The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued guidance and temporary waivers regarding Stage One Child Care and the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program for Foster Children because of COVID-19.

CalWORKs Stage One child care providers must be reimbursed for the maximum hours of authorized care, regardless of attendance, from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

Family fees for former CalWORKs recipients receiving Stage One Child Care continue to be waived through June 30, 2021.  Families who were disenrolled, voluntarily or involuntarily, because of inability to pay family fees from July to August, 2020 must be reenrolled without the need for any additional documentation.

Signature requirements for CalWORKs and the Bridge Program continue to be waived for the duration of the statewide emergency declaration.

Counties must reimburse for CalWORKs Stage One Child Care and the Bridge Program during the time school-age children participate in distance learning and are attending their child care program or are being cared for by a child care provider. This is because CDSS does not consider the child to be attending school while participating in distance learning for purposes of child care reimbursement.  (ACWDL, October 2, 2020.)

The California Department of Education (CDE) has issued guidance regarding the end of emergency child care and child care enrollment priorities.  Management Bulletin 20-06A, summarized here, is rescinded and replaced.

Essential workers families, at-risk populations, and children with disabilities or other health care needs, could receive emergency child care through June 30, 2020, or for 60 days following enrollment, whichever is later.  SB 98 extends this emergency child care for an additional 90 days.

Beginning July 1, 2020, there will be an additional 5,600 child care slots for families previously enrolled in emergency child care.

New enrollment in emergency child care cannot occur after June 30, 2020. Families who were receiving emergency child care and were disenrolled prior to July 1, 2020 may be reenrolled before July 15, 2020 without needing to provide additional eligibility and need documentation.

Families enrolled in emergency child care prior to June 30, 2020 have priority for enrollment into ongoing subsidized child care over any other family on the contractor’s waiting list.

CDE strongly encourages contractors to reach out to any families disenrolled from emergency child care to allow them to reenroll before July 15, 2020.

Contractors must provide written notice to families receiving emergency child care after June 30, 2020 if they will be required to pay a family fee effective July 1, 2020.

To the extent possible, beginning July 1, 2020, contractors must begin to transition children who are in enrolled in emergency child care into ongoing non-emergency child care. Families certified for ongoing child care shall receive services for no less than 12 months. (Management Bulletin 20-14, July 13, 2020.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has provided guidance regarding immediate and continuous Stage One child care eligibility in relation to COVID-19.  Any disruption in child care because of COVID-19 does not change the family’s child care authorization.  All new CalWORKs cases continue to be authorized for 12 months of full time child care even if Welfare-to-Work or other engagement activities are temporarily suspended.

CalWORKs families who were receiving campus child care and are currently in need of Stage One child care because of the closing of campus child care centers are eligible for immediate and continuous Stage One Child care.  (ACWDL, May 11, 2020.)