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"Children Learning, Parents Earning, Communities Growing"
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CAPPA's monthly "Featured Agency" segment will 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.
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Stanislaus County Office of Education- Child & Family Services
The fundamental work of the
Child & Family Services Division
is distinct and focuses on the period of life where the foundation for future success is built; ages zero to five. It's the time when the brain grows the most, where support and early intervention makes a huge difference for children and their families, and where the investments you make pay off. Child & Family Services gives children a head start in school, work, and life by educating children, supporting parents, and developing the professionals who work with them.
Child & Family Services receives funding for the following programs that serve children, their parents/guardians, and the professionals who work with them:
Alternative Payment Program
Helps families arrange child care services and makes payment for those services directly to the child care provider selected by the family. The program is intended to increase parental choice and accommodate the individual needs of the family. Child care arrangements can be made as in-home care, family child care, and center-based care.
California State Preschool - Part Day and Full Day
Part-day and full-day preschool that provides a core class curriculum that is developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate for the children served. The program also provides meals and snacks to children, parent education, referrals to health and social services for families, and staff development opportunities to employees.
California State Preschool Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS)
Assesses program quality of California State Preschool programs and supports continuous quality improvement for participating programs and their staff.
California Transitional Kindergarten Stipend
Provides professional development cash stipends for teachers to obtain 24 college units in early childhood education, child development, or both.
Child and Adult Care Food Program
Financial aid for licensed child care centers and family child care homes. The object of the program is to support improved diets of children under 13 years of age by providing the children with nutritious, well-balanced meals and to help children develop good eating habits that will last through later years.
Child Care Development Block Grant, Health and Safety and Infant Toddler Resource
Provides funds to support required health and safety and infant/toddler training for staff.
Child Care Initiative Project
Recruits, trains, and retains licensed family child care providers. Improves the training capacity of the Child Care Resource & Referral program and enhances professional development activities.
Stanislaus County Child Care Resource & Referral Program
Help parents find child care that best meets their family needs; documents parents' requests for child care services; maintains comprehensive databases of child care providers in their communities, including licensed family child care homes and child care centers; track providers' licensing status, the languages they speak, the age groups they serve, the schedules they offer, and the number of spaces available in centers or family child care homes; works with providers to improve the quality of child care and to maintain and expand the supply of child care in each county; provides training and other services that help providers stay in business; compiles and disseminates information on the statewide supply and demand for child care; and educates local communities and leaders to understand child care issues and to plan effectively to address child care needs. Area Served:
Stanislaus County Child Care Salary and Retention Incentive
Assists with improving the retention of qualified early education staff who work directly with children in state funded early education services.
Stanislaus County Child Care and Development Local Planning Council
Supports the overall coordination of child care services. Conduct assessments of county child care needs and to prepares plans to address identified needs. These assessments must contain information on the supply and demand for child care, including the need for both privately paid and publically funded care.
Early Head Start
Provides early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services to infants and toddlers and their families, and pregnant women and their families. Offered in child care centers and as a home based program.
Early Head Start - Child Care Partnership
Provides early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services to infants and toddlers and their families, and pregnant women and their families. Offered in through child care partners in family child care homes.
Educator Effectiveness
Provides professional development and promotes educator quality and effectiveness.
Harvest of the Month
Partners with local farmer to provide fresh and locally grown fruits and vegetables for children. Provides teacher and family training on incorporating daily physical activity into schedules and healthy cooking.
Head Start
Provides early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services to preschool children and their families. Offered in child care centers.
Infant/Toddler Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS)
Assesses program quality of programs serving infants and toddlers and supports continuous quality improvement for participating programs and their staff.
Migrant and Seasonal Head Start
Provides early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services to infants, toddlers, preschool children and their families. Children must have parents/guardians whose annual income comes primarily from migrant (moved in the last two years) or seasonal agricultural work. Offered in child care centers and in family child care homes.
Migrant Child Care - Part Year and Full Year
Provides child development services to infants, toddlers, and preschool children and their families. Children must have parents/guardians who earn at least 50% of their total gross income from employment in fishing, agriculture or agriculturally related work during the twelve month period. Offered in child care centers.
Migrant Early Head Start
Provides early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services to infants and toddlers and their families, and pregnant women and their families. Pregnant women and children must have parents/guardians whose annual income comes primarily from migrant (moved in the last two years) or seasonal agricultural work. Offered in child care centers and in family child care homes.
