Bill Text: CA AB2832 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Whole Child Community Equity.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 699, Statutes of 2022. [AB2832 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB2832-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  April 19, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2832

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Introduced by Assembly Members Robert Rivas, McCarty, and Wicks

February 18, 2022

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An act to add Chapter 34 (commencing with Section 10492) to Part 1.8 of Division 9 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to childcare.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2832, as amended, Robert Rivas. Whole Child Community Equity.

Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age. Under existing law, the State Department of Education identifies, develops, validates, and disseminates effective educational programs and practices operated by state and local educational entities, in order to improve the educational services provided through public elementary and secondary schools.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, and with input from the Early Childhood Policy Council, First 5 California, and other early childhood stakeholders, to develop the Whole Child Equity Framework (the Framework) and Whole Child Community Equity Screening Tool (the Equity Tool) to provide the data needed to support the equitable distribution of resources and monitor progress on addressing racial and economic inequities. The bill would require the departments to convene a workgroup to receive input for the development of the Framework, the Equity Tool, and recommended uses of the Equity Tool for early childhood investments and whole child resources. The bill would require the workgroup to include, among other things, representatives from county offices of education. The bill would require the departments, on or before January 1, 2024, to finalize and present the Framework, the Equity Tool, and recommended uses of the Equity Tool to the Legislature. The bill would also require the departments to publish the tool for public use, including the data and methodology, on the departments’ internet website.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the Early Childhood Policy Council, to develop the Whole Child Equity Framework that specifies certain indicators that the department will use to end racial and economic inequity in childcare, and to develop the Whole Child Community Equity Screening Tool to collect community-level data for the Whole Child Equity Framework indicators and classifies communities based on higher or lower values for these indicators. The bill would, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for these purposes, require the department to provide new funding to target early childhood investments and whole child resources to help build infrastructure and strengthen local early childhood systems in the state’s highest needs communities, as identified by the equity screening tool. The bill would establish the Whole Child Community Equity Fund in the State Treasury, and would require the moneys in the fund to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the above-described purposes.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(a) The state will place racial equity and economic justice at the forefront as California strengthens and expands the early childhood system by developing a process to look beyond poverty and take a more nuance look at community need.

(b) This equity approach will enable the state to identify communities that have multiple, compounding factors impacting children by establishing and using a whole child community equity screening tool that tracks whole child data in areas, including, but not limited to, access to child care, health and mental health services, education, childhood adversity and community safety, economic well-being, and built environments. The whole child equity approach will enable leaders to make informed decisions about investments and policies that uplift underserved communities to build the support and infrastructure they need for their families with young children to thrive, starting with programs housed at the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education.

(c) The whole child equity approach recognizes that a child’s well-being is rooted in the healthy functioning of their family and community. This approach emphasizes the full scope of a child’s growth, learning, and development needs, such as emotional well-being, safety, health, and more. The whole child approach examines whether children enter school healthy, learn in an environment that is physically and emotionally safe, have access to adequate nutrition, stable housing, and reliable transportation, are actively engaged in learning and connected to their school community, have access to personalized learning and supports, and are challenged academically to prepare for higher education or a career. This whole child approach is critical to advancing educational equity, as well as racial and economic justice for California’s youngest children.

(d) This bill identifies the need to holistically support children as they grow throughout the full span of birth through eight years of age. It is in these first years of life that children engage in a continuum of rapid developments across many areas, including physical, cognitive, social and emotional, and linguistic, such as bilingual or multilingual, development. It is a time when young children need supportive, consistent, caring, and playful learning environments that are culturally and linguistically responsive and rooted in child development. It is a critical period that profoundly impacts children’s long-term trajectories and is not confined by the boundaries of the early childhood and K–12 systems. Rather, it calls on the state to support children through this continuum across systems.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

 Chapter 34 (commencing with Section 10492) is added to Part 1.8 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

CHAPTER  34. Whole Child Community Equity

10492.

 This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the End Racial and Economic Inequities in Childcare in California Initiative.

10492.1.

 (a) The State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education, and with input from the Early Childhood Policy Council, First 5 California, and other early childhood stakeholders, shall develop the Whole Child Equity Framework (the Framework) and Whole Child Community Equity Screening Tool (the Equity Tool). The Framework shall outline categories that are essential to supporting children 0 to 8 years of age, inclusive, through a whole child approach, including, but not limited to, access to child care, physical and mental health services, education, childhood adversity and community safety, economic well-being, and built environments. The Framework shall guide the development of the Equity Tool that will consist of indicators aligned with each of the Framework’s categories. The Equity Tool will examine community-level data for the indicators and classify communities based on higher or lower values for these indicators. This approach will identify highest-need communities across the state with significant disparities across indicators that are essential to supporting the whole child. It will provide the data needed to support the equitable distribution of resources and monitor progress on addressing racial and economic inequities.

