Issue #6                                          February 5, 2018
"Children Learning, Parents Earning, Communities Growing"
CAPPA is pleased to continue our monthly "Featured Agency" segment to highlight amazing work being done by Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) child development contractors throughout the state of California. From border-to-border, APPs support working families and children with services to support self-sufficiency, stability of children in child care, and a host of services coordinated to help break the cycle of poverty.  Many APPs also have been called on to serve as a community life-support of information and resources during natural disasters.  We are pleased to continue this tradition and bring focus to the untapped potential that is the 40 plus year APP community-based system. 

If you would like to be featured please email us by  clicking here!  
  February 2018 Featured Agency of the Month!
Kings Community Action Organization (KCAO)
Kings Community Action Organization (KCAO) is a community based non-profit organization established in 1965 pursuant to the federal legislation "Economic Opportunity Act of 1964". KCAO serves children, families, and providers across Kings County with a variety of services with our mission to develop self-sufficiency. With over 240 employees and 500 volunteer we are committed to improving our communities and demonstrate our passion through daily interactions with families and community partners.  KCAO is often referred to as the "hub of Kings County" as our mixed funding of Federal, State and local funding allows us to provide an array of services that can be accessed in one location. When families walk into KCAO looking for child care here is all the services they will find in our 5 departments:
  • The Child Care Assistance Program offers numerous resources in the areas of child care consumer education, placement into subsidized child care, starting or enhancing their child care business, and promoting early childhood education. Programs include:  The Alternative Payment Program, CalWORKs Stage 1, 2, & 3, Kettleman City Family Resource Center, and Resource & Referral.
  • The KCAO Head Start and Child Development Department operates the following programs: Regional Head Start, Early Head Start, Migrant & Seasonal Head Start, Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership, California State Preschool Program, and General Child Care and Development program.
  • The Home and Energy Department focuses on conserving energy, water, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and addresses health and safety issues in the home. Through these programs, families are assisted in receiving money towards their utility bill and health and safety concerns to include areas such as new air conditioners, heaters, hot water heaters, windows, doors, and smoke and carbon detectors.
  • The Intervention, Prevention, and Support Services Department is responsible for keeping Kings County safe and helping those with problems related to sexual assault, domestic violence, and homelessness. Programs include: Adolescent Family Life Program (AFLP)/Cal Learn, Domestic Violence Assistance Program, Rape Crisis Program, Every Door Open, Youth LEAD, and the Barbara Saville Shelter.
  • The Nutrition Education and Hunger Prevention Department (NEHP) consists of the following programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed), Day Care Homes Food Program (CACFP), and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). 
*Big THANK YOU to Ruth Rodriguez for the submission.
Quick Links
CAPPA's
2017-18 Board of Directors
President
Rick Richardson
 Child Development Associates

Vice President
Karen Marlatt
Valley Oak Children's Services

Treasurer
Beth Chiaro
Child Care Resource Center 

Secretary
LaVera Smith
Supportive Services Fresno

Past President
Martin Castro
Mexican American Opportunity Foundation
Public Policy Co-Chair
Jeffrey Moreira
Crystal Stairs, Inc.

Public Policy Co-Chair
Phillip Warner
Children's Council San Francisco 

Members-at-Large
Tina Barna
Choices for Children

Abby Shull
YMCA Childcare Resource Service 
 
Amanda Al Fartosi
KinderCare Education

Jeanne Fridolfs
Community Resources for Children
 
Mike Michelon
Siskiyou Child Care Council

Marco Jimenez
Central Valley Children's Services Network

Jasmine Tijerino
San Mateo 4Cs

Michelle Graham
Children's Resource & Referral of Santa Barbara County

Joie Owen
Glenn County Office of Education

Denyne Micheletti Colburn
CAPPA CEO
EESD/CDE, DSS & CCLD Updates
January 31, 2018
12-month Eligibility Regulation Input:
The Budget Act of 2017 requires the CDE to convene a workgroup to solicit input for developing regulations regarding the provisions of California Education Code 8263(h), 12-month eligibility. In order to garner as much input as possible, the EESD Policy Office has opened an e-mail address to gather input/recommendations from any interested party. Please e-mail your input/recommendations to EESDTitle5@cde.ca.gov. This e-mail address will be available until the close of business on Wednesday, February 28, 2018.