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Family Resource and Referral Center-Children and Youth Day Event- May 18, 2019
Family Resource and Referral Center hosts an annual Children and Youth Day event at Pixie Woods at Louis Park in Stockton, CA. Children & Youth Day at Pixie Woods is a free community event for families of San Joaquin County and surrounding areas. This year's theme was Super Heroes and the first 700 hundred children received a free super hero's cape. Businesses and non-profit agencies attend and provide their resources and information on health, literacy, nutrition, physical activity, and each offers a fun activity for the children. Everyone can participate in the mascot parade and dance their way throughout the park with the mascots or join the mascots and staff for music and movement activities, which continues throughout the course of the day. There are activities such as arts and crafts, face painting, and interactions with reptiles. For many children, this is a once a year opportunity to enter the beautiful setting of Pixie Woods free of charge and ride the carousel, train, boat and participate in the many numerous fun activities throughout the day.
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Do you have success news to share with us?! We love to hear what our members are up to and where they're going! Submit your accomplishment(s) big OR small by emailing us!
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CAPPA's
2018-19 Board of Directors
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Rick Richardson
Child Development Associates
Karen Marlatt
Valley Oak Children's Services
Beth Chiaro
Child Care Resource Center
LaVera Smith
Supportive Services Fresno
Martin Castro
Mexican American Opportunity Foundation
Jeffrey Moreira
Crystal Stairs, Inc.
Public Policy Co-Chair
Phillip Warner
Children's Council San Francisco
Tina Barna
Choices for Children
Abby Shull
YMCA Childcare Resource Service
Leslie Reece
Family Resource & Referral of San Joaquin County
Jeanne Fridolfs
Napa County Office of Education
Mike Michelon
Siskiyou Child Care Council
Marco Jimenez
Central Valley Children's Services Network
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
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ELCD/CDE, DSS & CCLD Updates
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Implementing Optional Staff Training Days
State Median Income and Income Ranking Table for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20
MB 19-04:
Family Fee Schedule for Fiscal Year 2019-20
May 14, 2019
Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Services and Adjustment
Factors
The ELCD will host a webinar on
Thursday, March 14, 2019 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to provide technical assistance with the CDMIS.
January 28, 2019
January 4, 2018
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has amended regulations pertaining to CalWORKs, within the Eligibility and Assistance Standards Manual. The changes are detailed in
CDSS Manual Letter No. EAS-18-05
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CAPPA Member Benefits now available on the Members Only website:
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Just added to the Member's only website are webinars on
Adults and Trauma
and an AP 101 webinar on
Enrolling Clients into the CalWORKs Program.
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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.
MCT Technology
Child Care Resource Center
Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, Inc.
Pomona Unified School District- Child Development
Child Care Coordinating Council, Inc. of San Mateo County
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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.
NOTE: If you would like to share your newsletter or items of interest with our field via the Monday morning e-Newsletter, then please
email us
a link. Please make sure that you have a link included to an online version or viewing.
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Become a Monday
Morning
Update
Partner!
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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.
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2019-20 State Budget is Signed!!
Governor Newsom has signed the 2019-20 budget. For detailed information, please click on either the 2019-20 Budget Bill or trailer bill for more details. To see those bills,
click here.
Budget highlights:
- Child Care Access - 12,545 additional child care spaces created for working families.
- 9,459 Alternative Payment Programs (Vouchers) slots - $93.3 million ongoing - $80.5 million in ongoing Proposition 64 funding plus $12.8 million ongoing Federal Child Care Development Block Grant for Alternative Payment slots starting July 1, 2019.
- 3,086 General Child Care slots - $50 million in one-time General Fund for ongoing General Child Care slots (slots to be funded in future years with growth in Proposition 64 funds)
- Preschool Slots and Eligibility - Prioritizes working families for full-time slots and expands eligibility to all families in the school attendance area where 80 percent or more students qualify for free or reduced price meals.
- Provides 10,000 full-day State Preschool slots for non-LEAs beginning April 1, 2020. Allocates $31 million in ongoing non-Proposition 98 General Fund in 2019-20 and approximately $125 million in 2020-21 to annualize these additional slots.
