"Children Learning, Parents Earning, Communities Growing"
January 18, 2022 | Issue #3
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Child Care and End Child Poverty CA Advocacy Day: Happening TOMORROW!
THERE IS STILL TIME TO JOIN US! ALL ARE WELCOME!


Tomorrow, all of the advocates noted above on issues of child care, poverty, food, housing and more are coming together for our “Third Annual Child Care and End Child Poverty CA Advocacy Day.” This is our opportunity to raise our collective voices in support of the core needs California's working families and children critically need.  Although all families are struggling to move forward in these times of the pandemic, for the poorest families and children, they are being left farther and farther behind. Their needs are immediate and ongoing. This is our time to share with decision makers in Sacramento about what we are seeing in counties throughout California. It is our opportunity to give a voice to those we see every single day struggling just to survive. We are stronger advocating together.  Don't miss this impactful day of action!

Thank you to our Event Sponsors!
Thank you to our Safety Net Champions Speakers!
- Senator Connie Leyva
- Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva

Thank you to our Expert Budget Panel Speakers!
 - Kristin Schumacher, California Budget & Policy Center
- Lupe Jaime-Mileham, EdD, Deputy Director, Child Care and Development Division, California Department of Social Services 
- Erin Gabel, California Assembly Budget Committee

Thank you to Ericka Erickson, Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) and Puneet Purewal, CAPPA, for facilitating the Grassroots Training!  This is a 20 minute Advocate Training and "prep-talk" on what to expect in the meetings, what you are sharing, and how every person and viewpoint in the meeting is important. Please watch that below, or use this link to watch: https://vimeo.com/666141446/612c5e865f
For the event landing page, Click Here!

For more information, agenda and to register, Click Here!
 
If you would like to sign on as a partner, please let us know!

Interested in supporting this Event?  Learn more about sponsorships here.
Children Now's 2022 California Children's Report Card Gives Child Care a "D+"

From Children Now: "Every other year, Children Now releases the California Children’s Report Card. It is a comprehensive review of key areas of well-being including children’s health, education, and child welfare. The Report Card is aimed at giving our state leaders a snapshot of how children are doing. Too often, the answer is – not great. While California prides itself on being the place where progressive ideas are realized, in the present, we have fallen far too short when it comes to investing in children overall – and this is especially true for young children. In addition, the child population has shifted dramatically over the past few decades and our state has not invested enough in equitable solutions that eliminate systemic barriers caused by racism, income inequality, and unequal language access. Policymakers need to significantly invest in solutions that recognize the complex lives our children and families lead. If we don’t make some dramatic changes now, we will keep leaving the majority of our kids behind. The data tells the story. For this report, we use grades because it makes the information a little more accessible. It’s a rough measure, but it gets the point across. One thing that is important to know is that Children Now sets the standard high – we want children doing well, not just getting by. The data does not lie. We have a long way to go if all children are to meet their fullest potential.

Child care received a D+ in this year’s Report Card.
This grade does not reflect the quality of care of our hard-working child care providers, rather, it is a grade on the state’s investment in child care. The pandemic exacerbated the existing crisis in child care. Costs for providers went up as they were left to navigate smaller group sizes, distancing requirements, additional cleaning requirements, costly personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing needs. This, in addition to losing clientele, staff who were out sick or needed to stay home with their own children, resulted in a significant loss of existing capacity – which was already under-serving the need for child care in the state.

The research also tells us when providers do well, children in their care do better! Yet we continuously ask child care providers to do more with less, accept lower pay, less professional development, and fewer resources. The pandemic resulted in already marginalized professionals experiencing food insecurity and loss of income, among other challenges that are unacceptable for an “essential” workforce.

We know none of this is news to people reading this newsletter. But we hope our Report Card and accompanying graphics and data can aid in our collective efforts to advocate for more investments in child care to ensure more families can benefit from the professional, culturally competent care available in their communities.

Please join Children Now for a webinar on Jan. 20 to learn more about the 2022 California Children's Report
Card. The webinar will provide an overview of the findings in the Report Card; trends in children’s health, early
childhood, education, and child welfare; and opportunities for local and state advocates to work together to
build power, amplify community voices, and improve children’s outcomes."
Thursday, January 20
10:30 – 11:30 a.m. PST