For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) “Block grant” means the block grant contained in Title VI of the Child Care and Development Fund, as established by the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193).

(b) “Child care” means all licensed child care and development services and license-exempt child care, including, but not limited to, private for-profit programs, nonprofit programs, and publicly funded programs, for all children up to and including 12 years of age, including children with exceptional needs and children from all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

(c) “Child care provider” means a person who provides child care services or represents persons who provide child care services.

(d) “Community representative” means a person who represents an agency or business that provides private funding for child care services, or who advocates for child care services through participation in civic or community-based organizations but is not a child care provider and does not represent an agency that contracts with the department to provide child care and development services.

(e) “Consumer” means a parent or person who receives, or who has received within the past 36 months, child care services.

(f) “Department” means the State Department of Social Services.

(g) “Local planning council” means a local child care and development planning council as described in Section 10485.

(h) “Public agency representative” means a person who represents a city, county, city and county, or local educational agency.

(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 116, Sec. 260. (AB 131) Effective July 23, 2021.)