SECTIONS 8265-8272 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 8265-8272

8265. (a) The Superintendent shall implement a plan that
establishes reasonable standards and assigned reimbursement rates,
which vary with the length of the program year and the hours of
service.
(1) Parent fees shall be used to pay reasonable and necessary
costs for providing additional services.
(2) When establishing standards and assigned reimbursement rates,
the Superintendent shall confer with applicant agencies.
(3) The reimbursement system, including standards and rates, shall
be submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
(4) The Superintendent may establish any regulations he or she
deems advisable concerning conditions of service and hours of
enrollment for children in the programs.
(b) The standard reimbursement rate shall be three thousand five
hundred twenty-three dollars ($3,523) per unit of average daily
enrollment for a 250-day year, increased by the cost-of-living
adjustment granted by the Legislature beginning July 1, 1980.
(c) The plan shall require agencies having an assigned
reimbursement rate above the current year standard reimbursement rate
to reduce costs on an incremental basis to achieve the standard
reimbursement rate.
(d) The plan shall provide for adjusting reimbursement on a
case-by-case basis, in order to maintain service levels for agencies
currently at a rate less than the standard reimbursement rate.
Assigned reimbursement rates shall be increased only on the basis of
one or more of the following:
(1) Loss of program resources from other sources.
(2) Need of an agency to pay the same child care rates as those
prevailing in the local community.
(3) Increased costs directly attributable to new or different
regulations.
(4) Documented increased costs necessary to maintain the prior
year's level of service and ensure the continuation of threatened
programs.
Child care agencies funded at the lowest rates shall be given
first priority for increases.
(e) The plan shall provide for expansion of child development
programs at no more than the standard reimbursement rate for that
fiscal year.
(f) The Superintendent may reduce the percentage of reduction for
a public agency that satisfies any of the following:
(1) Serves more than 400 children.
(2) Has in effect a collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Has other extenuating circumstances that apply, as determined
by the Superintendent.

8265.1. Rate increases authorized by paragraph (2) of subdivision
(d) of Section 8265 shall be in effect from July 1 of the contract
year for which the rate increase is requested. The State Department
of Education shall develop a rate increase process, for alternative
payment and other similar program types, between October 1 and March
30. Decisions regarding rate increases shall be made within 60 days
by the State Department of Education.

8265.5. (a) In order to reflect the additional expense of serving
children who meet any of the criteria outlined in paragraphs (1) to
(7), inclusive, of subdivision (b) the provider agency's reported
child days of enrollment for these children shall be multiplied by
the adjustment factors listed below.
(b) The adjustment factors shall apply to those programs for which
assigned reimbursement rates are at or below the standard
reimbursement rate. In addition, the adjustment factors shall apply
to those programs for which assigned reimbursement rates are above
the standard reimbursement rate, but the reimbursement rate, as
adjusted, shall not exceed the adjusted standard reimbursement rate.
(1) For infants who are 0 to 18 months of age and are served in a
child day care center, the adjustment factor shall be 1.7.
(2) For toddlers who are 18 to 36 months of age and are served in
a child day care center, the adjustment factor shall be 1.4.
(3) For infants and toddlers who are 0 to 36 months of age and are
served in a family child care home, the adjustment factor shall be
1.4.
(4) For children with exceptional needs who are 0 to 21 years of
age, the adjustment factor shall be 1.2.
(5) For severely disabled children who are 0 to 21 years of age,
the adjustment factor shall be 1.5.
(6) For a child at risk of neglect, abuse, or exploitation who are
0 to 14 years of age, the adjustment factor shall be 1.1.
(7) For limited-English-speaking and non-English-speaking children
who are 2 years of age through kindergarten age, the adjustment
factor shall be 1.1.
(c) Use of the adjustment factors shall not increase the provider
agency's total annual allocation.
(d) Days of enrollment for children having more than one of the
criteria outlined in paragraphs (1) to (7), inclusive, of subdivision
(b) shall not be reported under more than one of the above
categories.
(e) The difference between the reimbursement resulting from the
use of the adjustment factors outlined in paragraphs (1) to (7),
inclusive, of subdivision (b) and the reimbursement that would
otherwise be received by a provider in the absence of the adjustment
factors shall be used for special and appropriate services for each
child for whom an adjustment factor is claimed.

8265.7. Notwithstanding Section 8265, programs above the standard
reimbursement rate may be considered on a case-by-case basis for rate
adjustments due to documented increases in insurance costs.

8266. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 8265, the assigned
reimbursement rate of a center-based child care agency (a)
contracting with the Department of Education, (b) operating under
licensing standards for child care and development facilities
specified by Section 1500 et seq. of the Health and Safety Code and
by Title 22 of the California Administrative Code, and (c) with less
than a majority of subsidized children enrolled in the facility,
shall be equivalent to the fee paid for the same service by families
of nonsubsidized children.
It is not the intent of the Legislature to preclude an agency with
a contract with the department from adjusting the fees charged to
nonsubsidized children during the contract year. In no event shall
the assigned reimbursement rate exceed the standard reimbursement
rate established pursuant to Section 8265.
These agencies shall provide documentation to the department that
subsidized children, as necessary and appropriate, shall receive
supportive services through county welfare departments, resource and
referral programs, or other existing community resources, or all of
them.

