By Denyne Colburn, CEO of CAPPA

Last week, story after story was coming out about how the lack of child care is impacting the economy.

Early in the week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeig linked the supply and demand chain problems and worker shortage crisis directly to lack of child care. Later, Senator Tammy Duckworth noted “I think COVID really illustrated to people how broken our child care system is in a way that people finally understood.” Then released on Friday was a chart by Kristin Schmacher with the California Budget & Policy Center noting that "caregiving is critical" and "the vast majority (of workers) of whom are women and disproportionately women of color and immigrants" that make roughly $14.92 per hour.

Reflecting on the stories, I can sum it up by saying that California's working families with infants and toddlers are going to be in a world of hurt soon. Very soon, these families are not going to have any meaningful access to child care.

Not only are the rates reimbursed to child care providers inadequate to keep this sector staffed. But the reimbursement rates are a top reason why child care centers can't find workers and have empty classrooms. It is the reason why family child care providers cannot take in any more children. It is the reason why California workers are unable to return to the workforce.

Compounding the issues above, is a governor that has enacted adding another grade for four-year olds to California's K-12 system. The addition of this grade will result in the public school system raiding the early child care workforce of its existing teachers and providers. How will this happen? By having gifted roughly $2.7 billion in new funding on top of the Proposition 98 guarantee of at least 40 percent of the entire state budget, public schools will then be able to offer salaries over 34 percent higher plus benefits more than the private child care market.

Further, in reflection of the spelled-out priorities for child care in the enacted 2021-22 budget, little of what was promised has been realized. All the while, every penny owed to the public school system has been honored.

Governor Newsom promised 110,500 new child care slots for working families to access beginning October 1, 2021. How many slots have been released to date? ZERO! Child care centers specifically are to receive beginning April 1, 2022 46,080 slots. Should they anticipate getting monies for slots. Yes. But will they be able to enroll? No. Why? Because as I stated above, the centers cannot pay enough to recruit new teachers while also struggling to adequately pay their current teachers. They need monies now to open classrooms and begin hiring.

Adding insult to injury, Governor Newsom funded the increases in child care with federal dollars. However, the public schools are funded with state dollars and from monies taken away from the state's General Fund (GF) child care allotment. So when the federal dollars start subsiding, so will the money for child care. And the portion of state monies for child care will be less because $2.7 billion was permanently removed and gifted to the public schools.

Even the new rates that are to go into effect for child care providers and centers on January 1, 2022 those too were funded with federal dollars. Theoretically, if the federal dollars went away, the child care provider rate increases could revert back to 2016 levels.

Actions speak louder than words. At every turn, Governor Newsom has said that he supports access to child care for working families and values paying child care providers and teachers rates that are livable. However, the actions he has taken are contrary.

Federally, there is a plan in place to Build Back Better. However, in California at the rate we are going, there will be no child care system to build back. The harm that is happening now will take decades to fix.

To see status of bills taken up in 2021, click here.

In a new statewide survey by Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) their findings highlight just how much the glaring disparities in economic well-being have taken center stage in policy discussions, even as we see the jobs and circumstances begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Key findings from the survey include:

With so many respondents showing overall grim about the economic future of California, further demonstrated by this PPIC graph, it is imperative that working families have access to affordable high-quality child care. The majority of respondents (76%) are in favor of increasing government spending on childcare - why then, did California pass a Universal Transitional Kindergarten plan this year that threatens to put family child care homes, centers, and other provider types out of business? With the cost burden of losing 4 year olds to free preschools at public school districts, and an already sparse workforce being drawn to better paying jobs with benefits at these schools, childcare providers who serve the most vulnerable California's have little chance left at surviving.

Read the full report here.

A picture is worth a thousand words - and a preschool teacher working at a Local Education Agency (LEA) is apparently worth a couple thousand dollars more in salary than a preschool teacher working from a family child care home or child care center. The graph below by the California Budget and Policy Center visually highlights one major reason California's newly passed Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK), also known as "preschool," is a threat family child care homes and centers as well as the working families they help serve. With the expansion of countless new school-based preschool classrooms in upcoming years, child care providers, many of whom have the experience, credentials, and/or licenses to care for our youngest children, are likely to be drawn to the higher pay and benefits a school district can offer them for similar work. This kind of exit for an already sparse workforce is going to be a huge hit to childcare providers across the board. Not only will the increasing lack of workforce lead to many childcare facilities shutting down, but it will also leave the low-income working families who need care outside of school hours without options.

