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.
2020-2021 Legislation
California Legislative Updates:
Governor has taken final actions
Final actions have been taken on the last remaining bills of interest to our field. See below:
To see a list of all bills of interest and final actions as recorded, click here.
In the 2019-2020 legislative session, 5,423 pieces of legislation were introduced. Of that number, 1,626 bills were chaptered (new laws), 228 vetoed, two enacted without signature and 3,561 failed somewhere in the process.
Click here to see calendar of field events/interests.
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.
2020 Child Care and Early Education Candidate Questionnaire
To help our field become more educated about candidates running for the State Senate and Assembly, a 2020 Candidate Questionnaire with background has been put together. If you are a candidate or know someone running for the State Legislature, please have them complete the Candidate Questionnaire (for convenience in a Word format) and we will host in a future CAPPA Monday Morning Update. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
Candidate Questionnaires - Click below and read about some of those individuals running for either the state Assembly or Senate.
New Interactive: Find Out How Women are Doing in Your Community
When women thrive, their families and communities prosper. Yet despite decades of progress in job opportunities, earnings, and political leadership, California women – and especially women of color – still face persistent barriers to accessing economic security, physical and mental health care, and representation in elected positions that greatly improve their lives and the well-being of their families and communities.
How are women in your community doing when it comes to earning a living wage? What do women in your county face in accessing health care, buying healthy food, and staying safe? And what opportunities do women have to lead in your local governments?
I’m writing to invite you to record a short 30- to 60-second video about what America should look like for our children in 10 years. End Child Poverty California: Vision 2030 is an inspirational education campaign asking Americans to imagine more for our children. Especially now, during crisis, creative solutions and big thinking are needed.
Join in! It should take 20-30 minutes for prep, practice, and recording. Instructions are attached and the prompt is below.
We’ve reached out because we value your vision, leadership, and input. Our goal is to share videos from diverse voices throughout September and beyond.
Video prompt: What is your greatest wish for the America our children will inherit in 2030? What are specific steps that should be taken to accomplish that vision?
After you record your video, send it to [email protected]. We’re happy to respond with more detailed upload instructions from our [email protected] account.
We understand the overwhelm and opportunity of this moment. Thank you for everything you are doing to build a future where our children are healthy, fed and housed!
Conway Collis
President and CEO
EARLY CHILDHOOD COALITION
JOINS 40,000 CHILD CARE PROVIDERS CALLING ON STATE LEADERS TO SAVE SYSTEM IN CRISIS
More than 5,000 child care providers have been forced out of business this year
SACRAMENTO, CA – A coalition of 78 organizations, committed to improving child care access in California, sent a letter to Governor Newsom, President pro Tempore Atkins, and Speaker Rendon yesterday, urging the state leaders to take immediate action to save California’s child care system, and thus support California’s frontline workers as well as a just and equitable economic recovery. “We know that without COVID-19 relief and permanent economic protections for child care providers, real economic recovery in California will be impossible,” they wrote.
The letter calls for state leaders to ensure that every child has access to quality early learning and care, and that family child care providers, and all early educators, receive the pay, respect, and resources they need as essential workers to provide this invaluable service during this critical time.
Satomi Rash-Zeigler, President of the San Diego Coalition of Black Trade Unionists said: “If California fails to address its child care crisis, we not only risk compromising our response to COVID-19, but we also risk compromising an entire cohort of children who won’t receive the care and attention they need to thrive.”
The coalition of non-profit, labor, and social justice organizations stressed that California’s child care system has been in crisis since long before the state went into lockdown in March. Many family child care providers experience persistent financial hardship due to low pay and lack of access to affordable health coverage. Quality child care can also be hard to find or too expensive for working families, all while more than 1.8 million children who are eligible for state-subsidized care fail to receive it and fall through the cracks.
Since January of this year, over 5,200 child care providers in California have been forced to close their doors with no help or intervention from the state. One of the critical lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis is that without immediate action, these providers will never again be able to open their doors to serve California children most in need.