- Child Care and Early Education One-Time Facilities Investment -$245 million in one-time non-Proposition 98 General Fund for the Early Learning and Care Infrastructure Grant Program. Transfers approximately $18 million from the Child Care Facilities Revolving Loan Fund into the Early Learning and Care Infrastructure Grant Program. Allows the Department of Education to use up to 5 percent of the grant funding to contract with financial intermediaries in order to provide technical assistance and support to grantees. Provides up to 5 percent of the grant to support renovation, repair, modernization, or retrofitting to address health and safety or other licensure needs.
- Child Care and Early Education One-Time Workforce Investment - $195 million in one-time General Fund for the Child Care Early Learning and Care Workforce Development Grant. Adopt placeholder trailer bill language to: Expand trainings and support activities to a broad range of providers, Ensure stipends and professional development provided align with the Quality Counts California professional development system.
- Child Care and Early Education Other Investments - $10 million for various departments, including the Department of Education, the Department of Social Services, and the Public Employment Relations Board for data collection and implementation of child care organizing. Approves $10 million to begin a statewide data system for early education. Approve $1 million in ongoing General Fund Support for the Department of Education's Early Learning and Care Division.
- Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) - 3.26 percent COLA for non-Proposition 98
- CalWORKs Stage One Child Care Investments - Approves CalWORKs Stage One twelve month eligibility (SB 321) and $60.6 million General Fund in 2019-20 and $74.2 million ongoing.
- Other Child Care Investments - $10 million General Fund annually for the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program, suspended December 31, 2021.
- Early Learning and Care Master Plan - $5 million in one-time General Fund for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in concurrence with the executive director of the State Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to contract for research on specified areas of the child care and early education system to be completed no later than October 1, 2020.
- After School Education and Safety (ASES) program - $50 million in ongoing Proposition 98 funding to increase rates.
- Kindergarten and Preschool Facilities - $300 million in one-time General Fund for the Full-Day Kindergarten Facilities Grant program.
- Establish the Early Childhood Policy Council - $2.2 million General Fund annually for three years to establish the Early Childhood Policy Council to continue and build on the work of the Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education.
- $10 Million Data Infrastructure One-Time funding
- Implements AB 605 (Mullin), Chapter 574, Statutes of 2018, which requires the CCL to adopt regulations by Jan. 2, 2021 that would create a childcare center license with individual program components that service infant, toddler, preschool, and school age children. Provides $142,000 General Fund for this purpose.
- $50 million in ongoing Proposition 98 funding to increase rates for the After School Education and Safety (ASES) program.
- Legislative intent language - "(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to clarify that the part-time state preschool programs administered by local educational agencies and the After School Education and Safety Program fall within the Proposition 98 minimum guarantee and to fund other childcare programs less directly associated with school districts from appropriations that do not count toward the Proposition 98 minimum guarantee."
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Monday, July 1, 2019:
- SEN Appropriations (Portantino, Chair) 9:00am - Rm 4202
Tuesday, July 2, 2019:
- SEN Elections & Constitutional Amendments (Umberg, Chair) 9:30am - Rm 112
- AB 220 (Bonta) Political Reform Action of 1974: campaign funds: childcare costs
- ASM Human Services (Reyes, Chair) 1:30pm - Rm 437
- SEN Housing (Wiener, Chair) 1:30pm - Rm 4203
Wednesday, July 3, 2019:
- SEN Education (Leyva, Chair) 9:00am - Rm 4203
- AB 842 (Limon) Child nutrition: school, childcare, transitional kindergarten, and preschool meals.
- AB 1172 (Frazier) Special education: nonpublic, nonsectarian schools or agencies
Monday, July 8, 2019:
- SEN Appropriations (Portantino, Chair) 10:00am - Rm 4203
- SEN Human Services (Hurtado, Chair) 3:00pm - Rm 2040
- AB 6 (Reyes) Early childhood education: Early Childhood Education Branch
- AB 324 (Aguiar-Curry) Childcare services: state subsidized care: professional support stipends
Wednesday, July 10, 2019:
- SEN Education (Leyva, Chair) 9:00am - Rm 4203
- ASM Education (O'Donnell, Chair) 1:30pm - Rm 126
Click here
to see all of the legislation identified of interest to our field. Below are a couple of highlights of the results from the recent Appropriations committees:
Click here to see calendar of field events/interests and legislative hearings and deadlines. If you would like something added to the field calendar, click here and submit details.
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PROFILED BILL OF THE WEEK
SB 174 ~ Senator Connie Leyva
The Child Care Stabilization Formula
This bill would replace the current bifurcated child care reimbursement rate system with a single, regionalized reimbursement rate in order to achieve a more equitable system to support children and families.