January 25, 2018
A manual letter (
EAS-18-03
) containing amendments to the California Department of Social Services' Eligibility and Assistance Manual has been uploaded onto the Department's website.   
January 24, 2018
The California Department of Social Services has scheduled a public hearing for March 14, 2018, to receive testimony on the CalWORKs Income or Household Composition Reporting, ORD No. 0717-18, regulations package.  Details can be found by clicking Here.
January 20, 2018
A manuel letter containing revisions CDSS' Eligibility and Assistance Standards Manual has been uploaded onto the Departments' website. Click here
 for more information.
January 12, 2018
CDSS has scheduled a public hearing for February 28, 2018, to receive testimony on the "CalWORKs Program: Subsidized Employment, Approved Career Pathways and Post-Aid Services" regulations package.
Click Here  for more information.  
December 29, 2017
ALL COUNTY LETTER (ACL) 17-125.  Guidance exempts benefits and related allowances received from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for education, training, vocation or rehabilitation from consideration as income when determining CalWORKs eligibility and calculating grant amounts for veterans, dependents of veterans and spouses, under specified circumstances.
Job Openings

Is Your Organization Hiring?
Post your job announcement here for thousands to see!
There is no charge for CAPPA members.
Non-members will be charged a fee of $75.
Please email us your posting!
International Institute Los Angeles
UC Berkeley
Solano Family & Children's Services 
North Coast Opportunities-Lake County
Children's Council of San Francisco
Child Care Coordinating Council, Inc. of San Mateo County
International Institute Los Angeles

Go Kids, Inc., Gilroy

Teacher Assistant
International Institute of Los Angeles

Child Development Inc. is Hiring! See the Recruitment Flyer  Here.
Announcements
NEW! All new AP branding templates  from CAPPA's Branding Committee are now available for CAPPA members. 

NEW!
Self-Care is Not Selfish 


CAPPA Member Benefit
Constant Contact helps small businesses do more business! CAPPA members have access to Constant Contact email marketing system at up to 25% off.
Send emails, run promotions, and get feedback, all from one easy-to-use account. Email marketing can help you build stronger relationships with your clients, so they keep coming back. Need help? Constant Contact's award-winning coaches are just a phone call away to make sure you succeed. 

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support CAPPA every time you shop.  When you shop at  smile.amazon.com , you'll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to CAPPA. 
If interested, you can also sign up for an Amazon Business account for free. This is similar to a Prime account and will give you free 2-day shipping. You can learn more  Here.
Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you for your support! 
Field Happenings!
The CAPPA Board has made it a priority to support our field with a coordinated calendar to note upcoming statewide conferences, federal conferences of relevance, CDE and DSS stakeholder meetings and legislative and budget deadlines and hearings. 
  • Community Resources for Children
         For the Love of Reading: The 7th Annual Family Literacy Night!     February 23rd
    for this FREE event. 
     
  • Valley Oak Children's Services' benefit concert to support their Butte Parent Cafe Program 
    February 24th in Chico Get tickets Here.  
     
  • 4Cs of Alameda County offering Tax Preparation Services  Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) provides free tax preparation services for eligible low and moderate income families. February 1st-April 12th. Learn More Here.
  • Click here to see the calendar.
  • If you have news to share or an event you want added to CAPPA's website Calendar, email us!
CAPPA Monday Morning Update Partner






Our Monday Morning Update supports our Early Learning & Child Care field with timely information about what is going on in California and nationally; as well as dates to be aware and upcoming events. 

Our weekly (50 times per year) Monday morning distribution is to more than 4,000 federal and state local agencies, resource and referrals, contractors, legislators and their staffs', centers, parents, providers, state departments and advocates.  

