State Budget Update

The Legislature and Governor have reached an agreement on a final state budget. While bills are still in progress, key provisions of the agreement are as follows.

• Enacts a 2.01% cost-of-living adjustment to all subsidized child care providers in the form of a percentage increase to Cost of Care Plus rate supplements.
• Adds 22,700 new child care slots.
• Aligns eligibility for CalWORKs child care with recent changes to expand CalWORKs welfare-to-work, including eligible activities such as education and job readiness.
• Aligns state child care licensing requirements with federal requirements of the Child Care and Development Block Grant. These requirements include standards regarding the administration of medication, pediatric first aid and CPR training, reporting of child abuse and neglect, and emergency and disaster plans.
• For California State Preschool Program:
• Removes the requirement for enrolled families to report when their income increases, effectively extending eligibility to two years
• Increases professional development days for staff from two to five
• Makes children of local educational agency employees categorically eligible for enrollment
• Includes medical and educational appointments as excused absences

The bill also enacts a version of Governor Newsom’s proposed changes to the California Department of Education (CDE) and State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), by transferring management of CDE away from the elected SPI to an appointed Education Commissioner who will be part of the Governor’s Cabinet. Advocates are hopeful that this move will enable better coordination between CDE and CDSS programs.

To view the full summary of child care related proposals in the budget, download this PDF and scroll to page 27 of the PDF.