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Fiscal Year 2019-20 Initial Payments
Dear Executive Directors of Child Care and Development Programs:
The Child Development and Nutrition Fiscal Services (CDNFS) Office is providing you with information about FY 2019-20 initial payment timelines.
Child development contracts must be signed and returned to the CDE Contracts Office prior to initial apportionments being authorized by CDNFS. The CDNFS Office authorizes payment for all executed contracts on July 1, provided that the budget has been enacted.
In previous years, contractors who returned their original contracts prior to the final budget enactment typically received initial apportionments in the second or third week of July. Due to the implementation of a statewide accounting system (FI$Cal) this year, additional time is required by the State Controller's Office (SCO) to set up child development budgets, causing up to a ten-day delay in processing initial apportionments. Initial 2019-20 apportionments will, therefore, be authorized mid-July and are expected to be received by contractors in the last week of July.
As a standard practice, the CDE recommends contractors have three months of operating capital, through cash or a line of credit, to operate their program during the contract period prior to receiving their first apportionments or in the event apportionments are withheld, delayed, or lost in the mail. The CDE will continue to work diligently with the SCO to process payments as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Andrea M. Johnson
Staff Services Manager III
Child Development and Nutrition Fiscal Services
Fiscal and Administrative Services Division
(916) 324-6562
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Contingency Funds Application Process
Dear Alternative Payment Program Contractors:
The purpose of this letter is to provide Alternative Payment Program (CAPP) contractors with information regarding the process to apply for contingency funds.
Pursuant to Education Code Section 8222.1, per the Budget Act of 2018, the California Department of Education (CDE) shall reallocate funds as necessary to reimburse CAPPs for actual and allowable costs incurred for additional services. A CAPP contractor may apply for reimbursement of up to three (3) percent of their contract amount, or for a greater amount subject to the discretion of the Department, based on availability of funds. Applications may be submitted as early as May 1, 2019, but no later than September 30, 2019. The CDE will approve or deny applications submitted pursuant to this section, but will not consider applications received after September 30, 2019, of the current calendar year for additional costs incurred during the 2018-19 fiscal year.
The CDE will distribute reimbursement funds for each approved application within 90 days of receipt of the application if it was filed between May 1 and July 20 inclusive of the current calendar year. Applications received after July 20 are not subject to the 90-day requirement for the distribution of funds. If requests for reimbursement pursuant to this section exceed available funds, CDE will assign priority for reimbursement according to the order in which it receives the applications.
Funds received by a CAPP contractor pursuant to this section that are not substantiated by the program's annual audit must be returned to CDE and are not subject to the appeal process.
If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact me at 916-324-6611, or email JClegg@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
Jordan Clegg, Staff Services Manager I
Child Development & Nutrition Fiscal Services
Fiscal and Administrative Services Division
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SAVE THE DATE- Early Learning and Care Division
This notice informs ELCD contractors of key SAVE THE DATE Request for Applications (RFA) events for the following RFAs:
- The California State Preschool Program (CSPP) Expansion RFA will announce score notifications to applicants by mid-March 2019, and send out Proposed Award Letters in mid-May 2019. The program start date will be June 28, 2019. Please note this date has changed from previous years' start dates.
- The General Child Care and Development (CCTR) RFA will announce score notifications to applicants by mid-March 2019, and send out Proposes Award Letters in mid-May 2019. The program start date will be June 28, 2019. Please note this date has changed from previous years' start dates.
- For all other questions regarding the CSPP RFA, please send an email to CSPPRFA@cde.ca.gov.
- For all other questions regarding the CCTR RFA, please send an email to CCTRRFA@cde.ca.gov.
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Regional Technical Assistance Trainings - Summer 2019
Stanislaus County Office of Education- Child & Family Services
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July 19, 2019
Gilroy
Go Kids, Inc.
9015 Murray Ave. Suite 110
Gilroy, CA 95020
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July 30, 2019
Grass Valley
Sierra Nevada Children's Services
420 Sierra College Drive, Suite 100
Grass Valley, CA 95945
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CAPPA member agencies, with the support of CAPPA & Children's Foundation, are putting together a series of Technical Assistance (TA) trainings that will be
coming to a region near you!
This series will be delivered in a format that is very participatory.
We encourage all participating to come with questions, as well
as samples for each of the topics that will be discussed.