Dr. Michael Olenick, CEO and President of The Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) said: “As one of the largest childcare agencies in California, we work on the ground with thousands of family child care providers every day. We have seen firsthand the financial struggles providers are facing, leading to closures that ultimately reduce the access low income families have to care in our state. Family Child Care providers have been the heroes during this pandemic with most staying open risking their lives to ensure that essential workers have the child care they need to keep the rest of us safe. Now the state has thrown up their hands placing an effective tax on the low-income women of color who serve as the backbone of California's childcare system. It’s time our state leaders fulfill their promises to our children and early educators to support quality, affordable childcare for working families through the course of this pandemic and beyond.”
The letter specifically asks for:
Adequate reimbursement rates for children participating in distance learning
Financial support for providers who have to close their doors following potential COVID-19 exposure so they can reopen
Restoration of the unilateral cut to providers’ pay by continuing to cover families’ portion of fees for children who receive child care subsidies when families keep children home to prevent COVID-19 spread or exposure
With California’s schools closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, child care providers’ value in helping close achievement gaps is only becoming more evident. Child care providers are some of the only in-person educators right now. They are critical to making distance learning work and combating educational deficits, with no guarantee they’ll be reimbursed.
Jean Cohen, Interim Director of the South Bay Labor Council said: “Family child care providers find solutions to difficult problems, and we have long known that their endless support is a cornerstone in our ability as working parents to be able to successfully balance our career and our family lives.”
Child care providers have been rightfully deemed essential workers, but the state’s investment is needed to ensure that they can continue to support their communities who rely on access to care.
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Federal Updates
On October 9, 2020, a rumor was circulating about a new development– we are hearing that the President is going to offer at $1.8 trillion package to Speaker Pelosi sometime soon. This package is slightly more than what had been on the table before negotiations broke down earlier this week (the original White House offer was $1.6 trillion) but it is still far below where Democrats are with their offer of a $2.2 trillion package.
COVID-19 Relief - After what seemed like encouraging conversations between Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Mnuchin, President Trump called off negotiations for a COVID-19 relief package earlier last week. Prior to the breakdown of negotiations, the White House was offering $25 billion on child care and House Democrats were holding the line on $50 billion for child care. Trump did later follow up his tweets by calling for $25 billion in additional aid for the airline industry, another round of stimulus payments, and aid for small businesses. It is important to acknowledge that this back and forth between Congress and Trump on whether there will be a package is exhausting and infuriating. We are tired of political games and a Supreme Court power grab getting in the way of the much-needed relief for millions of Americans, but especially for child care providers and the families and workers that they support. Nevertheless, we will continue to fight for at least $50 billion in relief funding that is needed to stabilize the child care system – we hope that you continue to join us in working with members of Congress and the field to raise hell until the relief our child care system needs is secured.
*NEW NEWS* As of late last Thursday night, Trump told House GOP that he now *does* want a stimulus deal before the election. But what the Senate is willing to do is still TBD. Slightly more hope than we had earlier this week for a relief package!!
Pandemic-EBT - The continuing resolution (CR) that Congress passed last week to avoid a government shutdown extended the Pandemic-EBT program, which provides families an EBT card to purchase food to replace the school meals their children are missing while learning remotely, through fiscal year 2021 and included several improvements that will help address childhood hunger. According to a press release from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), the improvements in the CR include: providing benefits to children who have a reduction in the number of days or hours they were physically in school or child care; allowing Puerto Rico and other territories to implement P-EBT; and providing funding to cover states’ administrative costs. This is a great development for kids, but there’s a lot to work out about the administration and implementation details!
#SaveChildCare Wednesdays - As we shared previously, a number of national organizations are pulling together united days of action. To ensure that Members of Congress, especially Congressional leadership, hear the need for at least $50 billion for child care in any coronavirus relief package, we are asking advocates, if you are able to, to take on a day of action each Wednesday through the November election.
