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"content": "\u003cp>Harnesha Burks’ financial setback began with a high-risk pregnancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, she was working as a mail handler for the U.S. Postal Service in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a>, and her doctor told her the heavy lifting she was doing at work wasn’t safe for her and the baby she was carrying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The doctor advised her to take time off, but the postal service doesn’t offer paid maternity leave, and she didn’t qualify for state benefits, so she started to fall behind on her monthly bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was really, really stressful, really hard,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks got help from local churches and public assistance programs to cover food and rent for the apartment she shared with her baby and teenage son in Antioch. But she didn’t always have enough money to pay her gas, electricity and cellphone bills. Eventually, she owed Pacific Gas & Electric $1,700.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her debt caught up to her when, a month after coming from the hospital with her newborn, the power was cut off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053521\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053521\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harnesha Burks plays with her son Zyon, 2, at a park near their home in Antioch on Aug. 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I ended up going straight to rock bottom,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks is among one in three California parents of young kids who struggle to afford their utility bills, \u003ca href=\"https://rapidsurveyproject.com/article/utility-costs-rise-leaving-california-parents-of-young-children-in-a-tough-spot/\">according to \u003c/a>a statewide survey, which found that when parents have trouble making ends meet, their children’s well-being and development suffer. As \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033386/pge-electricity-rates-have-jumped-nearly-70-since-2020\">electricity rates rise sharply\u003c/a> in California, parents told the survey they need to make tough choices between basic needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People pay for food and housing first and foremost but utilities are, I think, something that often falls between the cracks because if people can’t pay for basic things like the rent they get evicted, or if they don’t have enough food on their table, it constitutes an emergency,” said Philip Fisher, director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood, which surveyed as part of its multi-year RAPID project. [aside postID=news_12023805 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/P1100923_qed-1020x680.jpg']Fisher said when researchers followed up with these parents, they reported feeling elevated levels of anxiety, loneliness, depression and stress, and that their children were more fussy or defiant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parents also filled out \u003ca href=\"https://www.unmc.edu/publichealth/research/multidisciplinary-programs/kidsights/index\">an online survey\u003c/a> that measures the typical development of children under 5 years old. The results showed that when parents face economic hardships, their babies experience emotional distress and developmental delays, which affects their ability to learn in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Previous research has pointed to the impacts that financial strain has on parents and their children. Fisher cited a UC Berkeley study that found that caregivers with low socioeconomic status ran short on money, and they \u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/desc.13151\">spoke less to their infants and toddlers at the end of the month\u003c/a>. The “word gap” is a concern for researchers because chatting with babies, even before they can talk, boosts their communication and social skills later on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re concerned about kids’ education and [their] readiness to attend school, then these economic hardship issues are really at the center of what we’re talking about,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After her power was cut off, Burks said she spent several weeks couch surfing with relatives. Her older son, Bradley, went to her grandparents’ house to be closer to his high school. She felt guilty about being away from him while living out of bags with her baby, Zyon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053525\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harnesha Burks holds her son Zyon, 2, near their home in Antioch on Aug. 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We were ripped from our nests,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family members helped Burks pay the PG&E bill to get the electricity flowing again. She returned home after six weeks to a refrigerator full of spoiled food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to pretty much start over with [restocking] the refrigerator and the freezer … so I had a setback on that,” she said. “It was so hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get out of what she called a financial “black hole,” Burks returned to work. But going back meant working a graveyard shift and leaving Bradley to care for his brother by himself. She felt bad for making Bradley take on a huge responsibility and for leaving Zyon so soon.[aside postID=news_12052609 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/240520-TKParentsDilemma-32-BL_qed.jpg']“We didn’t get the bonding time that I felt that we needed. A lot of nights, he had to go to sleep without me,” she said. “I was in an unstable place, but I had to go back to work because who’s going to keep the lights on? Who’s going to take care of me and my kids?”\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she came home, she tried to make up for lost time with Zyon but sacrificed her own sleep. Relief came on the two days Zyon’s dad, with whom she shares custody, took him to his house, but she was still exhausted. Burks began to experience debilitating postpartum depression, which she had never had after giving birth to Bradley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>I was supposed to be sleeping, cuddling, bonding with my baby. I didn’t have that. So that depression set heavy: I gained a lot of weight, my hair fell out, it was so stressful,” she said.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a while, she shut out her family members as she slid deeper into her depression, but eventually she turned to a sister who works for the advocacy group Parent Voices for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks applied for CalWORKS, the state welfare program, but was denied cash aid because, although she was on unpaid leave, she was technically employed. Her sister helped her sign up for a monthly discount on her energy bill, and when she fell behind again on her payments, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance/arrearage-management-plan-amp.html\">PG&E offered to enroll her in its debt forgiveness program\u003c/a> as long as she made on-time payments for 12 consecutive months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053523\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053523\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harnesha Burks holds her son Zyon, 2, at a park near their home in Antioch on Aug. 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The utility giant offers several \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance.html?vnt=billhelp\">financial assistance programs\u003c/a> to help lower-income customers cope with their bills. But almost one in three parents told the RAPID survey team they didn’t apply because they weren’t sure they would qualify, even though they were eligible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks said when she first tried to arrange a payment plan with a PG&E representative to prevent losing power, that person didn’t offer financial aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When we met at her home in late Spring, Burks said she was starting to feel more stable as Bradley prepared to graduate and head to community college. She also planned to enroll Zyon in a local Head Start program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tot was energetic and chatty after waking up from a nap, but was willing to sit still to watch Ms. Rachel, his favorite YouTube personality, while his mom prepared chicken nuggets for dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks said even though caregiving has gotten easier now that Zyon is two years old, she thinks he’s still clingy whenever she leaves him for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s very joyful, but he has his moments. He has these tantrums I’ve never seen before,” Burks said. “It’s probably from my depression and my issues, you know, [kids] pick up what they see.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks said she’s come out of postpartum depression, but on certain days, she gets overwhelmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t go back into that deep depression, but just that feeling comes over me, like what am I going to do,” she said. “Not knowing if I can pay this bill or not knowing how much food is gonna last this month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was really, really stressful, really hard,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks got help from local churches and public assistance programs to cover food and rent for the apartment she shared with her baby and teenage son in Antioch. But she didn’t always have enough money to pay her gas, electricity and cellphone bills. Eventually, she owed Pacific Gas & Electric $1,700.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her debt caught up to her when, a month after coming from the hospital with her newborn, the power was cut off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053521\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053521\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harnesha Burks plays with her son Zyon, 2, at a park near their home in Antioch on Aug. 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I ended up going straight to rock bottom,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks is among one in three California parents of young kids who struggle to afford their utility bills, \u003ca href=\"https://rapidsurveyproject.com/article/utility-costs-rise-leaving-california-parents-of-young-children-in-a-tough-spot/\">according to \u003c/a>a statewide survey, which found that when parents have trouble making ends meet, their children’s well-being and development suffer. As \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033386/pge-electricity-rates-have-jumped-nearly-70-since-2020\">electricity rates rise sharply\u003c/a> in California, parents told the survey they need to make tough choices between basic needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People pay for food and housing first and foremost but utilities are, I think, something that often falls between the cracks because if people can’t pay for basic things like the rent they get evicted, or if they don’t have enough food on their table, it constitutes an emergency,” said Philip Fisher, director of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood, which surveyed as part of its multi-year RAPID project. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fisher said when researchers followed up with these parents, they reported feeling elevated levels of anxiety, loneliness, depression and stress, and that their children were more fussy or defiant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parents also filled out \u003ca href=\"https://www.unmc.edu/publichealth/research/multidisciplinary-programs/kidsights/index\">an online survey\u003c/a> that measures the typical development of children under 5 years old. The results showed that when parents face economic hardships, their babies experience emotional distress and developmental delays, which affects their ability to learn in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Previous research has pointed to the impacts that financial strain has on parents and their children. Fisher cited a UC Berkeley study that found that caregivers with low socioeconomic status ran short on money, and they \u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/desc.13151\">spoke less to their infants and toddlers at the end of the month\u003c/a>. The “word gap” is a concern for researchers because chatting with babies, even before they can talk, boosts their communication and social skills later on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we’re concerned about kids’ education and [their] readiness to attend school, then these economic hardship issues are really at the center of what we’re talking about,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After her power was cut off, Burks said she spent several weeks couch surfing with relatives. Her older son, Bradley, went to her grandparents’ house to be closer to his high school. She felt guilty about being away from him while living out of bags with her baby, Zyon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053525\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053525\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harnesha Burks holds her son Zyon, 2, near their home in Antioch on Aug. 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We were ripped from our nests,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family members helped Burks pay the PG&E bill to get the electricity flowing again. She returned home after six weeks to a refrigerator full of spoiled food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to pretty much start over with [restocking] the refrigerator and the freezer … so I had a setback on that,” she said. “It was so hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get out of what she called a financial “black hole,” Burks returned to work. But going back meant working a graveyard shift and leaving Bradley to care for his brother by himself. She felt bad for making Bradley take on a huge responsibility and for leaving Zyon so soon.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We didn’t get the bonding time that I felt that we needed. A lot of nights, he had to go to sleep without me,” she said. “I was in an unstable place, but I had to go back to work because who’s going to keep the lights on? Who’s going to take care of me and my kids?”\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she came home, she tried to make up for lost time with Zyon but sacrificed her own sleep. Relief came on the two days Zyon’s dad, with whom she shares custody, took him to his house, but she was still exhausted. Burks began to experience debilitating postpartum depression, which she had never had after giving birth to Bradley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>I was supposed to be sleeping, cuddling, bonding with my baby. I didn’t have that. So that depression set heavy: I gained a lot of weight, my hair fell out, it was so stressful,” she said.\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a while, she shut out her family members as she slid deeper into her depression, but eventually she turned to a sister who works for the advocacy group Parent Voices for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks applied for CalWORKS, the state welfare program, but was denied cash aid because, although she was on unpaid leave, she was technically employed. Her sister helped her sign up for a monthly discount on her energy bill, and when she fell behind again on her payments, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance/arrearage-management-plan-amp.html\">PG&E offered to enroll her in its debt forgiveness program\u003c/a> as long as she made on-time payments for 12 consecutive months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053523\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053523\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-07-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-07-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-07-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250822-ECONOMICINSTABILITYIMPACTONKIDS-07-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harnesha Burks holds her son Zyon, 2, at a park near their home in Antioch on Aug. 22, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The utility giant offers several \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance.html?vnt=billhelp\">financial assistance programs\u003c/a> to help lower-income customers cope with their bills. But almost one in three parents told the RAPID survey team they didn’t apply because they weren’t sure they would qualify, even though they were eligible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks said when she first tried to arrange a payment plan with a PG&E representative to prevent losing power, that person didn’t offer financial aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When we met at her home in late Spring, Burks said she was starting to feel more stable as Bradley prepared to graduate and head to community college. She also planned to enroll Zyon in a local Head Start program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tot was energetic and chatty after waking up from a nap, but was willing to sit still to watch Ms. Rachel, his favorite YouTube personality, while his mom prepared chicken nuggets for dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks said even though caregiving has gotten easier now that Zyon is two years old, she thinks he’s still clingy whenever she leaves him for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s very joyful, but he has his moments. He has these tantrums I’ve never seen before,” Burks said. “It’s probably from my depression and my issues, you know, [kids] pick up what they see.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burks said she’s come out of postpartum depression, but on certain days, she gets overwhelmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t go back into that deep depression, but just that feeling comes over me, like what am I going to do,” she said. “Not knowing if I can pay this bill or not knowing how much food is gonna last this month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> made history two years ago by agreeing to establish the nation’s first retirement fund for home-based child care workers and to pay them fairly for providing subsidized care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11964236/how-a-california-child-care-workers-union-fought-for-living-wages-and-won\">was considered a huge win\u003c/a> for the roughly 60,000 members of Child Care Providers United, who said for years that the state doesn’t pay them enough to cover the costs of caring for children out of their homes. But with their current contract set to expire at the end of June, and bargaining for a new one under way, they’re worried the state wants to cut back some of the benefits and delay implementing a new plan that would bring their payments up to the “true cost of care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had some victories, but right now, it’s like [they’re] turning their backs on us,” said Patricia Moran, a family child care provider from San José and member of the union’s bargaining team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about the union’s stance, the California Department of Social Services said it doesn’t comment on ongoing contract negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As small-business owners, home-based child care providers don’t have access to employer-provided benefits. In 2019, they won the right to collectively bargain because many of them receive reimbursements from the state for serving lower-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039810\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039810\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khulood Jamil (center) and other child care providers and supporters march to the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In California, more than 70% of families who receive child care vouchers send their kids to Family Child Care homes or they choose friends, family or neighbors as caregivers, \u003ca href=\"https://rrnetwork.org/assets/general-files/CCP-2023-Slides_2025.04.29.