In-Home Daycare Providers Still Face Discrimination From Landlords

Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, October 16, 2025…

• Thousands of California families rely on in-home daycares for their kids. But after the housing market collapse in 2008, the state lost 30% of these types of child care settings, leading to a crisis. As part of its effort to rebuild, California passed a law in 2019 forbidding landlords and homeowners’ associations from refusing to rent to in-home child care providers. But that hasn’t stopped the practice.
• California is joining 13 others to create an alliance aimed at coordinating public health policy– a direct rebuke of the Trump Administration.
• 5.5 million Californians could soon lose their food assistance benefits, if Congress doesn’t end the shutdown and approve a budget agreement. That’s according to The California Department of Social Services, who oversees the program, CalFresh.

Despite Law In Place, In-Home Child Care Providers Face Challenges With Rent

Thousands of California families rely on in-home daycares for their kids. But after the housing market collapse in 2008, the state lost 30% of these types of child care settings, leading to a crisis. As part of its effort to rebuild, California passed a law in 2019 forbidding landlords and homeowners’ associations from refusing to rent to in-home child care providers. But that hasn’t stopped the practice.

For almost a decade, Mariam Younathan ran a daycare out of a spacious home she was renting in Manteca. “I was a very good renter, paid my rent every single month. A lot of my parents loved the home because I took care of it so well,” she said.

But when she contacted her landlord about two years ago to make some repairs – “He came over and he was making false accusations saying it’s because of my daycare that the AC broke, and I assured him that it’s not because of the daycare,” she said. Then, the landlord gave an ultimatum. “He stated that I could stay, but not the daycare. He said he was gonna send me a letter stating that I can no longer do daycare and I would need to sign it. I refused. And then after that, five days later I got an eviction notice.”

Younathan filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, which determined through an investigation that the landlord discriminated against her based on her occupation.

Laurie Furstenfeld is director of legal advocacy at the Child Care Law Center in Berkeley. She says despite the explicit protections in the 2019 law, in-home child care providers still face housing discrimination. “Just this year, since January 1, we’ve received 81 complaints,” she said.

California Joins Breakaway Public Health Alliance In Rebuke Of ‘Extremists’ At CDC

California is joining 13 other states to create an alliance aimed at coordinating public health, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday in a direct rebuke of the Trump administration and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s dramatic overhaul of the nation’s public health systems.

The move comes as public health experts grow increasingly concerned about Kennedy’s transformation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he’s fired top officials, slashed research funding, changed vaccine recommendations and gutted the leadership of a key federal immunization committee and replaced them with novices.

Newsom also noted the deep health care cuts President Trump and congressional Republicans have made this year in announcing the new alliance. “The American people deserve a public health system that puts science before politics,” Newsom said in a statement. “As extremists try to weaponize the CDC and spread misinformation, we’re stepping up to coordinate across states, protect communities, and ensure decisions are driven by data, facts, and the health of the American people.”

The new partnership is meant to coordinate public health leadership to improve communication, share information and position states to respond quickly to new threats. It includes the governors of Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina, plus the U.S. territory of Guam.

Food Safety Net For Millions Of SoCal Residents Is At Risk If Shutdown Continues

People with low incomes who rely on California’s largest food program will likely be affected starting next month if the federal shutdown continues, officials are warning. It’s one of several safety net programs facing a funding cliff if the shutdown — which has shown no sign of ending — drags on.

Well over 1 million people in L.A. County get food benefits from CalFresh — the state’s implementation of the federally funded SNAP program. It provides monthly food benefits to low-income people through debit cards that can be used at grocery stores and farmer’s markets that accept them. Those benefits are secured for October. But if Congress doesn’t reach a deal, funding for those benefits will be disrupted starting next month, according to the county. Federal authorities told states last week that there’s not enough money to pay full SNAP benefits for November if the shutdown continues, and to not load money onto recipients’ cards for November until further notice.

“Should the shutdown continue, our beneficiaries will definitely be impacted starting November…that impacts over 1.6 million individuals that we have on CalFresh,” said  Michael Sylvester, who oversees administrative operations for the L.A. County department that administers the food program. If Congress doesn’t strike a deal by the end of this week to extend funding, Sylvester said officials are preparing public messages to alert CalFresh recipients of the anticipated effects and “start to refer them to other resources, such as food banks.”