Child care and development services: online portal.

The Child Care and Development Services Act has a purpose of providing a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and development services for children from infancy to 13 years of age and their parents, including a full range of supervision, health, and support services through full- and part-time programs. Existing law designates the State Department of Education as the single state agency responsible for the promotion, development, and provision of care of children in the absence of their parents during the workday or while engaged in other activities that require assistance of a third party. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer general child care and development programs. This bill would require the Superintendent, subject to the availability of public or private funding for these purposes, on or before June 30, 2022, to develop and post on the department's Internet Web site, for use by the general public, an online portal for the state's comprehensive child care and development services, as provided. The bill would require the Superintendent, in planning for future enhancements to the online portal, to convene, on or before June 30, 2019, a workgroup made up of specified stakeholders. The bill would require the workgroup, on or before June 30, 2020, to evaluate and provide recommendations to the Superintendent on any necessary modifications or improvements to the online portal to ensure its improved effectiveness, including the consideration of possible models for, and plans for inclusion in the online portal of, specified components. The bill would require the Superintendent, on or before January 1, 2021, to submit to the appropriate committees of the Legislature a comprehensive plan for implementing the recommendations of the workgroup and a report that proposes plans for enhancements to the online portal based on the above recommendations from the workgroup, as provided.