Summary of LAO Findings and Recommendations on the 2010-11 Budget

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	Program	Budget Issue	LAO Finding Or Recommendation	Last Updated
Go Back	California Department of Education	Child care quality improvement activities.	Reduce funding by $6.2 million to minimum federal requirement.	5-20-10

Detailed Narrative
As a condition of receiving federal child care block grant funds, the state must spend a certain amount on quality improvement activities. These activities typically include professional development, stipends for child care providers, and activities related to health and safety. The Governor's proposed 2010-11 budget exceeds the federal quality spending requirement by $14.8 million. The state, however, typically does not spend every dollar it budgets for quality activities. Over the last several years, between $5 million and $10 million in budgeted funds have gone unspent. For this reason, we recommend the Legislature reduce the budgeted quality allotment by only $6.2 million. At this level, the state is almost certain to meet the federal requirement while still achieving state savings and/or freeing up funds for additional child care slots. For additional detail on quality activities and our recommendation please see the final pages of these Overview of the Child Care and Development Budget and Overview of Governor's Child Care Proposals handouts.

Detailed Narrative

As a condition of receiving federal child care block grant funds, the state must spend a certain amount on quality improvement activities. These activities typically include professional development, stipends for child care providers, and activities related to health and safety.

The Governor's proposed 2010-11 budget exceeds the federal quality spending requirement by $14.8 million. The state, however, typically does not spend every dollar it budgets for quality activities. Over the last several years, between $5 million and $10 million in budgeted funds have gone unspent. For this reason, we recommend the Legislature reduce the budgeted quality allotment by only $6.2 million. At this level, the state is almost certain to meet the federal requirement while still achieving state savings and/or freeing up funds for additional child care slots.

For additional detail on quality activities and our recommendation please see the final pages of these Overview of the Child Care and Development Budget and Overview of Governor's Child Care Proposals handouts.