Statewide campaign to save child care

Action: Advocates are asking people to tell their legislators about the importance of state-subsidized child care—and about the need for new revenues to solve the budget deficit.

Background: The Governor’s May budget revision proposed to eliminate most state-funded child care assistance (see below: Huge budget cuts proposed). The California Child Care Resource and Referral Network spearheaded a coalition to save child care funding. Within two weeks, 185 labor, faith-based, welfare rights, and children’s advocacy organizations had joined. Parents, providers, and advocates spoke out at budget hearings against the cuts—and Assembly and Senate subcommittees voted to reject child care and CalWORKs cuts, plus many of January’s proposed cuts.

“We’re not through with this [budget] yet,” said Patty Siegel of the R&R Network at a Sacramento child care policy meeting. “The state budget is still in a deep deficit. Our job is to make sure people making decisions really understand what [the proposed budget] means for parents, providers.”

• Child care keeps California working: An estimated 100,000 parents—and 130,000 child care staff—could lose their jobs if children lose child care.
  
  
• Child care invests in kids: Research shows early education experiences are key to children’s success in school and in life. These children will be tomorrow’s nurses, teachers, and firefighters.
  
  
• Corporations should pay their fair share: Parent Voices members and a coalition of immigrant, labor, health, and poverty advocates are campaigning in support of revenue packages in the legislature that would repeal corporate tax breaks and loopholes.
  
  

For more info: R&R Network 415-882-0234, www.rrnetwork.org/welcome

Invest in early education

Join California Child Development Corps teachers and providers and let legislators know how California can save money by investing in early childhood education. Children benefit from access to high quality child care—they are less likely to need special education or other social services and more likely to graduate from high school and get jobs as adults.

Why are both the Governor and the Legislative Analyst’s Office suggesting cuts to quality programs? Join Corps leaders in your area and make sure your legislators hear from you. Together our voices will be strong.

For more information, contact: Sara Hicks-Kilday, 415-808-7327, cares@caccwrc.org. For Spanish, contact: Teresa Calle-Streicker,
415-821-7871

Huge budget cuts proposed

The Governor’s May budget revision proposed even more cuts to children’s services. Many advocates and legislators are opposing the cuts (see above: Statewide campaign to save child care). New proposals include:

• Elimination of CalWORKs
  
  
• Elimination of state-funded child care, except for state preschool and afterschool programs. Federal funds would serve only the neediest families. Families would only get child care assistance (except state preschool) if they earn less than 60% of the state median income level (around $46,000 for a family of four).
  
  
• Reducing services and increasing family fees for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families.
  
  
• Reducing services for some immigrants, eliminating Cal-WORKs for recent legal immigrants and the California Food Assistance Program (food stamps for legal immigrants), and reducing Medi-Cal for some immigrants.
  
  
• Rejecting proposals to divert Prop. 10 or 63 funds to other state health programs.
  
  
• Raising revenues through fee hikes. Advocates are pushing for an oil production tax and for suspending some corporate tax breaks.
  
  

Sources: California Budget Project, CAPPA, Health Access, California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative

National campaigns

Action: Contact Congress about national issues affecting children and families (go to www.house.gov or www.senate.gov or the blue pages in your phone book).

Reform Immigration for America: This national coalition of 650 immigrant, faith-based, civil rights, and labor groups is urging Congress to reform immigration policies to:

• promote economic opportunity for all low-income Americans, with labor protections and due process
  
  
• use a rigorous process to legalize undocumented immigrants
  
  
• allocate enough visas to reduce illegal migration—and keep families together
  
  
• focus enforcement on violent individuals, unscrupulous employers, and trafficking operations—not raids and detention.
  
  

For more information: Reform Immigration for America, 202-383-5985, http://reformimmigrationforamerica.org

Save public housing: A coalition of organizations and public housing tenants are campaigning against legislation that would allow mortgages on public housing to pay for repairs and maintenance. Advocates say public housing prevents homelessness. But these mortgages could allow banks to push public housing agencies to raise rents, displace tenants, and limit their rights—and buildings could go into foreclosure if the government cuts the public housing budget.

For more information: Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, 213-500-0947, http://lacehh.wordpress.com/

Health reform benefits California families

In March, President Obama signed landmark health care reform legislation into law. Highlights include

• Insurers will no longer be able to deny care to children with pre-existing conditions, drop people from coverage when they get sick, or impose lifetime caps on coverage. By 2014, no one can be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
  
  
• In 2014, most people will be required to have health insurance. Those eligible for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, or insured through their employer, will still be covered. Uninsured families with moderate incomes (up to about $88,000 for a family of four) will be able to get help paying for coverage.
  
  
• New funding for community health centers and home visiting.
  
  
• While the legislation does not stop insurers from raising premiums, advocates are supporting the Health Insurance Rate Authority Act (national) and AB 2578 (California), which would help limit large rate increases.

For more information: Kaiser Family Foundation, www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/8061.pdf

Weigh in on legislation

Tell your legislator your views on legislation that would impact California’s children and families (go to www.legislature.ca.gov or the blue pages of your phone book).

Early care and education

Early Learning Quality Improvement System (ELQIS): AB 2592 (Buchanan) would state the Legislature’s intent to pass legislation establishing a pilot quality rating system (QRS) for child care (for more about the QRS, see Weigh in on a system to improve child care quality).

Review the regional market rate structure:  SCR 44 (Corbett) would request that the Legislature review the regional market rate survey. The survey determines how much early care and education programs are paid by the state for caring for children with child care subsidies.

Priority for children in state preschool programs: AB 1693 (Torres) would give priority in state preschool programs to children whose parent is a juvenile court dependent or ward.

Priority for children in early care and education programs: SB 244 (Wright) would give priority in certain early care and education programs to children of foster youth and children adopted by low-income families.

Health

Regulate beverages in child care: AB 2084 (Brownley) would require that licensed child care facilities serve healthier beverages.

Reduce families’ Medi-Cal reporting: AB 2477 (Jones) would require that families re-apply for their children’s Medi-Cal once a year instead of every six months. This would mean less paperwork for families and would help children stay enrolled in the program.

Toxic pesticides in schools: SB 1157 (DeSaulnier) would stop schools from using most highly toxic pesticides.

Sources: On the Capitol Doorstep, Health Access, CDPI, Water Cooler

Child Care Law Center: Back in business

The Child Care Law Center (CCLC) is again providing legal services to make high-quality child care accessible for every family in California, thanks to funding from the State Bar Trust Fund. CCLC will offertraining, co-counseling, and materials. It will also continue to analyze how state child care policy and budget proposals relate to low-income families.

For more info: CCLC, info@childcarelaw.org, www.childcarelaw.org