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to state data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last few contract deals, the union secured a $100 million fund to help reduce health care expenses for its members, $80 million in annual funding for retirement benefits, plus more than $40 million for training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also committed to using an “alternative methodology” to calculate subsidy rates based on how much it actually costs to provide early care and education, instead of on the current system which is based on what parents have been paying for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts agree\u003ca href=\"https://cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/CalWORKs/CCT/CCDD/Rate%20and%20Quality%20Stakeholder%20Workgroup%20Report_August%202022_FINAL%20ADA%20(2).pdf?ver=2022-08-24-081240-333\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> that the current system is flawed (PDF)\u003c/a>. Because providers lower tuition prices to meet what parents in their communities can afford for child care, the rates don’t reflect what it actually costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A\u003ca href=\"https://www.prenatal5fiscal.org/_files/ugd/8fd549_831af20bfb4142b59fda11194bb908fd.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> 2022 study (PDF)\u003c/a> commissioned by the state found the rates are far below the current costs to provide child care, resulting in lower wages for the workers and a chronic shortage of licensed child care. The most recent \u003ca href=\"https://rrnetwork.org/assets/general-files/CCP-2023-Slides_2025.04.29.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">state data shows (PDF)\u003c/a> that while the number of licensed Family Child Care spaces slightly increased between 2021 and 2023, only 26% of working families have access to licensed child care.[aside postID=news_12044082 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-39-BL-KQED.jpg']“Essentially when the state doesn’t pay child care providers fairly, that really just shifts costs towards California families,” said Julia Forte Frudden, a policy analyst at the Child Care Law Center, an advocacy group based in Berkeley. “And I think that’s really hard right now when so many families are feeling the squeeze of cost of living and are really fearful too about where our economy is going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When contract talks began, Moran said negotiators representing the state proposed eliminating the health care fund and reducing the retirement fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The past two years, the health care fund helped her cover out-of-pocket expenses for medication for her rheumatoid arthritis, which costs $5,000 per month, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without that medication, I can’t lift a baby, I can’t sit down with my children for circle time,” Moran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she’s also frustrated that the state wants to delay implementing the new payment method by at least two years. In his revised budget for the 2025–26, Gov. Gavin Newsom cited needing more time to update technology systems for the change. Last month, he said that while he’s proud of his administration’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/13/Press%20Releases/2022/CDSSNewsRelease-CCPU.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">unprecedented investments (PDF)\u003c/a> in child care, he must “hold the line” in his budget proposal due to a bleak fiscal outlook. The governor blamed President \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040025/newsom-blames-trump-california-budget-deficit-aims-cap-undocumented-health-care\">Donald Trump’s chaotic tariffs strategy \u003c/a>for creating financial uncertainties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children’s cars and scooters at Lisa Zarodney’s home in Livermore, where she runs a child care operation, on March 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But to Max Arias, the chief negotiator for the union, that reason “is like taking advantage of the moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It also seems like a 180 turnabout on what they were saying up until a few months ago, that it was a priority of the administration to get to the cost of care,” Arias said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said workers should at least get a bump in reimbursement rates while they wait for the new model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the talks continue, union members are calling on Newsom and legislators to include funding for them as they negotiate a final budget before the July 1 start of the fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they really value what we do, they’re going to pay us like we’re professionals,” Moran said. “We want to have peace of mind when we pay our bills at the end of the month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> made history two years ago by agreeing to establish the nation’s first retirement fund for home-based child care workers and to pay them fairly for providing subsidized care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11964236/how-a-california-child-care-workers-union-fought-for-living-wages-and-won\">was considered a huge win\u003c/a> for the roughly 60,000 members of Child Care Providers United, who said for years that the state doesn’t pay them enough to cover the costs of caring for children out of their homes. But with their current contract set to expire at the end of June, and bargaining for a new one under way, they’re worried the state wants to cut back some of the benefits and delay implementing a new plan that would bring their payments up to the “true cost of care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had some victories, but right now, it’s like [they’re] turning their backs on us,” said Patricia Moran, a family child care provider from San José and member of the union’s bargaining team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about the union’s stance, the California Department of Social Services said it doesn’t comment on ongoing contract negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As small-business owners, home-based child care providers don’t have access to employer-provided benefits. In 2019, they won the right to collectively bargain because many of them receive reimbursements from the state for serving lower-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039810\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039810\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Khulood Jamil (center) and other child care providers and supporters march to the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In California, more than 70% of families who receive child care vouchers send their kids to Family Child Care homes or they choose friends, family or neighbors as caregivers, \u003ca href=\"https://rrnetwork.org/assets/general-files/CCP-2023-Slides_2025.04.29.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to state data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last few contract deals, the union secured a $100 million fund to help reduce health care expenses for its members, $80 million in annual funding for retirement benefits, plus more than $40 million for training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state also committed to using an “alternative methodology” to calculate subsidy rates based on how much it actually costs to provide early care and education, instead of on the current system which is based on what parents have been paying for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts agree\u003ca href=\"https://cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/CalWORKs/CCT/CCDD/Rate%20and%20Quality%20Stakeholder%20Workgroup%20Report_August%202022_FINAL%20ADA%20(2).pdf?ver=2022-08-24-081240-333\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> that the current system is flawed (PDF)\u003c/a>. Because providers lower tuition prices to meet what parents in their communities can afford for child care, the rates don’t reflect what it actually costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A\u003ca href=\"https://www.prenatal5fiscal.org/_files/ugd/8fd549_831af20bfb4142b59fda11194bb908fd.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> 2022 study (PDF)\u003c/a> commissioned by the state found the rates are far below the current costs to provide child care, resulting in lower wages for the workers and a chronic shortage of licensed child care. The most recent \u003ca href=\"https://rrnetwork.org/assets/general-files/CCP-2023-Slides_2025.04.29.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">state data shows (PDF)\u003c/a> that while the number of licensed Family Child Care spaces slightly increased between 2021 and 2023, only 26% of working families have access to licensed child care.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Essentially when the state doesn’t pay child care providers fairly, that really just shifts costs towards California families,” said Julia Forte Frudden, a policy analyst at the Child Care Law Center, an advocacy group based in Berkeley. “And I think that’s really hard right now when so many families are feeling the squeeze of cost of living and are really fearful too about where our economy is going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When contract talks began, Moran said negotiators representing the state proposed eliminating the health care fund and reducing the retirement fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The past two years, the health care fund helped her cover out-of-pocket expenses for medication for her rheumatoid arthritis, which costs $5,000 per month, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without that medication, I can’t lift a baby, I can’t sit down with my children for circle time,” Moran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she’s also frustrated that the state wants to delay implementing the new payment method by at least two years. In his revised budget for the 2025–26, Gov. Gavin Newsom cited needing more time to update technology systems for the change. Last month, he said that while he’s proud of his administration’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/13/Press%20Releases/2022/CDSSNewsRelease-CCPU.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">unprecedented investments (PDF)\u003c/a> in child care, he must “hold the line” in his budget proposal due to a bleak fiscal outlook. The governor blamed President \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040025/newsom-blames-trump-california-budget-deficit-aims-cap-undocumented-health-care\">Donald Trump’s chaotic tariffs strategy \u003c/a>for creating financial uncertainties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030547\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-22-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children’s cars and scooters at Lisa Zarodney’s home in Livermore, where she runs a child care operation, on March 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But to Max Arias, the chief negotiator for the union, that reason “is like taking advantage of the moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It also seems like a 180 turnabout on what they were saying up until a few months ago, that it was a priority of the administration to get to the cost of care,” Arias said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said workers should at least get a bump in reimbursement rates while they wait for the new model.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the talks continue, union members are calling on Newsom and legislators to include funding for them as they negotiate a final budget before the July 1 start of the fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they really value what we do, they’re going to pay us like we’re professionals,” Moran said. “We want to have peace of mind when we pay our bills at the end of the month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In a park steps away from their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> classrooms in Hollister, a group of kids marked the end of their preschool year with a moving-up ceremony. They wore colorful caps and gowns as they were called, one by one, to a balloon archway to receive their certificate of achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kids who are going to kindergarten were born during the pandemic. Though some of them had a challenging start to preschool, their teacher, Maricela Orozco, said they had the social-emotional skills for the next stage of schooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re more than ready, I can say that, for elementary,” Orozco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But parents of 4-year-olds who just finished one year of preschool thought their kids would spend another year at Head Start, which uses federal funds to provide educational and other services to lower-income families with children up to 5 years old. They’re upset that the Santa Clara County Office of Education, which runs the Head Start center in this rural community 45 miles southeast of San José, still hasn’t gotten its $38 million federal grant renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without that guarantee, \u003ca href=\"https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:1b080735-7d1a-4549-bfac-3918fab447ac?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover\">combined with reduced or expired funding\u003c/a> that supported the office’s early learning, migrant education and special education services, nearly 275 workers will be laid off June 30. Some 1200 families enrolled in Head Start will have to look for another child care option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado, a Head Start teacher in Hollister, San Benito County, sits with parents and students outside the school on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Hollister, where 10% of the population lives below the poverty line, parents rely on Head Start for full-time child care while they go to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very frustrating, it’s very hard. Just not knowing has been rough for us,” Vanessa Hernandez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her son, Daniel, is old enough to begin transitional kindergarten at an elementary school, but Hernandez said he could benefit from another year at Head Start, where classroom sizes are smaller and students and their parents get more individualized support.[aside postID=news_12039626 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg']“With Head Start, you get more time to grow and become more social. In TK, they already expect that of you,” she said. “He needs to be here longer because without the teachers helping him, I don’t know that he’ll succeed for the coming years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evelyn Melchor said when her son started at Head Start, he only spoke Spanish and had a hard time communicating with teachers and classmates. But after his first full year of preschool, Melchor said her son “has done a complete 360.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I ask him how he’s doing, how his day went, whatever he’s going through, he’s able to tell me everything in English and in Spanish,” she said. “Developmentally, so many things have just changed, and to me, it’s the best thing that could have happened to us.\u003cem>”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melchor was also counting on sending her younger son to Head Start when he’s old enough to enroll next year, so she could go back to work as a medical assistant. She said she stopped working when she had her second child because she couldn’t keep up with the rising cost of child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did take a hit financially, and it’s been rough,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The uncertainty of the Head Start program in Hollister makes it hard for Melchor to plan for her own future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044135\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Janelle, 6, and Daniel, 4, a current student, play on the playground outside the Head Start in Hollister on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“How do I commit [to an employer] if I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation is a fallout of cuts the Trump administration made to the federal workforce, including people who help administer Head Start grants to school districts, nonprofits and other agencies that operate the early childhood education program, said Ed Condon, executive director of the Region 9 Head Start Association, which represents agencies serving Head Start families in the western U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said ever since the Health and Human Services department \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">closed half of its regional centers\u003c/a>, including one in San Francisco, local programs have faced long delays in getting help and receiving payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in contact with people from all over the country, and this very unnecessary disruption and uncertainty has all been generated from the regional office consolidation,” Condon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044138\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044138\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado reads to Janelle, 6, on June 10, 2025, outside of the school. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But he said he has also seen the government come through with funding at the last minute, allowing Head Start programs to keep going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not typical, and it creates a lot of angst for staff and parents in particular, but I think the most harmed are staff because they are left without the reality of a job,” Condon said\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Administration of Children and Families, which oversees Head Start and other childcare and child welfare programs, told KQED it’s processing the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s grant application and that funding “is being awarded as expeditiously as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, teachers must clean out their classrooms and wait to hear their fate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We hope that we get some good news during the summertime and we can come back and keep serving a lot of families,” Orozco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044140\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado speaks to a community member while leaving flyers at local businesses on June 10, 2025, to help ensure preschool classes stay full. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Staffers like Maria Corchado said she planned to continue scouting for families with young kids at playgrounds, medical clinics, laundromats and resource centers around Hollister to tell them about Head Start and help them enroll in the program, should it receive more funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I promised [the teachers], ‘hey, you guys go on break and I’m going to look for the kids that you need to fill the classrooms in the fall,’” Corchado said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a parent advocate, Corchado likens her job to being a last-resort safety net for families. She leads classes on financial literacy, mental health awareness and ways to support children as they transition to TK or kindergarten. As part of that, she ensures children undergo dental and health checkups before they enter public schools — going as far as helping parents make appointments and finding transportation to the closest pediatric dentist in Salinas, 25 miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said losing Head Start would hurt working-class families who are already bracing for cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, better known as CalFresh in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be harder for them to find medical facilities that will take them, and now they may not have a place to take their kids,” Corchado said. “It’s scary for a lot of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But parents of 4-year-olds who just finished one year of preschool thought their kids would spend another year at Head Start, which uses federal funds to provide educational and other services to lower-income families with children up to 5 years old. They’re upset that the Santa Clara County Office of Education, which runs the Head Start center in this rural community 45 miles southeast of San José, still hasn’t gotten its $38 million federal grant renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without that guarantee, \u003ca href=\"https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:1b080735-7d1a-4549-bfac-3918fab447ac?