The graphic below is from a new FAQ from First Five Years Fund on the Child Care and Preschool Provisions in the Build Back Better Act, and shows that since 1990, the cost of child care has become a families' biggest expense, followed by housing and groceries. We have seen and heard of families who pay more for childcare than they do for their mortgage, or college tuition. California's newly expanded Universal Transitional Kindergarten (preschool) program seeks to solve this problem, but actually further exacerbates it. With the loss of 4 year-olds in childcare to newly opened free preschool classrooms, childcare centers and homes who depended on the revenue and lesser cost burden of caring for those children are threatened to either face closures, or raise already high rates for parents. This, coupled with the loss of workforce that will come as child care providers move to work in school districts for higher pay and benifits, will result in catastrophe for our already fragile child care system. Rather than new focusing on solely on UTK, we must shift to include mixed delivery programs that help families with non-traditional work schedules, lower childcare costs, and increase access to care families, giving them more freedom to choose where their children receive care based on their cultural, linguistic, economic, and work-related needs.

One a week, on every Tuesday for the rest of the year, CAPPA will be posting a new commonly asked Question about UTK/UPK and answer on our twitter page. Click the image below to go to our twitter page.

If your organization would like to participate in the January 19, 2022 event, please send your logo and email CAPPA.

Asked for an explanation of the supply-chain issues afflicting the American economy on Wednesday’s edition of Morning Joe, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urged viewers to “think of it in terms of supply and demand,” before also citing COVID-19 and, most insistently, child care, as proximate causes. Read the full article here. (National Review 11/10)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Women — and some men — in Congress have been fighting for government child care assistance for almost 80 years. With President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion social services package, they are as close as they have ever been to winning.

And it’s not just child care subsidies. Biden’s bill making its way through Congress would put the U.S. on course to providing free prekindergarten, paid family leave to care for children or sick loved ones, and an enhanced child tax credit in a massive expansion of federal support to working families. Read the full article here

Research from a new study by California Budget and Policy Center shows that most California households with low incomes are already working anyway – they simply do not earn enough to get by because of low wages combined with unaffordable costs for housing, child care, and other necessities. Research on welfare-to-work programs also has found that work requirements were not linked to meaningful improvements in stable employment or reductions in poverty for program participants. Providing basic needs support without excluding people who are not working for pay is a more effective and more equitable policy approach.

Read the full report here.

The White House has released state by state fact sheets regarding the impact of Build Back Better. There are also fact sheets on how Build Back Better will impact Latinx, Black, and AAPI Americans. View the California Fact Sheet Here.

As Congress prepares to debate passage of the Build Back Better Act, aspects of the $1.75 billion spending proposal hold the potential to fundamentally transform America’s early care and education landscape – creating universal prekindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds, expanding access to affordable, high-quality child care, and addressing the compensation needs of the early childhood workforce.

In preparation, The Hunt Institute has released Childcare and Prekindergarten in The Build Back Better Act: A Guide for Policymakers, which condenses roughly 100 pages of pertinent bill language into six pages of question and answer-style summary. Read the full report here.

1. Reconciliation Update    

On Friday, November 5^th the House passed the infrastructure plan and passed the rule to take up the Build Back Better Act on November 15^th. As a reminder, the most recent version of the Build Back Better Act is here, a section-by-section is here, and a fact sheet on the child care portion is here. In addition, moderate Democrats maintain their demand that the Build Back Better act receive a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score before they vote on the bill potentially in an attempt to slow down the vote. More recent reports have indicated that the House vote may happen next week without the full CBO score because moderate democrats only asked for “fiscal information” about the Build Back Better Act, not the full score.      

2. Build Back Better Act’s Child Care Provisions: State-by-State Estimates 

Alycia Hardy and Alyssa Fortner of CLASP have released a new report that estimates what state allocations of the investment in child care and early learning and pre-k included in the Build Back Better Plan could look like. The report states, “The most recent version of the Build Back Better Act, released by the House Committee on Rules on November 3, 2021, includes significant investment in many valuable programs and resources to help children and families thrive. By investing $400 billion in child care and pre-kindergarten, the bill will provide the robust investments needed to help create transformative change. This fact sheet explains the funding structure and distribution of resources under the child care provisions of the act and outlines the estimated state allocations for the first three years of the program.”  

3.  Federal Relief Funds: State Progress, Fall 2021 

Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA) has a new blog up summarizing state uses of relief funds to date: https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/federal-relief-funds-state-progress-fall-2021 

They are tracking state information on our ARP Act hub page (scroll down to see the chart): https://www.childcareaware.org/our-issues/public-policy/american-rescue-plan-arp-act/ 

Things change quickly and CCAoA is always happy to make updates! Send questions and information to Diane (diane.girouard@usa.childcareaware.org). 

4.  State Median Income and Child Care Copayment Estimates Under Build Back Better  

We wanted to flag that the at The Hunt Institute has created a new resource looking at state median income data by state and estimating state-specific Build Back Better child care copayments for families of two, three, and four at different levels of income. Hope you’ll find this a useful tool for families and policymakers in your states. You can access these tools here. 

