CA AB1361

Prohibits expulsion or unenrollment of children from California state preschool, general childcare, and family childcare home education network programs due to behavior, except when a serious safety threat cannot be reduced after pursuing documented reasonable steps including mental health consultation over a 180-day period.

Restricts suspension to extraordinary circumstances presenting serious safety threats that cannot be eliminated without removal, requiring programs to collaborate with parents, engage mental health consultants when available, and develop written plans to return children to full participation as quickly as possible.

Requires programs to maintain and report annual aggregate data on expulsion and suspension incidents disaggregated by child demographics (age, race/ethnicity, disability status, etc.), with state departments publishing this data by January 1, 2024 and annually thereafter.

Increases the reimbursement adjustment factor from 1.05 to 1.1 for children receiving early childhood mental health consultation services in state preschool and general childcare programs, and expands eligible mental health professionals to include those with master's degrees in related fields supervised by licensed professionals.

Requires licensed child daycare facilities to utilize positive behavior management strategies, develop expulsion and suspension guidelines, and requires the State Department of Social Services to issue implementation guidance by July 1, 2022.