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"Children Learning, Parents Earning, Communities Growing"
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Issue #32 August 12, 2019
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Monday Morning Update Partner
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Experience the IDEAL Conference, built just for you!
Be inspired, ignite change, and level up at The IDEAL Conference on September 18-19, 2019 at The Garland in North Hollywood. Connect with 40 inspiring experts and choose from 24 sessions that will give you new strategies and methods to further your mission. CAPPA subscribers can save 20% with the CCRCPartner20 discount code.
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August 2019 Featured Member Agency
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Community Resources for Children (CRC) is a nonprofit, community-based organization providing resources for the early care and education of children in Napa County. Established in 1978, CRC serves more than 4,300 people annually by supporting families in need of child care and by promoting quality early learning environments for children ages 0-5.
In addition to the Alternative Payment Program, CRC administers the Resource and Referral program for Napa County and promotes quality early learning and care through the following:
Quality Counts - enhances the quality of care and education that children receive at child care and/or preschool. In addition to hosting professional development workshops in areas such a child development and Kindergarten readiness, CRC provides 1:1 coaching for licensed child care providers and preschools. Last year the program supported more than 93 child care professionals providing care for more than 500 children.
Toy Library and Early Learning Center (TLELC) - Families and early education professionals can check out early learning toys, tools and materials organized by ASQ developmental domain. TLELC's bilingual staff models educational activities to implement at home. Serving almost 500 children ages 0-5 and 400 parents/caregivers last year, the TLELC supports children's education and development by strengthening the adults in a child's life.
Active Minds School Readiness Program - a bilingual, interactive, play-based school readiness program for children ages 2 to 4 and their parents/primary caregivers, in a parent-led format with some sessions held at community locations to meet families where they are.
Developmental Screenings using Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) - CRC offers free ASQ developmental screening to children ages 0-5. Families can check out a questionnaire or complete it together with an Early Education Specialist.
Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) Caregiver Program - partnering with community organizations to increase access to quality early learning materials and opportunities for family, friend and neighbor informal caregivers.
Child Care Initiative Project (CCIP) - an intensive training series that focuses on child development and best practices in early childhood education for new and existing licensed child care providers. This year we will start offering business skills workshops in order to make sure that our child care providers thrive and remain profitable. Last year we helped 10 individuals open new child care businesses, creating more than 200 new child care slots.
Family Events - events such No Sweet Trick or Treat and Family Literacy Day provide engagement opportunities for families/caregivers and their children. Throughout the year we also provide vision screening days and Talk Read Sign days with the First 5 Express Bus.
**Thank you to Erika Lubensky, Executive Director, for the submission!**
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Would you like your agency to be featured in an upcoming Monday Morning Update?
Let us know!
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Children's Council Child Care Champions Luncheon and City Kids Family Fair
For over 45 years,
Children's Council has been at the heart of child care and early education in San Francisco.
In the spring,
Child Care Champions Luncheon
raises
the profile of our mission with a wider audience of policy-makers and philanthropists, and celebrates the critical role that Family Child Care providers play in our child care system.
This year's event, held at the Four Seasons Hotel, raised a record-breaking $200,000. The Patty Siegel Child Care Champion award - named in honor of our founder - was presented to outgoing Executive Director Sandee Blechman, while the FCC Provider Champion recipient was Barbara Ng,
director of Brilliant Kids Child Care & Preschool.
Each fall,
City Kids Family Fair
attracts 1,500 attendees from across the city. This fun event highlights the aspects of early child development we think are important for families to engage in - whether it be puppetry about healthy eating, dancing for physical wellness or reading to the kids in their care.
This year's event will be held on September 21. We hope you can join us!
Learn more at
Children's Council City Kids Family Fair
Children's Council City Kids Family Fair
Child Care Champions Luncheon 2019 (from left): Patty Siegel Child Care Champion Sandee Blechman, Co-Chairs Elisabeth Diana and Shara Chang
Children's Council Executive Team (from left): Auna Harris, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer; Amie Latterman, Director of Advancement; Gina M. Fromer, Chief Executive Officer; Jennifer Brooks, Chief Program Officer.
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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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We Have a New Name!!
On July 1, 2019, Child Care Links and Family Service Counseling and Community Resource Center came together to form a new organization, Hively. Click here to read more.
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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 Member Only Benefits
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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 two AP 101 webinars on Enrollment;
Enrolling Clients into the CalWORKs Program and
Enrollment Overview:
Welcome to the Alternative Payment Program
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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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Collection of Data for the Subsidized Provider Report
July 31, 2019
July 29, 2019
July 2, 2019
June 19, 2019
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, 2019
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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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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Today, the legislature reconvenes for the remaining home stretch of session to adjourn on September 13th.
