with exceptional needs or children of prisoners. These new waivers shall not include proposals to avoid appropriate fee schedules or admit ineligible families, but may include proposals to accept members of special populations in other than strict income order, as long as appropriate fees are paid.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, in order to promote continuity of services, a family enrolled in a state or federally funded childcare and development program whose services would otherwise be terminated because the family no longer meets the program income, eligibility, or need criteria may continue to receive child development services in another state or federally funded childcare and development program if the contractor is able to transfer the family’s enrollment to another program for which the family is eligible before the date of termination of services or to exchange the family’s existing enrollment with the enrollment of a family in another program, provided that both families satisfy the eligibility requirements for the program in which they are being enrolled. The transfer of enrollment may be to another program within the same administrative agency or to another agency that administers state or federally funded childcare and development programs.
(d) (1) A physical examination and evaluation, including age-appropriate immunization, shall be required before, or within six weeks of, enrollment. A standard, rule, or regulation shall not require medical examination or immunization for admission to a childcare and development program of a child whose parent or guardian files a letter with the governing board of the childcare and development program stating that the medical examination or immunization is contrary to the parent’s or guardian’s religious beliefs, or provide for the exclusion of a child from the program because of a parent or guardian having filed the letter. However, if there is good cause to believe that a child is suffering from a recognized contagious or infectious disease, the child shall be temporarily excluded from the program until the governing board of the childcare and development program is satisfied that the child is not suffering from that contagious or infectious disease.
(2) A child eligible to enroll in a childcare and development program pursuant to this section who is experiencing homelessness shall not be denied immediate enrollment into that program for failure to supply documentation of age-appropriate immunization, and shall have six weeks from the date of enrollment to supply the immunization documents required by paragraph (1).
(e) Regulations formulated and promulgated pursuant to this section shall include the recommendations of the State Department of Health Care Services relative to health care screening and the provision of health care services. The Superintendent shall seek the advice and assistance of these health authorities in situations where service under this chapter includes or requires care of children who are ill or children with exceptional needs.
(f) The Superintendent shall establish guidelines for the collection of employer-sponsored childcare benefit payments from a parent whose child receives subsidized childcare and development services. These guidelines shall provide for the collection of the full amount of the benefit payment, but not to exceed the actual cost of childcare and development services provided, notwithstanding the applicable fee based on the fee schedule.
(g) The Superintendent shall establish guidelines according to which the director or a duly authorized representative of the childcare and development program will certify children as eligible for state reimbursement pursuant to this section.
(h) (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), upon establishing initial eligibility or ongoing eligibility for services under this chapter, a family shall be considered to meet all eligibility and need requirements for those services for not less than 12 months, shall receive those services for not less than 12 months before having their eligibility or need recertified, and shall not be required to report changes to income or other changes for at least 12 months.
(2) Expansion funding awarded pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be apportioned at the rate described in Section 8242 and as determined in the annual Budget Act. A family that establishes initial eligibility or ongoing eligibility on the basis of income shall report increases in income that exceed the threshold for ongoing income eligibility as described in subdivision (b) of Section 8263.1, and the family’s ongoing eligibility for services shall at that time be recertified.
(3) A family childcare home education network shall be eligible to apply for expansion funding awarded pursuant to paragraph (1). may at any time voluntarily report income or other changes. This information shall be used, as applicable, to reduce the family’s fees, increase the family’s services, or extend the period of the family’s eligibility before recertification.
(i) (1) Because a family that meets eligibility requirements at its most recent eligibility certification or recertification is considered eligible until the next recertification, as provided in subdivision (h), a payment made by a child development program for a child during this period shall not be considered an error or an improper payment due to a change in the family’s circumstances during that same period.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Superintendent or the Superintendent’s designated agent may seek to recover payments that are the result of fraud.
(j) (1) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) and Section 33308.5 of this code, until regulations are filed with the Secretary of State to implement subdivision (h), the department shall implement subdivision (h) through management bulletins or similar letters of instruction on or before October 1, 2017.
(2) The department shall initiate a rulemaking action to implement subdivision (h) on or before December 31, 2018. The department shall convene a workgroup of parents, advocates, department staff, child development program representatives, and other stakeholders to develop recommendations regarding implementing subdivision (h).
(c) (k) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop a formula for prioritizing the disbursement of augmentations A child experiencing homelessness enrolled in a childcare and development program pursuant to this section. The formula shall give priority to allocating funds to underserved areas. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop the formula by using the definition of “underserved area” in Section 8205 and direct impact indicators of need for preschool services in the county or subcounty areas. For purposes of this section, “subcounty areas” include, but are not limited to, school districts, census tracts, or ZIP Code areas that are deemed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to be most appropriate to the type of program receiving an augmentation. Direct impact indicators of need may include, but are not limited to, the teenage pregnancy rate, the unemployment rate, area household income, or the number or percentage of families receiving public assistance, eligible for Medi-Cal, or eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, and any unique characteristics of the population served by the type of program receiving an augmentation. section is not required to provide a fixed address or mailing address.
(d) (l) To promote equal access to services and allocate resources equitably, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop a process for identifying underserved areas and populations within counties. This guidance shall include reference to the direct impact indicators of need described in subdivision (c). Public funds shall not be paid directly or indirectly to an agency that does not pay at least the minimum wage to each of its employees.
(e) (m) This section does not preclude a Childcare and development service providers shall conduct outreach to families experiencing homelessness, including through collaboration with local educational agency from subcontracting with an appropriate public or private agency to operate a California state preschool program, subject to Section 18140 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, and to apply for funds made available pursuant to this section. If a school district chooses not to operate or subcontract for a California state preschool program, the Superintendent shall work with the county office of education and other eligible agencies to explore possible opportunities in contracting or alternative subcontracting to provide a California state preschool program. liaisons for homeless children and youth designated as such pursuant to Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of the United States Code and other homeless services providers, as defined by paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 103577 of the Health and Safety Code, to share information about enrollment in, and priority for, subsidized childcare and development programs and to streamline the application process for homeless families.
(f) This section does not prevent eligible children who are receiving services from continuing to receive those services pursuant to this chapter in future years.