CDD recently set up a CEL Committee to provide CDD with input as it further defines how the CELs (Centralized Eligibility Lists) will operate.  The Committee was set up in part as response to concerns that CCDAA State Board raised after hearing from members.

CCDAA has four representatives and one alternate on this Committee, who are raising the concerns brought up by members at the section meetings, or communicated to State Board. There are no final decisions on many items at this point, but the discussion at the Committee, and statements by CDD staff made at Committee meetings are defining the general direction of answers.

Below are more specific details of the direction of the Committee and CDD for those members who want more specific details. REMEMBER -- some statements below are final answers, and other are NOT final answers from CDD and ONLY an update on the current thinking.  Final answers may be somewhat different than the information given here.

First, there are three products that CDD will produce with the input from this Committee:

1.  Revisions to the Contract between CDD and the CEL Administrators, starting July 1, 2006, including the data dictionary.  This contract governs the agencies who operate the CEL in each county, but does not set rules for other CDD contractors.
2.  Regulations for the operation of the CELs.  The regulations will have two parts:  1) regulations governing the CEL Administrators, and 2) regulations governing what CDD contractors are required to do to meet their obligation to "participate in and use the centralized eligibility list" (which is the language in the new law on CELs -- Education Code section 8227).
3.  Possible Management Bulletins that will clarify and explain some issues connected to the operation of the CELs.

Second, regarding concerns that a number of members have voiced about being required to do significant additional work for the CELs, including collecting additional information and increased data input into the CEL computer, etc.  CDD's representative clarified that the obligations of CDD contractors to do additional work will be an issue that will be dealt with in the regulations, which will be drafted later in 2006.  At this point the only set rule is that agencies must "participate" in the CEL, and until regulations are written and adopted, there are no specific rules requiring agencies to do specific work.  Therefore the guidance to CDD Contractors and CEL Administrators, per the discussion at the Committee, is to do the following three things:

1.  All CDD contractors must demonstrate, by June 30, 2006, that they are "participating" in their CEL.  Because CEL Administrators are at different stages of developing their programs, this means that each contractor should be able to document that they have contacted their CEL, offered to work with the CEL agency and participate in the CEL, and are willing to meet with the CEL agency to join in a collaborative, cooperative planning process.
2.  All CEL Administrators must, per the terms of their contracts with CDD, establish their policies "in consultation with the participating child development agencies" and other groups.  (Most CEL Administrators have held meetings with CDD contractors to get their input, but a few CEL Administrators may not have done this yet.)
3.  CDD contractors and CEL Administrators should be working together to find mutually agreeable solutions to issues around the implementation of the CEL in each county, including who does what work.  This process should be cooperative and collaborative, and consider the needs and limitations of all parties.  Solutions may vary from county to county, and possibly even from agency to agency within a county. 

Third -- information on more specific issues:

1.  Regarding CalWORKs families -- these families are guaranteed services in one CalWORKs stage or another, and therefore do not need to be added to the CEL prior to receiving CalWORKs child care.  CalWORKs families who are seeking to move to another CDD funded program may be placed on the CEL.  (More direction on CalWORKs families may follow later.)
2.  On confidentiality and parental consent.  Many CEL Administrators and CDD contractors in the CEL pilot projects notified all families on agency waiting lists about the CEL, and only added families to the CEL who responded with updated information, a form of parental knowledge and consent to be added to the CEL.  For families newly seeking care, they are told that the information they provide will be placed in the CEL data base, again a form of parental knowledge and consent.
3.  A new data element for "part-day educational preschool" is being added to the CEL "data dictionary" so that State Preschool and Head Start agencies will be able to search for children seeking part-day preschool.  (Many CEL Administrators already had this item in their databases, but it will now be a required item for all CEL Administrators.)
4.  A new data element for "preferred zip codes" will probably be added to the CEL "data dictionary" so that parents can indicate where they want child care.  CEL Administrators will have flexibility in designing how a CDD contractor conducts a search of their database, but all CEL Administrators will allow contractors to focus a search, in some way, on appropriate families.  The two most common ways to focus a search will probably be by limiting the search by zip codes (and age, if needed), or by families who have named a particular agency as a "preferred agency" (a family could name multiple agencies as preferred).
5.  Policies regarding placing an "exclusive hold" on families after one agency has pulled that family on a list, will be decided by each CEL Operator.  An "exclusive hold" means that no other agency can access that family in the database.  The length of time that a family would remain on "exclusive hold" would also remain a decision by each CEL Operator.  (It was evident at the meeting that policies regarding exclusive holds will vary from county to county.)

CCDAA will update membership as we receive more information. Please feel free to contact the CCDAA office at 916-443-5919 with any questions.