Upcoming dates to be aware:
- August 30 - Last day for fiscal committees to meet and report on bills
- September 3-13 - Floor session only
- September 6 - Last day to amend a bill on the floor
Monday, August 12, 2019:
- SEN Appropriations (Portantino, Chair) 10:00am - Room 4203
Wednesday, Auguat 14, 2019:
- ASM Appropriations (Gonzalez, Chair) 9:00am - Room4202
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:
Assembly
Senate
Please join us on Tuesday August 13th at 10 a.m. in State Capitol Room 126 for an Assembly Select Committee on Early Childhood Development, informational hearing about services and systems serving very young children with special needs in California. The hearing will include testimony from parents, representatives of the Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education, the First 5 Association of California, the Infant Development Association of California and Children Now.
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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Profile Bill
Package
of the Week!
Legislative Proposals in California 2019
The historic increase that Congress voted for in 2018 opened up opportunities for quality child care to more than 11,000 California families. Funds also implement the requirements of the CCDBG Reauthorization Act of 2014 in the areas of quality, health, safety, and annual inspections of child care programs.
Click
here for the link to their policy page.
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Profile Bill
Package
of the Week!
As we step into Fall, there will be a few bills that we have identified as priority ECPCA bills that will need your voice through the end of the first year of this legislative session. With the support and help of your commitment and advocacy, we were able to realize over $4 Billion in new investments that will help to lift children and families out of poverty, which we view as a down payment to ending deep poverty and reducing overall childhood poverty in CA.
Click here and you will find a list of bills that will help further the progress made in the budget. There are bills which have been part of the ECPCA bill list that have been converted to 2-year bills, which we will continue to advocate for in 2020. Please feel free to reach out to us if there are other bills that we may have missed for Fall advocacy.
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How To Submit Position Letters!
California Legislature Position Letter Portal
The Legislature comes back August 12 with the SEN Appropriations Committee and it will soon be time to submit position letters once again! A quick reference guide from Committee Services can be found
here.
The portal was designed to facilitate the submission of position letters to committees as bills move through California's legislative process. Link to the portal website click
here.
Who should use this site?
Anyone wishing to submit a position on a California Legislative bill can use this site. Please note we have three categories of registrants:
- Registered Lobbyists with the Secretary of State
- Organizations - an individual affiliated with an organization
- Individuals
How Do I Get Started?
After completing a one-time
registration
to obtain a username and password, log in to submit your position letter as a registered lobbyist, organization or individual seeking to communicate your views to the bill author's staff as well as the committee that will be hearing the bill.
How to Submit a Letter?
- Go to the Submit a Letter page
- Enter the desired measure type and measure number
- Click the "Next=>Select Client" button
- Check mark to select the desired clients
- Click the "Next=>Select Recipients" button
- Select The Committee(s) and Author Staff
- Click the "Next=>Select File" button
- Select the Stance
- Enter Subject
- Upload the letter file by clicking the "Choose File" button
- Click the "Next=>Review Submission" button
- Review the information
- Check the I'm not a robot and verify the images
- Click "Submit Position Letter" button
For a list of
Frequently Asked Questions, click
here.
To submit a request for assistance or provide site feedback, click
here.
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2019-20 State Budget Information
Child Care and Preschool 
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Today,
the U.S. Senate passed a two-year
budget bill, already approved by the House, for fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
The
budget deal
raises funding caps, a crucial first step that allows increased spending on discretionary programs like the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), Head Start, and WIC.
In the budget deal passed in 2018, Congress included a
$5.8 billion commitment to increased CCDBG funding. While this year's bill did not include a specific funding commitment for child care, it paves the way to maintain and build on last year's historic increase.
The Senate can now use the appropriations process to further increase CCDBG funding in the 2020-2021 budget. Advocates have requested an additional $5 billion to help meet families' needs. At a minimum, senators should match or exceed the
House's proposal.
Increasing funding for CCDBG-the largest source of federal child care funding-would support children and caregivers for years to come. Investing now would build on hard-won progress in recent years. In 2014, CCDBG's bipartisan reauthorization laid out important, ambitious goals: stabilize families' access to care, increase basic health and safety, and help child care providers improve quality. The law initially left many states struggling to meet the promise of its provisions but recent funding increases have allowed states to realize the reauthorization's potential.
