Childcare: alternative payment programs.

Existing law establishes a system of childcare and development services, administered by the State Department of Social Services, for children from infancy to 13 years of age. Existing federal law establishes the Child Care and Development Fund authorized under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 and administered by states to provide assistance to low-income families who need childcare due to specified reasons. Existing federal law requires a portion of those funds to be used to disseminate information on existing resources for developmental screenings and descriptions of how a family may utilize those resources to obtain developmental screenings. Existing law authorizes, upon departmental approval, the use of appropriated funds for alternative payment programs to allow for maximum parental choice. Existing law authorizes the reimbursement to those programs for the cost of child care paid to child care providers and the administrative and support services costs of the alternative program. This bill would state that the costs allowable for administration shall include, but not be limited to, costs associated with disseminating the above-described information.