Topics to include:
Best Practices Session (10:00am-11:45am):
- Ongoing Review for Input on Draft GAU Review Guides and pending 12-month Regulations, which are both anticipated to go into effect in October/November.
- Ideas for Procurement process overhaul. This will be a Q&A and open discussion format.
- 12-Month Eligibility in Stage 1. This will be a Q&A and open discussion format.
- How to implement the two-week written notice regulation (AB 603)-Update will also be provided on the CAPPA concerns that are included in the budget conversations.
- Management Bulletins Discussion- We will review those Management Bulletins that you continue to have questions on, including 18-09 & 18-09(a) Electronic Banking & Direct Deposits
- Transfers- This will be a Q&A and open discussion format; Inter-county transfers and clarification on stage 2 transfers to be included
Lunch (11:45am-12:15pm)
CAPPA Budget and Legislative Discussion and Updates
(12:15pm-1:00pm)
- AB 378- Child Care Provider Union Bill
- Variable Work Schedule- is a remedy in site?
Peer-to-Peer Networking Session (1:00pm-2:00pm):
This portion of the agenda will allow attendees to share their successful strategies, tools and ideas.
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CAPPA Training: "Everything Fiscal"
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
9:30am-2:00pm
University of Phoenix
2860 Gateway Oaks Drive
Bldg. B, Ste. 100
Sacramento CA 95833
Classroom #121/122/123
CAPPA will be delivering a training focused specifically on APP fiscal issues on August 14th in Sacramento. Workshops will include "Fiscal Essentials" and a Q&A and open discussion session with CDE Fiscal and Agency Projections so that agencies can better monitor their contracts and also learn best practices!
9:30am-10:45am
Fiscal Essentials, CDE
CDNFS representatives will present a variety of fiscal topics affecting Alternative Payment contracts, including CalWORKs Stage 2, Stage 3 and CAPP. A wide variety of topics will be covered including the importance of reporting caseload and expenditure data accurately, how reported data affects projected earnings, payments and future year funding. Additionally, this presentation will include information regarding reporting procedures related to multiyear contracting for CAPP contracts. Whether the attendee is new to the agency or a seasoned accountant, everyone will benefit from this session.
10:45am-12:00pm
Fiscal Q&A Session
This session is all about getting your fiscal questions answered! This session will provide attendees the opportunity to get their questions answered, learn more about the topic as it relates to their circumstances and to get clarification. We ask that you submit your questions ahead of time so that we can plan this session and make it a valuable opportunity that will allow attendees to deepen their understanding of a specific topic.
Please submit your fiscal questions to CAPPA.
12:00pm-12:30pm
Lunch
12:30pm-2:00pm
Fiscal Projections:
Sean Tubridy, YMCA Childcare Resource Service; Michelle Ruggles, Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County (4Cs), and others TBA
Come prepared to hear how some agencies are doing their budget projections in light of 12-month eligibility, and data and trends that ought to be considered as part of any budget forecasting exercise. This workshop will help you better monitor your contracts and learn best practices that work efficiently. This workshop will take you step by step with interactive worksheets and templates.
**In the last part of this workshop, we will be breaking everyone into groups based on the system they use for projections. This will give attendees a chance to network with others that are using a similar method and make contact with someone they could follow-up with if they want more time to discuss.**
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Network and CAPPA Joint Annual Conference 2019
October 2-4, 2019
DoubleTree Hotel Sacramento
Sacramento, CA
The California Child Care Resource & Referral Network and the California Alternative Payment Program Association look forward to hosting our 7th Joint Conference together this fall.
We are offering an Agency pre-payment option and it is being provided for agencies that would like to pay their 2019 Conference Registration Fees in advance. The preliminary program and final conference registration form, including the ability to list all conferees individually and to select workshops, will be released later in July.
We are hard at work creating a conference program that includes a variety of workshops to meet the needs of staff working with parents; staff providing training and technical assistance to child care providers; staff administering AP programs, program staff-supervisors; managers and directors.
Please click:
http://www.rsvpbook.com/prepayjointAC19
for general information about the conference and if your agency would like to pre-pay for the 2019 Joint Network/CAPPA Conference. Pre-payment for The Joint Annual Conference is Due by Friday, June 28th.
Partnership Information:
Exhibitor and Sponsor Information is now available!
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Building blocks: California's proposed
early education legislation
California is on the brink of making huge investments in young children. EdSource is tracking 27 early childhood bills introduced in the Legislature this session that focus on a host of issues, from expanding paid family leave to improving access to preschool. This list will be updated as the bills make their way through the Legislature.
