The California Child Day Care Facilities Act (Act) provides for the licensure and regulation of daycare centers by the State Department of Social Services (CDSS). Current regulations require a separate license to be issued for each component of a daycare center. CDSS is required under existing law to adopt regulations to create a comprehensive childcare center license to serve infant, toddler, preschool, and school-age children. All daycare centers are to be licensed as childcare centers before January 1, 2024.
Assembly Bill 2131 (AB 2131) removes the ability of CDSS to implement these changes through the adoption of emergency regulations and instead authorizes the CDSS to implement and administer these changes by all-county letters or similar written instructions until non-emergency regulations are adopted.
AB 2131 also repeals, effective January 1, 2024, the law that requires the CDSS to develop guidelines and procedures to authorize licensed child daycare centers serving infants or preschool-age children to create a special optional toddler program component for children between 18 and 36 months of age as an extension of the infant center or preschool license.
(AB 2131 amends Section 1596.951 of, and amends and repeals Sections 1596.955 and 1596.956 of, the Health and Safety Code.)