The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Legislature has a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of children in family homes that provide daycare.
(b) There is an extreme shortage of regulated family daycare homes in California, and the number has decreased significantly since 2008.
(c) There continues to be a growing need for child daycare facilities due to the increased number of working parents. Parents need childcare so they can work and attend school, and so their children can thrive.
(d) Many parents prefer childcare located in their neighborhoods in family homes.
(e) There should be a variety of childcare settings, including regulated family daycare homes, as suitable choices for parents.
(f) The licensing program to be operated by the state should be cost effective, streamlined, and simple to administer in order to ensure adequate care for children placed in family daycare homes, while not placing undue burdens on the providers.
(g) The state should maintain an efficient program of regulating family daycare homes that ensures the provision of adequate protection, supervision, and guidance to children in their homes.
(h) The state has a responsibility to promote the development and expansion of regulated family daycare homes to care for children in residential settings.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 244, Sec. 4. (SB 234) Effective January 1, 2020.)