Click here full full article and link to legislation.
California finally to move ahead with 'cradle to career' data system
With $10 million in funding, an ambitious timeline and a champion in Gov. Gavin Newsom behind it, the Legislature is poised this week to pass legislation for a statewide education data system that will follow children from infancy through the workplace.
The marching order for what Newsom is calling a Cradle to Career Data System is included in a lengthy bill elaborating on the 2019-20 state budget for education. It lays out steps over the next 18 months that will determine what the system will look like, how it will be governed, who will have access to data and how privacy and security will be handled.
As of 2016, California was
one of only eight states
that either didn't have or wasn't building a "longitudinal" data system.
The Senate passed
Assembly Bill 75 with no discussion on Monday; the Assembly is expected to follow suit no later than Thursday.
California's community colleges, the University of California, California State University and K-12, through a system known as CALPADS, already have comprehensive, though separate, data operations. But only by linking the systems, tracking students' student outcomes as they move through school, will legislators, educators, researchers and the public begin to answer fundamental policy questions, such as:
- Are early education investments paying off long-term as students progress through education systems and the workforce?
- Are community college reforms increasing completion rates at CSU and UC?
- How prepared are high school students to succeed in college? Which career-technical education programs in high school lead to more college degrees, workplace certifications and higher pay?
- What are the long-term effects of access to state financial aid?
Legislators, college and school administrators and boards of trustees can use answers to these and other questions to implement effective education policies and set funding priorities. Parents can use information to choose programs and schools for their children.
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They May Be in Demand, But Child Care Workers Still Struggle to Make Ends Meet
There's an overwhelming demand for child care in California but not enough people who provide it. The industry is notorious for offering low pay and long hours. Several bills pending in the Legislature seek to address these problems, including one that would let in-home providers unionize.
It's a measure that longtime in-home provider Pat Alexander is passionate about.
Alexander runs
Alexander Preschool and Child Care out of her home in Elk Grove (Sacramento County). On a recent morning, a group of 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds work on getting their wiggles out before breakfast. The kids alternate between dancing around and falling to the ground in time with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."
As the kids dance, Alexander, better known as Miss Pat, gets the food together in her small kitchen. When it's time to eat, her husband, known as Mr. Ed, gets everyone settled at miniature tables and begins doling out waffles and sausages.
It's controlled chaos, but Alexander is used to it. She's been in the child care business for a long time.
"It'll be 49 years next month," she said.
"And that doesn't count my before-hours or my after-hours," she said. "This morning I was up at 6 o'clock getting ready for the kids to be here at 7. And then at night we're putting things away and cleaning up, and the weekends grocery shopping."
Alexander, who will be 69 in August, was planning to retire next year.
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Are you an advocate or activist? Do you work in a non-profit organization focused on racial, economic, or gender justice? Are you looking to get more experience, for you and your organization, advocating for policies that create systemic change at the state level? We are happy to announce that we're accepting applications for the 2019-2020 cohort of our Women's Policy Institute-State Fellowship! WPI State is open to cisgender and transgender women, non-binary and genderqueer people, and transgender men.
Want to know more? We've set up a series of informational webinars, where you'll have the chance to hear from a current fellow as well as WPI staff and ask questions about the program and application process.
Sign up for an informational webinar now! The deadline to apply to the 2020 WPI-State class is Thursday, July 18 noon PST. We encourage you to check out our Application Page and FAQ with any questions or concerns or to discuss your application.
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Our FY2020 CCDBG Ask
Last year, thanks to advocates like you, we saw the biggest increase ever for the Child Care Development Block Grant. However, much more is needed to help thousands of new children and families gain access to high-quality, affordable care.
Therefore, we are going even bolder and asking Congress for what we need: A $5 billion increase for CCDBG. This critical funding will continue to assist states, providers, and parents to ensure young children are in healthy, thriving learning environments that will help them prepare school and succeed later in life.
To make this happen, we need your help! Contact your delegation today and call on them to support a $5 billion increase for CCDBG. Our children and families need it!