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover\">combined with reduced or expired funding\u003c/a> that supported the office’s early learning, migrant education and special education services, nearly 275 workers will be laid off June 30. Some 1200 families enrolled in Head Start will have to look for another child care option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado, a Head Start teacher in Hollister, San Benito County, sits with parents and students outside the school on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Hollister, where 10% of the population lives below the poverty line, parents rely on Head Start for full-time child care while they go to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very frustrating, it’s very hard. Just not knowing has been rough for us,” Vanessa Hernandez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her son, Daniel, is old enough to begin transitional kindergarten at an elementary school, but Hernandez said he could benefit from another year at Head Start, where classroom sizes are smaller and students and their parents get more individualized support.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“With Head Start, you get more time to grow and become more social. In TK, they already expect that of you,” she said. “He needs to be here longer because without the teachers helping him, I don’t know that he’ll succeed for the coming years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evelyn Melchor said when her son started at Head Start, he only spoke Spanish and had a hard time communicating with teachers and classmates. But after his first full year of preschool, Melchor said her son “has done a complete 360.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I ask him how he’s doing, how his day went, whatever he’s going through, he’s able to tell me everything in English and in Spanish,” she said. “Developmentally, so many things have just changed, and to me, it’s the best thing that could have happened to us.\u003cem>”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melchor was also counting on sending her younger son to Head Start when he’s old enough to enroll next year, so she could go back to work as a medical assistant. She said she stopped working when she had her second child because she couldn’t keep up with the rising cost of child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We did take a hit financially, and it’s been rough,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The uncertainty of the Head Start program in Hollister makes it hard for Melchor to plan for her own future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044135\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044135\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-01-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Janelle, 6, and Daniel, 4, a current student, play on the playground outside the Head Start in Hollister on June 10, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“How do I commit [to an employer] if I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The situation is a fallout of cuts the Trump administration made to the federal workforce, including people who help administer Head Start grants to school districts, nonprofits and other agencies that operate the early childhood education program, said Ed Condon, executive director of the Region 9 Head Start Association, which represents agencies serving Head Start families in the western U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said ever since the Health and Human Services department \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">closed half of its regional centers\u003c/a>, including one in San Francisco, local programs have faced long delays in getting help and receiving payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in contact with people from all over the country, and this very unnecessary disruption and uncertainty has all been generated from the regional office consolidation,” Condon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044138\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044138\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado reads to Janelle, 6, on June 10, 2025, outside of the school. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But he said he has also seen the government come through with funding at the last minute, allowing Head Start programs to keep going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not typical, and it creates a lot of angst for staff and parents in particular, but I think the most harmed are staff because they are left without the reality of a job,” Condon said\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Administration of Children and Families, which oversees Head Start and other childcare and child welfare programs, told KQED it’s processing the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s grant application and that funding “is being awarded as expeditiously as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, teachers must clean out their classrooms and wait to hear their fate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We hope that we get some good news during the summertime and we can come back and keep serving a lot of families,” Orozco said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044140\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250610-HEADSTARTPROGRAMS-32-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria Corchado speaks to a community member while leaving flyers at local businesses on June 10, 2025, to help ensure preschool classes stay full. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Staffers like Maria Corchado said she planned to continue scouting for families with young kids at playgrounds, medical clinics, laundromats and resource centers around Hollister to tell them about Head Start and help them enroll in the program, should it receive more funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I promised [the teachers], ‘hey, you guys go on break and I’m going to look for the kids that you need to fill the classrooms in the fall,’” Corchado said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a parent advocate, Corchado likens her job to being a last-resort safety net for families. She leads classes on financial literacy, mental health awareness and ways to support children as they transition to TK or kindergarten. As part of that, she ensures children undergo dental and health checkups before they enter public schools — going as far as helping parents make appointments and finding transportation to the closest pediatric dentist in Salinas, 25 miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said losing Head Start would hurt working-class families who are already bracing for cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, better known as CalFresh in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be harder for them to find medical facilities that will take them, and now they may not have a place to take their kids,” Corchado said. “It’s scary for a lot of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Officials have approved a five-year plan to spend close to $1 billion to boost Alameda County’s early childhood education system and bring much-needed relief for providers and parents struggling to keep pace with the high cost of child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county Board of Supervisors’ decision on Tuesday came after a yearslong battle over the validity of Measure C, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in March 2020, right before COVID-19 hit and devastated the child care industry. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11984169/state-court-upholds-alameda-county-tax-measure-yielding-hundreds-of-millions-for-child-care\">taxpayer group’s lawsuit\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031853/fearing-legal-threats-alameda-county-supervisors-delay-spending-child-care-funds\">threat over the release of \u003c/a>some of the funds held up the money until now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our parents, caregivers and teachers are relieved to receive safety and support from Measure C … it’s going to be such a huge relief for so many members of our community,” said Clarissa Doutherd, executive director of Parent Voices Oakland, who helped lead the effort to get the measure on the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she’s excited to see the money get into the hands of child care providers who are at risk of closing their doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An advisory council appointed by the supervisors has been holding public meetings and surveying families and child care providers to determine how to best use the money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attendees hold signs at the Day Without Childcare rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Once we have these precious resources, we want to make sure that we’re doing the best we can in service to families and communities in developing a plan and then implementing it to have the most impact,” said Kristin Spanos, CEO of First 5 Alameda County, which will administer the funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think it’s really crucial. This is foundational to the health of our communities and families and kids,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Alameda County, 90% of infants and toddlers who qualify for subsidized child care do not have access to it, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5alameda.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Measure-C-5-Year-Plan-June-2025.pdf\">a report by First 5\u003c/a>, which points to low pay as one of the main factors behind the shortage of child care providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given that a child’s brain undergoes rapid development in the first five years of life, Spanos said it’s crucial to support the early education workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan calls for spending close to $190 million in the first year to provide emergency relief grants, ranging from $40,000 to $100,000, to home-based Family Child Care providers and child care centers. Providers of subsidized child care or those who are in a census tract with a 5% poverty rate qualify for the grants.[aside postID=news_12033209 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250325_TEACHERS-FOR-TK_DMB_00048-KQED-1020x680.jpg']A category of caregivers who work outside of the formal childcare system, called license-exempt Family, Friend and Neighbor, can also apply for $4,000 in grants now and $500 monthly vouchers the following year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spanos said providers can start applying for the grants, and they may receive the money as early as next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan also calls for funding subsidized child care slots for nearly 2,500 children, raising wages for early educators to at least $25 per hour, supporting their professional development and increasing apprenticeship programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ultimate goal is to improve young kids’ readiness for school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2008, assessments conducted by parents and educators have found that two out of three children in Alameda County were not ready for kindergarten. Because kindergarten readiness is linked to students’ achievements in later grades, Spanos hopes public investment in early care and education will boost children’s kindergarten readiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted that San Francisco, which has been using funds from a commercial rent tax to improve access to child care, has seen a\u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/annual-impact-report-2024/\">n increase in overall kindergarten readiness since 2021\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11929192\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11929192\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"a young child in a colorful sweater works on an art project at preschool while a teacher helps\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A teacher works with students on an art project at Kids Connect Infant Care and Preschool in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We hope to do the same and are excited to be in service to families and young kids in Alameda County,” Spanos said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measure C is expected to raise about $150 million in tax revenue annually over the course of 20 years. But because the money has been accruing in a trust since 2020, First 5 expects to invest close to $1 billion in the next five years in the county’s early childhood education and care system. First 5 is also administering $30 million raised annually from \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/boards-commissions/childrens-initiative-oversight-commission\">an Oakland parcel tax\u003c/a>, approved by voters in 2018, to expand access to child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the dollars won’t be combined, First 5 will coordinate with the city of Oakland to ensure investments from both funds will make the most impact, Spanos said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 20% of Measure C funds go toward improving access to pediatric health care. UCSF Benioff Children’s Oakland, which is the only pediatric trauma center in Alameda County, started receiving funds in April to increase staffing for complex surgeries and other trauma-related work, according to UCSF spokeswoman Jess Berthold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Officials have approved a five-year plan to spend close to $1 billion to boost Alameda County’s early childhood education system and bring much-needed relief for providers and parents struggling to keep pace with the high cost of child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county Board of Supervisors’ decision on Tuesday came after a yearslong battle over the validity of Measure C, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in March 2020, right before COVID-19 hit and devastated the child care industry. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11984169/state-court-upholds-alameda-county-tax-measure-yielding-hundreds-of-millions-for-child-care\">taxpayer group’s lawsuit\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031853/fearing-legal-threats-alameda-county-supervisors-delay-spending-child-care-funds\">threat over the release of \u003c/a>some of the funds held up the money until now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our parents, caregivers and teachers are relieved to receive safety and support from Measure C … it’s going to be such a huge relief for so many members of our community,” said Clarissa Doutherd, executive director of Parent Voices Oakland, who helped lead the effort to get the measure on the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she’s excited to see the money get into the hands of child care providers who are at risk of closing their doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An advisory council appointed by the supervisors has been holding public meetings and surveying families and child care providers to determine how to best use the money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-04-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Attendees hold signs at the Day Without Childcare rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Once we have these precious resources, we want to make sure that we’re doing the best we can in service to families and communities in developing a plan and then implementing it to have the most impact,” said Kristin Spanos, CEO of First 5 Alameda County, which will administer the funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think it’s really crucial. This is foundational to the health of our communities and families and kids,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Alameda County, 90% of infants and toddlers who qualify for subsidized child care do not have access to it, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5alameda.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Measure-C-5-Year-Plan-June-2025.pdf\">a report by First 5\u003c/a>, which points to low pay as one of the main factors behind the shortage of child care providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given that a child’s brain undergoes rapid development in the first five years of life, Spanos said it’s crucial to support the early education workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan calls for spending close to $190 million in the first year to provide emergency relief grants, ranging from $40,000 to $100,000, to home-based Family Child Care providers and child care centers. Providers of subsidized child care or those who are in a census tract with a 5% poverty rate qualify for the grants.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A category of caregivers who work outside of the formal childcare system, called license-exempt Family, Friend and Neighbor, can also apply for $4,000 in grants now and $500 monthly vouchers the following year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spanos said providers can start applying for the grants, and they may receive the money as early as next month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan also calls for funding subsidized child care slots for nearly 2,500 children, raising wages for early educators to at least $25 per hour, supporting their professional development and increasing apprenticeship programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ultimate goal is to improve young kids’ readiness for school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2008, assessments conducted by parents and educators have found that two out of three children in Alameda County were not ready for kindergarten. Because kindergarten readiness is linked to students’ achievements in later grades, Spanos hopes public investment in early care and education will boost children’s kindergarten readiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted that San Francisco, which has been using funds from a commercial rent tax to improve access to child care, has seen a\u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/annual-impact-report-2024/\">n increase in overall kindergarten readiness since 2021\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11929192\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11929192\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"a young child in a colorful sweater works on an art project at preschool while a teacher helps\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS52303_021_SanLeandro_KidConnectPreschool_10222021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A teacher works with students on an art project at Kids Connect Infant Care and Preschool in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We hope to do the same and are excited to be in service to families and young kids in Alameda County,” Spanos said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measure C is expected to raise about $150 million in tax revenue annually over the course of 20 years. But because the money has been accruing in a trust since 2020, First 5 expects to invest close to $1 billion in the next five years in the county’s early childhood education and care system. First 5 is also administering $30 million raised annually from \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/boards-commissions/childrens-initiative-oversight-commission\">an Oakland parcel tax\u003c/a>, approved by voters in 2018, to expand access to child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the dollars won’t be combined, First 5 will coordinate with the city of Oakland to ensure investments from both funds will make the most impact, Spanos said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 20% of Measure C funds go toward improving access to pediatric health care. UCSF Benioff Children’s Oakland, which is the only pediatric trauma center in Alameda County, started receiving funds in April to increase staffing for complex surgeries and other trauma-related work, according to UCSF spokeswoman Jess Berthold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "OUSD Cancels Controversial After-School Cuts, but Deep Divisions Within School Board Remain",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:30 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-school-board\">Oakland’s school board\u003c/a> voted Wednesday to cancel spending caps that would have cut after-school care by at least 50% next year. However, that funding will likely remain in limbo until the new fiscal year begins in July, adding uncertainty for the services’ providers, already wary of infighting in district leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lukas Brekke-Miesner, the executive director of Oakland Kids First, which runs Castlemont High School’s after-school enrichment program, told KQED that his and other agencies were instructed Wednesday by the district’s head of expanded learning to plan for programs as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he said, “If July becomes this really critical moment to figure everything out, I wouldn’t say that this board has demonstrated sufficient acumen to navigate what could be a very difficult process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m unclear within the central office who would be equipped to shepherd that through,” Brekke-Miesner continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year has been a rollercoaster for the Oakland Unified School District. Board members are deeply divided and a majority voted last month on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">separation agreement with longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a>, terminating her contract early this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the controversy between board members began surrounding a set of budget proposals co-sponsored by Board President Jennifer Brouhard in March — one of which, referred to as alternative budget adjustments, put caps on contracts the district has with consultants and service providers, certain employee salaries and for books and supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12041367 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1316\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1536x1011.