BILL NUMBER: AB 2573INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Furutani FEBRUARY 24, 2012 An act relating to child care. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2573, as introduced, Furutani. Child care: family child care providers: bargaining representative. Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Education, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to administer child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age. This bill would state that the Legislature finds and declares, among other things, that it is necessary to enact legislation that would grant family child care providers the right to choose a representative to negotiate collectively with the state over the operation of the child care system. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Quality, affordable child care is essential to prepare California's children to succeed in school and in life and to allow families to work and contribute to the state's economy with the assurance that their children are safe and well cared for. (b) There is a need to improve the quality of child care and to reduce turnover in the industry that is charged with providing safe and quality care for children in California. Limited or no employment benefits and low wages can drive dedicated child care providers from the profession. The resulting turnover negatively impacts the quality of child care provided and prevents children from receiving the type of care they require in order to be prepared for, and adapt successfully to, school settings. (c) Turnover among family child care providers is estimated at 30 to 40 percent per year, five times higher than among teachers in the public school system. Experienced providers are leaving the profession simply because they cannot afford to provide for their own families. Losing a caregiver means children's cognitive and social development is disrupted and parents are left scrambling to find other arrangements. (d) The supply of quality child care in the market is inadequate to meet the demand in California. In 2010, the state lost nearly 5,700 licensed providers, representing a 13-percent decline in the supply of licensed child care and an elimination of 11 percent or 44,000 licensed slots in these homes. In 2009, there was only licensed capacity to care for 27 percent of children with working parents. (e) Family child care is affordable and convenient; it is particularly vital to parents of infants and the one in five California workers who work nontraditional schedules. (f) Family child care providers are a vital part of the child care system. Their role gives them unique insight into how quality, access, and stability could be improved for children and families. But family child care providers lack any formal voice in decisionmaking on issues that shape the child care system and the way they carry out their profession. (g) To promote higher quality and greater access and stability in the child care system, it is necessary to enact legislation that would grant family child care providers the right to choose a representative to negotiate collectively with the state over the operation of the child care system. Permitting family child care providers a formal voice will allow the state to get input from providers and to maximize its return on its investment in child care and will allow providers to advocate to improve the quality, access, and stability of care available to California's children and families.