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Working Families Are Spending Big Money on Child Care
American families are struggling with the costs of child care-a key element in the ever-rising expenses associated with middle-class opportunity. Quality, affordable child care allows parents who want to work to stay in the labor force, encourages the healthy development of young children, and supports families at a stage in their lives during which small investments return large social dividends. Absent large-scale policy action on this issue, young adults have reported child care expenses as the top reason they are having fewer children than they would like. In fact, in 2018, the U.S. fertility rate fell to a record low for the third straight year, falling below the replacement rate needed to keep the population constant from one generation to the next.
For those who do have young children, parenthood in the United States can feel like a relentless series of financial challenges. Over the past two decades, middle-class wages have barely kept pace with the rate of inflation, while the costs of securing a family in the middle class-including the necessary costs of housing, education, health care, and child care-have risen considerably. During this same time, income inequality has escalated, with wealth and incomes for the top 1 percent and the upper middle class pulling away from the rest of Americans.
Under the current policies, most parents must cover the full cost of child care on their own, an expense that few can afford. Even low-income families-whose children likely qualify for child care assistance-are often forced to pay for child care, since fewer than 1 in 6 subsidy-eligible children receives assistance. Meanwhile, to the extent that child care is affordable for parents at all, this is only because the child care workforce effectively subsidizes child care costs with low worker wages. The typical U.S. child care worker earns just $11 per hour.
In reality, most young children have working parents, making child care integral to family life. To understand better the cost burden on families and the types of arrangements that parents make to manage financially, this issue brief examines recent data on child care payments and patterns that provide insight into the types of child care that families use. This issue brief reports findings from a new analysis of child care spending data from the most recent wave of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), released in May 2019. This nationally representative survey, designed and implemented annually by the U.S. Census Bureau, offers broad-ranging, detailed information on households' income dynamics, assets, health insurance, employment, participation in assistance programs, and child care arrangements, among other subjects. The author analyzed family incomes, demographics, child care spending, and the number and types of child care arrangements used by families with at least one child under age 5.
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Is It Time For Government To
Offer Universal Family Care?
Consider the possible hefty caregiving needs and costs over an adult's lifetime:
- Early child care and education runs nearly $10,000 annually for the parent of a toddler, on average.
- Family caregivers spend roughly $7,000 on caregiving costs, on average, according to AARP.
- The federal law requiring many employers to provide family and medical leave is unpaid leave - and 40% of workers are excluded. So if most workers take a leave to care for a loved one, they face significant wage loss. They might lose their job, too.
- One in two people turning 65 today will need long-term care at some point; of those who'll have significant long-term care needs, the average cost will be $266,000.
Is it time for the government to offer Americans a Universal Family Care program that would help adults of all ages shoulder caregiving costs? The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), a big-ideas nonpartisan nonprofit, thinks so and just published a 297-page report laying out the way this novel, if provocative, idea could work.
"How we view these issues often gets us in trouble. We parse them into separate pieces," said Marc Cohen, chair of the NASI Long-Term Services and Supports Working Group. "What we did is say: 'Wait. Care needs really span the lifespan. Is there a way to think about this in a more holistic way?'"
How Universal Family Care Would Work
NASI's 29 care-policy experts spent a year working on that, resulting in its
Universal Family Care idea and report. Universal Family Care would provide benefits for child care, paid family and medical leave and long-term care, and would be designed and offered by states through "social insurance pools," with funding largely from residents.
Heidi Hartmann, chair of the Early Child Care and Education/Paid Family and Medical Leave Working Group says the social insurance pool idea has one big advantage over today's fragmented financing system for caregivers: "This is a benefit you will get over your lifetime."
Why do it through states and not through the U.S. government?
"Each state has unique political dynamics and demographics. Some have older populations. Some have more young families," said Benjamin Veghte, the study panel director and NASI's vice president for policy. "We wanted to offer a toolkit to states to pick what works for them."
And states, the NASI report says, have acted as "laboratories of democracy and social policy."
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Checking In on the Child Care Landscape - 2019 State Fact Sheets
Research tells us that quality early childhood education care provides a solid foundation for future success and has long term academic and social benefits for the child and society. The evidence is clear - children who participate in high-quality programs during their early years demonstrate lasting effects on IQ, boosted academic and economic achievement, and lower incidences of childhood obesity and chronic illness. Even so, every state has its own unique child care landscape.
Child Care Aware® of America's 2019 State Fact Sheets
provide an overview of child care availability, quality rating systems, and other programs occurring at the state level. Data was gathered from federal and national sources and from our state Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agency networks and other state-level contacts surveyed in 2019. Please join us in spreading the word about child care facts in your state.
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