Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a series of early education bills that will boost California’s publicly funded child care and preschool programs right as federal pandemic relief for child care providers runs out at the end of September.
The state is budgeting about $2 billion to cover a roughly 20% pay raise for providers who look after the children of parents with lower income — their first salary bump in five years — and extend a few pandemic-era policies that helped them keep their doors open.
By signing these bills, Newsom also signed off on establishing the nation’s first retirement fund for the union representing more than 40,000 family child care providers and continuing to pay for their health care and professional training.
“This is a pretty substantial investment acknowledging that early educator workers are underpaid, that they do need more funding, that they are a vital part of the workforce,” said Nina Buthee, executive director of the advocacy group EveryChild California.
The state is also extending a few pandemic-era policies that were initially funded by the federal government, including lowering, and in many cases eliminating, “family fees” that families with lower-income must pay to receive state-subsidized child care; and reimbursing providers based on enrollment rather than attendance.
Additionally, delinquent fees will be forgiven. For years, advocates have criticized these fees as inequitable and unaffordable. Families had to pay up to 25% of their income, or as much as $600 a month, per child. Advocates worried that if the state reintroduces the fees after waiving them during the pandemic, it would cause families to drop out of state-funded child care programs.