To help support the continuation of this resource and or advertise in the Monday Morning Update, click  HERE. 

You can also make a donation to CAPPA and CAPPA Children's Foundation
The Children's Foundation is a non-profit organization (501(c)3), Taxpayer Identification Number is 
03-0521444. Your generous donation is tax deductible.
What's Happening
California 
State Legislation 
This week, California Assembly and Senate floor sessions will convene on Monday and Thursday. 

To date, for the 2017-18 Legislative Session, the California State Assembly has introduced 2,012 Assembly Bills (including 279 new ones in 2018) and the State Senate has introduced 982 Senate Bills (including 165 in 2018). 
 
Click here   to see all of the legislation that has been identified to be of interest to our field. You can find fact sheets and sample letter templates when available. On this page, CAPPA will also note legislative hearings of interest to our field.  To track and/or review legislation or to create your own tracking list,  click here.  

Some bills that have been identified as being of interest to the child care and early education field are as follows:
  • AB 1883 (Weber) Child care and development services: military families: alternative payment programs.   *CAPPA sponsored bill.  This bill would clarify that military basic allowance for housing (BAH) of a person who is on state or federal active duty, active duty for special work, or Active Guard and Reserve duty in the military not be considered income for purposes of determining child care eligibility.  This change is consistent with the IRS that also lists BAH as one of the tax-exempt military allowances not considered as earned income when determining eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Head Start and other assistance programs.  
  • AB 605 (Mullin) Day care center: birth to first grade license option - This bill would create a single integrated license for child care centers thus reducing vacancies and enabling the current system to serve more children.  BACKGROUND:  In the 1970s, California led the nation in creating a licensing system for community care facilities, and pioneered recognition of the special needs of infants and toddlers with a license distinct from that of preschool-age care. While the standard of care in California statute remains appropriate, the bifurcation of early care licensing in California into two separate licenses is unnecessary and problematic. California is one of only two states in the country which employ a separate infant-toddler license, and family child care providers are not subject to the dual-license requirement.  
  • AB-1754 (McCarty) Pre-K for All Act of 2018 -  Pre-K for All Act of 2018.  The intent of this bill is to to ensure a fair start to all low-income children by providing quality early care and education for all low-income children whose families wish to enroll them in early care and education programs.
  • AB 2001 (Reyes) Family Child Care Education Networks - Existing law requires family child network programs to maintain assessments of family child care home providers to ensure high-quality, educational, and developmentally appropriate services are being provided. This bill seeks to 
    require that tools used to make these assessments be appropriate to family child care  home  settings, and would require a family child care  home   education  network program to include the maintenance of a developmental portfolio for each child, as provided, and opportunities for parent involvement.  This bill also would impose additional requirements on those contractors, including that the developmental profiles specified above be completed in accordance with the provider's observations, and that those contractors conduct site visits and offer training and technical assistance, as specified.  The bill would also impose various duties on family child care  home   education  network providers, including requiring those providers to adopt and use a curriculum and to provide age- and developmentally-appropriate  education al activities for children.  
  • SB-837 (Dodd) Transitional kindergarten: enrollment for 4-year-olds - This bill is seeking to expand enrollment in Transitional Kindergarten to younger 4-year-olds.This bill would require progressively younger 4-year-old pupils to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by a school district or charter school, as provided, until, in the 2022-23 school year and each school year thereafter, the bill would require all 4-year-old pupils to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program maintained by a school district or charter school. The bill would authorize, from the 2015-16 school year to the 2021-22 school year, inclusive, a 4-year-old child who is not required to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program to be admitted to a transitional kindergarten program, as provided. 
Upcoming Dates of Importance:
  • February 16: Last day to introduce bills 
For child care and early education, our need and our ask is quite simple... 

