"Children Learning, Parents Earning, Communities Growing"
November 2, 2020 | Issue #44
CAPPA's monthly "Featured Agency" segment will continue for 2020, highlighting the 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!
November 2020 Featured Agency of the Month
Options for Learning
Options for Learning has been serving children and families since 1981. As a nonprofit child care and early learning agency, Options for Learning has been at the forefront of helping families either break the cycle of poverty, or improve their lives, by providing children and families with the tools to create a positive foundation for school, social and life success.
Options for Learning provides child development, child care and after-school programs that prepare infants, toddlers, preschool and school-aged children for the challenges of tomorrow. Consistently ranked as a top child care and after-school program provider in California, Options for Learning's 1,000+ professionals deliver quality programs designed to provide personalized attention for each student in an enriched, caring environment. Options for Learning also offers training, resources and support to community child care providers to improve the quality of care for the children they serve.
Options for Learning has grown from a single school-age program to a highly recognized agency that today serves more than 15,000 children. We operate at more than 90 locations, with more than 290 classrooms, on 60+ school campuses throughout the San Gabriel Valley, Whittier, Pomona Valley and Northeast Los Angeles areas. Additionally, we train and support thousands of child care providers.
Families we serve
Options for Learning is primarily funded by federal, state and local government contracts, so many spaces in our programs allow us to assist lower-income families who are working, attending college or vocational training, or seeking employment.
 
Families who do not meet the state or federal income guidelines may also access spaces in our Full-day Preschool, Surround Care and Empowered Learning programs at reasonable prices. Additionally, our Enrichment Program is a free program located in participating school districts. Our Resource and Referral Program assists families, regardless of income, in locating licensed child care free of charge.
 
Options for Learning welcomes children with disabilities in all our programs, provided the child can be safely and successfully served in the program.
New CAPPA Event: Outcomes from the November Election- Next Week!
CAPPA Virtual Training: "Political Insider & Information Sharing: Outcomes from the November Election"
November 12, 2020
10:30am-2:30pm
Online via Zoom


Back by popular demand is our hosted panel of experts who break down the outcomes on candidates and propositions voted on November 3. This panel will be followed up by a panel to provide input on what the impacts of the outcomes may be on issues of importance to us such as child care, housing, food insecurity and more.

Panel 1 - CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
Discussing insights of what happened on election day, data on the voters that turned out and a political breakdown and implications from both the federal and state lens. 

Outcomes from the November 3rd election: Insights of what happened on election day and potential opportunities and/or challenges for moving forward 
Richard Temple, Executive Vice President, McNally Temple Associates, Inc.

Outcomes from the November 3rd election: A breakdown of numbers and demographics 
David Metz, Partner and President, Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates

Insights of what happened on election day and fiscal impacts moving forward
Lenny Goldberg, Executive Director, California Tax Reform Association

Insights of what happened on election day and impacts moving forward
Dan Walters, Journalist, CalMatters

Break for lunch

Panel 2
Insight and input on how the outcomes may frame budget constraints and priorities in the upcoming legislative session.   
Legislative leaders and the field will be presenting on the state landscape and out programs.

  • Giannina Perez, Senior Policy Advisor for Early Childhood in the Office of the Governor (Confirmed)
  • Chris Hoene, Executive Director of the California Budget and Policy Center (Confirmed)
  • Kim Johnson, Director California Department of Social Services (Confirmed)
  • Dion Aroner, AJE Partners and Ret. State Assembly Member (Confirmed)
  • Erin Gabel, CA Assembly Budget Committee Consultant on K-12 and Early Childhood Education (Confirmed)
Do you have a 2021 legislative idea?

If you have any legislative or bill ideas for consideration for child care, supporting whole family & child, preschool, CACFP or other, please complete this background form and submit to CAPPA.
General Election Information
Election Day - TOMORROW!!!!
Click here to find your voting place.
Voter Guide - English

NEW: What's On The Ballot? Here's A Look At California's 2020 Propositions (includes overview and audio) - Preview your ballot and get information on registering to vote, and voting by mail or in-person with CapRadio's California 2020 Election Voter Guide.

