If they don't give you a seat at the table-pull up a folding chair. ~Shirley Chisholm

February 7, 2024

Dear Sara,

February brings us Black History Month, Chinese New Year, and the next step in San Francisco budget advocacy, an exciting and important month to engage in San Francisco community meetings and events.

This year’s Black History Month theme is African Americans and the Arts, and the Chinese New Year is the year of the wooden dragon. See highlighted celebrations, events, and resources for young children and educators for each in the local celebrations and events section below.

San Francisco and DEC budget

Between the end of December and February San Francisco Departments are required to make public presentations on their budget plans before submission to the Mayor's office, with a final submission due March 1). The Department of Early Childhood (DEC) made its preliminary presentation to the joint COAC/T5 Commission meeting on 1/17 (slides from the joint COAC/F5 Commission meeting) and will present a more detailed budget at the joint COAC/T5 Commission meeting on February 13 and the CPAC General Membership meeting on February 14. Public comment is encouraged at both presentations—see details under SF Local Policy Updates below.

For more background on ECE needs in SF—have you read the Child Care Planning and Advisory Councils Needs Assessment? Start with the ECESF’s Blog post which invites you to enter the Needs Assessment with inquisitiveness and curiosity—and get to know local and state policy bodies. 

Collaboratively,

Sara Hicks-Kilday

sara@ecesf.org

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SF Local Policy Updates

DEC joint COAC/T5 Commission

2/13/24

The joint COAC/T5 Commission meeting scheduled for February 13, 4:30-6:30 pm. Public comment is open to in-person and remote attendees. General comments are taken at the beginning of the meeting & to an agenda item before all agenda items begin. Meeting agenda & access information will be posted on DEC's website.

CPAC General Membership Meeting

2/14/24

The CPAC General Membership meeting is on February 14 from 9:30-11:30 am. Meeting access information will be posted on the CPAC website.

(*Note: look for the CPAC Membership on 2/14, not the Membership meeting which reviews membership needs.)

Public Comment Encouraged

The SF ECE Advocacy Coalition is collecting key questions from the ECE community—and welcomes you to send any questions you may have to info@ecesf.org or info@sfececoalition.org, as well as to attend one of the two meetings if not both—and be part of the public voice on questions that speak to you.

Survey

From the Taskforce for Early Intervention and Inclusion Equity

Please take a few moments to complete the attached survey to help us gain a clearer picture of the barriers to serving Children with special needs and accessing services. The Taskforce for Early Intervention and Inclusion Equity is a group of community based organizations, non profits, educators, and early childhood advocates who are engaged in a collaborative effort to connect children with the services they need to be successful in our community.

Your input is invaluable as we seek to gain more perspectives on the current barriers our children and families face regarding access to special education services. We hope to use the results of this survey to share more widely this issue and impact change through our unified voices.

The survey is organized by role and we look forward to having your voice be a part of this important work.

In appreciation,

The SF Taskforce for Early Intervention and Inclusion Equity

Por favor tome unos minutos para completar la encuesta adjunta que nos ayudará a obtener una imagen más clara de las barreras que existen al atender y cuidar de los niños con necesidades especiales, así como, las dificultades para acceder a los servicios. El Grupo de Trabajo para la Intervención Temprana y la Equidad en la Inclusión es un conjunto de organizaciones comunitarias, organizaciones sin fines de lucro, educadores y defensores de la primera infancia que participan en un esfuerzo de colaboración para conectar a los niños con los servicios que necesitan y así tener éxito en nuestra comunidad.

Su aportación es invaluable mientras buscamos obtener más perspectivas sobre las barreras que hoy en día enfrentan nuestros niños y familias, en lo que se refiere al acceso a los servicios de educación especial. Esperamos utilizar los resultados de esta encuesta para compartir de manera más amplia este tema y causar un impacto por el cambio con la unión de nuestras voces.

La encuesta está organizada dependiendo la función que se desempeña y esperamos que su voz sea parte de este trabajo tan importante.