WHAT DO WE WANT...CHILD CARE SLOTS!!!
WHEN DO WE WANT THEM...NOW!!!
  • Parents need access to 24 hour/7 days per week affordable child care options that meet the demands of full time employment.
  • Children need stable and enriching child care settings to attain greater educational outcomes.
  • Child care providers and teachers need to be reimbursed livable rates that value their profession and economic contributions.
  • Employers need a reliable workforce.
Click here to read CAPPA's "ask" paper.  CAPPA's priorities are:
  1. To increase the number of and access to subsidized child care slots to address a huge unmet need for working families - 
    In 2015, an estimated 1.5 million children from birth through age 12 were eligible for care, according to a Budget Center analysis of federal survey data. In California's Alternative Payment voucher program and General Child Care there are fewer than 33,000 child care slots allocated to support working poor families. 
  2. Building   workforce  capacity of providers with livable rates that are at least comparable to the minimum wage
    The fact is that infant and toddler care is an extremely low profit area.  For a child care provider, costs are high when factoring in housing, supplies, insurance and labor.  State law requires that child care center providers maintain a ratio of one staff member for every four children under 18 months and one staff member to every six children who are under 18 months to three years.  The ratio is one staff member to every 12 children for preschool aged three and four.
    In California, the state's minimum wage is increased to $11.00 per hour beginning January 1, 2018.  Infant/toddler full time child care rates vary from region to region, but average $9.16 an hour in a child care center, $5.70 an hour in a family child care home, and $3.99 in a family, friend and neighbor licensed-exempt care.  
  3. To v alue all child care and early education providers and centers with rates that recognize the value of their contributions to children, while meeting the financial requirements of operating small businesses as state and local minimum wage increases
Click here to read CAPPA Policy Principles & Goals: Partnering in 2017-18.   To help support a coordinated ask from our field, CAPPA will contribute to the development of talking papers, sign on communications, and more.   The more coordinated we are in our asks and priorities, the better the outcomes for families and children.

State Budget Update
will be available to CAPPA Members and subscribers only.  On this new and improved webpage, CAPPA will begin hosting enhanced budget information and strategic communications.  Annual subscriptions will be available to non-members for $50/year. 

On Wednesday, January 10, Governor Brown released his 
proposed budget for 2018-19.   Click here to read the summary and here for detail.

FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE BUDGET, VISIT OR SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BUDGET WEBPAGE.

Sharing from our partners:


2018 California Children's Report Card
A review of kids' well-being & roadmap for the future

By Ted Lempert, President, Children Now

It's clear that California needs to do more invest in kids in the early years. Children Now recently released its  2018 California Children's Report Card,  which grades the state on its current ability to support strong outcomes for children pre-natal to age 26 on 25 key education, health and child welfare areas from our early childhood to our higher education systems. The Report highlights how the state is missing the mark for California's infants and toddlers. Among the Report's alarming statistics is that 62% of our more than 1.5 million infants and toddlers are born into low-income households. And unfortunately these children are less likely to have access to early supports that can help them thrive and reach their full potential, which ultimately undermines the success of the state's economic and civic future.
What is disappointing to see is the state's lack of investment and progress in reforming systems to ensure every kid is safe, well educated, and healthy. With the challenges that our country has faced over the last year, many of which threaten the majority of our children from achieving their full potential, California should be doing all it can to prioritize kids. If we don't ensure equal opportunity for all kids -- no matter their race, immigration status, socioeconomic status, zip code or placement in the child welfare system - we will not succeed as a state.
If we want to address the cycle of poverty and kids to ultimately succeed, we need to invest early. Disparities in achievement and opportunity open early in children's lives and, once present, are more difficult to resolve and more likely to persist throughout childhood and adulthood. Yet the state is failing our youngest kids, allocating far too few resources to the critical and formative early years. High-quality child care services are out of reach for many struggling families. The average cost of child care exceeds the cost of UC tuition; only 14 percent of eligible infants and toddlers are enrolled in a publicly-supported child care program; and on average child care providers are paid less than a third of the salary of other public employees.
The good news is we know how to help our kids. The Report calls on the state's leaders to create public policy change to scale innovative, high-impact programs, and secure resources and reforms to provide equitable opportunities from the very start of a child's life through young adulthood. You too play an important role in improving outcomes for kids. We encourage you to use this document as a guide to develop solutions at the local level and engage in advocacy efforts at the state level. If you have any questions on the report, please contact Kate Miller at kmiller@childrennow.org .