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1920x1263.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District board president Jennifer Brouhard speaks during a meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Members of the district’s budget staff and board member Mike Hutchinson, who chairs the budget and finance committee, adamantly opposed the resolution at the time, saying it was rushed and could have unintended consequences. But the budget measures passed with a slim majority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the resolution aimed to restrict spending on services and salaries that don’t directly serve students, the language used caused it to backfire, leading district staff to place caps on contracts with local nonprofits who provide enrichment and after care services in OUSD schools next fall, requiring at least 50% reductions in their services. In total, the resolution would have resulted in $29 million in budget cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After community outrage, the board held a special meeting on Wednesday where it debated for nearly three hours whether to slash the alternative budget adjustments, or add last-minute changes to the legislation it was discussing that would keep but delay the cuts. Those changes earned frank criticism from district staff.[aside postID=news_12039737 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/OaklandSchoolChildren-1020x696.jpg']“If you don’t want this repeat cycle, we would have conferred and I would have been able to see this [amendment] prior to 30 minutes before the meeting,” budget chief Lisa Grant-Dawson said. “Please know that if you adopt this [amended] resolution, it still will have problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the board majority chose to repeal the resolution entirely, but the meeting further deepened the chasm between board members and with staff — and could threaten their collective goal to serve Oakland students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson told KQED after the meeting that even with the budget adjustments repealed, staff won’t have time to reinstate the funding to schools until after the budget process is completed at the end of June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re too far into budget development to take off the [caps] and then rebalance and still be ready for the [Local Control and Accountability Plan] and budget,” she said. “We’re literally weeks away from our public hearing as well as the adoption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has created a whole different degree of consternation of us having to adjust all these budgets. It took me almost a month to figure out what was the most equitable way to do it, because we’re not talking about five lines of data, we are talking about thousands of lines of data to change,” Grant-Dawson continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the plan is to lift the spending limits once the budget process wraps up at the end of June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lukas Brekke-Miesner, executive director of Oakland Kids First, which helped launch youth voting in Oakland in 2019, at Willard Park in Berkeley on Feb. 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Brekke-Miesner, stalling that technical change won’t financially impact his program, but it does extend his and other aftercare program providers’ uncertainty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It creates a lot of confusion, and a delay like this basically means that agencies are going into summer not knowing if everything is going to be remediated and restored,” Brekke-Miesner said. “That means that they could then have to lay off staff in July or August, or tell families in July or August that, ‘Actually, your kid doesn’t have aftercare next year,’ when the ship has sailed on any other alternatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is expected that when Johnson-Trammell departs the district at the end of June, other executive staff, including Grant-Dawson, could leave with her. Grant-Dawson was previously set to depart OUSD in alignment with Johnson-Trammell’s transition out in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An application was also opened for an interim superintendent earlier this month, but no one has been named to take over in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brekke-Miesner said that while questions of who will be district leadership are a concern, ultimately, his main worry is with the school board’s inability to get along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The level of discourse and derision and disrespect is just so constant and high level that I think it thwarts the ability to really effectively try to solve some really complicated problems,” he told KQED. “I think collectively, the board has to kind of have a ‘Come to Jesus moment’ because it’s going to require a lot more cooperation and respect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:30 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-school-board\">Oakland’s school board\u003c/a> voted Wednesday to cancel spending caps that would have cut after-school care by at least 50% next year. However, that funding will likely remain in limbo until the new fiscal year begins in July, adding uncertainty for the services’ providers, already wary of infighting in district leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lukas Brekke-Miesner, the executive director of Oakland Kids First, which runs Castlemont High School’s after-school enrichment program, told KQED that his and other agencies were instructed Wednesday by the district’s head of expanded learning to plan for programs as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he said, “If July becomes this really critical moment to figure everything out, I wouldn’t say that this board has demonstrated sufficient acumen to navigate what could be a very difficult process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m unclear within the central office who would be equipped to shepherd that through,” Brekke-Miesner continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year has been a rollercoaster for the Oakland Unified School District. Board members are deeply divided and a majority voted last month on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037315/oakland-school-board-votes-remove-superintendent-sparking-worries-instability\">separation agreement with longtime Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell\u003c/a>, terminating her contract early this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the controversy between board members began surrounding a set of budget proposals co-sponsored by Board President Jennifer Brouhard in March — one of which, referred to as alternative budget adjustments, put caps on contracts the district has with consultants and service providers, certain employee salaries and for books and supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041367\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12041367 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1316\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1536x1011.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250423_OUSDSupe_GC-18_qed-1920x1263.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland Unified School District board president Jennifer Brouhard speaks during a meeting at Metwest High School in Oakland on April 23, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Members of the district’s budget staff and board member Mike Hutchinson, who chairs the budget and finance committee, adamantly opposed the resolution at the time, saying it was rushed and could have unintended consequences. But the budget measures passed with a slim majority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the resolution aimed to restrict spending on services and salaries that don’t directly serve students, the language used caused it to backfire, leading district staff to place caps on contracts with local nonprofits who provide enrichment and after care services in OUSD schools next fall, requiring at least 50% reductions in their services. In total, the resolution would have resulted in $29 million in budget cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After community outrage, the board held a special meeting on Wednesday where it debated for nearly three hours whether to slash the alternative budget adjustments, or add last-minute changes to the legislation it was discussing that would keep but delay the cuts. Those changes earned frank criticism from district staff.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“If you don’t want this repeat cycle, we would have conferred and I would have been able to see this [amendment] prior to 30 minutes before the meeting,” budget chief Lisa Grant-Dawson said. “Please know that if you adopt this [amended] resolution, it still will have problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the board majority chose to repeal the resolution entirely, but the meeting further deepened the chasm between board members and with staff — and could threaten their collective goal to serve Oakland students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grant-Dawson told KQED after the meeting that even with the budget adjustments repealed, staff won’t have time to reinstate the funding to schools until after the budget process is completed at the end of June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re too far into budget development to take off the [caps] and then rebalance and still be ready for the [Local Control and Accountability Plan] and budget,” she said. “We’re literally weeks away from our public hearing as well as the adoption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has created a whole different degree of consternation of us having to adjust all these budgets. It took me almost a month to figure out what was the most equitable way to do it, because we’re not talking about five lines of data, we are talking about thousands of lines of data to change,” Grant-Dawson continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the plan is to lift the spending limits once the budget process wraps up at the end of June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041376\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041376\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/20250226_Youth-Vote_DMB_00088_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lukas Brekke-Miesner, executive director of Oakland Kids First, which helped launch youth voting in Oakland in 2019, at Willard Park in Berkeley on Feb. 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Brekke-Miesner, stalling that technical change won’t financially impact his program, but it does extend his and other aftercare program providers’ uncertainty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It creates a lot of confusion, and a delay like this basically means that agencies are going into summer not knowing if everything is going to be remediated and restored,” Brekke-Miesner said. “That means that they could then have to lay off staff in July or August, or tell families in July or August that, ‘Actually, your kid doesn’t have aftercare next year,’ when the ship has sailed on any other alternatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is expected that when Johnson-Trammell departs the district at the end of June, other executive staff, including Grant-Dawson, could leave with her. Grant-Dawson was previously set to depart OUSD in alignment with Johnson-Trammell’s transition out in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An application was also opened for an interim superintendent earlier this month, but no one has been named to take over in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brekke-Miesner said that while questions of who will be district leadership are a concern, ultimately, his main worry is with the school board’s inability to get along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The level of discourse and derision and disrespect is just so constant and high level that I think it thwarts the ability to really effectively try to solve some really complicated problems,” he told KQED. “I think collectively, the board has to kind of have a ‘Come to Jesus moment’ because it’s going to require a lot more cooperation and respect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Public School Enrollment Continues Post-Pandemic Decline",
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"content": "\u003cp>Enrollment in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027158/how-oakland-and-sf-ended-up-among-7-ca-school-districts-who-cant-pay-their-bills\">California public schools\u003c/a> declined for the seventh straight year, placing continuing financial pressure on school districts to cut staff or close schools to account for the lower number of students in their classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enrollment for the current school year totaled 5,806,221 students, down 31,469 or 0.54% from the prior year, according to \u003ca href=\"https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/dqcensus/EnrGrdYears.aspx?cds=00&agglevel=state&year=2024-25\">data released Tuesday\u003c/a> by the California Department of Education. The number is significantly lower than the 6.1 million students enrolled in the state’s public schools in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most striking indication of these latest enrollment data is that … the dramatic exodus of families and students from public schools early in the pandemic has not reversed itself,” said Thomas Dee, an education professor at Stanford University who has been studying public school enrollment since the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dee said a substantial amount of enrollment decline is due to lower birth rates, families moving out of the state, and a rise in private school and homeschooling enrollment. The most recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/ps/psastatcountsbyyear.asp\">state data shows\u003c/a> enrollment in homeschools almost doubled from 25,423 in 2018–19 to 49,402 in 2023–24, while private school enrollment increased from 521,116 to 551,052.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts that saw substantial enrollment declines “cannot expect these families to come back anytime soon,” Dee said. “They’ll have to reckon with the financial implications of underpopulated schools that still have the same number of staff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031806\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Four-year-old students head back to their transitional kindergarten class at Tule Elk Park Early Educational School in San Francisco on Jan. 8, 2001. \u003ccite>(Ana Tintocalis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Growing enrollment for transitional kindergarten and dual language programs slowed the overall decline. The number of TK students grew 17.2%, from 151,491 to 177,570, while most other grade levels saw a dip in enrollment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we have more work to do, the dramatic growth in TK is inspiring and shows that providing rigorous and quality programs can be a key ingredient to bringing more families back to our schools,” Tony Thurmond, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, said in a statement.[aside postID=news_11989955 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/240520-TKPARENTSDILEMMA-07-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']California is in the middle of expanding this new grade so that by this fall, any child who turns 4 by Sept. 1 can enroll in a free year of pre-kindergarten. San Francisco Unified School District, which is facing a major budget shortfall partly caused by declining enrollment, reported \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031802/san-francisco-public-schools-see-surge-applications-thanks-transitional-kindergarten-demand\">a 10% increase in applications\u003c/a> for the 2025-26 school year, with the biggest surge in enrollment for TK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom initially proposed spending $3.9 billion in the 2025–26 budget to fully implement the program, anticipating roughly 60,000 additional TK students would enroll. But last week, he \u003ca href=\"https://ebudget.ca.gov/2025-26/pdf/Revised/BudgetSummary/TK-12Education.pdf\">scaled back funding for TK in the May revision \u003c/a>of his proposed budget by $300 million, partly due to a reduction in the state’s projected enrollment for this grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents of the state’s TK expansion said the growth is worth celebrating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to become the state with the largest universal preschool program in the nation,” said Carolyne Crolotte, director of policy at Early Edge California. “We know the importance of early learning in this critical time in children’s life, and we have the opportunity to set them up for success in their K–12 journey and beyond, so this is very exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Enrollment in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027158/how-oakland-and-sf-ended-up-among-7-ca-school-districts-who-cant-pay-their-bills\">California public schools\u003c/a> declined for the seventh straight year, placing continuing financial pressure on school districts to cut staff or close schools to account for the lower number of students in their classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enrollment for the current school year totaled 5,806,221 students, down 31,469 or 0.54% from the prior year, according to \u003ca href=\"https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/dqcensus/EnrGrdYears.aspx?cds=00&agglevel=state&year=2024-25\">data released Tuesday\u003c/a> by the California Department of Education. The number is significantly lower than the 6.1 million students enrolled in the state’s public schools in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most striking indication of these latest enrollment data is that … the dramatic exodus of families and students from public schools early in the pandemic has not reversed itself,” said Thomas Dee, an education professor at Stanford University who has been studying public school enrollment since the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dee said a substantial amount of enrollment decline is due to lower birth rates, families moving out of the state, and a rise in private school and homeschooling enrollment. The most recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/ps/psastatcountsbyyear.asp\">state data shows\u003c/a> enrollment in homeschools almost doubled from 25,423 in 2018–19 to 49,402 in 2023–24, while private school enrollment increased from 521,116 to 551,052.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts that saw substantial enrollment declines “cannot expect these families to come back anytime soon,” Dee said. “They’ll have to reckon with the financial implications of underpopulated schools that still have the same number of staff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031806\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/TKSF-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Four-year-old students head back to their transitional kindergarten class at Tule Elk Park Early Educational School in San Francisco on Jan. 8, 2001. \u003ccite>(Ana Tintocalis/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Growing enrollment for transitional kindergarten and dual language programs slowed the overall decline. The number of TK students grew 17.2%, from 151,491 to 177,570, while most other grade levels saw a dip in enrollment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we have more work to do, the dramatic growth in TK is inspiring and shows that providing rigorous and quality programs can be a key ingredient to bringing more families back to our schools,” Tony Thurmond, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>California is in the middle of expanding this new grade so that by this fall, any child who turns 4 by Sept. 1 can enroll in a free year of pre-kindergarten. San Francisco Unified School District, which is facing a major budget shortfall partly caused by declining enrollment, reported \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031802/san-francisco-public-schools-see-surge-applications-thanks-transitional-kindergarten-demand\">a 10% increase in applications\u003c/a> for the 2025-26 school year, with the biggest surge in enrollment for TK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom initially proposed spending $3.9 billion in the 2025–26 budget to fully implement the program, anticipating roughly 60,000 additional TK students would enroll. But last week, he \u003ca href=\"https://ebudget.ca.gov/2025-26/pdf/Revised/BudgetSummary/TK-12Education.pdf\">scaled back funding for TK in the May revision \u003c/a>of his proposed budget by $300 million, partly due to a reduction in the state’s projected enrollment for this grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents of the state’s TK expansion said the growth is worth celebrating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to become the state with the largest universal preschool program in the nation,” said Carolyne Crolotte, director of policy at Early Edge California. “We know the importance of early learning in this critical time in children’s life, and we have the opportunity to set them up for success in their K–12 journey and beyond, so this is very exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "child-care-advocates-denounce-head-start-layoffs-in-santa-clara-county",
