(a) The department, in consultation with the State Department of Education, shall establish a fee schedule for families using preschool and childcare and development services pursuant to this part including families receiving services pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 10271. It is the intent of the Legislature that the new fee schedule shall be simple and easy to implement.

(b) The family fee schedule shall retain a single flat monthly fee per family. The schedule shall differentiate between fees for part-time care and full-time care.

Terms Used In California Welfare and Institutions Code 10290

  • Attendance: means the number of children present at a childcare and development facility. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 10213.5
  • California state preschool program: means part-day and full-day educational programs for low-income or otherwise disadvantaged three- and four-year-old children. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 10213.5
  • Childcare and development services: means those services designed to meet a wide variety of needs of children and their families, while their parents or guardians are working, in training, seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 10213.5
  • Cost: includes , but is not limited to, expenditures that are related to the operation of childcare and development programs. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 10213.5
  • Family childcare home education network: means an entity organized under law that contracts with the department pursuant to Section 10250 to make payments to licensed family childcare home providers and to provide educational and support services to those providers and to children and families eligible for state-subsidized childcare and development services. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 10213.5
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • full-time care: means care certified for a child for 25 or more hours per week. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 10213.5
  • Parent: means a biological parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, foster parent, caretaker relative, or any other adult living with a child who has responsibility for the care and welfare of the child. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 10213.5
  • part-time care: means care certified for a child for fewer than 25 hours per week. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 10213.5

(c) Using the most recently approved family fee schedule pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 10436, families shall be assessed a single flat monthly fee for all state-subsidized services, including California state preschool program services administered by the State Department of Education, based on income, certified family need for full-time or part-time care services, and enrollment, and shall not be based on actual attendance. No recalculation of a family fee shall occur if attendance varies from enrollment unless a change in need for care is assessed, as requested by the parent.

(d) Family fees shall not be based on the cost of care or amount of subsidy payment.

(e) (1)  The department shall design the new family fee schedule based on the most recent census data available on state median family income in the past 12 months, adjusted for family size, according to the methodology provided in subdivision (c) of Section 10271.5. The department shall first submit the adjusted fee schedule to the Department of Finance for approval.

(2) Commencing October 1, 2023, both of the following apply:

(A) The revised fees described in paragraph (1) shall not exceed 1 percent of the family’s monthly income.

(B) A family with an adjusted monthly family income below 75 percent of the state median family income shall not be charged or assessed a family fee.

(f) The income of a recipient of federal supplemental security income benefits pursuant to Title XVI of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.) and state supplemental program benefits pursuant to Title XVI of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq.) and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12000) of Part 3 shall not be included in total countable income for purposes of determining the amount of the family fee.

(g) Family fees shall be assessed at initial enrollment and reassessed at update of certification or recertification.

(h)  The implementation of this section shall comply with the requirements specified in subdivision (h) of Section 10271.

(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, family fees shall not be collected for the 2021-22 fiscal year pursuant to Section 263 of Chapter 116 of the Statutes of 2021.

(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, family fees shall not be collected for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

(k) During the 2022-23 fiscal year, contractors shall reimburse subsidized childcare providers for the full amount of the certificate or voucher without deducting family fees.

(l) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, family fees shall not be collected between July 1, 2023, and September 30, 2023, inclusive.

(2) Between July 1, 2023, and September 30, 2023, inclusive, contractors shall reimburse subsidized childcare providers for the full amount of the certificate or voucher without deducting family fees.

(3) Notwithstanding any other law, federal funds that were previously appropriated in Sections 263 and 265 of Chapter 116 of the Statutes of 2021 to expand childcare access slots and provide for family fee waivers and the reimbursement for waived family fees shall be available in the 2023-24 fiscal year in an amount that is equal to the cost to extend family fee waivers between July 1, 2023, and September 30, 2023, inclusive, for all families receiving subsidized childcare services from childcare providers through programs administered by the State Department of Social Services pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10225), Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 10235), Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 10240), Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 10250), Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 10260), Chapter 21 (commencing with Section 10370), and Section 11461.6.

(m) Family fees accrued but uncollected prior to October 1, 2023, may be forgiven and not collected.

(n) (1) A childcare provider paid with childcare subsidies, including, but not limited to, a family childcare home provider participating in a family childcare home education network, shall not absorb a reduction in pay for the contracted childcare space or voucher on account of a waiver of or reduction in family fees.

(2) The number of childcare contracted spaces and vouchers shall not be reduced on account of a reduction in the collection of family fees.

(3) Fifty-six million dollars ($56,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the State Department of Social Services in fiscal year 2023-24 to reimburse childcare providers described in paragraph (1) for family fees waived or reduced pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (e).

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 41, Sec. 16. (AB 116) Effective July 10, 2023.)

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