(b) With input from early childhood stakeholders, the departments shall develop the Equity Tool building on an existing index or set of indicators from existing indices such as the Child Opportunity Index, the California Healthy Places Index, the Human Development Index, the California Strong Start Index, the COVID-19 Statewide Vulnerability and Recovery Index, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Social Vulnerability Index. Data available in Brilliant Beginnings, the California Cradle-to-Career Data System, and other relevant data can be utilized as needed. The departments shall also consider indicators that address disparities that impact young children related to state priorities such racial inequities reflected in learning loss and learning recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

10492.2

 (a) The State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Education shall convene a workgroup to receive input for the development of the Framework, the Equity Tool, and recommended uses of the Equity Tool for early childhood investments and whole child resources to address racial and economic inequities for California’s youngest children. The use of the Equity Tool will be guided by these recommendations, but not limited to them. The workgroup shall include, but not be limited to, representatives from the following: the Early Childhood Policy Council, First 5 California and local First 5’s, resource and referral agencies, representatives of the duly designated collective bargaining agent of the family childcare home provider, local planning councils, county offices of education, parents or families, advocates, practitioners, or experts in child care and development, physical and mental health, childhood adversity, community safety, economic well-being, and built environments. The parent and family representatives shall reflect the racial, ethnic, linguistic, and economic diversities of the State of California and include Black, Indigenous, and people of color, multilingual, and low-income groups that have been disproportionately marginalized.

(b) On or before January 1, 2024, with input from the workgroup, the departments shall finalize and present the Framework, the Equity Tool, and recommended uses of the Equity Tool to the Legislature. The Framework and the Equity Tool shall be used to build on the existing strengths of communities and support them to address their critical needs of young children.

(c) The departments shall implement the Framework and the Equity Tool to make informed decisions about investments and policies that support families with young children. The departments shall publish the tool for public use, including the data and methodology, on the departments’ internet websites.

10492.1.

The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:

(a)The state will place racial equity and economic justice at the forefront as California strengthens and expands the early childhood system by developing a process to look beyond poverty and take a more nuanced look at community need.

(b)This equity approach will enable the state to identify communities that have multiple, compounding factors impacting children by establishing and using a whole child community equity screening tool that tracks whole child data in areas, including, but not limited to, education, health, community safety, economic well-being, and built environments.

10492.2.

The State Department of Social Services, in consultation with the Early Childhood Policy Council, shall develop the Whole Child Equity Framework that specifies indicators that the department will use to end racial and economic inequity in childcare. These indicators shall include, but are not limited to, indicators of all of the following:

(a)Children between 0 to 8 years of age, inclusive.

(b)Learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(c)Access to early care and education, health and mental services, and other programs that support families and children.

(d)Racial inequities existing in education, health, community safety, economic well-being, and built environments.

(e)Racial inequities that have been exacerbated because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

10492.3.

(a)The department, in consultation with the Early Childhood Policy Council, shall develop the Whole Child Community Equity Screening Tool to collect community-level data for the Whole Child Equity Framework indicators and classifies communities based on higher or lower values for these indicators.

(b)The department shall develop the screening tool using an existing index or set of indicators from existing indices, including, but not limited to, the Child Opportunity Index, California Healthy Places Index, Human Development Index, California Strong Start Index, COVID-19 Statewide Vulnerability and Recovery Index, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Social Vulnerability Index, as well as other whole child-centered data, to identify the highest needs communities across the state that have disparities that need to be addressed.

(c)On or before January 1, 2024, the department and the council shall engage counties, representatives from the local level, childcare resource and referral programs, local First 5’s, and other early care and education stakeholders through the quarterly council meetings to seek their input for the establishment of the Whole Child Community Equity Screening Tool.

10492.4.

Subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for these purposes, the department shall provide new funding to target early childhood investments and whole child resources to help build infrastructure and strengthen local early childhood systems in the state’s highest needs communities, as identified by the equity screening tool.

10492.5.

(a)The Whole Child Community Equity Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. The fund shall consist of state and federal funds, and the moneys in the fund shall be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes specified in this chapter.

(b)Funding provided under this chapter shall supplement, and not supplant, existing funds.