While much of the attention on the November election is focused on the race for President, Californians are going to have a lot of other decisions to make. One (or 12) of the biggest: the statewide ballot measures.

Yes, there will be a dozen different propositions for California voters this year — Prop. 14 through Prop. 25 — on everything from expanding rent control to ending the ban on affirmative action. While we at CapRadio will be reporting on these more up until Nov. 3, we wanted to give you a quick overview now on what each measure covers and what a "yes" or "no" vote will mean. 

  • Proposition 14 - Authorizes Bonds Continuing Stem Cell Research.
  • Proposition 15 - Increases Funding Sources for Public Schools, Community Colleges and Local Government Services by Changing Tax Assessment of Commercial and Industrial Property.
  • Proposition 16 - Allows Diversity as a Factor in Public Employment, Education and Contracting Decisions.
  • Proposition 17 - Restores Right to Vote After Completion of a Prison Term.
  • Proposition 18 - Amends California Constitution to Permit 17-Year-Olds to Vote in Primary and Special Election If They Will Turn 18 by Next General Election.
  • Proposition 19 - Changes Certain Property Tax Rules.
  • Proposition 20 - Restricts Parole for Certain Offenses Currently Considered to Be Non-Violent.
  • Proposition 21 - Expands Local Governments Authority to Enact Rent Control on Residential Property.
  • Proposition 22 - Exempts App-Based Transportation and Delivery Companies From Providing Employee Benefits to Certain Drivers.
  • Proposition 23 - Establishes State Requirements for Kidney Dialysis Clinics.
  • Proposition 24 - Amends Consumer Privacy Laws.
  • Proposition 25 - Referendum on Law That Replaced Money Bail System Based on Public Safety and Flight Risk

For more specific Voter Information, click here.
Upcoming Hearings
  • November 5 Little Hoover Commission Transitioning State Government Workforce to Permanent Remote Work @ 1 p.m. Join Online or By Phone Via Zoom Online: https://bit.ly/2PzhkMy Toll Free Phone: (888) 788-0099 Webinar ID: 965 3073 8689 Password: 510524
Update on Additional Child Care Funds

On October 21, $200,000,000 from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to child care providers, food banks and diaper banks.

Specifically, the request will augment state subsidized child care provider contracts by $110 million for those providers serving essential workers and at-risk populations. Second, $75 million will be allocated to the Department of Social Services (DSS) to assist food banks in addressing the increased need for food assistance among low-income and food-insecure populations. This allocation is an additional $75 million that will help combat food insecurity, and does not supplant any other state or federal funds for this purpose. Lastly, $15 million will be allocated to DSS to distribute diapers to families that are in need of basic necessities.

CDE has not released direction or has indicated how the child care funds will be distributed. However, it is thought that the child care funds will at least cover the shelter-in-place and distance learning families fees for those that so choose or have been impacted. This is critically needed so that family child care providers do not face the risk of covering these specific family fees as was indicated in SB 820.

Click here to read the full Joint Legislative Budget Committee letter.
Recognizing Leadership
California's economy cannot rebound without working families
Federal Updates
After confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court by a vote margin of 52 to 48, the Senate has adjourned until the week of November 9th. The House will be in recess until the week of November 16th. It therefore seems unlikely that there will be a relief package until after the election and probably not until the election results are clear. This has been an incredibly frustrating and disappointing process, but we also should relish what we’ve been able to accomplish so far – the House passed (on a strong bipartisan basis) the largest investment in child care since WW2 (50 plus billion!), the essential role of child care (and the educators doing this work) is in the news, stories of what is happening on the ground is driving the conversation, new members talking about child care, Speaker Pelosi championing child care, child care being talked about as a fundamental piece of our economic recovery, and more. We are so grateful for your tireless advocacy over these past several months, and we hope that you are able to find time to rest and recharge before we re-engage after the election in the fight to secure at least $50 billion in Federal relief funding for child care and work to rebuild a more equitable and effective system than where we started. As we learn more about the election next week and beyond, we’ll continue to be in touch through these memos on the current state of affairs and how we can work together to secure the investments and structural changes in child care that are so long overdue. 