"title": "Child Care Advocates Denounce Head Start Layoffs in Santa Clara County",
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"content": "\u003cp>Several dozen child care providers and advocates rallied Monday outside the federal building in San José to call on Congress to protect \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038904/hundreds-of-pink-slips-prompt-california-lawmakers-to-warn-of-threats-to-head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> and other programs that support low-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t you dare cut child care!” they chanted as they marched from the building to a nearby park to mark A Day Without Child Care. A handful of childcare providers closed their doors to attend the rally, but there was little evidence of a widespread work stoppage, as national organizers of the event have urged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates used the occasion to denounce the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision to lay off more than 250 teachers and staffers and effectively shut services to low-income children enrolled in its Early Head Start, Head Start, migrant education and special education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early Head Start provides care for kids from birth to 3 years old, and Head Start serves kids between 3 and 5 years old. The county serves more than 1,200 families in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, as well as migrant families who live in other Bay Area counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SCCOE has cited federal funding uncertainties as the reason for the layoffs. Jennifer Gravem, a spokeswoman for the office, said it has not heard whether its grants to operate Early Head Start, Head Start and the migrant education programs, which are set to expire on June 30, will be renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039811 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clarissa Doutherd speaks at the Day Without Child Care rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If grants are reduced or eliminated, SCCOE will be unable to sustain these programs,” she said in a statement to KQED last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means some of the families enrolled in Head Start’s year-round programs won’t have any child care starting July 1, said Veronica Arellano, who has spent 19 years working as a family advocate at Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been very nerve-racking and stressful for myself, but more so for our families that really depend on it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Head Start funding has been delayed since the Trump administration closed several regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">including one in San Francisco\u003c/a>, and laid off federal workers who support Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12038904 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/20240524_MobileHeadStart-34_qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a consequence, the SEIU union locals that represent many Head Start workers in California said at least 1,000 of their members have gotten or expect to receive pink slips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union workers are calling on the SCCOE to rescind the layoff notices before they go into effect May 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mercedes Hill, who helps administer Head Start for the SCCOE, pointed out that the Merced County Office of Education has decided to continue paying its workers while it waits for the federal government to renew its Head Start grant, which is also up for renewal soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill said she and her coworkers are “fairly certain” the grant will come through because the county has received funding to operate Head Start for the past 60 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just demoralizing to the staff. We just don’t know what we’re going to do come July 1,” she said. “ The potential break in service would be devastating, even if it’s for a day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039812\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039812 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diane Nguyen (left) and Yadira Orozco (center) hold their children at the Day Without Child Care rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Diane Nguyen, a parent who sends her 4-year-old son to a Head Start center in San José, said if she loses child care, she would have to put her pursuit of a nursing degree on hold. Nguyen credited the teachers and staff at Head Start for supporting her and her son as they coped with the deaths of her mom and best friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Head Start is not just another childcare to me, it’s family — the family advocates, the teachers, they’re not just teachers and family advocates. They’re a second mom or an auntie,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/rcooke\">Riley Cooke\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "On the 4th annual Day Without Childcare, advocates rallied to denounce the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision to lay off more than 250 teachers and staffers.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Several dozen child care providers and advocates rallied Monday outside the federal building in San José to call on Congress to protect \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038904/hundreds-of-pink-slips-prompt-california-lawmakers-to-warn-of-threats-to-head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> and other programs that support low-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t you dare cut child care!” they chanted as they marched from the building to a nearby park to mark A Day Without Child Care. A handful of childcare providers closed their doors to attend the rally, but there was little evidence of a widespread work stoppage, as national organizers of the event have urged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates used the occasion to denounce the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision to lay off more than 250 teachers and staffers and effectively shut services to low-income children enrolled in its Early Head Start, Head Start, migrant education and special education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early Head Start provides care for kids from birth to 3 years old, and Head Start serves kids between 3 and 5 years old. The county serves more than 1,200 families in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, as well as migrant families who live in other Bay Area counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SCCOE has cited federal funding uncertainties as the reason for the layoffs. Jennifer Gravem, a spokeswoman for the office, said it has not heard whether its grants to operate Early Head Start, Head Start and the migrant education programs, which are set to expire on June 30, will be renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039811\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039811 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-02-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clarissa Doutherd speaks at the Day Without Child Care rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If grants are reduced or eliminated, SCCOE will be unable to sustain these programs,” she said in a statement to KQED last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means some of the families enrolled in Head Start’s year-round programs won’t have any child care starting July 1, said Veronica Arellano, who has spent 19 years working as a family advocate at Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been very nerve-racking and stressful for myself, but more so for our families that really depend on it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some Head Start funding has been delayed since the Trump administration closed several regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">including one in San Francisco\u003c/a>, and laid off federal workers who support Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a consequence, the SEIU union locals that represent many Head Start workers in California said at least 1,000 of their members have gotten or expect to receive pink slips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Union workers are calling on the SCCOE to rescind the layoff notices before they go into effect May 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mercedes Hill, who helps administer Head Start for the SCCOE, pointed out that the Merced County Office of Education has decided to continue paying its workers while it waits for the federal government to renew its Head Start grant, which is also up for renewal soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill said she and her coworkers are “fairly certain” the grant will come through because the county has received funding to operate Head Start for the past 60 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just demoralizing to the staff. We just don’t know what we’re going to do come July 1,” she said. “ The potential break in service would be devastating, even if it’s for a day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039812\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039812 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250512-DAY-WITHOUT-CHILDCARE-MD-03-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Diane Nguyen (left) and Yadira Orozco (center) hold their children at the Day Without Child Care rally in front of the Federal Building in San José on May 12, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Diane Nguyen, a parent who sends her 4-year-old son to a Head Start center in San José, said if she loses child care, she would have to put her pursuit of a nursing degree on hold. Nguyen credited the teachers and staff at Head Start for supporting her and her son as they coped with the deaths of her mom and best friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Head Start is not just another childcare to me, it’s family — the family advocates, the teachers, they’re not just teachers and family advocates. They’re a second mom or an auntie,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/rcooke\">Riley Cooke\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "hundreds-of-pink-slips-prompt-california-lawmakers-to-warn-of-threats-to-head-start",
"title": "Hundreds of Pink Slips Prompt California Lawmakers to Warn of Threats to Head Start",
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"content": "\u003cp>At least 1,000 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> teachers and staff members across California have received pink slips due to federal funding uncertainties, according to state lawmakers who warned Tuesday that cuts to the early childhood education program will damage the state’s economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://nhsa.org/press_release/statement-from-the-national-head-start-association-on-white-house-budget-recommendations/\">did not eliminate funding to Head Start in its 2026 budget proposal\u003c/a> released last week, teachers, families and advocates are worried about the stability of the program, which uses federal funds to provide educational and other services to low-income families with children up to 5 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some funding has been delayed since the administration closed several regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">including one in San Francisco\u003c/a>, and laid off federal workers who support the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really thankful that the president’s budget doesn’t suggest cuts to Head Start, but the administration was discussing entirely eliminating this program, and the administration and Congress are planning massive cuts to the federal government spending, many of which have yet to be detailed,” said Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D–Sunnyvale), who noted that some of the Head Start workers who received pink slips are in his Silicon Valley district.\u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltoonline.com/education/2025/03/19/santa-clara-county-cuts-early-education-program/\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was referring to the \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-cuts-early-education-program/\">Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision\u003c/a> to warn employees that their jobs were at risk because the federal government had yet to indicate whether it would reinstate the office’s Head Start grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children ride bicycles in the playground at a Head Start program in American Canyon, California, on Feb. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s not clear exactly how many employees received pink slips across the state, but the SEIU union locals that represent many Head Start workers in California said about 1,000 of their members have gotten or expect to receive a termination notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, more than three-quarters of the Legislature signed a bipartisan letter urging California’s congressional delegation to protect funding for Head Start, Ahrens said. The letter noted that school districts and nonprofits in California receive $1.5 billion in federal funding each year to operate local Head Start programs that serve more than 80,000 children and employ nearly 27,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12037453 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That money supports not only early education and family services, but thousands of jobs, child care providers, bus drivers, cooks, support staff, many of them right here in rural areas where employment opportunities are already limited,” said Assemblymember Heather Hadwick (R–Modoc County), who said cuts to Head Start would devastate the rural communities she represents in far Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hadwick said she attended a Head Start center when she was raised by a single mother and called the program “a lifeline” for her family. She said the center was a safe place for her to learn and grow, which gave her mom peace of mind while she worked two jobs to make a living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I fully believe that we need to cut our budget and cut waste,” she said. “I just hope that we don’t do that on the backs of our low-income working families and our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027906/local-head-start-program-scrambles-to-keep-supporting-kids-amid-trumps-funding-freezes\">Head Start funding\u003c/a> is also critical to school districts and other agencies that use it to supplement California State Preschool and other publicly funded child care programs. Cuts to Head Start funds could lead to reduced child care hours for those programs, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association of Head Start grant recipients in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "At least 1,000 Head Start teachers and staff members across California have received termination notices due to federal funding uncertainties, state lawmakers said. \r\n",
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"title": "Hundreds of Pink Slips Prompt California Lawmakers to Warn of Threats to Head Start | KQED",
"description": "At least 1,000 Head Start teachers and staff members across California have received termination notices due to federal funding uncertainties, state lawmakers said. \r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At least 1,000 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a> teachers and staff members across California have received pink slips due to federal funding uncertainties, according to state lawmakers who warned Tuesday that cuts to the early childhood education program will damage the state’s economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the Trump administration \u003ca href=\"https://nhsa.org/press_release/statement-from-the-national-head-start-association-on-white-house-budget-recommendations/\">did not eliminate funding to Head Start in its 2026 budget proposal\u003c/a> released last week, teachers, families and advocates are worried about the stability of the program, which uses federal funds to provide educational and other services to low-income families with children up to 5 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some funding has been delayed since the administration closed several regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035966/i-know-the-power-of-head-start-laid-off-worker-fears-for-programs-future\">including one in San Francisco\u003c/a>, and laid off federal workers who support the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m really thankful that the president’s budget doesn’t suggest cuts to Head Start, but the administration was discussing entirely eliminating this program, and the administration and Congress are planning massive cuts to the federal government spending, many of which have yet to be detailed,” said Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens (D–Sunnyvale), who noted that some of the Head Start workers who received pink slips are in his Silicon Valley district.\u003ca href=\"https://www.paloaltoonline.com/education/2025/03/19/santa-clara-county-cuts-early-education-program/\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was referring to the \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-cuts-early-education-program/\">Santa Clara County Office of Education’s decision\u003c/a> to warn employees that their jobs were at risk because the federal government had yet to indicate whether it would reinstate the office’s Head Start grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children ride bicycles in the playground at a Head Start program in American Canyon, California, on Feb. