Management Bulletin 22-07

Early Education Division

Subject: Assessment, Waivers and Reporting of Family Fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 –23

Number: 22-07

Date: November 18, 2022

Expires: June 30, 2023

Authority: Assembly Bill 210 (Chapter 62, Statutes of 2022), and California Education Code Section 8252(h)

Attention: Executive Officers and Program Directors Operating Full Day California State Preschool Programs

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Purpose

This Management Bulletin (MB) is to notify and provide updated guidance to California State Preschool Program (CSPP) contractors who operate full day state preschool programs regarding state requirements on the assessment and collection of Family Fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022–23, following the enactment of Section 10 of Assembly Bill (AB) 210, Chapter 62 of the Statutes of 2022.

This MB rescinds and replaces MB 21-12.

Policy

Effective July 1, 2022, CSPP contractors must assess family fees for families enrolled in full-day CSPP using the FY 2022–23 monthly family fee schedule. Notwithstanding any other law, family fees shall not be collected for FY 2022–23. CSPP contractors providing services through a Family Childcare Home Education Network (FCCHEN) must reimburse providers for the full amount of the childcare certificate without deducting family fees.

Implementation Directives

Family Fees for FY 2022 –23

Pursuant to Education Code (EC) Section 8252(h)(1), family fees are waived for all families effective July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. If the CSPP contractor has collected payment of family fees since July 1, 2022, families shall promptly receive a refund for any fees collected for any month of FY 2022–23.

Family Fee Requirements-New Enrollments and Recertifications

Although family fees are being waived for FY 2022–23, contractors are still required to calculate and assess the applicable family fee at initial certification and recertification as usual. This requirement is to ensure that contractors report the correct family fee amount(s) that are being waived and that families are aware of the updated fee that will be applicable July 1, 2023. Contractors shall use the FY 2022–23 Family Fee Schedule that can be accessed at http://www.cde.ca/sp/cd/ci/fy2223famfeeschedule.xlsx. Contractors shall include on the Notice of Action (NOA) issued to families at initial certification or recertification the amount of the assessed family fee, that the family fee is waived through June 30, 2023, and that collection of the assessed family fee will begin on July 1, 2023.

Pursuant to California Code of Regulations, Title 5 (5 CCR) Section 17734, families enrolled in full-day CSPP with a certified need of less than 130 hours per month will be assessed a part-time fee, while families enrolled in full-day CSPP with a certified need of 130 hours or more per month will be assessed a full-time fee. When a family has more than once child enrolled in either a state preschool program, or both a state preschool program and a childcare program administered by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), the family fee must be assessed based on the family’s child who is enrolled for the longest period.

Families who were initially certified or recertified based on an eligibility criterion other than income, and who are not otherwise exempt from family fees, are still required to be assessed a fee. These families are required to self-certify their income for the purpose of assessing the family fee. When a family’s income exceeds the amounts on the annual family fee schedule, the contractor must assess the highest fee for their family size.

As a reminder, families shall only be assessed one flat monthly family fee when they have more than one child enrolled in either a state preschool program administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), or a combination of a state preschool program and a childcare program administered by the CDSS. When families have children enrolled in both a state preschool program administered by the CDE, and a childcare program administered by the CDSS, and those children are enrolled for the same period, the contractor may choose which contract the family fee assessment will be applied to.

Exceptions to Family Fee Assessment

Pursuant to EC Section 8253 and 5 CCR 17735, CSPP contractors shall not assess or collect fees from families under any of the following circumstances:

• A Child that receives child protective services, or is at-risk thereof may be exempt for up to 12 months if it is required by the services plan;
• Enrollment in a part-day CSPP;
• With an income level that, in relation to family size, is less than the first entry in the family fee schedule; or
• A family that receives California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) cash aid.

The Family’s Right to Voluntarily Request Changes

Contractors are strongly encouraged to remind families of their right to voluntarily request a decrease to their assessed family fee based on the new fee schedule. Families can voluntarily request a reduction to their assessed family fee in accordance with 5 CCR Section 17756 by providing updated income or other appropriate documentation. As a reminder, (1) family fees are not being collected for FY 2022–23, and (2) family fees cannot be increased for any reason during the family’s period of eligibility; therefore, if a family requests a reduction, but the documentation provided would result in an increase, the contractor must disregard the information and leave the current fee assessment in place.