For Wednesday, October 14, we will send out a toolkit for the day of action on Tuesday, October 13. #SaveChildCare. Look for that in your inboxes next week! Here are a few resources:
Without relief from #Congress, #childcare programs face an impossible choice: raise tuition or close? Either way, families will pay the price for Congressional inaction. But it's not too late for Congress to make it right & #SaveChildCare. @NAEYC https://bit.ly/3hVmcHq
Without relief from #Congress, #childcare programs face an impossible choice: raise tuition or close? Either way, families will pay the price for Congressional inaction. But it's not too late for Congress to make it right & #SaveChildCare. @NAEYC https://bit.ly/3hVmcHq
Most reviewed federal bills:
H.Res.1154 - Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes.
H.R.8337 - Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act
H.Res.1164 - Providing for consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 1153) condemning unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals without their full, informed consent, and providing for consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 1154) condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes.
H.Res.908 - Condemning all forms of anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19.
H.Res.109 - Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal.
H.R.6666 - COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone (TRACE) 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.
R&R Network and CAPPA Virtual Joint Annual Conference
Network and CAPPA Joint Annual Conference 2020 Goes Virtual!
There is a lot of interest in this year's Joint Annual Conference, on a virtual platform!
While we will certainly miss being able to come together in-person to share and gain information and to meet and connect with colleagues and workshop presenters, we want to create a conference event that meets as many of our members' needs as possible given the parameters that virtual conferences/workshops have. Now, perhaps more than ever, it is important for our community to stay connected, stand united, and meet this challenge together.
While we won't be able to meet in-person, what we hope to offer in a thoughtful, user-friendly manner, are keynote presentations, workshops, networking opportunities, and connection time with vendors. It will be different this year since we cannot be in the same physical location, but assisted by technology, we can do all that. With no travel and flexibility, we look forward to new opportunities for R&R Network and CAPPA members from across the state, as well as state partners, joining us as we collectively support our children, families and communities.
Become a Conference Partner Today!
We invite you to take advantage of this special event to support early childhood education and promote your company and products at our joint conference. It will be different this year since we cannot be in the same physical location, but assisted by technology, we can do all that. With no travel and flexibility, we look forward to new opportunities with our conference partners.
There are a variety of ways to sponsor The Virtual Conference or show your support. Whether you are interested in one of our many sponsorship opportunities, purchasing ad space in the Virtual Conference program or hosting an exhibit booth in our Virtual Exhibition Hall to showcase new products or launch promotions, there will be ample opportunity for your company to be recognized as a contributor to the Early Learning and Child Care field and for you to build visibility and connect with senior management and key decision makers.
CAPPA and the R&R Network would like to give a BIG thank you to our 2020 Virtual Joint Conference Partners!
Visit theConference Web pagefor more information and updates as they become available.
We hope you can join us virtually!
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.
Community Action Partnership of Kern is offering Housing for the Harvest, a new program that will offer temporary hotel housing to agricultural workers who need to isolate due to COVID-19. It will help positive or exposed workers protect their loved ones and coworkers by giving them a space to self-isolate.
Farm and food processing workers play an essential role in maintaining our food supply. But some who need to self-isolate are finding it difficult due to their housing situation. More information here.
Let us knowwhat your organization is doing, we would love to feature you in the coming weeks!
CDE Information & Updates
Management Bulletin 20-19: Guidance on Family Fees for Fiscal Year 2020-21
Purpose
This Management Bulletin (MB) is to notify and provide guidance to state-subsidized early learning and care (ELC) programs on the collection of Family Fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020–21 following the enactment of SB 820.
These requirements only apply to FY 2020–21 pursuant to Chapter 24 of the Statutes of 2020.
Background
Education Code (EC) 8273–8273.3 details that the state shall establish a family fee schedule, the assessment of those fees, and the applicable exemptions.
The California Code of Regulations, Title 5 (5 CCR), sections 18108 through 18116 set forth family fee requirements for all ELC programs.
