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"content": "\u003cp>After the 2017 Tubbs wildfire destroyed the Santa Rosa preschool Renee Whitlock-Hemsouvanh had opened three years earlier, she felt desperate and hopeless and uncertain of the school’s future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the school’s families had also lost their homes, and she didn’t think she could recuperate enough insurance money to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was just a lot of disbelief because whoever thinks that you’re going to lose everything, like it’s just gonna burn to the ground?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She eventually reestablished her preschool at another site, but the recovery took years. Lately, Whitlock-Hemsouvanh finds herself playing the role of wildfire survivor, giving advice to early educators in Los Angeles County figuring out how to move forward after last month’s devastating wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025677\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025677\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kauai, a preschool student, puts on dry socks after coming in from outdoor play at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Forty licensed centers or homes that provide child care in Altadena and Pacific Palisades were destroyed, and about 240 others remain closed because of smoke damage or lack of power and water, according to the California Department of Social Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family child care providers who lost their homes also lost their livelihoods. A coalition of childcare advocates, along with state and local agencies, are helping providers prepare for reopening and displaced families find child care wherever they land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of folks are just getting to the point where they’ve been able to see what’s left, if anything is left, and starting to make plans for their next steps,” said Donna Sneeringer, chief strategy officer for Child Care Resource Center, based in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025682\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025682\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Renee Whitlock-Hemsouvanh is the director of Fulton Community School & Farm in Santa Rosa. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whitlock-Hemsouvanh advises program directors like Alana Levitt, whose preschool sustained smoke damage in the Palisades fire, how to mitigate that damage, how to deep clean playgrounds and how to support families whose lives were upended by the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levitt, director of Kehillat Israel’s Early Childhood Center, said enrollment had been cut in half because families scattered to other parts of California or even other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She temporarily moved to another preschool building in nearby Santa Monica that had space for the remaining children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We acted fast because the lesson that we learned from COVID is that we have to adapt really quickly,” Levitt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fulton Community School & Farm in Santa Rosa was once a Lutheran church. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She was able to do that because the state is granting\u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/meTVCkRozNIr6xKjTkCyTGeHqZ?domain=cdss.ca.gov\"> licensed child care providers some flexibility\u003c/a> in where they can relocate and how many children they can admit so they can continue their work in the aftermath of a disaster. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also issued \u003ca href=\"https://mayor.lacity.gov/sites/g/files/wph2066/files/2025-02/EO%204%20-%20Emergency%20Executive%20Order%20-%20Temporary%20School%20and%20Child%20Care%20Facility%20Use.pdf\">an executive order\u003c/a> this week to speed up the process of opening new child care facilities in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levitt’s experience parallels what Whitlock-Hemsouvanh went through seven years ago. Two weeks after the Tubbs fire killed 22 people and destroyed 4,600 homes — the most destructive in state history at the time — her preschool moved to a temporary site and relied on donated books and supplies. Parents pitched in to spruce up the classrooms and outdoor play area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She then caught a break when the city of Santa Rosa decided to lease a former church on city-owned land at a fair market value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026087\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12026087 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"660\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Preschooler Joshua plays with a set of toys and (right) changes socks with the direction of his teacher, Yuka Morris, at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/santa-rosa-to-lease-former-church-to-day-care-company-that-lost-facility-in/\">City officials chose the preschool over other proposals to\u003c/a> convert the property into transitional housing or a hospice facility after deciding to make affordable child care a priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, Sonoma County \u003ca href=\"https://upstreaminvestments.org/Microsites/Upstream%20Investments/Documents/READY/READY-Annual-Report-23-24.pdf\">lost 450 child care slots to the 2017 fires and\u003c/a> about 50% of its remaining licensed child care capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic gutted the early education workforce, according to a county report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say that because the sector already struggles with low profit margins, any additional costs brought on by events like the Sonoma and Los Angeles fires can destabilize providers and lead to closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s already this lack of quality, accessible child care and when you add in an extreme weather event or natural disaster, it just kind of multiplies and exacerbates those existing problems,” said Ariel Ford, senior vice president of program impact at Child Care Aware of America, which offers \u003ca href=\"https://www.childcareaware.org/our-issues/crisis-and-disaster-resources/\">emergency preparedness, response and recovery tips\u003c/a> to its national network of child care resource organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care is often an afterthought following a disaster, Ford said, “even though the parents are scrambling to find [it] because when you have little ones, you can’t do the work of recovery while you also have a baby on your hip.