As a reminder, 5 CCR Section 17756 states the following:

• A family may, at any time, voluntarily request to reduce a family fee or increase their certified schedule and shall provide applicable supporting documentation for the requested change.
• When a family voluntarily requests to reduce their family fee, the contractor shall:
  1. Use the documentation provided by the parent to reduce the family fee, if applicable, pursuant to 5 CCR sections 17757, 17759, and 17762;
  2. Within 10 business days after receipt of applicable documentation, issue a Notice of Action pursuant to 5 CCR Section 17783;
  3. Only use any information received to reduce the family fee, if applicable. No other changes to the certified schedule shall be made unless requested by the family pursuant to subsection (e) below;
  4. Notwithstanding any other law or regulation, the effective date of any family fee reduction shall be the first day of the subsequent month.

Families on Delinquent Family Fee Plans

For families that have a delinquent family fee plan, contractors must continue to attempt collection of the delinquent family fees to ensure there is proper documentation that would allow the contractor to write off the fees, if necessary. Contractors may only expense written off family fees to their contract with sufficient documentation of collection attempts.

Contractor Reporting and Reimbursement

All contractors are required to report the total amount of family fees that were assessed but waived on the Early Education and Nutrition Fiscal Services (EENFS) Enrollment, Attendance, and Fiscal reports, within the Child Development Provider Accounting Reporting Information System (CPARIS) in accordance with the directive above.

Contractors will report the amount of family fees waived on the line Waived Family Fees for Certified Children. For each reporting period, the amount reported in this field should represent the amount of fees that would have been collected from families if family fees had not been waived.

In instances where a family has children enrolled in both a CSPP program administered by the CDE, and a childcare program administered by the CDSS, the contractor shall report the assessed family fee to the contract which has the child enrolled for the longest period. When families have children enrolled in both a CSPP program administered by the CDE, and a childcare program administered by the CDSS, with the same number of hours, the contractor has the discretion on where to report the assessed fee (i.e., to either the CDE or the CDSS contract). However, to ensure consistency from one report month to the next, contractors must have written policies or procedures on how they determine which program to report the family fee. The EENFS will not reduce a contractor's reimbursement based on the amount of waived family fees reported during the 2022–23 fiscal year. An additional allocation will be provided to CSPP contractors to ensure contractors do not have to absorb the cost of family fees waived.

Background

The EC Section 8213 requires the Department of Finance (DOF) to update the State Median Income (SMI) annually..

The EC sections 8252-8254 refer to the state requirements for establishing a family fee schedule, the assessment of those fees, and the applicable exemptions as set by state budget and federal law.

TheEC Section 8252(d) states that fees may only be assessed at initial certification and recertification.

The EC Sections 8252(a) and (b )require the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) to use the family fee schedule developed in conjunction with the CDSS, for families receiving preschool services and/or childcare and development services, pursuant to the Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section 10290. The family fee schedule is subject to the approval of the schedule by the Department of Finance and designed based on the most current SMI, adjusted for family size.

5 CCR Section 17734(b) further requires that the family fee schedule differentiate between full-time fees and part-time fees and that families be assessed a flat monthly fee. Assessment of the monthly fee is based on the following factors:

• Hours of certified need, as documented on the application for services
• The family’s adjusted monthly income
• Family size

Pursuant to Section 10 of AB 210, EC Section 8252(h) was added. Subdivision (h)(1) states that family fees shall not be collected for the 2022–23 fiscal year and subdivision (h)(2) states that contractors shall reimburse providers operating within a FCCHEN for the full amount of the certificate without deducting family fees.

The 5 CCR sections 17733 and 17749 set forth family fee requirements for the full-day CSPP.

Resources

To be informed of updated information, please sign up for the Early Education Division (EED) email listserv through the EED Program Information E-mail List Subscription web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/progspeclist.asp.

Contacting your Program Quality Implementation Office Regional Consultant or your EENFS Fiscal Analyst

If you have any programmatic questions regarding the information in this MB, please contact your assigned EED, Program Quality Implementation Office Regional Consultant. The EED Consultant Regional Assignments directory can be accessed at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/assignments.asp.

If you have any fiscal questions about the information in this MB, please contact your assigned EENFS Fiscal analyst. The fiscal analyst directory web page can be accessed at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/cd/faad.asp.

Stephen Propheter, Director