Federal
Poor kids do not have a voice in Washington-only you can force Congress to do the right thing.

This is a classic political trick: Congress funded CHIP to appease voters, but slashed the budget for the community health centers where CHIP recipients actually get their health care. Unless Congress acts soon, these clinics-which serve low-income and rural Americans-may be forced to close.

Tell Congress to keep community health centers open.

They can congratulate themselves all they want, but partial, temporary funding for CHIP is not going to do enough to protect children's health when tens of millions of Americans find their primary health care centers shuttered or hobbled.  Click here to sign.

FREE WEBINAR:  Strategies for Building and Financing the Supply of High Quality Early Learning Webinar Series: Webinar 2 Identifying, Mapping and Alleviating Child Care Deserts
You are invited to attend the second webinar in the series on Strategies for Building and Financing the Supply of High Quality Early Learning to be held on February 13th at 2 pm ET. This webinar will focus on 
Identifying, Mapping and Alleviating Child Care Deserts.

What are child care deserts? How do we recognize them and what communities do they impact? Through data-driven analysis, the scope of child care undersupply is coming into focus. Participants will hear findings from two research organizations that are charting the child care desert landscape. This workshop will feature an interactive demonstration, how-to tips, strategies for using desert maps to drive advocacy, and a discussion about child care in Latino communities-which are frequently child care deserts. Input will be shared from leaders in states that have successfully alleviated their own child care deserts.    Click here to register.

SNAP Linked to Better Health and Lower Health Care Costs
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is associated with better health and lower health care costs, according to a growing body of evidence that we summarize in a new paper.

Food insecurity - i.e., lack of access to enough food at any point during the year - is linked to a number of negative health outcomes, such as increased risk of chronic health conditions, and higher health care costs.

By providing income to enable households to better afford food, which reduces the stress of food insecurity and frees up money to spend on their health, SNAP may offer participants a path to better health.


Just the Facts: The CalWORKs Program.
  • CalWORKs is a key component of California's safety net for low-income families. 
    Established in 1998, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program provides cash assistance to very low-income families with few assets. Most eligible parents must make progress toward finding and keeping a job or face loss of their grant; children remain eligible regardless of their parents' program status. As of 2017, the vast majority (81.4%) of CalWORKs recipients are children. CalWORKs is jointly funded by federal, state, and county governments.
  • The federal block grant results in choices and constraints. 
    Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) allocates federal funding through block grants, which give states latitude in spending.
    In 2016-17, California used 65% ($2.43 billion) of its TANF funding for CalWORKs, along with $2.78 billion from state and county sources; the remaining 35% was used for other purposes, including $926 million for Cal Grants financial aid to college students. But block grants do not increase when more families qualify for assistance, and federal funding has remained flat-or declined, in inflation-adjusted terms-since TANF was enacted in 1996. During and after the 2007-09 recession, state lawmakers cut cash grants and trimmed work requirements to manage increased need. In 2013, policymakers revamped work requirements and increased funding for related work services; some of the cuts to grants were also reversed.
  • CalWORKs is among the state's most effective anti-poverty programs. 
    The California Poverty Measure (CPM) estimates that, in the absence of CalWORKs, 439,200 more Californians (225,000 adults and 214,200 children) would be in poverty and 186,400 more would be in deep poverty (91,600 adults and 94,900 children). These estimates include both CalWORKs recipients and family members who share resources. One of the goals of CalWORKs is to reduce child poverty;  its statewide impact-a 2.3 percentage point reduction-ranks third among large-scale safety net programs. CalFresh food assistance and the federal EITC each mitigate child poverty by 4 percentage points-and each provides more total benefits than CalWORKs. CalWORKs tends to lower poverty more in inland areas and less in coastal counties.
Of Interest
Upcoming CAPPA Events 

CAPPA Insights and Advocacy Calls:
Members Only Conference Calls
February 14, 2018
10:00am - 10:30am
in partnership with:

Topic: Starting Now: A Policy Vision for Supporting Healthy Growth and Development of Every California Baby

Presented by: Stacy Lee, Managing Director, Early Childhood Project Integration, Children Now

Join us for an ALL NEW Insights and Advocacy Conference Call. 
 