8266.1. Commencing with the 1995-96 fiscal year and each fiscal
year thereafter, for the purposes of this chapter, reimbursement
rates shall be adjusted by the following reimbursement factors for
child care and development programs with a standard reimbursement
rate, but shall not apply to the Resource and Referral Programs set
forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 8210), the Alternative
Payment Programs set forth in Article 3 (commencing with Section
8220), the part-day California state preschool programs set forth in
Article 7 (commencing with Section 8235), the schoolage community
child care services programs set forth in Article 22 (commencing with
Section 8460), or to the schoolage parent and infant development
programs:
(a) For child care and development providers serving children for
less than four hours per day, the reimbursement factor is 55 percent
of the standard reimbursement rate.
(b) For child care and development program providers serving
children for not less than four hours per day, and less than six and
one-half hours per day, the reimbursement factor is 75 percent of the
standard reimbursement rate. For providers operating under the At
Risk Child Care Program set forth in Article 15.5 (commencing with
Section 8350) and serving children for not less than four hours per
day, and less than seven hours per day, the reimbursement factor is
75 percent of the standard reimbursement rate.
(c) For child care and development program providers serving
children for not less than six and one-half hours per day, and less
than 10 and one-half hours per day, the reimbursement factor is 100
percent of the standard reimbursement rate. For providers operating
under the At Risk Child Care Program set forth in Article 15.5
(commencing with Section 8350) and serving children for not less than
seven hours per day, and less than 10 hours per day, the
reimbursement factor is 100 percent of the standard reimbursement
rate.
(d) For child care and development program providers serving
children for 10 1/2 hours or more per day, the reimbursement factor
is 118 percent of the standard reimbursement rate.

8266.5. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 8265, the payment
made to a child care facility (a) with authorization for payments
from an alternative payment program or a county welfare department,
(b) operating under licensing standards for child day care facilities
specified by Sections 1500 et seq. of the Health and Safety Code and
by Title 22 of the California Administrative Code, and (c) with less
than a majority of subsidized children enrolled in the facility,
shall be the same as the fee paid for the same service by families of
nonsubsidized children.
Each alternative payment system or county welfare department shall
provide documentation that subsidized children, as necessary and
appropriate, shall receive supportive services through county welfare
departments, resource and referral programs, other existing
community resources, or all of them.

8267. The audits for those agencies licensed under the provisions
of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1500) of Division 2 of the
Health and Safety Code shall include a sampling of the evidence of
fees paid by families of nonsubsidized children, the average daily
enrollment of subsidized and nonsubsidized children, the average
number of days of service provided to subsidized children, and the
services provided to subsidized children pursuant to the terms of the
contract.

8268. The Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State
Controller shall establish the necessary plans to advance child care
funds to contracting agencies.

8269. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall adopt rules,
regulations, and guidelines to facilitate the funding and
reimbursement procedures required by this chapter.

8270. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall support the
coordination of resources available to state and local agencies
serving children, youth, and their families.

8271. In the event that operating agencies are unable to operate
due to incomplete renovations authorized by administrating state
agencies, or due to circumstances beyond the control of the operating
agency, including earthquakes, floods, or fire, such programs shall
not be penalized for incurred program expenses nor in subsequent
annual budget allocations.

8272. (a) The rules, regulations, and guidelines adopted by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to Sections 8261 and
8269 shall permit reimbursement for interest paid by contractors on
private sector debt financing for the purchase, lease-purchase,
repair, or renovation of child care and development facilities owned
or leased by contractors providing center-based care.
(b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall adopt
regulations requiring contractors to demonstrate that the amount of
interest paid in a year on private sector debt financing for the
purposes identified in subdivision (a) does not exceed the value
obtained by the state in the use of the facilities during the year
for the child care and development services program. The regulations
shall include, but not be limited to, the following methods of making
this demonstration:
(1) Amortization of a loan or lease-purchase contract on a
straight-line basis for the purchase price of a portable building,
including any transportation charges, installation charges, loan
fees, taxes, points or other fees associated with the purchase, over
a period of 15 years or more.
(2) Amortization of a loan or lease-purchase contract on a
straight-line basis for the purchase price of a permanent building
and real estate, including any loan fees, taxes, points or other fees
associated with the purchase, over a period of 15 years or more.
(3) Evidence acceptable to the Superintendent of Public
Instruction that loan payments for the purchase of a portable
building or permanent building and real estate, including principal
and interest, do not exceed the fair market rental cost that the
contractor would have paid if the property was not purchased.
(c) Loans or lease-purchase agreements amortized over the number
of years designated in subdivision (b), but due in a fewer number of
years, shall not be disallowed because of the shorter due date.