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s not clear exactly how many employees received pink slips across the state, but the SEIU union locals that represent many Head Start workers in California said about 1,000 of their members have gotten or expect to receive a termination notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, more than three-quarters of the Legislature signed a bipartisan letter urging California’s congressional delegation to protect funding for Head Start, Ahrens said. The letter noted that school districts and nonprofits in California receive $1.5 billion in federal funding each year to operate local Head Start programs that serve more than 80,000 children and employ nearly 27,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That money supports not only early education and family services, but thousands of jobs, child care providers, bus drivers, cooks, support staff, many of them right here in rural areas where employment opportunities are already limited,” said Assemblymember Heather Hadwick (R–Modoc County), who said cuts to Head Start would devastate the rural communities she represents in far Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hadwick said she attended a Head Start center when she was raised by a single mother and called the program “a lifeline” for her family. She said the center was a safe place for her to learn and grow, which gave her mom peace of mind while she worked two jobs to make a living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I fully believe that we need to cut our budget and cut waste,” she said. “I just hope that we don’t do that on the backs of our low-income working families and our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027906/local-head-start-program-scrambles-to-keep-supporting-kids-amid-trumps-funding-freezes\">Head Start funding\u003c/a> is also critical to school districts and other agencies that use it to supplement California State Preschool and other publicly funded child care programs. Cuts to Head Start funds could lead to reduced child care hours for those programs, said Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California, an association of Head Start grant recipients in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Head Start was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty. Now, it’s one of many federal programs that the Trump administration wants to reduce or cut altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Daisy Nguyen tells the story of one federal employee in the Bay Area who was laid off from Head Start — and how the program changed her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC4825482944&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ci>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/i>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:25] \u003c/em>Birdie Winrow is a laid-off federal worker. She lives in the East Bay. I was introduced to Birdie because I’ve been covering a number of problems for Head Start since President Trump took office. And she wanted to talk to me about the impact of losing a job that she was really excited to have and just her concerns about the ongoing threats to a program that has really changed her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:50] \u003c/em>I’ve always been very passionate about Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:53] \u003c/em>She was working at Head Start’s regional office in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:58] \u003c/em>I’ve done the work from the program perspective, but I wanted to learn more because I wanted it to serve more if that makes sense from a holistic perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:05] \u003c/em>She started not too long ago, back in January, so she was considered a probationary worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:11] \u003c/em>But it was a Thursday, I was watching the news, and I heard that probationary workers were being let go. And I’m like, oh, I’m a probationary worker. And so I was kind of concerned about it at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:23] \u003c/em>And then she abruptly lost her job beginning of April when the Department of Health and Human Services decided to close the office in which she worked at as part of its effort to downsize the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:40] \u003c/em>What was Bertie’s reaction at the time to her being laid off?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:46] \u003c/em>She was disappointed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:49] \u003c/em>There are a lot of hearts that are broken right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:51] \u003c/em>This was a job she had long wanted to have. She was really trying to make an impact. And she was also on the verge of buying a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:03] \u003c/em>My appraisal was going to happen. And soon as I got a message that, you know, it may be me, I pulled out of the contract in that same moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:16] \u003c/em>The seller was even willing to sell it to her below asking price and she had to walk away from the deal\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:23] \u003c/em>It took me three years just to get to this point to buy a house. I was really sad about it, but yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:33] \u003c/em>That’s devastating, Daisy. I mean, this is a program that Bertie herself has relied on. I mean tell me a little bit more about this program Head Start. What is it exactly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:46] \u003c/em>It was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty by caring for the kids while also helping their parents do better. Head Start is appropriated by Congress, but it’s run by local schools and nonprofits. So in California, Head Start grant recipients serve more than 80,000 low-income kids, and those recipients receive about a billion and a half dollars. I think most people think of Head Start as like a preschool early education program, but advocates and people who’ve experienced it say it’s more than just a preschool program. It provides meals for the kids, health screenings, and it supports parents in many different ways depending on where you are, like if you’re in a rural area, there’s a program call it Migrant Head Start program that serves. You know, seasonal workers. There’s early head start, which is for babies, infants to three-year-olds. There’s home visit programs where parents of newborns receive visitors into their home to get just advice on caregiving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:08] \u003c/em>And it turns out that Birdie, who was recently laid off from Head Start, also benefited from Headstart herself. What was Birdie’s experience with Head Start back in the day?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:19] \u003c/em>Yeah, she told me that she was a 19 year old mom of two living in San Francisco. She was relying on public assistance to get by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:31] \u003c/em>I want to be self-sufficient and but the only way I could do that is I had to put my babies in care\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:37] \u003c/em>She didn’t know anything about Head Start when she started that, because she told me she was raised by her grandmother. She never went to daycare. And so Head Start’s two-generation approach to uplifting families was just really eye-opening for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:52] \u003c/em>So a young mom with two kids, I wanted them to go to school so that I can go to work. And so that was my intention because I wanted to do more with myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:02] \u003c/em>When she went to enroll her son in a Head Start program in the Bayview, Hunters Point neighborhood. Someone at Head Start told her that her son had to undergo a dental exam as part of the enrollment process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:17] \u003c/em>And so for my teenage mind, I was like, he had to go to a dentist. Like, I don’t even brush his teeth every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:24] \u003c/em>And that really was surprising for her because up to that point, she had never brought him to the dentist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:31] \u003c/em>I took him to Western Dental, it was in the Mission District. We were there all day. But nonetheless, that was my beginning of loving Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:42] \u003c/em>That moment was just sort of a light bulb moment for her. It made her become more aware of healthy child development. And it made her step up her parenting skills. Her three-year-old son at the time got child care. And she was able to go find work. And that was sort of the beginning of her journey. She was able pursue a career in social work and early childhood education. She kept on working while earning her college degrees. And then About 15 years ago she went back to Head Start to work in various jobs at Head Start, starting with being a toddler teacher and moving her way up to becoming a manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:25] \u003c/em>Yeah, it sounds like this personal history with the program is really what drove her to kind of give back. \u003cem> [00:08:31]\u003c/em>\u003cem>[6.2]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:32] \u003c/em>Yeah, exactly. She was very passionate about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:37] \u003c/em>My grandchildren have all been through either Early Head Start and Head Start or Early Head Start. My family has all touched it in some form or fashion. If you truly use the resources and the tools that Head Start provides, you can be any\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:03] \u003c/em>Coming up, how the Trump administration’s layoffs are affecting Head Start, and why advocates fear there could be even more to come. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:06] \u003c/em>Well, Daisy, going back to these layoffs happening at Head Start, there have been two rounds of layoffs so far that have affected this program, the latest happening on April 1st, which is when Birdie got laid off. What kind of impact have these layoff had on the program so far?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:26] \u003c/em>Where Birdie worked she was among a staff of at least 15 people, maybe 18. They were serving as regional contacts for hit start programs throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Outer Pacific. So without this staff, these programs in these states, they don’t really know who to turn to if they have a question or if they need their grants renewed. Or if they need someone just to approve spending for things like replacing a playground or a child care center that was destroyed by a wildfire. I heard that example for one program in Altadena. Oh, wow. They’ve been told by the Department of Health and Human Services that they could go to some portal and submit questions, and those questions will be monitored by someone in the central office in Washington. I think it’s just causing a slowdown. And it’s hindering these local programs’ ability to conduct business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:36] \u003c/em>I mean, this might not be the last of these layoffs. What is the fear, I guess, moving forward here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:46] \u003c/em>There’s been widespread reporting that the White House wants to completely defund the program in the next budget. There’s a draft budget proposal that calls for eliminating Head Start. Project 2025 has called for doing that. And the main architect of that conservative policy blueprint is now the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. The conservative thinkers behind this policy say that the federal government shouldn’t be involved in child care programming. So, you know, it’s sparking a lot of concern because Head Start has such an important presence in California. In fact, the state receives $1.5 billion in Head Start funds to serve these low-income families. And in California, I was told about 75% of Head Start grant recipients lend state funding for preschool and child care with Head Start funding just so they can run their programs. So if you were to take away the federal funds Like these programs may have to like cut staff or shorten their days. So that’s gonna be a problem for a lot of working parents because, you know, having their child in full care, full-time care is what enables them to go to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:11] \u003c/em>Coming back to Birdie here, Daisy, I mean, it sounds like her life has been incredibly affected by losing her job. I mean she couldn’t buy this home that she was really excited to buy. I mean what is she up to now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:25] \u003c/em>So she’s taking some time to take care of herself. She’s spending time with her grandkids and she’s trying to figure out her next step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:32] \u003c/em>I want to make sure that my glass is full so that I can continue to pour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:37] \u003c/em>She also is continuing to teach at community colleges. And she’s just telling me that she’s trying to figure out how to advocate for Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:50] \u003c/em>I’m a living example of why Head Start matters and why Head start is important. Not only because I worked there, but a lot of times Head Start people continue. So they start off maybe as a child or they may start off as a parent, but in the end they give.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:12] \u003c/em>Six of her grandkids have gone through Head Start II, and she just wonders, like, what’s gonna happen to the kids who come behind them? Like, will they get the same benefits?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:22] \u003c/em>About those 16 children in that classroom and them having a place to come to, to sleep, to eat, to rest, to be, that’s my concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:41] \u003c/em>Well, Daisy, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us. I appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:45] \u003c/em>Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Head Start was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty. Now, it’s one of many federal programs that the Trump administration wants to reduce or cut altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Daisy Nguyen tells the story of one federal employee in the Bay Area who was laid off from Head Start — and how the program changed her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC4825482944&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ci>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/i>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:25] \u003c/em>Birdie Winrow is a laid-off federal worker. She lives in the East Bay. I was introduced to Birdie because I’ve been covering a number of problems for Head Start since President Trump took office. And she wanted to talk to me about the impact of losing a job that she was really excited to have and just her concerns about the ongoing threats to a program that has really changed her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:50] \u003c/em>I’ve always been very passionate about Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:53] \u003c/em>She was working at Head Start’s regional office in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:02:58] \u003c/em>I’ve done the work from the program perspective, but I wanted to learn more because I wanted it to serve more if that makes sense from a holistic perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:05] \u003c/em>She started not too long ago, back in January, so she was considered a probationary worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:11] \u003c/em>But it was a Thursday, I was watching the news, and I heard that probationary workers were being let go. And I’m like, oh, I’m a probationary worker. And so I was kind of concerned about it at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:23] \u003c/em>And then she abruptly lost her job beginning of April when the Department of Health and Human Services decided to close the office in which she worked at as part of its effort to downsize the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:40] \u003c/em>What was Bertie’s reaction at the time to her being laid off?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:46] \u003c/em>She was disappointed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:49] \u003c/em>There are a lot of hearts that are broken right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:03:51] \u003c/em>This was a job she had long wanted to have. She was really trying to make an impact. And she was also on the verge of buying a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:03] \u003c/em>My appraisal was going to happen. And soon as I got a message that, you know, it may be me, I pulled out of the contract in that same moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:16] \u003c/em>The seller was even willing to sell it to her below asking price and she had to walk away from the deal\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:23] \u003c/em>It took me three years just to get to this point to buy a house. I was really sad about it, but yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:33] \u003c/em>That’s devastating, Daisy. I mean, this is a program that Bertie herself has relied on. I mean tell me a little bit more about this program Head Start. What is it exactly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:04:46] \u003c/em>It was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty by caring for the kids while also helping their parents do better. Head Start is appropriated by Congress, but it’s run by local schools and nonprofits. So in California, Head Start grant recipients serve more than 80,000 low-income kids, and those recipients receive about a billion and a half dollars. I think most people think of Head Start as like a preschool early education program, but advocates and people who’ve experienced it say it’s more than just a preschool program. It provides meals for the kids, health screenings, and it supports parents in many different ways depending on where you are, like if you’re in a rural area, there’s a program call it Migrant Head Start program that serves. You know, seasonal workers. There’s early head start, which is for babies, infants to three-year-olds. There’s home visit programs where parents of newborns receive visitors into their home to get just advice on caregiving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:08] \u003c/em>And it turns out that Birdie, who was recently laid off from Head Start, also benefited from Headstart herself. What was Birdie’s experience with Head Start back in the day?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:19] \u003c/em>Yeah, she told me that she was a 19 year old mom of two living in San Francisco. She was relying on public assistance to get by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:31] \u003c/em>I want to be self-sufficient and but the only way I could do that is I had to put my babies in care\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:37] \u003c/em>She didn’t know anything about Head Start when she started that, because she told me she was raised by her grandmother. She never went to daycare. And so Head Start’s two-generation approach to uplifting families was just really eye-opening for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:06:52] \u003c/em>So a young mom with two kids, I wanted them to go to school so that I can go to work. And so that was my intention because I wanted to do more with myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:02] \u003c/em>When she went to enroll her son in a Head Start program in the Bayview, Hunters Point neighborhood. Someone at Head Start told her that her son had to undergo a dental exam as part of the enrollment process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:17] \u003c/em>And so for my teenage mind, I was like, he had to go to a dentist. Like, I don’t even brush his teeth every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:24] \u003c/em>And that really was surprising for her because up to that point, she had never brought him to the dentist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:31] \u003c/em>I took him to Western Dental, it was in the Mission District. We were there all day. But nonetheless, that was my beginning of loving Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:07:42] \u003c/em>That moment was just sort of a light bulb moment for her. It made her become more aware of healthy child development. And it made her step up her parenting skills. Her three-year-old son at the time got child care. And she was able to go find work. And that was sort of the beginning of her journey. She was able pursue a career in social work and early childhood education. She kept on working while earning her college degrees. And then About 15 years ago she went back to Head Start to work in various jobs at Head Start, starting with being a toddler teacher and moving her way up to becoming a manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:25] \u003c/em>Yeah, it sounds like this personal history with the program is really what drove her to kind of give back. \u003cem> [00:08:31]\u003c/em>\u003cem>[6.2]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:32] \u003c/em>Yeah, exactly. She was very passionate about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:08:37] \u003c/em>My grandchildren have all been through either Early Head Start and Head Start or Early Head Start. My family has all touched it in some form or fashion. If you truly use the resources and the tools that Head Start provides, you can be any\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:09:03] \u003c/em>Coming up, how the Trump administration’s layoffs are affecting Head Start, and why advocates fear there could be even more to come. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:06] \u003c/em>Well, Daisy, going back to these layoffs happening at Head Start, there have been two rounds of layoffs so far that have affected this program, the latest happening on April 1st, which is when Birdie got laid off. What kind of impact have these layoff had on the program so far?