New NWLC Resource on Minimum Wage and Child Care - The National Women’s Law Center has released a new resource on the importance of raising the minimum wage and investing in the child care system together as a way to support workers, families, and child care providers as we build toward an equitable economic recovery.
Women and working families have been hit hard by the pandemic, but so many were struggling to make ends meet before the current crisis. Child care workers—nearly all of whom are women—are systemically underpaid and undervalued, despite the critical care they provide. For these workers, and working families across the country, high-quality child care is unattainably expensive. At the same time, the child care system itself is in crisis, with many providers being forced to close and more than one in six child care workers losing their jobs.
The Care Minimum: The Case for Raising the Minimum Wage and Investing in Child Care Together articulates four key principles for advocates and policymakers to foreground as we work to rebuild and re-envision our economy:
  1. Raise the minimum wage for everyone, without exclusions.
  2. Invest the public dollars needed to accommodate wage increases for child care workers, without shifting the cost burden to parents or asking providers to make up the difference.
  3. Ensure that raising the minimum wage is a complement to—not a substitute for—other strategies that address under-compensation for child care workers.
  4. Recognize that the ultimate goal is fair compensation and high-quality, affordable child care for all.
By focusing on shared goals and policy outcomes, we hope this resource will lay out a framework for advocates as we make renewed calls for investments in working people and families.
Please reach out to Laura Narefsky (lnarefsky@nwlc.org) or Estelle Mitchell (emitchell@nwlc.org) with any questions.   

Sign-on Opportunities: Support the Child Poverty Reduction Act and #Commit2Kids
Last week, new research was released that finds that 2.5 million more children are living in poverty than before the outbreak of COVID-19. Yet even before the pandemic, child poverty was a moral crisis in the United States that affected each and every one of us. Our child poverty rate remains consistently higher than that of our peer countries, and children in the United States continue to experience poverty at a rate 54 percent higher than adults.

We can’t make progress without holding ourselves accountable to action. The Child Poverty Reduction Act (S. 4115/H.R. 7419) establishes a framework for progress by codifying a commitment to cut our national child poverty rate in half within a decade and directing the National Academy of Sciences to issue annual reports on progress towards this goal.

Sign your organization on to this letter of support (state and local organizations welcome!) In addition, we continue to call on elected leaders and candidates to #Commit2Kids by sharing their specific plans to make children a priority in budget and policy decisions. Is your organization willing to join our growing movement — including the Save the Children Action Network, ZERO TO THREE, the National WIC Association, and 40 other local and national groups — by signing on to our open letter to candidates and lawmakers.
Most reviewed federal bills:
  1. H.R.8337 - Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act
  2. S.311 - Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
  3. H.R.6800 - The Heroes Act
  4. H.R.748 - CARES Act
  5. S.3548 - CARES Act
  6. H.Res.1154 - Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes.
  7. S.3571 - Banking for All Act
  8. H.R.6666 - COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act
  9. H.R.6201 - Families First Coronavirus Response Act
  10. S.227 - Savanna’s Act
CCDF State Plans Published in Federal Register for Public Comment
On September 10, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published a request for public comment in the Federal Register on “Proposed Information Collection Activity; Child Care and Development Fund Plan for States/Territories for FFY 2022-2024.” Specifically, ACF requests comments on (a) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. The comment period is 60 days, so comments are due on Monday, November 9, 2020.
The Weekly Good
An uplifting way to start the week, for those of us who need a break from the chaos that is our lives.
During this time where we are all stressed, it would be great to celebrate the positive. Each week we will celebrate everyday heroes, inspiring movements and great things happening in our field. 
If you have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, help is available. Sacramento residents and businesses can access a wide variety of services and resources, including help with managing debt or bills, youth programs, housing assistance, help for small businesses and non-profits and more.
Find everything you need, all in one place, at SacramentoCOVIDrelief.org.
Let us know what your organization is doing, we would love to feature you in the coming weeks!        
CDE Information & Updates
Announcement: Virtual Input Session with Stakeholders about Implementing Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Teacher Requirements 

Attention: TK Program Administrators and Educators Working in School Districts and Charter Schools; Early Childhood Educators; Community Partners; Head Start Program Directors; Credential Counselors and Analysts; Early Learning and Care and K-12 Advocates.