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Changes to the implementation date of Assembly Bill 603 provision regarding notification to providers
To all Executive Directors and Program Administrators of California Alternative Payment Programs (APPs), including California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Stage 2 (C2AP), CalWORKs Stage 3 (C3AP), Migrant Alternative Payment Program (CMAP), and Family Child Care Home Networks (FCCHN),
Recently, California's Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 75, adopted as part of the omnibus trailer bill to the Budget Act of 2019-20. Among other things, SB 75 amended Education Code (EC) Section 8227.7,
which was added to EC, when the Governor signed Assembly Bill (AB) 603, (Chapter 706, Statutes of 2017). This section of EC, requires APPs, as of July 1, 2019, to provide notice to a child care provider of a change in reimbursement amounts for child care services, a change in the hours of care, rates, or schedules, an increase or decrease in parent fees, or a termination of services, at least 14 calendar days before the effective date of the intended action.
This notice is to inform you that SB 75 has changed the implementation date of this section of EC from July 1, 2019, to July 1, 2020.
Further direction on the implementation of this section of EC will come at a later date.
If you have any questions regarding the information in this email, please contact your assigned ELCD Field Services Consultant. A list of consultants can be found at
https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/assignments.asp
or by phone at 916-322-6233.
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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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CAPPA Training: "Everything Fiscal"-
SOLD OUT!
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 Athena Low, Infant Child Enrichment Services
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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Sharing Our Stories...Building Bridges...
Cultivating Caring Communities
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.
Registration- NOW AVAILABLE!
The California Resource & Referral Network (Network) and the California Alternative Payment Program Association (CAPPA) have joined together to, plan, develop and deliver the Joint 2019 Annual Conference.
This conference provides a unique opportunity for staff to come together to discuss and share common issues, successes and challenges as well as time for each of us to get to know our colleagues and renew friendships. This conference is different from the variety of meetings and conferences related to our work, for this conference is by, for, and about the work we do in R&R and APP.
This year's Annual Conference includes a variety of workshops to meet the needs of staff working with parents; staff providing training and technical assistance to child care providers; program staff-supervisors; managers and directors.
Partnership Information:
Exhibitor and Sponsor Information is now available!
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Invitation to Provide Input - Preschool Development Grant
Birth - Five Stakeholder Engagement Sessions
Do you have ideas for how to improve California's early learning and care system to best meet the needs of all children and families? What would help your family access quality learning and care? What would help providers to better support children and families?
In December 2018, the California Department of Education (CDE) as the state lead agency, was awarded a competitive federal Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) for $10,620,000 from the Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The federally required PDG B-5 activities include: 1) completing a comprehensive needs assessment of the State's current early learning and care system; 2) developing an actionable PDG Strategic Plan; and (3) implementing projects that lay the foundation for systems improvements that will benefit children, parents and providers. California's PDG B-5 is intended to move the State closer to a mixed delivery early learning and care system that supports children age birth through five, their families and communities.
To achieve the PDG goals, we are seeking input from community members, parents, and educators. Please register for one of the seven Regional Engagement Sessions.
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The Opportunity Gap for Children Across Contra Costa County
While many kids in Contra Costa County are thriving, others lack basic health, education, and financial supports they need for well-being and long-term success.
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Home Visiting Can Improve Outcomes for Children, But Few Receive Services
The early childhood years are the foundation for lifelong well-being. Yet, despite the state's strong economic growth, about 1 in 10 of California's children are born without important resources strongly associated with child health and well-being, such as access to health care or economic resources. Children with fewer "assets" are at higher risk for adverse experiences - such as abuse - that expose them to harmful stress. Chronic exposure to stress, especially in the early years, undermines children's healthy development, with long-term health, behavioral, and academic consequences.
Research indicates that early intervention tools like evidence-based home visiting can reduce or prevent the effects of adverse experiences for children. Home visitors, who are often social workers or nurses, provide parenting education and other assistance to at-risk parents. These services can boost children's and parents' well-being by enhancing child and maternal health, helping prevent child abuse, and improving child development. However, the number of children in California who would most benefit from home visiting outweighs the current service levels. In the 2017-18 state fiscal year, 31,800 children benefitted from federally- and locally-funded evidence-based or evidence-informed home visiting, compared to the estimated 151,500 children ages 0 to 2 who would most likely benefit from home visiting services.
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Families who work nonstandard schedules are inequitably affected by lack of child care. And while occupations requiring nonstandard schedules are projected to see the most employment growth by 2020, child care during these working hours is nonexistent and, often, unlicensed.
In our 2019 report,
It's About Time: Parents Who Work Nonstandard Hours Face Child Care Challenges, we examine findings such as:
- How many families are affected by jobs with nonstandard hours and often left without quality child care.
- Recommendations for policies and legislation to build a supply of quality, affordable child overnight and weekend child care.
- What Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies can do to support families who need extended hours child care and recruit and retain qualified child care nonstandard hours child care programs.
Click here for the link to view the report, a webinar about the findings, and related handouts.