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:10:26] \u003c/em>Where Birdie worked she was among a staff of at least 15 people, maybe 18. They were serving as regional contacts for hit start programs throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Outer Pacific. So without this staff, these programs in these states, they don’t really know who to turn to if they have a question or if they need their grants renewed. Or if they need someone just to approve spending for things like replacing a playground or a child care center that was destroyed by a wildfire. I heard that example for one program in Altadena. Oh, wow. They’ve been told by the Department of Health and Human Services that they could go to some portal and submit questions, and those questions will be monitored by someone in the central office in Washington. I think it’s just causing a slowdown. And it’s hindering these local programs’ ability to conduct business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:36] \u003c/em>I mean, this might not be the last of these layoffs. What is the fear, I guess, moving forward here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:11:46] \u003c/em>There’s been widespread reporting that the White House wants to completely defund the program in the next budget. There’s a draft budget proposal that calls for eliminating Head Start. Project 2025 has called for doing that. And the main architect of that conservative policy blueprint is now the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. The conservative thinkers behind this policy say that the federal government shouldn’t be involved in child care programming. So, you know, it’s sparking a lot of concern because Head Start has such an important presence in California. In fact, the state receives $1.5 billion in Head Start funds to serve these low-income families. And in California, I was told about 75% of Head Start grant recipients lend state funding for preschool and child care with Head Start funding just so they can run their programs. So if you were to take away the federal funds Like these programs may have to like cut staff or shorten their days. So that’s gonna be a problem for a lot of working parents because, you know, having their child in full care, full-time care is what enables them to go to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:11] \u003c/em>Coming back to Birdie here, Daisy, I mean, it sounds like her life has been incredibly affected by losing her job. I mean she couldn’t buy this home that she was really excited to buy. I mean what is she up to now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:25] \u003c/em>So she’s taking some time to take care of herself. She’s spending time with her grandkids and she’s trying to figure out her next step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:32] \u003c/em>I want to make sure that my glass is full so that I can continue to pour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:37] \u003c/em>She also is continuing to teach at community colleges. And she’s just telling me that she’s trying to figure out how to advocate for Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:13:50] \u003c/em>I’m a living example of why Head Start matters and why Head start is important. Not only because I worked there, but a lot of times Head Start people continue. So they start off maybe as a child or they may start off as a parent, but in the end they give.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:12] \u003c/em>Six of her grandkids have gone through Head Start II, and she just wonders, like, what’s gonna happen to the kids who come behind them? Like, will they get the same benefits?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Birdie Winrow: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:22] \u003c/em>About those 16 children in that classroom and them having a place to come to, to sleep, to eat, to rest, to be, that’s my concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:41] \u003c/em>Well, Daisy, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us. I appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/b>\u003cem>[00:14:45] \u003c/em>Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘I Know the Power of Head Start’: Laid-Off Worker Fears for the Program’s Future",
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"content": "\u003cp>Birdie Winrow was on the verge of buying a home when the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Trump\u003c/a> administration began firing federal workers as part of its push to downsize the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winrow, 48, had only been working at the Office of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a>’s regional office in San Francisco for a month. Although she was spared in the first round of cuts, she sensed that more were on the way, prompting her to walk away from what she described as a sweet deal. The owner was willing to sell her the house in the East Bay city of Antioch below the asking price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had been saving for three years to get to this point to buy a house, and so I was really sad about it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a devastating loss for Winrow. The house would’ve been a dream realized through hard work, and with the help of Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She first heard about the federal program nearly 30 years ago, when she was a 19-year-old mom raising two kids in San Francisco. She relied on government assistance programs to get by but was ready to get off welfare and move on with her life. So she enrolled her 3-year-old son at a Head Start center in the Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood so she could look for a job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12035957\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12035957\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Birdie Winrow in San Leandro on April 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A worker at the Head Start center told Winrow her son had to undergo a dental exam as part of the enrollment process. That prompted Winrow to take her son to his first dental checkup and to improve her parenting skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was a really profound moment in my teenage mom life to say, ‘Oh, I need to actually brush my baby’s teeth every day, and I have to take him to the dentist,’” she said. “That was my beginning of loving Head Start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care enabled her to pursue work at the San Francisco school district and a drug rehab center. She went on to have two more children, earned college and graduate degrees in human services and human development and established a career in social work and early childhood education.[aside postID=news_12027906 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250213-HEADSTARTFUNDINGINTERRUPTION-03-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']She also came back to Head Start to work in various roles, from teacher to manager of several programs in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her story is proof that Head Start works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal program was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty by delivering meals, developmental screenings, and an early education for children from birth to 5 years old while helping their parents pursue financial security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>I know the power of Head Start because I used the tools that Head Start gave me to be who I am today and have all of these opportunities that I’ve had,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winrow said she took the job at the regional office because she wanted to make a bigger impact by serving as a federal liaison to local Head Start programs in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and U.S. territories in the Pacific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on April 1, she abruptly lost her job when the Department of Health and Human Services shuttered half of its regional offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children ride bicycles in the playground at a Head Start program in American Canyon, California, on Feb. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Laurie Todd-Smith, deputy assistant secretary for Early Childhood Development at HHS, told Head Start providers by email that the government was consolidating 10 regional offices into five to save taxpayers’ money and that the move “will serve multiple goals without impacting critical services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Head Start providers, some of whom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027906/local-head-start-program-scrambles-to-keep-supporting-kids-amid-trumps-funding-freezes\">had problems accessing their funding after Trump took office\u003c/a>, are worried the elimination of the regional offices will delay the release of funds and hinder their ability to serve children and families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s very worrisome, in particular to our small nonprofits who by law, cannot keep a lot of cash on hand and by their nature, don’t have a cash flow,” said Ed Condon, executive director of the Region 9 Head Start Association, which represents 160 agencies serving more than 130,000 Head Start children and families in the western U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These nonprofits risk not being able to pay their staff or rent on time, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036037\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036037\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Head Start mobile classroom at Lincoln Square Park in Oakland on Friday, May 24, 2024. Last year, the city of Oakland introduced its “Ready, Set, Go” vehicle, an RV converted into a Head Start classroom, which travels to homeless shelters, providing educational and social services to families experiencing housing instability. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Firing workers at these regional offices eliminates expertise that took decades to build up, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Head Start providers have yet to receive a transition plan laying out who they should turn to for support. The email sent by Todd-Smith instructed them to submit urgent questions to an online system that the Office of Head Start staff would monitor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, staffing at the Administration of Children and Families, which oversees Head Start and other childcare and child welfare programs, dropped by 40% in just three months, according to a memo by former ACF staffers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re concerned the cuts are part of a bigger plan to get rid of Head Start, as outlined in Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint led by Russel Vought, who Trump appointed to run the White House Office of Management and Budget.[aside postID=news_12031853 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-1020x680.jpg']At the San Francisco regional office, Winrow reviewed grant applications to ensure local agencies were meeting Head Start’s quality standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her experiences at Head Start helped her understand the importance of targeting funds to serve the most vulnerable families, whether they’re experiencing homelessness or have a child with developmental delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal workers are needed because they are directly connected to the recipients who serve our low-income families,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides the personal loss of her job and the home she hoped to buy, Winrow is concerned the latest cuts will weaken a program that has done so much for her and her family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Six of her grandkids have gone through Head Start too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wonders if the children who come behind them will get the same benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a living example of why Head Start matters and why Head Start is important — not only because I worked there, but a lot of times Head Start people … start off maybe as a child or they may start off as a parent, but in the end they give back,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "‘I Know the Power of Head Start’: Laid-Off Worker Fears for the Program’s Future | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Birdie Winrow was on the verge of buying a home when the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Trump\u003c/a> administration began firing federal workers as part of its push to downsize the government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winrow, 48, had only been working at the Office of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/head-start\">Head Start\u003c/a>’s regional office in San Francisco for a month. Although she was spared in the first round of cuts, she sensed that more were on the way, prompting her to walk away from what she described as a sweet deal. The owner was willing to sell her the house in the East Bay city of Antioch below the asking price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had been saving for three years to get to this point to buy a house, and so I was really sad about it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a devastating loss for Winrow. The house would’ve been a dream realized through hard work, and with the help of Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She first heard about the federal program nearly 30 years ago, when she was a 19-year-old mom raising two kids in San Francisco. She relied on government assistance programs to get by but was ready to get off welfare and move on with her life. So she enrolled her 3-year-old son at a Head Start center in the Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood so she could look for a job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12035957\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12035957\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250414-HEAD-START-WORKER-LAID-OFF-MD-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Birdie Winrow in San Leandro on April 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A worker at the Head Start center told Winrow her son had to undergo a dental exam as part of the enrollment process. That prompted Winrow to take her son to his first dental checkup and to improve her parenting skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was a really profound moment in my teenage mom life to say, ‘Oh, I need to actually brush my baby’s teeth every day, and I have to take him to the dentist,’” she said. “That was my beginning of loving Head Start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care enabled her to pursue work at the San Francisco school district and a drug rehab center. She went on to have two more children, earned college and graduate degrees in human services and human development and established a career in social work and early childhood education.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She also came back to Head Start to work in various roles, from teacher to manager of several programs in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her story is proof that Head Start works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal program was founded 60 years ago to help America’s poorest families break the cycle of poverty by delivering meals, developmental screenings, and an early education for children from birth to 5 years old while helping their parents pursue financial security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>I know the power of Head Start because I used the tools that Head Start gave me to be who I am today and have all of these opportunities that I’ve had,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Winrow said she took the job at the regional office because she wanted to make a bigger impact by serving as a federal liaison to local Head Start programs in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and U.S. territories in the Pacific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on April 1, she abruptly lost her job when the Department of Health and Human Services shuttered half of its regional offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250213-HeadStartFundingInterruption-14-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children ride bicycles in the playground at a Head Start program in American Canyon, California, on Feb. 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Laurie Todd-Smith, deputy assistant secretary for Early Childhood Development at HHS, told Head Start providers by email that the government was consolidating 10 regional offices into five to save taxpayers’ money and that the move “will serve multiple goals without impacting critical services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, Head Start providers, some of whom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027906/local-head-start-program-scrambles-to-keep-supporting-kids-amid-trumps-funding-freezes\">had problems accessing their funding after Trump took office\u003c/a>, are worried the elimination of the regional offices will delay the release of funds and hinder their ability to serve children and families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s very worrisome, in particular to our small nonprofits who by law, cannot keep a lot of cash on hand and by their nature, don’t have a cash flow,” said Ed Condon, executive director of the Region 9 Head Start Association, which represents 160 agencies serving more than 130,000 Head Start children and families in the western U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These nonprofits risk not being able to pay their staff or rent on time, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036037\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036037\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20240524_MobileHeadStart-50_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Head Start mobile classroom at Lincoln Square Park in Oakland on Friday, May 24, 2024. Last year, the city of Oakland introduced its “Ready, Set, Go” vehicle, an RV converted into a Head Start classroom, which travels to homeless shelters, providing educational and social services to families experiencing housing instability. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Firing workers at these regional offices eliminates expertise that took decades to build up, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Head Start providers have yet to receive a transition plan laying out who they should turn to for support. The email sent by Todd-Smith instructed them to submit urgent questions to an online system that the Office of Head Start staff would monitor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, staffing at the Administration of Children and Families, which oversees Head Start and other childcare and child welfare programs, dropped by 40% in just three months, according to a memo by former ACF staffers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re concerned the cuts are part of a bigger plan to get rid of Head Start, as outlined in Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint led by Russel Vought, who Trump appointed to run the White House Office of Management and Budget.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At the San Francisco regional office, Winrow reviewed grant applications to ensure local agencies were meeting Head Start’s quality standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her experiences at Head Start helped her understand the importance of targeting funds to serve the most vulnerable families, whether they’re experiencing homelessness or have a child with developmental delays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal workers are needed because they are directly connected to the recipients who serve our low-income families,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides the personal loss of her job and the home she hoped to buy, Winrow is concerned the latest cuts will weaken a program that has done so much for her and her family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Six of her grandkids have gone through Head Start too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wonders if the children who come behind them will get the same benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a living example of why Head Start matters and why Head Start is important — not only because I worked there, but a lot of times Head Start people … start off maybe as a child or they may start off as a parent, but in the end they give back,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Fearing Legal Threats, Alameda County Supervisors Delay Spending Child Care Funds",