The CDE, ELCD is hosting a virtual input session with stakeholders via Zoom on Monday, November 9, 2020, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The session’s purpose is to gather information from stakeholders that will inform the drafting of regulations for the implementation of TK teacher requirements as described in the California Education Code Section 48000(g). In order to address the numerous questions received from TK Administrators and Educators in these regulations, the CDE encourages active participation from stakeholders who attend this session.

Input Session Details
Date: Monday November 9, 2020
Time: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Format: Zoom – invitation to follow RSVP

During the input session, ELCD staff will ask stakeholders multiple questions, including:

  • What combination of early childhood education/child development units and prior professional experience in a preschool classroom setting should satisfy the TK teacher requirements?
  • What kind of units in early childhood education/child development should TK teachers have? Units awarded by a regionally accredited college or university?
  • What documentation should LEA’s have on file to demonstrate compliance with the statutory requirements?
  • What kinds of documentation should school districts or charter schools have on file to demonstrate that their TK teachers meet the teacher requirements?

Registration is limited to 100 participants and will be awarded on a first come-first served basis. Please email your registration request to elcdtitle5@cde.ca.gov no later than Thursday November 5, 2020.  
Webinar Announcement: Fiscal Year 2021–22 Continued Funding Application Instructional Program Webinar

Attention: Executive Officers and Program Directors of Early Education Programs

The ELCD is happy to announce that the instructional program webinar for the Fiscal Year 2021–22 Continued Funding Application (CFA) has been posted, and can be found on the ELCD CFA web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/cfaforms2122.asp.

The purpose of this webinar is to walk applicants through the CFA and highlight changes and reminders for this year’s application.

Please be reminded that CFAs are due November 10, 2020. If you have any questions about the CFA, please contact the Funding Application Unit at CFA@cde.ca.gov. Our team will respond within one business day.
Webinar Announcement: Fiscal Year 2021–22 Continued Funding Application Instructional Program Webinar

The ELCD is happy to announce that the instructional program webinar for the Fiscal Year 2021–22 Continued Funding Application (CFA) has been posted, and can be found on the ELCD CFA web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/cfaforms2122.asp.

The purpose of this webinar is to walk applicants through the CFA and highlight changes and reminders for this year’s application.

Please be reminded that CFAs are due November 10, 2020. If you have any questions about the CFA, please contact the Funding Application Unit at CFA@cde.ca.gov. Our team will respond within one business day.
Upcoming Field Events
Highlights
COVID could be the wakeup call businesses need to fix a broken child care system

Back in 2009, when New York City imposed a tax on big businesses to help pay for the subway system, most got on board. They understood that because their employees depended on the subway to get to work, their businesses depended on it too. But when New York City lawmakers proposed a far more modest tax to help subsidize child care, businesses weren’t having it. The problem? They didn’t get how central child care was to keeping their operations humming.

Fast forward one global pandemic later and the secret is out: With schools moved online and day cares closing after months of lost tuition coupled with the increased costs of providing child care in the time of COVID-19, business leaders are grasping that child care matters to their bottom lines. But this revelation is fresh, tenuous, and subject to amnesia.

As working parents piece together temporary child care solutions, they are eager to signal to supervisors that everything with the kids is back to business-as-usual. We parents need to resist that urge, because the way child care has worked in this country is not something we ever want to return to. Click here to read full article.

COVID-19 forced women to leave their jobs. Can California help them get back to work?

In nearly every major recession, more men lost jobs than women.

But the coronavirus outbreak is an exception. The pandemic and stay-at-home orders decimated industries such as hospitality that had employed a large number of women. Thousands more working mothers quit their job or reduced their working hours to care for their children as schools went online.

All over the state, women are making difficult choices about what kind of job they want to do when the pandemic ends.

