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Providers who participated in the Hanford/Porterville Lobby Day.

Providers urge legislators to fund child care

On April 17, nineteen child care providers from the Los Angeles area traveled to Sacramento to speak out for child care and education funding.  Providers visited 39 legislators, and told them about our commitment to children and our struggles with California’s broken child care system. We asked them to stop the cuts to child care and to oppose the “realignment” of the guaranteed funding that would shift child care services from state oversight to counties, a change that does not guarantee that money allocated for child care will actually be spent on child care services.

Providers packed the Labor Subcommittee hearing room to show support for our Child Care Organizing bill (AB 2573 now, AB 101 last year). Although we don’t expect it to get signed until after the Governor’s “Millionaire Tax” initiative passes in the fall, we must continue to speak up in 2012. We need legislators to know we’re not “going away,” and we have to make sure they’re ready to take action next year to finally give providers a voice. The good news:  our bill passed in the Labor subcommittee.

Olga Angelo

“It’s important to visit legislators so they can hear our concerns and issues about our broken system. I’m here to make a difference.”
– Olga Angelo, a Provider in Montclair

A week earlier, providers from Hanford and Porterville spoke at a Senate Labor Subcommittee hearing on April 12, urging the committee to vote against the Governor’s proposed cuts to child care programs.  The cuts would reduce child care funding by a staggering $450 million, a 20% reduction, resulting in 62,000 fewer child care slots.

Arcadio Sanchez, a provider from Hanford, told the committee, “We can’t afford to cut more from the budget because families are already suffering and providers are closing their doors.  If more families lose their access to child care, they won’t have any choice but to go on public assistance.”

In addition, providers in the Bay Area recently visited the district offices of Assembly member Susan Bonilla and State Senator Mark DeSaulnier and talked to them about our concerns.

Want to get involved in our efforts? 
Attend our May Lobby Day trip to Sacramento! 
For more information, sign up here. 

More details will be provided soon. Sign up now.

Take a look at this humorous video.

The residents of Humboldt County, California, wake up one day to find that all their child care providers have mysteriously disappeared. The result? A good portion of the workforce has to stay home to take care of their kids! Chaos ensues. A solution is proposed.

Written and produced for the Local Child Care Council of Humboldt County by Rick St. Charles & Matt St. Charles with Lisa Monet.
www.ricksaintcharles.com
www.greatmindspro.com
www.lisamonetmusic.com

“We All Sing with the Same Voice” by Lisa Monet with the Redwood Coast Children’s Chorus can be downloaded at www.cdbaby.com/cd/lisamonet3

2012 is starting out as a busy year for us in Sacramento. There are several proposals currently on the table that relate to child care services. Some could significantly improve things for providers, and a few others have issues that need to be addressed. Here is a recap of the major bills currently on the table:

AB 2573 (Furitani)—SUPPORT. We (Child Care Providers United) sponsored this bill which would give us a voice in our work and make improvements to our broken child care system. This bill is similar to AB 101 (Perez/Steinberg) which we fought for last year and the Legislature passed, but was vetoed by Governor Brown. The bill just made it past the first step and was passed by the Assembly’s Labor Committee on April 18th.

AB 1673 (Mitchell)—SUPPORT. This bill will adopt 12 month eligibility for parents receiving child care subsidies and streamline reporting requirements. Changes should promote better stability and continuity of care and allow providers to build longer-lasting relationships with children. Additionally, Assemblymember Mitchell may consider other improvements to the child care system that providers have long advocated for, including simplified attendance sheets, a standardized policy on notifying providers of changes in families’ eligibility for subsidies, and a set pay date for providers. We (CCPU) are working to try to strengthen this bill, stay tuned for how you can support our efforts!

AB 1872 (Alejo)—NEUTRAL. This bill focuses on nutrition in family child care homes. Specifically, the bill would require family providers to meet the nutrition standards of the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and self-certify compliance, would add this to licensing reviews, and licensing would be required to provide information on CACFP nutrition standards. Initially, this bill had serious issues; the bill’s author and sponsors wanted additional provisions, including criminal penalties for lack of compliance. We (CCPU) met with the authors to express our concerns, causing those parts to be taken out of the bill, allowing us to be neutral.