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"headTitle": "Fearing Legal Threats, Alameda County Supervisors Delay Spending Child Care Funds | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Alameda County supervisors agreed Tuesday to delay spending some of the $500 million collected from a sales tax measure to support child care providers in order to avoid a potential lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Providers who are still recovering financially from the pandemic thought they were close to getting some financial relief last month when the supervisors \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030561/alameda-county-child-care-providers-wait-anxiously-long-held-relief-funds\">approved spending the first batch of Measure C funds\u003c/a> to support them. However, a lawyer for the Alameda County Taxpayers’ Association threatened to sue the board if it released the funds before vetting a longer-term spending plan for Measure C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kristin Spanos, the CEO of First 5 Alameda County, which is administering the funds, urged the supervisors to hold onto the money until the agency can present a 5-year plan and budget for Measure C in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Such a delay would be minimal compared to the potential delay that could arise from the litigation,” Spanos told the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said once the plan is approved, First 5 “will do everything within our powers to disperse the funds as soon as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a dozen early educators who called into the meeting noted that voters had approved the tax five years ago to improve access to child care and kids’ health care and that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11984169/state-court-upholds-alameda-county-tax-measure-yielding-hundreds-of-millions-for-child-care\">a court ruling from a year ago should have settled\u003c/a> the legal fight over the validity of Measure C.[aside postID=news_12030561 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-2-KQED-1020x680.jpg']“It really is a disgrace to hold this money up when we have worked so hard to fight for it,” said Nancy Harvey, a family child care provider in West Oakland who helped organize the campaign for the measure. “We’re doing a disservice to all the families and all the children here in our county.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carolyn Carpenter, who also cares for young kids at her home in Oakland, called for immediate relief funds to keep providers in business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Waiting ’til June is going to close more doors of more [early education] programs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Nate Miley said he recognized the providers’ desperate need for cash (small family child care providers who serve lower-income families can each qualify for $40,000 in relief grants), but he didn’t want to risk sparking a lawsuit that could tie up county resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to move forward; we’re just finding ourselves between a rock and a hard spot at this point,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A plan to spend the $500 million to improve access to child care and kids' health care could come in June.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Alameda County supervisors agreed Tuesday to delay spending some of the $500 million collected from a sales tax measure to support child care providers in order to avoid a potential lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Providers who are still recovering financially from the pandemic thought they were close to getting some financial relief last month when the supervisors \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030561/alameda-county-child-care-providers-wait-anxiously-long-held-relief-funds\">approved spending the first batch of Measure C funds\u003c/a> to support them. However, a lawyer for the Alameda County Taxpayers’ Association threatened to sue the board if it released the funds before vetting a longer-term spending plan for Measure C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kristin Spanos, the CEO of First 5 Alameda County, which is administering the funds, urged the supervisors to hold onto the money until the agency can present a 5-year plan and budget for Measure C in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Such a delay would be minimal compared to the potential delay that could arise from the litigation,” Spanos told the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said once the plan is approved, First 5 “will do everything within our powers to disperse the funds as soon as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a dozen early educators who called into the meeting noted that voters had approved the tax five years ago to improve access to child care and kids’ health care and that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11984169/state-court-upholds-alameda-county-tax-measure-yielding-hundreds-of-millions-for-child-care\">a court ruling from a year ago should have settled\u003c/a> the legal fight over the validity of Measure C.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It really is a disgrace to hold this money up when we have worked so hard to fight for it,” said Nancy Harvey, a family child care provider in West Oakland who helped organize the campaign for the measure. “We’re doing a disservice to all the families and all the children here in our county.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carolyn Carpenter, who also cares for young kids at her home in Oakland, called for immediate relief funds to keep providers in business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Waiting ’til June is going to close more doors of more [early education] programs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Nate Miley said he recognized the providers’ desperate need for cash (small family child care providers who serve lower-income families can each qualify for $40,000 in relief grants), but he didn’t want to risk sparking a lawsuit that could tie up county resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to move forward; we’re just finding ourselves between a rock and a hard spot at this point,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Since 2021, Alameda County has collected roughly $500 million in sales tax revenue to improve access to child care and pediatric health care for lower-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not a single dollar has been spent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.first5alameda.org/our-work/strategies-initiatives/the-childrens-health-child-care-initiative-for-alameda-county/\">Voters approved\u003c/a> a half-cent sales tax increase in March 2020 to help address a growing shortage of child care, but a legal challenge by the Alameda County Taxpayers’ Association tied up the funds until last year when\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11984169/state-court-upholds-alameda-county-tax-measure-yielding-hundreds-of-millions-for-child-care\"> the state Supreme Court upheld the measure\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustrated child care providers were hoping county officials would release the first batch of funds after approving spending $165.8 million in emergency funding so they could finally apply for thousands of dollars in relief grants. However, the money appears to be caught up in another legal fight by the taxpayers’ group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this doesn’t pass, I don’t even know that I will open by the end of the year,” said Lisa Zarodney, who has provided child care out of her home in Livermore for 27 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030546\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030546\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lisa Zarodney talks to Ryden, 1, Kane, 2, and Hudson, 3, at her home in Livermore, where she runs a childcare operation, on March 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Zarodney said she has always operated her small business on thin margins and didn’t have much of a financial cushion when the pandemic hit and fewer kids came to her home. She received $5000 in federal pandemic recovery aid, she said, but rising costs for food, electricity and other expenses have only deepened her financial troubles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When temperatures rise in Livermore, and she turns on the air conditioning to keep the kids cool, for example, her electricity bill almost doubles to $600 per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t do this business for the money because it’s not a profitable business,” she said. “You have to do it for the love of children, and that’s the whole reason why I do it, to give children and families the help that they need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030543\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030543\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lisa Zarodney speaks to Hudson, 3, at her home in Livermore, where she runs a childcare operation, on March 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After paying off her bills last month, Zarodney said she had just $200 to cover her own food and other expenses. She’s been drawing from her late husband’s retirement savings to get by, but she said the high taxes and penalties on those withdrawals are unsustainable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, the county Board of Supervisors tentatively approved spending\u003ca href=\"https://www.acgov.org/board/bos_calendar/documents/DocsAgendaReg_02_25_25/HEALTH%20CARE%20SERVICES/Set%20Matter%20Calendar/First%205%20Alameda%20County_383009.pdf\"> some of the Measure C funds\u003c/a> to prop up the county’s early childhood education and care system. Small family child care providers who serve low-income families, like Zarodney, can each qualify for $40,000 in relief grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A category of caregivers, known as license-exempt Friends, Family and Neighbors, can qualify for $4,000 grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030549\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030549\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gretchen Hernandez poses for a photo at her home in Oakland on March 7, 2025. Hernandez has taken time off of her warehouse job to care for her 2-year-old granddaughter with special needs, Ava. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That could help Gretchen Hernandez, who has taken time off her job at a warehouse to look after her 2-year-old granddaughter at her home in Oakland. Hernandez said she’s been living off her savings while she cares for the toddler, who requires one-on-one care because she was born with a rare form of Down syndrome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have six months left of money, and that’s it, so I have to go back to work because I have no choice,” Hernandez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s unclear exactly when caregivers can apply for the grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lawyer for the taxpayer’s group told the supervisors at the Feb. 25 meeting that by rule, they couldn’t release the emergency funds without approving a 5-year spending plan for Measure C, which is still in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030550\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030550\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of Gretchen Hernandez’s granddaughter, Ava, and communication cards posted on the refrigerator at her home in Oakland on March 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Voters were promised a 5-year plan and budget before expenditure of funds,” attorney Jason Bezis said. “It’s like placing the proverbial cart in front of the horse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said a proposal by First 5 Alameda County to spend 15% of the emergency funds to administer the money was “exorbitantly high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County supervisors tentatively approved the emergency fund as the first phase of the 5-year spending plan but will decide when to distribute the money pending a legal review by the county Counsel Donna Ziegler.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12028709 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250224_Mills-Children-School_DMB_00007-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ziegler told the board she would offer her opinion at its next meeting on Tuesday, but the topic does not appear on the agenda. Voicemail messages to the counsel have not been returned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an opportunity to transform the child care ecosystem in Alameda County,” said Mary Hekl, CEO of Hively, a referral agency with offices in Pleasanton, Livermore, Oakland, Fremont and San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergency funds would include $1.5 million in grants for agencies like Hekl’s to help income-eligible families enroll in state-subsidized child care programs and to train the workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her agency has maxed out the state funding it received this budget year for child care vouchers, but about 1,000 income-eligible families are still on its waitlist for subsidized child care. With more funding from Measure C, she said her agency can refer more families to licensed providers like Zarodney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think this is what people voted for in the first place, so a lot more people can have access to child care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zarodney said the longer she has to wait for funding, the harder it will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, or you see it and it gets turned off, it’s very discouraging, it’s really hard to try and keep going,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustrated child care providers were hoping county officials would release the first batch of funds after approving spending $165.8 million in emergency funding so they could finally apply for thousands of dollars in relief grants. However, the money appears to be caught up in another legal fight by the taxpayers’ group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this doesn’t pass, I don’t even know that I will open by the end of the year,” said Lisa Zarodney, who has provided child care out of her home in Livermore for 27 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030546\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030546\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-16-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lisa Zarodney talks to Ryden, 1, Kane, 2, and Hudson, 3, at her home in Livermore, where she runs a childcare operation, on March 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Zarodney said she has always operated her small business on thin margins and didn’t have much of a financial cushion when the pandemic hit and fewer kids came to her home. She received $5000 in federal pandemic recovery aid, she said, but rising costs for food, electricity and other expenses have only deepened her financial troubles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When temperatures rise in Livermore, and she turns on the air conditioning to keep the kids cool, for example, her electricity bill almost doubles to $600 per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t do this business for the money because it’s not a profitable business,” she said. “You have to do it for the love of children, and that’s the whole reason why I do it, to give children and families the help that they need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030543\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030543\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-4-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lisa Zarodney speaks to Hudson, 3, at her home in Livermore, where she runs a childcare operation, on March 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After paying off her bills last month, Zarodney said she had just $200 to cover her own food and other expenses. She’s been drawing from her late husband’s retirement savings to get by, but she said the high taxes and penalties on those withdrawals are unsustainable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, the county Board of Supervisors tentatively approved spending\u003ca href=\"https://www.acgov.org/board/bos_calendar/documents/DocsAgendaReg_02_25_25/HEALTH%20CARE%20SERVICES/Set%20Matter%20Calendar/First%205%20Alameda%20County_383009.pdf\"> some of the Measure C funds\u003c/a> to prop up the county’s early childhood education and care system. Small family child care providers who serve low-income families, like Zarodney, can each qualify for $40,000 in relief grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A category of caregivers, known as license-exempt Friends, Family and Neighbors, can qualify for $4,000 grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030549\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030549\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-31-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gretchen Hernandez poses for a photo at her home in Oakland on March 7, 2025. Hernandez has taken time off of her warehouse job to care for her 2-year-old granddaughter with special needs, Ava. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That could help Gretchen Hernandez, who has taken time off her job at a warehouse to look after her 2-year-old granddaughter at her home in Oakland. Hernandez said she’s been living off her savings while she cares for the toddler, who requires one-on-one care because she was born with a rare form of Down syndrome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have six months left of money, and that’s it, so I have to go back to work because I have no choice,” Hernandez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s unclear exactly when caregivers can apply for the grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lawyer for the taxpayer’s group told the supervisors at the Feb. 25 meeting that by rule, they couldn’t release the emergency funds without approving a 5-year spending plan for Measure C, which is still in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12030550\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12030550\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250307_ALAMEDACHILDCARE_GC-32-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of Gretchen Hernandez’s granddaughter, Ava, and communication cards posted on the refrigerator at her home in Oakland on March 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Voters were promised a 5-year plan and budget before expenditure of funds,” attorney Jason Bezis said. “It’s like placing the proverbial cart in front of the horse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said a proposal by First 5 Alameda County to spend 15% of the emergency funds to administer the money was “exorbitantly high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County supervisors tentatively approved the emergency fund as the first phase of the 5-year spending plan but will decide when to distribute the money pending a legal review by the county Counsel Donna Ziegler.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ziegler told the board she would offer her opinion at its next meeting on Tuesday, but the topic does not appear on the agenda. Voicemail messages to the counsel have not been returned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an opportunity to transform the child care ecosystem in Alameda County,” said Mary Hekl, CEO of Hively, a referral agency with offices in Pleasanton, Livermore, Oakland, Fremont and San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergency funds would include $1.5 million in grants for agencies like Hekl’s to help income-eligible families enroll in state-subsidized child care programs and to train the workforce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her agency has maxed out the state funding it received this budget year for child care vouchers, but about 1,000 income-eligible families are still on its waitlist for subsidized child care. With more funding from Measure C, she said her agency can refer more families to licensed providers like Zarodney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think this is what people voted for in the first place, so a lot more people can have access to child care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zarodney said the longer she has to wait for funding, the harder it will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, or you see it and it gets turned off, it’s very discouraging, it’s really hard to try and keep going,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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