En agradecimiento,

El Grupo de Trabajo de SF para la Intervención Temprana y la Equidad en la Inclusión

請您花幾分鐘時間來完成附件中的問卷調查。 這個問卷調查能幫助我們更好地了解如何向有特殊需要的兒童提供幫助和獲得有效的服務。 早期介入融和平等小組是由社區裏各個組織， 非牟利機構和教育工作者等團體組成。這個小組一起共同合作來幫助兒童成功獲得應有的服務。

您的寶貴意見能讓我們更好地了解到孩子和家庭現時在獲得特殊教育服務方面遇到的障礙。 我們希望可以通過這次的調查結果來廣泛分享這個問題， 並透過我們一致的聲音來影響改變。

這個問卷調查是按職位來進行的， 我們期待你的聲音成爲我們這項重要工作的一部分。

感謝，

早期介入融和平等專案小組

Local celebrations and events!

Black History Celebration 2024 @ Wu Yee Children's Services' Bayview Community Hub, 4900 3rd St.

Dance class with Coach Lilla from @FelineFinesse from 10-11am and 11-12:30pm storytime, activity and snack—every Friday in February except Friday February 9th in observance of Lunar New Year we will celebrate on Thursday Feb. 8th.

Black History Month educator resources

1. SF Library book collection for More Than a Month 2024: Kids Books to Celebrate Black History Month.
2. Ashay by the Bay, Black owned bookstore, and great resource for educators.
3. Learn more about Black-led organizations supporting educators learn and implement anti-racist teaching practices:  
4. Abundant Beginnings
5. Learning for Justice
6. Abolitionist Teaching Network
7. Woke Kindergarten
8. Embrace Race

Explore more Chinese New Year events around the Bay — click the image!

CA ECE Statewide Public Policy News

The California Department of Social Services Child Care & Development Division (CDSS/CCDF) announced the release of the draft version of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) 2025-27 State Plan, required every three years. Individuals can submit written comments regarding CDSS’s posted draft plan during the 30-day public comment period beginning February 1, 2024, through March 1, 2024, via the dedicated email box statepln@dss.ca.gov.

In the CDSS/CCDF message these areas are highlighted anticipating additional change:

• “In Section 4 …, there are questions related to cost analysis and rate setting based on CDSS’s pre-approved alternative methodology for estimating the costs of child care. … responses in this section will be updated … An updated timeline for the work related to the alternative methodology will be posted on CCDD’s Rate Reform and Quality Webpage …”
• “ … the Federal Registry announcement, ACF proposed changes to the state plan preprint, which establishes the questions and format of states’ CCDF plans. These changes are not yet incorporated in California’s draft State Plan. … If ACF approves of the preprint changes, CDSS will transfer information to the new version, which will be submitted to ACF no later than July 1, 2024. Both the Federal Register notice and the CCDF Plan Preprint are posted on OCC’s website.”

ECE Educator/Provider Resources

Free Water Testing for Lead

The CA Child Care Resource and Referral Network is partnering with the Office of Water Programs (OWP) and California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to encourage child care centers built before Jan. 1, 2010 to have their water tested for lead. There is now free water testing for ALL applicants.

For more information contact Ms. Jackson at tmjackson@rrnetwork.org and see more details in this flyer:

Universal Pre-kindergarten News

High-Level Updates to the Preschool Learning Foundations

The California Department of Education (CDE), Early Education Division (EED) shared a pre-recorded webinar of the high-level updates to the Preschool Transitional Kindergarten Learning Foundations, which are California’s early learning standards for children ages three to five and a half in center-based preschool, home-based preschool, and Transitional Kindergarten settings. The pre-recording can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnIiSoiSPKE.



The revised Foundations will be posted on the CDE website in summer 2024. For any questions, reach out to UPK@cde.ca.gov.

Check out the UPDATED Early Childhood Education Webpage (from the CTC)

The California Department of Education (CDE), Early Education Division (EED) shared a pre-recorded webinar of the high-level updates to the Preschool Transitional Kindergarten Learning Foundations, which are California’s early learning standards for children ages three to five and a half in center-based preschool, home-based preschool, and Transitional Kindergarten settings. The pre-recording can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnIiSoiSPKE.



The revised Foundations will be posted on the CDE website in summer 2024. For any questions, reach out to UPK@cde.ca.gov.

Check out more ECE-related news on the "ECE in the news" webpage!

Are you an Early Care Educator in San Francisco?

¿Es usted un educador de cuidado infantil en San Francisco?

您是舊金山的早期護理教育工作者嗎？

ECESF receives funding from the Department of Early Childhood (DEC) to provide field building and peer supports to early care educators, as well as generous donations and in-kind contributions to build our advocacy and community work from individual early care educators, and allies, community organizations and agencies. Support our work. Donate!