On September 15, 2020, contractors were reminded via an email to subscribers of the Early Learning and Care Division's (ELCD) distribution list that family fees for all families were waived for July and August 2020, pursuant to the Superintendent’s authority provided by EC Section 8209. The email also provided directives for contractors to issue a refund or a credit for future services to families that had paid fees for July and/or August 2020, based on the contractor’s internal policy for refunds/credits of those fees. Further, this email provided interim guidance on upcoming legislation to waive family fees for the months of September 2020 through June 2021, for families not receiving in-person services due to center closure, COVID-19 related limitations, or choosing to shelter-in-place.
On September 18, 2020, the Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 820, which: (1) statutorily waives family fees for all subsidized children in July and August 2020, and provides additional funds to contractors to augment contracts for fees waived; (2) allows families who were disenrolled, either voluntarily or involuntarily, due to delinquent family fees to re-enroll without the need for additional eligibility documentation; (3) waives family fees for September 2020 through June 2021, for families where all children in the family enrolled in care remain at home for ELC distance learning or are sheltering-in-place, and specifies that if additional federal funds are not received, childcare providers will have to absorb those costs.
Management Bulletin 20-15A: Reimbursement and Data Collection Requirements for Alternative Payment Programs and Providers
Attention: Executive Directors and Program Administrators of California Alternative Payment Programs (CAPPs), including California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Stage 2 (C2AP), CalWORKs Stage 3 (C3AP), and Migrant Alternative Payment Program (CMAP).
Management Bulletin 20-15A is available at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/mb2015a.asp, and notifies and provides guidance to California Alternative Payment (AP) programs, including California Alternative Payment Program (CAPP), California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Stage 2 (C2AP), and CalWORKs Stage 3 (C3AP), and California Migrant Alternative Payment Program (CMAP) on:
Guidance on parent signatures on monthly attendance records or invoices
Guidance on serving school-age children during distance learning
Guidance on additional days of non-operation closures due to COVID-19
Additional data collection requirements for all Alternative Payment (AP) programs
Please note that this MB is a revision to MB 20-15. The following guidance within MB 20-15 still holds true:
Reimbursing providers based on the family's certified need
Providing written notification (i.e. Child Care certificates or Notices of Action) to providers regarding changes to a family's level of services, including reimbursement amount and/or family fee
New Data collection requirements for non-CalWORKs AP programs
Upcoming Field Events
Highlights
What Do Voters Want on Child Care Ahead of the 2020 Elections?
The coronavirus pandemic has upended the lives of many Americans—particularly the rhythms and stability of people and families with children. With many parents now working from home, or seeking to juggle hybrid and in-person work with other family needs, the situation for those in need of child care or other reliable early education options for their children is increasingly difficult and trying.
As the nation heads into a critical national election on November 3, the Center for American Progress and its partners at the public opinion polling firm GBAO set out to get a clearer picture of how recent developments may be affecting voters’ views about child care and related issues facing the country. How much have things changed for parents and families during the pandemic? Are they facing rising difficulties with child care and schooling or not? Have these developments affected people’s views about child care availability and costs in any manner? If so, do voters want to see more government assistance on this front or less? How important are these issues to voters’ considerations of policies and political leaders? Click here to read full report.
Why Childcare Is The Corner Stone Of Our Economy
Many Americans go throughout their day without childcare ever crossing their minds. If you don't need daycare, "What's the big deal?" Factor in a global pandemic and childcare is not even on the radar. However, many moms and dads could not earn a wage without childcare, nor could they support a family or fuel the economy. Childcare, believe it or not, allows the American Economy to function, according to Ai-jen Poo, Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, "It's the thing that makes everything else possible."
Catalyst Community is a non-profit organization that has provided innovative childcare solutions to support children, families, and childcare providers since 1976 in several northern California counties.
We believe that when families have the services/support they need, they will be able to raise competent, capable children. Learn more here.
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.
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.
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.