AB 2137 (Bradford)—OPPOSE. This bill would have given cities the right to deny the establishment of a large family child care home. We (CCPU) expressed opposition to the bill; because we and others weighed in, Bradford’s office has said they will not move the bill! Stopping a bad bill like this is an example of how we have more power together as providers.

As the gathered crowd clapped, Santa Ana providers Yadhira Ramirez, Rosa Fonseca, Elizabeth Lindsay and Gabriella Villanes were presented with Certificates of Recognition for honoring the social foundation of their community by supporting children.

“It’s great to be recognized in this way and seen as more than just babysitters. We’re all very dedicated to educating children and making sure they have the skills to be great citizens in the future,” said Gabriella Villanes, a provider with 16 years of experience.

“They’re carrying on Cesar’s dream by teaching and caring for children whose parents have to work hard to get by,” said Assemblyman Solario. “We want to acknowledge the important work they do for the families in my district.”

Rosa Fonseca, who has been a licensed provider for over six years, added: “We don’t do this work for the money, the value of our work is reflected in the children.”

What is ASPIRE?
ASPIRE is a new statewide First 5 CA professional development program for early childhood educators, also known as CARES Plus. Participants will complete a free on-line training regarding the CLASS observation tool, academic and career advisement, and 3-6 semester units of coursework. By doing so, they can earn a stipend of at least $1,000 in August 2013.

Click here for more information.

Local leaders, parents and children came together on March 8th to celebrate the work of Kern’s providers, presenting them with flowers and taking a moment to voice their appreciation.

“I know that I couldn’t support my family without you. Thank you for everything you do,” said parent Elizabeth Mayoral.

Agapeland Christian Academy Administrator Marisa Banks emphasized the importance of family child care in preparing children for school.

“Family child care plays an important role in building a foundation for learning and development. Your work is crucial to the future of our children and their ability to succeed for years to come.”

Elected leaders expressed concern over recent comments from State Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, who has routinely called family child care providers “babysitters”.

“The Councilman’s cousin is a family child care provider and he understands how much work, dedication and training is needed to run a successful center. It’s disappointing that some of our local leaders are disrespectful and lack a clear understanding how important you all are to the community,” said Chris Chamberlain, Representative for Bakersfield City Councilman Rudy Salas.

Leticia Perez, Representative for State Senator Michael Rubio added, “I can’t express how important you are to our community and to working women everywhere. We can go to work knowing our kids are safe, secure and learning in a family rich environment. Senator Rubio fully supports your vital contributions to our community.”

Providers Laura Rodriguez and Glenda Lomax expressed appreciation to the speakers and emphasized how much she loves the work that she does. “We love taking care of children and watching them grow, thank you for supporting us,” said Rodriguez.

Lomax noted that as a small business owner, Grove should know better than to downplay the work of hard working women. “The support we see here today is welcome and appreciated. We can only hope that Shannon Grove stops disrespecting us, because it sets a dangerous tone that could lead to more cuts, leaving more working families and children without access to quality child care services.”

“The risk of obesity starts early in life. Over half of obese children become overweight by the age of 2, and approximately one in five children are overweight or obese by their 6th birthday.”
– The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity

Now, there is a new website and support for child care professionals.

As a child care provider, you have the powerful opportunity to instill healthy choices that could help prevent childhood obesity from the start. With about 12 million babies and young children in child care nationwide, we can’t afford to wait.

• Learn How to Sign Up
• Why Get Involved?
• The 5 Goals of the Program
• Frequently Asked Questions

Today’s kids are more likely to be overweight or obese.

Three times more children are obese today than just 30 years ago. Now, nearly a third of kids in America are overweight or obese. The rate skyrockets to almost 40% in African American and Hispanic communities. Plus, more and more children are being diagnosed with obesity-related conditions that were traditionally only seen in adults — like type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Even more disheartening, many of these kids will experience serious conditions like heart disease, cancer, and stroke as adults.

You can be a child care champion for healthy choices.

Because you’ve dedicated your career to taking care of young children, you have the opportunity to help turn these frightening statistics around. As kids’ bodies and brains develop, they can form unhealthy food preferences and habits that are hard to break. That’s why the First Lady is launching Let’s Move! Child Care — a nationwide call-to-action that empowers child care providers, like you, to make positive health changes in children, early on, that could last a lifetime.