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 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.

This bill would establish a process for alternative payment programs to submit written requests to the department to transfer funds between providers. The bill would require the department to respond in writing to the request within 30 calendar days of receipt and would require the written response to include the department’s determination and a general explanation of the basis for that determination. The bill would limit the department’s authority to deny a funding transfer request to when verified documentation demonstrates that overenrollment or projected service obligations did not occur during the fiscal year for which the request was made. The bill would require the department to consult with statewide networks of alternative payment program contracts and other childcare and development stakeholders in implementing these provisions. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions by means of all-county letters, childcare bulletins, or similar written instructions until regulations are adopted. This bill would also make various other changes relating to the department’s fiscal management of alternative payment programs, including by, among other things, requiring the department to conduct periodic fiscal reviews during each fiscal year and requiring the department to utilize fiscal projection methodologies, as specified.

This bill would also prohibit an alternative payment program from disenrolling a family, transferring a family to another alternative payment program contractor, or separating siblings receiving services, as a result of enrollment balancing due to the addition of a newly eligible child to the family. The bill would prohibit the department from moving or reassigning a family to a different contractor or service area if the family is actively enrolled and receiving services through an alternative payment program, unless the current contractor and proposed contractor agree to the transfer in writing.

The bill would require the department, on or before September 1 of each year, to provide to the Legislature and the Department of Finance a summary of childcare and development funds allocated and expended during the prior fiscal year.