of the State which previously had little or no services, and it has satisfied some federal concerns. Many of the counties have a vendor payment contract which is reflected as item 6 on Chart 7. Chart 7 is a listing of the types of child care services programs, number of agencies, number of children, and amount of contracted funds as of December 31, 1974. It should be noted that State administrative costs are not reflected in this listing. Each of the child care services programs is detailed regarding public or private agencies. Private agencies include nonprofit and proprietary which are both eligible for contracts with the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The child care services program serves approximately 50,000 children in more than 300 agencies with the local assistance amounting to more than $66 million. The California State Preschool Program is operated by 185 agencies, of which 118 are school districts and 67 are private agencies, colleges or county superintendents of schools offices. This program serves approximately 19,400 three- and four-year old children with a part-day educational experience. The California General Fund totally supports this program at slightly more than $21.8 million. At the time of the writing of this paper, specific information for 1974-75 regarding preschool programs funded by Educationally Disadvantaged Youth, SB 90 funds, or ESEA Title I funds was not available. Child Development Programs Support Unit In the Child Development Programs Support Unit the four teams previously noted have specific functions (see sample functions on Chart 9). Each team is headed by an Early Childhood Education Administrator I who is responsible to an Early Childhood CDPSU TEAM FUNCTIONS (SAMPLE) NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN FIELD SERVICES TEAMS 1. Program development assistance. 2. Phase I - II - III compliance reviews. 3. Act as primary SDE contact with child development provider agencies. 4. Conduct workshops to increase the quality and management of child 5. Provide interagency and intra-interdepartmental representation for FUNDING ASSISTANCE SERVICES TEAM 1. Prepare all fiscal and statistical managerial reports. 2. Prepare fiscal letters and apportionment schedules. 3. Keep a fiscal profile and fiscal data bank on each agency. 4. Internal procedures for amendments, revisions or capital outlay approvals and/or denials. 5. Review all reports for fiscal management implications. DEVELOPMENT SERVICES TEAM 1. Identify policy issues and recommend solutions. 2. Develop program guidelines and proposed regulations. 3. Work on interagency guidelines, regulations, contracts and agreements. 4. Develop SDE state plan for child development. 5. Act as Unit resource for statute, regulation or guideline interpretations. CHART 9 Education Administrator II, (the section administrator). Each team is comprised of Early Childhood Education Consultants, Early Childhood Education Assistant IIs, Early Childhood Education Assistant Is and Governmental Analysts. Each level within this differentiated staffing has particular responsibilities appropriate for the job classification. The chart reflects five of the functions for which ⚫ each team is responsible, but the list is by no means all-inclusive. The Field Service teams are the primary contacts with each of the provider agencies and they are responsible for the necessary professional and technical assistance to local I agencies. The Department has seen the need for a staff support Funding Assistance Services team to provide fiscal management information and data for Field Service representatives to give local agencies adequate and accurate advice. Each of the contracts represents a substantial commitment of public funds and the continual monitoring of the contract is of vital concern to the Department. The Funding Assistance Services team works directly with local agencies on extremely difficult fiscal matters and also is called upon in rare instances to review the fiscal structure within a local agency. The Unit itself does not perform fiscal audits comparable to those done by certified public accountants because this function is not the specific responsibility of the California State Department of. Education. There have been instances when the Department of Education contracted with independent public accounting firms for data regarding some provider agencies. Each agency is responsible for filing an audit of its prior year contract and the acceptance and approval of such an audit is a requirement for each subsequent year's funding. The Development Services team is responsible for formulation of many regulations, guidelines, contract content and overall planning for Child Development Programs in California. The Development Services team functions as a staff support to the Unit management and the Field Service teams. They develop the necessary framework within which all legislation and regulatory efforts are directed. The Development Services team works in conjunction with Field Services and Funding Assistance to formulate necessary management information and monitoring documents in order to insure the appropriateness, completeness and compliance of all contracts between the Department of Education and provider agencies. The working relationships among these four teams is a responsibility of the section administrators. The section administrators are responsible for direct line administration of the two teams under their supervision. Current Program Issues Child Development programs in California are confronted with some major issues. The foremost issue is the same facing all social programs: lack of funds to meet the demands of the day. The financial demands are for inflationary adjustments as well as program expansion. Recently the Department received more than $20 million in new applications, specifically to develop programs to serve federally eligible children under current regulations. The Department of Education has been receiving constant demands for expansion of the State Preschool Program for part-day educational experiences for four-year-old children. The demand has increased since the Department has implemented its successful ECE program for kindergarten through third-grade children. Most public schools and their respective parent advisory committees are aware of the significant results when a preschool program is at the school and is well articulated with the primary program. Therefore, the demand for this program has continued to increase significantly the past two years. A second issue facing California is the new Title XX of the Social Security Act, better known as the Social Services Amendments of 1974. Regulations will be |