5. Moms With Access to Remote Work Were Most Likely to Leave Their Jobs in Pandemic 

In Chabeli Carrazana’s article, she explains that as a result of a lack of child care exacerbated by the pandemic, many mothers left the workforce to take care of their families. Research published by the U.S. Census Bureau concluded that college-educated mothers with a bachelor’s degree or higher were driven out of the work force. The article states that flexible work options and remote work aren’t enough to fix this problem and that’s why we need the child care and early learning investment included in Build Back Better.    

Click here to find and contact your representative in congress.

·        Part 1—November 8, 2021, 2:30–4:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time [EST]): Registration can be done via this Zoom Web link.

·        Part 2—November 16, 2021, 3:30–5:00 p.m. (EST): Registration can be done via this Zoom Web link.

Meeting Announcement: Early Childhood Policy Council- THIS WEEK

Register in advance for this meeting: https://wested.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sbs2AYdWQRWUk_2niiLW6g

A meeting agenda will be posted 10 days prior to the meeting at: https://www.chhs.ca.gov/home/committees/early-childhood-policy-council/

We ask that any person who wishes to receive meeting materials in an alternative format, which would enable that person to participate at the meeting, please contact Chelsea Rau at Chelsea.Rau@chhs.ca.gov at least five business days prior to the meeting for this request.

Contract Monitoring Reviews for Fiscal Year 2021–2022- November 9, 2021

Processing Rate Sheet Updates- November 3, 2021

The calculator can be accessed the following webpages: 

CAPPA is committed to supporting our field with a coordinated calendar. Click here to see current calendar of events. If you have an event to add, email CAPPA and it will be added.

Interested in Sponsoring this Event? Learn more here.

Valley Oak Children's Services hosted a Children's Book Week last week! The public was able to pick up Free books for Infants, Toddlers, School-Age Children, or Teenagers.

Let us know what your organization is doing, we would love to feature you in the coming weeks!        

Read the full article here.

NOHO just released an update with the new CDSS NOA format that was announced on September 23^rd. That’s right,

We got the job done!

www.nohosoftware.com 818.814.6646 info@nohosoftware.com

Community based public and private Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) support the needs of working moms and dads with access to child care and other supports earmarked to lift families up from poverty. During the pandemic, these programs have distributed emergency essential worker child care vouchers, family child care and center stipends & PPE, diapers, food and clothing. Throughout California, these APPs may also support parental choice to CalWORKs Stages 2 & 3, preschool and center-based programs, general child care, After School Education and Safety (ASES), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Family Child Care Home Education Networks (FCCHENs), transportation, behavioral & mental health services, respite, regional centers, health and safety, 21^st Century, resource libraries, and Trustline.

See how Child Action, Inc. is highlighting how they are supporting the needs of family child care providers and families in their community in their Community Connections Newsletter.

Visit the Member's Only website to view today!

Visit the CAPPA Member's Only website for more information on this webinar series and other benefits available to CAPPA Members.  

MEMBER AT LARGE 

Click Here to see.

CCB 21-12: One-Time $600 Stipend for Child Care Providers Caring for Children Receiving a State Child Care Subsidy

CCB 21-16: California Resource and Referral Policies.

Child Care Bulletin 21-15: Reimbursements for Center-Based Programs - Effective 11/15/2021

Child Care Bulletin 21-14: Reimbursement for School-Age Children: Voucher-Based Program - Effective 11/15/2021

Child Care Bulletin 21-10: Equipment Purchase Approval Request

Child Care Bulletin 21-11: Guidance to State Subsidized Early Learning and Care Programs on the Notice of Action, Parent Appeals

CCB 21-07: Reimbursement Based on Enrollment Rather Than Attendance and Signature Requirements for Child Care and Development Programs Administered by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS).

CCB 21-06: Revised Family Fee Schedule for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-22

Child Care Bulletin 21-04: California Work Opportunity And Responsibility To Kids (CalWORKs) Stage One Child Care Reimbursement Report Revision

Child Care Bulletin (CCB) 21-02: Fiscal Year 2021-22 Apportionments

Click here for detailed instructions on how to submit a support or opposition letter on a bill using California's Position Letter Portal.

To find your California Representative click here.

To find and contact your representative in congress click here.

Non-members will be charged a fee of $75.

Please email us your posting!

-Assistant Teacher- Preschool

-ECE-CD Assistant Teacher Short-Term Seasonal Position

Colusa County Office of Education

-Provider Services Specialist I

Solano Family and Children's Services

- Division Director of Accounting

-Case Manager (Afghan Placement Assistance and Reception & Placement)

-Case Aide

-Accounting Clerk

-Staff Attorney

-Manager, Quality Assurance

-Child Care Intake Specialist

-Child Care Case Manager

-Bilingual Resource & Referral Specialist 

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