California Updates
General Information
Family Fees
What are family fees?
A “family fee” is an assessed fee that the state charges families who receive a child care subsidy. The family fee is based on the family’s size, adjusted monthly income, and whether they use full-time or part-time care. (Source: Child Care Law Center)
What's new with family fees?
The family fee scale has been revised and will now save some families hundreds of dollars per month. Previously families could pay up to $600 out of pocket per month. With the revised scale, the most an eligible family will have to pay is under $62 for full-time care. An estimated 50,000 are expected to benefit from this change.
Additionally, any uncollected fees accrued before October 1, 2023 are forgiven.
CCPU
What is CCPU?
CCPU is the Child Care Providers Union that represents family child care providers (FCCs) and family, friend, and neighbor providers (FFNs).
How did the union impact child care policy?
CCPU reached an agreement with the Governor to develop an alternative methodology to child care subsidy payment rates based on a cost estimation model. This will help to reimburse providers at a rate informed by the true cost of care.
While the alternative methodology is being developed, providers are receiving a "cost of care plus rate"
2024 Legislative Updates
AB 51 (Bonta): Universal early care
Key points:
extended learning opportunities for transitional kindergarten
classrooms can be a mix of CSPP, subsidized care, state funding, and private funding
AB 1038 (Rendon): Family child care and home education networks
Key points:
require the use of assessment tools that are appropriate for family child care settings
AB 1808 (Nguyen & Davies): Child care and development services: eligibility
Key points:
24-month eligibility for CalWORKS stages 1, 2, & 3
Federal Updates
"What do you do if your toddler’s child care just disappears? Maybe the teacher left to take a better-paying, less messy job in retail. The child care center remains open, but with your child’s classroom dark and empty, you can’t make it to work. For many, this situation would lead to a reprimand at work—or even getting fired."
This blog post recognizes four primary issues with the ECE market
workforce challenges
the high costs of providing high-quality care
ECE pricing and consumers' price-sensitivity
business model fragility
The Department of Health and Human Services has created the ECE Workforce Center to support recruitment and retention of early childhood educators. The Center will be led by Child Trends and supported through partnerships with The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley, Build Initiative, Zero to Three, the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at UMass Boston, and the DE Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood at the University of Delaware
Article from K-12 Dive:
HHS creates research, technical assistance center for early ed workforce
On April 18, President Biden signed an executive order to expand access to affordable, high-quality care, and provide support for care workers and family caregivers. Specifically the executive order will:
Make child care and long-term care more accessible and affordable for families, including military families.
Improve access to home-based care for veterans.
Boost job quality for early educators.
Enhance job quality for long-term care workers.
Support family caregivers.
Advance domestic workers’ rights.
Ease construction of early childhood facilities for Tribes.
Engage affected communities.
Read more in the White House Fact Sheet
Article from WBUR: