Management Bulletin 16-07

Early Education and Support Division

Subject: Request for Applications for California State Preschool Program Expansion Funds for Slots Intended to Increase Access for Children with Exceptional Needs (Round Two)

Number: 16-07

Date: July 2016

Expires: September 2016

Authority: The Fiscal Year 2015–16 California Budget Act (Chapter 11, Statute of 2015), Item Numbers 6100–194–0001 and 6100–196–0001, provides line item funding. The Budget includes a total of 2,500 slots available for part-day California State Preschool Program for Slots Intended to Increase Access for Exceptional Needs Expansion funds.   

Attention: Executive Officers and Program Directors of any early education and support program or entity interested in applying for California State Preschool Program funding

Application Timelines (Proposed)

Purpose

The California Department of Education (CDE) Early Education and Support Division (EESD) announces the availability of expansion funding for the remaining 1,537 part-day/part-year slots to existing California State Preschool Program (CSPP) contractors through the CSPP Expansion Funds for Slots Intended to Increase Access for Children with Exceptional Needs (Round Two). Both Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and Non-Local Education Agencies (Non-LEAs) are eligible to apply. The intent of this funding is to provide increased access to CSPPs for children with exceptional needs in new and existing classrooms/sites. Existing sites must be approved in the Child Development Management Information System (CDMIS). New classrooms/sites will be required to provide proof of licensing or exemption from licensure in accordance with Health and Safety Code, Section 1596.792 before services can begin. The California Education Code (EC), Section 8208(l)(2) defines a child with exceptional needs as follows:

Children 3 to 21 years of age, inclusive, who have been determined to be eligible for special education and related services by an individualized education program team according to the special education requirements contained in Part 30 (commencing with Section 56000) of Division 4 of Title 2, and who meet eligibility criteria described in Section 56026 and, Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 56333) of Chapter 4 of Part 30 of Division 4 of Title 2, and Sections 3030 and 3031 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. These children shall have an active individualized education program, shall be receiving early intervention services or appropriate special education and related services, and shall be children who require the special attention of adults in a child care setting. These children include children with intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (also referred to as emotional disturbance), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities, who need special education and related services consistent with Section 1401(3)(A) of Title 20 of the United States Code.

Contractors shall request the total number of proposed slots needed to increase access for children with exceptional needs. For example, A contractor opening a new classroom to provide access for three to four 3-4 children with exceptional needs should request the maximum number of slots available in the classroom (i.e., 24). Slots awarded must be filled with children and families eligible for CSPP services as defined in EC Section 8263(a). Children and families enrolled must meet eligibility requirements specified in funding terms and conditions.

Pursuant to the authority provided in EC, Section 8263(b)(3), the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) is granting waivers to successful applicants allowing priority enrollment for children with exceptional needs. As part of this application, contractors are required to complete and submit the Form G: Request for Waiver of Enrollment Priorities (Section V III) on page 46 of 68 of the application. This waiver gives first priority for enrollment to CSPP age-eligible children with exceptional needs. Please note that the waiver amends the established enrollment priorities, but does not alter the enrollment eligibility requirements set forth in EC Section 8263(a). If contractors are unable to enroll children with exceptional needs in the slots requested, children without exceptional needs may be enrolled.

All children enrolled must meet eligibility requirements as set forth in EC.

CSPP funds will be used to provide services for age-eligible three and four-year-old California children. Pursuant to EC Section 8208(ai)(aj), CSPP age-eligible definitions are as follows:

• Three-year-old children are children who will have their third birthday on or before September 1 of the fiscal year they are being served.

• Four-year-old children are children who will have their fourth birthday on or before September 1 of the fiscal year they are being served.

Current contractors are eligible to apply for funds, except when one or more of the following conditions apply during the Request for Applications (RFA) cycle:

• The contractor is on conditional status because of fiscal or programmatic noncompliance as described in the California Code of Regulations, Title 5 (5 CCR) sections 18303 or 18304 (5 CCR Section 18001); or

• The CDE's EESD has conducted a compliance review pursuant to 5 CCR Section 18023, and the contractor has failed to clear items of fiscal and programmatic noncompliance identified in the review within 12 months of the issuance of the compliance review report (5 CCR Section 18001); or

• The CDE reduced the contractor's current year maximum reimbursement amount due to the contractor's inability to utilize its full contract amount, whether through low enrollment or low expenditures for the same contract type (5 CCR Section 18001); or

• The agency has in place or plans to have in place a person in a position of financial responsibility or control who has been convicted of a crime involving misuse or misappropriation of state or federal funds, or a state or federal crime involving moral turpitude (EC Section 8406.9).

Statutory and Regulatory Background

The EC Title 1, Division 1, Part 6, Chapter 2, sections 8235–8237 authorizes the SSPI to administer CSPPs. General provisions for awarding funding are provided in 5 CCR, EC, Chapter 19, sections 18001–18003. Senate Bill 101 (Budget Act of 2015, Chapter 321) appropriated funding to provide 2,500 slots for part-day state preschool. First priority for these slots is for state preschool contractors that intend to use these slots to increase access for children with exceptional needs. Pursuant to 5 CCR Section 18272, the EESD requires each agency to maintain a developmental profile that identifies the emotional, social, physical, linguistic, and cognitive growth of each child served; and to use the profile to plan and conduct age and developmentally appropriate activities. Program contractors must maintain appropriate staffing ratios in accordance with 5 CCR Section 18290.

Each applicant will be required, as a condition of the contract with the CDE, to adhere to the Funding Terms and Conditions, the Program Requirements, the CDE Audit Guide, and any other requirements incorporated into the contract, in addition to all other applicable laws and regulations. All pertinent information can be found on the CDE Laws, Regulations, and Requirements Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/lr/.

Application Submission Requirements

The CSPP Exceptional Needs (Round Two) Application and other attachments can be found on the CDE Funding Web page.

All applications must be received by the CDE on or before 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, August 2, 2016, to the following address:

Attention: Funding and Agency Support Unit
Early Education and Support Division
California Department of Education
1430 N Street, Suite 3410
Sacramento, CA 95814-5901

It is solely the applicant’s responsibility to carefully review the RFA information and requirements before submitting an application for funding. At the discretion of the CDE, failure to follow the submission requirements may result in the disqualification of the application.

If you have any questions regarding the information in this management bulletin, e-mail your questions to CSPPRFA@cde.ca.gov.

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This Management Bulletin is mandatory only to the extent that it cites a specific statutory and/or regulatory requirement. Any portion of this Management Bulletin that is not supported by a specific statutory and/or regulatory requirement is not prescriptive pursuant to California Education Code Section 33308.5.