Early learning and care.

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. The Early Education Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. Both acts require that families meet specified requirements to be eligible for federal- and state-subsidized childcare and development services and preschool programs, including, among other requirements, that the family needs childcare services or full-day preschool because, among other reasons, the family is homeless, the child's parents are seeking employment or permanent housing, or the child's parents are employed. The Child Care and Development Services Act requires, upon establishing eligibility for services, a family to be considered to meet all eligibility and need requirements for services and to receive those services without being required to report income or other changes for at least 12 months, except as specified. This bill would extend eligibility for childcare and development programs and the preschool program to families in which a member of the family has been certified as eligible to receive benefits from certain means-tested government programs, including Medi-Cal and CalFresh, as specified, and would require those families to submit a self-certification of income for the purposes of prioritizing enrollment and calculating family fees. The bill would also extend the time a family is to be considered to meet all eligibility and need requirements for services to 24 months, except as specified, and would require the State Department of Social Services to implement that requirement through management bulletins or similar letters of instruction on or before December 1, 2023, and until regulations are adopted. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 8208 of the Education Code proposed by AB 185 to be operative only if this bill and AB 185 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 8208 of the Education Code proposed by SB 185 to be operative only if this bill and SB 185 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 10271 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by AB 321 to be operative only if this bill and AB 321 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.