“When I think about having to go get a minimum wage job, I just don’t want to do that,” said Stacy Lynn Vasquez, 53 in Modesto, who lost her job selling motor homes and trailers in Manteca.

Experts and advocates fear the pandemic could force women like Vasquez to take lower-quality jobs, exacerbating the gender pay gap and wiping out gains the state has made over the last few decades narrowing pay disparities between men and women.

Click here to read full article.

6 State Strategies To Improve Child Care Policies During the Pandemic and Beyond

Millions of American families rely on access to child care in order to work. Without access to affordable care, parents can’t earn a living, businesses can’t recruit reliable workers, and children miss out on early educational opportunities. This has never been more apparent than during the current COVID-19 crisis. Unfortunately, America’s child care system has long been neglected. It needs significant public investment to survive this current crisis and meet the needs of families both during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond. The current system simply does not work for the majority of families who rely on it. The cost of child care is higher than most families can afford, the revenues available to providers are lower than are needed to operate a quality program, and more than 50 percent of American’s live in a child care desert.

Click here to read the full article.
End of free childcare leads to jump in prices ahead of expected interest rate cut

Consumer prices have risen by 1.6 per cent from the June quarter to the September quarter, driven by the end of temporary free childcare and higher petrol prices.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.7 per cent over the year to the end of September, in line with forecasts by economists.
Over the June quarter, prices went backwards, known as deflation, with the CPI slumping by 1.9 per cent after the Federal Government temporarily made childcare free from April to mid-July to help families survive the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
It was the biggest quarterly fall in the 72-year history of the index as childcare fees dropped by 95 per cent.

Click here to read full report.
CAPPA Member Only Benefits

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COVID-19 Weekly Zoom Calls:
Our commitment to you is to have scheduled at least once per week a call wherein we can all connect. As questions arise, forward them to CAPPA so that we can address them on these calls. Look for a weekly email to register. Recording and Q&A will also be posted on the Member's Only page. 
Best Practices
CAPPA has been working on Best Practices and policies to support you during this challenging time.
Visit the Member's Only website to view today!
Sample of webinars available on the Member's only website:
HR Webinar on Telecommuting, Best Practices for Program Integrity (Fraud Prevention), Provider Reimbursements, Adults & Trauma, Enrollment

Visit the CAPPA Member's Only website for more information on this webinar series and other benefits available to CAPPA Members.  
CAPPA's 2020-21 Board of Directors
President
Rick Richardson
Child Development Associates

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

Treasurer
Beth Chiaro
Child Care Resource Center 

Secretary
LaVera Smith
Supportive Services Fresno

Past President & Public Policy Advisor
Martin Castro
Mexican American Opportunity Foundation

Public Policy Chair
Gina Fromer
Children's Council of San Francisco 

Members-at-Large
Karen Marlatt
Valley Oak Children's Services

Tina Barna
Catalyst Community

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

Joie Owen
Glenn County Office of Education

Tracey Strack
Child Action, Inc.

Crystal Stairs, Inc. 

Denyne Micheletti Colburn
CAPPA CEO

The representation of the CAPPA board spreads across all agency types and sizes, and represents voices from nearly every region in California 
ELCD/CDE, DSS & CCLD Updates
October 9, 2020
Management Bulletin 20-19: Guidance on Family Fees for Fiscal Year 2020-21
September 24, 2020
Management Bulletin 20-18: Reopening and Reimbursement Requirements for Direct Service Contractors
September 21, 2020
Management Bulletin 20-15A: Reimbursement and Data Collection Requirements for Alternative Payment Programs and Providers 
September 11, 2020
Management Bulletin 20-17: Requirements for Distance Learning Plans, Program Quality, and Distance Learning Services for Direct Service Contractors
September 10, 2020
Management Bulletin 20-16: Continued Funding Application Fiscal Year 2021–22
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!

Child Action, Inc. Sacramento

Davis Street Family Resource Center, Alameda County

Solano Family and Children's Services


Colusa County Office of Education
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.

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.
Of Interest
Become a 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 6,200 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.