Senate Bill (SB) 117, addressed a number of educational issues and programs impacted by COVID-19 (See “Legislature Passes Emergency Legislation Related to COVID-19,” in the current Fiscal Report). State-subsidized child development programs administered by the California Department of Education’s (CDE) Early Learning and Care Division (ELCD) are ones contemplated by SB 117, but additional details were required from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s office. Those additional details were released on March 19, 2020, through Management Bulletin (MB) 20-04.
Current law requires child development program contractors to submit monthly attendance reports by the 20th of the month following the end of specified reporting periods. Pursuant to the California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 18056(a)(2), acceptable reports not received by the Child Development and Nutrition Fiscal Services (CDNFS) unit by the 20th of the month are deemed delinquent and apportionments are withheld until an acceptable report is received.
To help ensure continuity of care and to provide relief to providers of state-subsidized programs, MB 20-04 includes the following changes related to child development programs for reporting, apportionments, and reimbursements for fiscal year 2019−20:
- Extension for Reporting Attendance—February 2020 monthly report and March 2020 quarterly report are now due May 20, 2020
- Monthly Apportionment Payments—Payments will continue to be processed as a result of the extended due date for the reports noted above; CDNFS will use the most current attendance and fiscal report to project earnings, and those earnings will be the basis for determining apportionment payments
- Center-Based Contractor Reimbursements—Centers that remain open shall use the revised attendance reporting schedule noted above; centers that closed as a result of the state of emergency should refer to Management Bulletin 10-09 for more information
- Provider Reimbursements—Alternative Payment contractors must reimburse providers that have closed for up to 30 days after closure; providers who remain open must be reimbursed using the most recent monthly attendance information
- Data Reporting for Alternative Payment Contractors—The CDE and California Department of Social Services ask that Alternative Payment contractors collect information and report data on dual provider payment for the period covering March 16, 2020, through March 31, 2020.
MB 20-04, and other MBs published by the ELCD, can be accessed by clicking here.