Official Summary Text
AB 2258, as amended, Ávila Farías.
Early childhood education and childcare: alternative payment
support program.
programs.
Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, requires the department to administer childcare and development programs, including, among others, general childcare and development, migrant childcare and development, and alternative payment programs, that offer a full range of services to eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age, inclusive. 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 then requires alternative payment programs to reimburse childcare providers for providing childcare to eligible children.
Existing federal law provides for
allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law provides for state-subsidized childcare programs and childcare for recipients of benefits under the CalWORKs program and establishes 3 stages of childcare services managed by county welfare departments and agencies contracting with the State Department of Social Services.
This bill would require the department to, no less than quarterly, identify unspent or projected unexpended moneys from subsidized childcare and development programs, as specified. The bill would require the department, to the maximum extent
permitted by federal and state law, to redirect and deposit the unspent or unexpended moneys identified to the Alternative Payment Program Enrollment Fund, as established by the bill. The bill would continuously appropriate all moneys in the fund to the department for the purpose of enrolling additional eligible families in alternative payment programs. By authorizing existing appropriated moneys to be used for a new purpose, and by creating a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.
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 authorizes, upon departmental approval, the use of appropriated funds for alternative payment programs to allow for maximum parental choice. Existing law authorizes those programs to include, among other things, a subsidy that follows the family from one provider to another, or choices among hours of service.
This bill would establish the California Alternative Payment Support Program (CAPSP) for the purpose of augmenting the current funding for alternative payment programs. The bill would require the California Alternative Payment Support Program Board, which the bill would create in state government, consisting of
specified members, to administer the CAPSP. The bill would require the board to manage and invest revenue deposited in the California Alternative Payment Support Program Trust Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury, with moneys in that fund available, upon appropriation, to finance alternative payment programs. Commencing July 1, 2027, the bill would require each employer and each worker to pay contributions to the trust fund through a payroll deduction of 0.03% of wages for employers and 0.01% for employees, thereby imposing a tax.
Existing law establishes a threshold for initial or ongoing income eligibility for purposes of services under the act, with the threshold set as a family’s adjusted monthly income that
is at or below 85% of the state median income, adjusted for family size, as specified.
This bill would, beginning January 1, 2028, increase the above-described threshold to 90% of the state median income for services provided through alternative payment programs.
Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, in collaboration with the State Department of Education, to implement a reimbursement system plan that establishes reasonable standards and assigned reimbursement rates for subsidized childcare and development services, and to develop and conduct an alternative methodology for ratesetting, as specified. Existing law requires the Governor and the Legislature to, by no later than July 1, 2025, establish reimbursement rates based on the alternative methodology, as specified.
This bill would require, upon the establishment of those reimbursement rates, alternative
payment programs to reimburse providers at 100% of the cost of care and would require, beginning one year after the establishment of those rates, alternative payment programs to reimburse providers at 110% of the cost of care.