Article 8.5. Family Child Care Home Education Networks of California Education Code >> Division 1. >> Title 1. >> Part 6. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 8.5.

(a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, with funds appropriated for this purpose, shall contract with entities organized under law to operate family child care home education networks that support educational objectives for children in licensed family child care homes that serve families eligible for subsidized child care.
  (b) Family child care home education network programs shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
  (1) Age and developmentally appropriate activities for children.
  (2) Care and supervision of children.
  (3) Parenting education.
  (4) Identification of child and family social or health needs and referral of the child or the family to the appropriate social or health services.
  (5) Nutrition.
  (6) Training and support for the family child care home education network's family home providers and staff.
  (7) Assessment of each family child care home provider to ensure that services are of high quality and are educationally and developmentally appropriate.
  (8) Developmental profiles for children enrolled in the program.
  (9) Parent involvement.

Each family child care home education network contractor, in addition to the requirements set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 8245, shall do all of the following:
  (a) Recruit, enroll, and certify eligible families.
  (b) Recruit, train, support, and reimburse licensed family home providers.
  (c) Collect family fees in accordance with contract requirements.
  (d) Assess, according to standards set by the department, the educational quality of the program offered in each family child care home in the network.
  (e) Assure that a developmental profile is completed for each child based upon observations of network staff, in consultation with the provider.
  (f) Monitor requirements, including quality standards, and conduct periodic assessments of program quality in each family child care home affiliated with the network.
  (g) Ensure that basic health and nutrition requirements are met.
  (h) Provide data and reporting in accordance with contract requirements.

This article does not impose any new requirement on a family child care home education network, nor does this article require any increase in reimbursement rates. This article does not require the department to modify its contracting procedure that was in effect for a family child care home education network prior to January 1, 2005.