VISION All California's children have a strong early learning and care foundation, supporting the whole child and school and lifelong success.

MISSION Lead an innovative, inclusive, and high-performing early learning and care system by advancing equitable opportunities that optimize thriving children, families, and communities.

Three Priorities: 

Priority 1: One System - Create One System with a Collective Voice and Lead Systems Alignment and Reform

Priority 2: Equity, Capacity and Quality - Address Equity by Building Capacity and Quality Across Agencies, Programs, Settings, Communities, and the Early Learning and Care Workforce

Priority 3: Integrity, Stewardship, and Excellence - Provide Reliable Leadership, Service, and Support

Click here to read the full plan.

Click to watch:  https://www.facebook.com/aarpcalifornia/videos/291729144759936/ .  We'll deserved.

If you have someone to be recognized in our field, email CAPPA.

Do you know where the candidates stand? Read Gavin Newsom's and John Cox's platforms!

Click here to read Gavin Newsom's platform on education.

Click here to read John Cox's platform.

Through my work as an educator and on the documentary No Small Matter, I know how much important development happens in a child's brain from birth to age five. That's why on November 6th, I plan to vote for the gubernatorial candidate who is the best advocate for California's youngest generation.

Your vote matters. Make your voice heard on November 6th and cast a vote for the candidate you believe will be the best champion for early childhood care and education.

 

Thank you for supporting California's youngest children,

Rachel Giannini

No Small Matter

Please note, No Small Matter will be shown at the Network and CAPPA's Joint Conference 2018.  Click here to register.

The Trump Administration announced a very harmful draft proposal that would change the definition of a "public charge" in an effort to support its ongoing and extreme overhaul of U.S. immigration policy.   

The Administration's proposal would considerably expand the public charge definition, putting millions of families at risk by forcing them to forgo any public assistance in an effort to remain in the country. This proposed rule would target many programs that help low-income families, including:

*    Non-emergency Medicaid

*    Subsidies provided through the Affordable Care Act

*    Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

*    Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

*    Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

*    Housing assistance such as Section 8 vouchers, and

*    State and local assistance programs

In addition, the Administration is considering adding the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to the list of benefits. 

This rule would impact the lives of millions of children and families who not only rely on the programs listed above but also those who depend on child care assistance and other critical education and health programs. In fact, many immigrant families have already disenrolled from these programs even though current U.S. public charge policy still remains.
 
The Administration is expected to officially publish this proposal soon and will seek comments for 60 days after its release, and we strongly encourage you to respond. In addition, Child Care Aware® of America is working closely with the National Immigration Law Center and CLASP and you can access  key resources here. Also, we strongly urge you to join the webinar both organizations are hosting on   October 3 or October 17. Both are scheduled for 1:00 pm EST. 

Please continue to follow Child Care Aware® of America for further updates, and feel free to contact us with questions. You can read Child Care Aware of America's official statement here .  

CAPPA is pleased to support a strengthened partnership with CLASP.  We are pleased to profile research that they have done here.  

Our Children's Fear: Immigration Policy's Effects on Young Children's  a report describing findings from interviews and focus groups with ECE providers and immigrant parents. Also is a  companion report looking at how ECE programs and staff specifically are affected by immigration policy changes.

Developing State Policy that Supports Low-income, Working Students.  Current postsecondary policies fall short of addressing students' multiple roles as parents, workers, and students. Moreover, when existing policies do not place equity front and center, they fail to target the systemic barriers holding back students of color.

States recognize these weaknesses in existing postsecondary policies and have led the way on college completion and achievement initiatives that involve retrofitting systems designed for traditional students to meet the needs of today's low-income students.  Click here to read more.

The Department of Homeland Security's "Sensitive Locations" Policies.  The president issued a series of executive orders in January 2017 that effectively made all undocumented immigrants a priority for deportation. The executive orders also significantly increased the enforcement capacity of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). As a result, arrests in communities-notably among immigrants without criminal violations-have been particularly heightened under the Trump Administration. Advocates, policymakers, and immigrant communities have responded with outrage over several high-profile incidents of immigrants being detained immediately before or after dropping their children off at school, at or en route to the hospital, inside the courthouse,4 and outside church-affiliated homeless shelters.  Click here to read the fact sheet. 

After several years of lower poverty rates, higher income, and broader health coverage, gains slowed - and  in some cases stalled  - in the states in 2017, new Census data show. For example, fewer states reduced their share of people below the federal poverty line (about $25,000 for a family of four), according to  new state data  from the American Community Survey. Because policy decisions affect whether people get a real shot at economic opportunity and communities thrive, states should do what they can to reverse the decline in progress.

Today's data show that:

• Poverty fell in 21 states in 2017 and rose in two (Delaware and West Virginia), compared to 2016 when it fell in 25 states and rose in just one.
• Child poverty, in particular, fell in 16 states in 2017, compared with 23 in 2016. It rose in one state, New Hampshire. (See chart.)
• Fewer states saw incomes rise, likely due in part to a  slowdown in employment gains, and income gains were not shared equally across racial and ethnic groups, as I've explained.

Click here to read the full article by Erica Williams.