Child Care Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Stories
Do you know of a child care program that experienced an emergency? If so, please tell us about it. We are often asked to share stories on Capitol Hill or with other decision makers about how child care programs have been impacted by emergencies so we need your help! We are always collecting child care emergency preparation, response, and recovery stories so submit a story anytime. We are also interested in hearing about the short-term and long-term impact so any follow up details that can be shared are welcomed as well. We appreciate your help!
Click here for the link to the form.
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Support Child Care for Working Families
Child care plays an important role in the U.S. economy, helping to generate 15 million jobs and more than $500 billion in income annually. Yet, on average, millions of working families pay more for child care than they do for mortgage or rent, transportation, or even food every month. That's why it's critical to fund child care and early learning programs so all families can afford care. Tell your congressmembers to support the Child Care for Working Families Act and thank those who already have signed on!
Share your personal child care experience with us!
YOU are the reason why we do this work every day. We want to hear your story, whether you struggle to afford or access child care, your child attended an unsafe early learning environment, you love your child care provider, or you work with parents who experience any of these issues. Your story can make a positive difference for children and families.
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Why early childhood education is a women's rights Issue
In Gavin Newsom, California finally has a governor who gets the need for high quality, accessible early childhood education and care. His budget makes a down payment of nearly $2 billion addressing the early years.
Why the disconnect?
One reason, some experts believe, could be that the sheer number of people with direct interest in K-12 and higher education outweigh the demographically smaller population of families with children ages 5 and younger.
But what about the sheer numbers of women who are, or have been, or may someday be, mothers? How many women have to sacrifice their careers, their dreams, their livelihoods because their young children have no affordable quality early childcare or preschool options?
Why aren't we counting women?
Child care providers push California to boost pay for early education teachers
When a preschool teacher at a San Mateo center began to struggle to interact with children, supervisors became concerned. The reason for the teacher's drop in performance?
She was hungry.
"Our teachers are having to make choices between rent and food and getting to work," said Heather Cleary, CEO at Peninsula Family Service, which runs nine centers for low-income children in San Mateo County. "Some of our children come with a lot of trauma and for our teachers to also have their own trauma that they're bringing to work makes it really challenging to provide a quality learning environment."
Preschool teachers are six times more likely to live in poverty than K-12 teachers, according to a recent report by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley and the Economic Policy Institute. While Gov. Gavin Newsom has committed to expanding and improving early childhood education in California, a plan to increase pay for early-education teachers is missing from the 2019-20 budget.
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Fast Facts: Economic Security for Women and Families in California
California has been leading the way in improving job quality and workplace benefits that support the economic security and health of women and their families, including paid family and medical leave and paid sick days. Lawmakers should continue the progressive momentum and prioritize policies that ensure women's health and economic well-being.
Women need policies that reflect their roles as providers and caregivers. In California, mothers are the sole, primary, or co-breadwinners in 59.5 percent of families,
1 and these numbers are higher for some women of color. The following policy recommendations can help support the economic security of women and families in California.
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Study: More support needed to keep physician moms working full-time
A new study has identified a significant gender gap among physicians working full-time, and researchers worry it could exacerbate the country's doctor shortage.
Within a few years of completing medical training, 40 percent of women doctors stopped working entirely or switched to part-time, researchers discovered. By contrast, all of the male doctors were still working full-time, according to the study,
published last week in JAMA Network Open.
To understand why there was such a difference among workload for women and men physicians, researchers asked study participants - 167 men doctors and 177 women doctors, reports
UPI
- to identify factors that influence their decision to work full- or part-time.
While men often mentioned the need for money and paying off loans, women frequently cited children and family, balancing work and childcare responsibilities, per the MUSC Catalyst News.
To address the issue, researchers say both policies and culture need to be changed, including resources like on-site day care and flexible work hours as well as acceptance of parents actually taking leave they are entitled to.
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Child Care Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Stories
Despite laws cracking down on preschool expulsions, thousands of young children a year are put out of school.
In Houston, Emma Tsai's rambunctious 3-year-old son was kicked out of four preschools near his home - including one that expelled him after just a few hours for jumping around and ignoring safety precautions.
In New York City, Debra Sinclair said she felt lost and alone when a few incidents of kicking and biting got her son forced out of a preschool in Queens.
And in Chicago, Mina Marien said her 3-year-old son was distressed when one preschool, then another, pushed him out for biting, shoving and, in one case, hitting another child with a rolling pin.
"He was telling me he was bad," Marien said. "He couldn't control his impulses and felt bad about himself afterwards."
There's nothing new about tiny troublemakers being pushed out of preschools. A 2016 federal study found that an estimated
50,000 preschoolers had been suspended in the previous year and 17,000 were expelled.
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