Topics will vary from month to month and will include: relevant legislation, budget updates, caucus priorities, reports from policy experts and more.  The purpose of these calls is to share information that is relevant to our field to our members. 
 
For this call, Stacy Lee, Managing Director, Early Childhood Project Integration from Children Now will provide the field with an overview of Children Now's report "Starting Now: A Policy Vision for Supporting Healthy Growth and Development of Every California Baby and their research and work being done on home visiting and developmental screening. Key messages will be framed to tie this information into the world of Child Care and Early Education. 
 

CAPPA Statewide Meeting-in partnership with CDE
April 5, 2018
Pomona Unified School District
1444 E. Holt Avenue 
Pomona, CA 91767
Entrance 1 
9:30am-2:30pm
CAPPA, in partnership with CDE, will be hosting a one-day informational training for our field in Pomona on April 5th.
This Statewide Meeting will bring our field together to share insights and experiences, explore ideas, shape policy, and discuss best practices.
All three workshops below will be presented by Field Services staff at CDE.
Agenda:
9:00am
Registration
9:30am-11:00am
 Improper Payment Elimination and Recovery Act Results
 The purpose of this informational session is to present information and results regarding the Improper Payments and Elimination Recovery Act (IPERA) review for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2015-16.
11:00am-12:30pm
 Overview of the Alternative Payment, CalWORKs Child Care and Family Child Care Home Education Networks Review Guide
This workshop presents an overview of the Alternative Payment review guide and provides clear written information that will be used in Alternative Payment monitoring reviews.
12:30pm
Lunch
1:00pm-2:30pm
 Attendance Recording, Reporting and Provider Payments (Alternative Payment Programs)
This workshop presents an overview of the changes to attendance reporting as prescribed in AB 274. It will provide information on provider payment requirements and parent and provider responsibilities for attendance recording for reimbursements, proration, monthly maximums, provider examples of actual calculations and how to deal with oddities like if hourly rates exceed daily rates.

Interested in sponsoring this event?  Learn more  HERE.

We look forward to seeing you!

Register Today for an Entire Year's Worth of Training!

 
All New Early Learning & Child Care Webinar Series for 2018!
Build or Add to your 
Resource Library!
This is Your Opportunity  to Receive Professional  Development in a Format  Convenient to You. 
CAPPA Children's Foundation, in partnership with MCT  Technology, brings you an ALL NEW Series of trainings, all for one low price per center or program location. 
 View the webinar series and be connected without ever leaving your location. This is a fabulous opportunity to train staff, providers and the community on the most requested child care topics for 2018 at an affordable price in an incredibly convenient format. 

Click Here  to see more details, topics and to  register for the all new 2018 series.

The 2010- 2017 series' are still available for purchase. Purchase the 2010, 2011 and 2012 webinar CDs for 50% off!!  For more information or to view past topics,  Click Here.
Field Events

 Join Us in Advocating for Our State's
Youngest Learners!
We are excited to have Senator Connie M. Leyva and Kristin Shumacher, Budget Analyst for the California Budget Policy Center, join us for the annual Early Learning Advocacy Day on March 1, in Sacramento, California. 

This all-day event will bring together early learning advocates from across California to "Seize the Moment for California's Youngest Children" and brief state legislators on why high-quality early learning programs are an essential investment for California and the nation.

Take the opportunity to:
  • Participate in small-group visits with state legislators
  • Learn about innovation in early learning taking place throughout California
  • Meet and network with other early learning advocates
ELAD Meeting Location: California District Attorneys Association, Sacramento, CA