FY 2023–24 Rate Allocations and Payments
Fiscal Year 2023–24 California State Preschool Program Cost of Care Plus Rate Allocations and Transitional Payments for Family Childcare Providers and Centers.Early Education Division Email
Date Sent: November 21, 2023
Expires: Not Applicable
Attention: Executive Directors and Program Directors of all California State Preschool Programs
The purpose of this email is to provide information and interim guidance to California State Preschool Program (CSPP) contractors about the Cost of Care Plus Rate allocations and the one-time Transitional Payments provided to family childcare providers and CSPP centers pursuant to Senate Bill (SB) 140 (Chapter 193, Statutes of 2023).
Cost of Care Plus Rate Allocations
SB 140 authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to issue a Cost of Care Plus Rate allocation to family childcare providers and centers that operate a CSPP. The Cost of Care Plus Rate is a monthly payment for providers, based on the number of children enrolled in a CSPP. These payments will be issued to CSPP contractors beginning January 2024 through June 2025.
Allocation Methodology
Pursuant to SB 140, allocations are based on a per-child rate amount dependent upon the region in which the family childcare provider or center is located, as well as a 10 percent administrative fee to state preschool programs who need to distribute payments to providers or subcontractors, as applicable. The regions and monthly per-child amounts are:
| Region | Counties | Monthly Per-Child Allocation Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Central | Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, and Tulare | $140 |
| Northern | Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba | $141 |
| Southern | Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura | $160 |
| Los Angeles | Los Angeles only | $171 |
| Bay Area | Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma |
$211 |
The CDE will issue cost of care plus rates as quarterly advances to CSPP contractors. Payment advances will be reconciled using CDD-801A enrollment data submitted by contractors via the Child Development Management Information System (CDMIS).
Note: Historically, CDMIS data has not been used in this manner to determine funding amounts. Submitting accurate and correct data in a timely manner into CDMIS is always important, and especially now as funding advances and true ups will be made based on CDMIS data.
Requirements for Distributing Cost of Care Plus Allocations and Expenditure Deadlines
For CSPP contractors who subcontract with centers or who provide services through family childcare providers operating in their Family Child Care Home Education Network (FCCHEN), there are specific timelines for passing along the funds to the subcontractor or provider. Specifically:
- For contractors who provide services through subcontractors, funds must be distributed to subcontractors each month promptly following the last day of the month in which services are rendered. The CDE recommends these payments be made to centers who are subcontractors no later than 21 calendar days following the last day of the month in which services are rendered.
- For contractors operating a FCCHEN, per the union agreement, funds must be distributed to the family childcare provider within 21 calendar days of receiving the daily sign-in/sign-out sheets, as referenced in the California Code of Regulations, Title 5 (5 CCR) Section 17818.
CSPP contractors who are required to distribute the per-child cost of care plus rates to providers and subcontractors must not reduce the payment to the provider or subcontractor. As such, the payment to the provider or subcontractor should be based on the per-child amounts identified in the table above. Contractors who receive an additional allocation for administrative costs may retain the amount provided for this purpose.
Beyond the distribution timeframes, there is no deadline for contractors and subcontractors/family childcare providers to expend cost of care plus payments. The CDE highly encourages contractors, subcontractors, and family childcare providers to use these funds immediately to support CSPP program expenses and support immediate program needs, including addressing workforce challenges (including compensation); serving children with disabilities, dual language learners, and children with behaviors that are challenging to adults; and upcoming Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) implementation.
Transitional Payments for Providers and CSPP Centers Allocation
SB 140 authorizes the CDE to issue one-time payments for CSPP centers and CSPP family childcare providers based on license size. The CDE will allocate funding to CSPP contractors for these one-time payments. To the extent that the contractor subcontracts with a center or operates a FCCHEN, the contractor is required to pass the funding along to their subcontractor(s)/family childcare provider(s).
Allocation Methodology
Pursuant to SB 140, transitional payment allocations are based on those centers that provided subsidized state preschool program services in April 2023 based on CDMIS data and family childcare providers who were reimbursed for subsidized state preschool services in the month of April 2023 from the Subsidized Provider Report (SPR). Transitional Payment allocations are determined as follows:
- Two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per each family childcare provider licensed to operate a small family childcare home.
- Three thousand ($3,000) per center, including subcontracted center, and family childcare provider licensed to operate a large family childcare home.
- An additional allocation (five percent) to CSPP contractors to cover the administrative costs associated with distributing these payments to providers or subcontractors.
Note: Currently, the CDE has only released transitional payments to contractors who provide service through a FCCHEN and has not released transitional payment allocations for CSPP centers. Allocations for centers, including subcontracted centers, will be forthcoming and provided to CSPP contractors.
Requirements for Distributing Transitional Payment Allocations and Expenditure Deadlines
For CSPP contractors who subcontract with centers or who provide services through family childcare providers operating in their FCCHEN, there are specific timelines for passing along the funds to the subcontractor or provider. Specifically:
- For contractors who provide services through subcontractors, funds must be distributed to subcontractors promptly. The CDE recommends these payments be made to centers who are subcontractors no later than 21 calendar days following receipt of funds.
- For contractors operating a FCCHEN, per the union agreement, funds must be distributed to the family childcare provider no later than November 30, 2023. CSPP contractors who are required to pass the transitional subsidy payments to family childcare providers by this deadline were notified of these allocations and requirement via email by their fiscal analyst in October 2023.
CSPP contractors who are required to distribute the transitional subsidy payment to providers and subcontractors must not reduce the payment to provider. As such, the payment to the provider should be either $2,500 or $3,000 (dependent upon the license size) while payments to subcontractors shall be $3,000. Contractors who receive an additional allocation for administrative costs may retain the amount provided for this purpose.
Beyond the distribution timeframes, there is no deadline for contractors and subcontractors/family childcare providers to expend the traditional subsidy payments. While there is no deadline to expend the funding from the traditional subsidy payments, the CDE highly encourages contractors, subcontractors, and family childcare providers to use these funds immediately to support CSPP program expenses and support immediate program needs, including addressing workforce challenges; serving children with disabilities, dual language learners, and children with behaviors that challenge adults; and upcoming CLASS implementation.
Resources
Additional guidance will be released in future management bulletins and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.
If you have programmatic questions related to this email, please contact your assigned Early Education Division (EED), Program Quality Implementation (PQI) office regional consultant. The EED, PQI regional consultant directory can be accessed at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/assignments.asp.
If you have fiscal questions about the information in this email, please contact your assigned CDE Early Education and Nutrition Fiscal Services (EENFS) fiscal analyst. The fiscal analyst directory can be accessed at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/cd/faad.asp.