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025681\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025681\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sally Soundara prepares lunch for the students at Fulton Community School & Farm. Soundara was on staff at the Mark West Community Preschool before fire destroyed it. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Whitlock-Hemsouvanh, community support was instrumental in helping her recover from her loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Changes in zoning regulations and reductions in red tape allowed her to reestablish her business. She abandoned plans to rebuild the burned preschool and used money raised for that project to convert the church into a spacious preschool named \u003ca href=\"https://fultoncommunityschool.com/\">Fulton Community School & Farm\u003c/a>. Contributions from United Way Wine Country and First 5 Sonoma County helped cover the $100,000 cost of installing a fire sprinkler system to bring it up to licensing standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play on ‘woodchip mountain’ at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, a day after moving into the building in March 2020, the state ordered shutdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a wild time, and we stayed closed for two months,” she said.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12021661,news_12024321,forum_2010101908557\"]When it reopened, the preschool operated at a lower capacity as children and teachers gradually returned to in-person learning. But after seven years of turmoil, enrollment has increased, staffing has stabilized, and she has paid off debts associated with losing her preschool to the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new building is on three acres of land, giving kids plenty of room to play outside, grow the food they eat and feed goats and chickens in the garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From that time in 2017 until now has been nothing but change and recovery, and I think that it is this year finally that we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Whitlock-Hemsouvanh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She encourages early educators to strengthen relationships in their community as they seek the help that they need. She also thinks a growing awareness of the child care crisis led voters in November to pass \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014476/3-local-measures-in-california-boosting-funding-for-kids-programs-on-verge-of-victory\">a quarter-cent sales tax\u003c/a> to raise about $30 million annually to fund child care and mental health services for young kids. She sees the funding as part of the long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>There’s a lot more people looking at this early childhood time as a profound time in life and seeing it as valuable and worthy of investment,” she said. “I’m just hoping that that kind of momentum continues in our community. And I realize it’s not that way everywhere, but in Sonoma County and in Santa Rosa, it feels like we’re really being seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Nearly 300 child care facilities remain closed a month after the wildfires swept through Los Angeles County, upending tens of thousands of lives. Early educators there are looking to Sonoma County for lessons on how to recover.",
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"title": "From Sonoma to Los Angeles, Wildfires Hit Child Care Industry Hard | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After the 2017 Tubbs wildfire destroyed the Santa Rosa preschool Renee Whitlock-Hemsouvanh had opened three years earlier, she felt desperate and hopeless and uncertain of the school’s future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the school’s families had also lost their homes, and she didn’t think she could recuperate enough insurance money to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was just a lot of disbelief because whoever thinks that you’re going to lose everything, like it’s just gonna burn to the ground?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She eventually reestablished her preschool at another site, but the recovery took years. Lately, Whitlock-Hemsouvanh finds herself playing the role of wildfire survivor, giving advice to early educators in Los Angeles County figuring out how to move forward after last month’s devastating wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025677\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025677\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kauai, a preschool student, puts on dry socks after coming in from outdoor play at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Forty licensed centers or homes that provide child care in Altadena and Pacific Palisades were destroyed, and about 240 others remain closed because of smoke damage or lack of power and water, according to the California Department of Social Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family child care providers who lost their homes also lost their livelihoods. A coalition of childcare advocates, along with state and local agencies, are helping providers prepare for reopening and displaced families find child care wherever they land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of folks are just getting to the point where they’ve been able to see what’s left, if anything is left, and starting to make plans for their next steps,” said Donna Sneeringer, chief strategy officer for Child Care Resource Center, based in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025682\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025682\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Renee Whitlock-Hemsouvanh is the director of Fulton Community School & Farm in Santa Rosa. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whitlock-Hemsouvanh advises program directors like Alana Levitt, whose preschool sustained smoke damage in the Palisades fire, how to mitigate that damage, how to deep clean playgrounds and how to support families whose lives were upended by the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levitt, director of Kehillat Israel’s Early Childhood Center, said enrollment had been cut in half because families scattered to other parts of California or even other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She temporarily moved to another preschool building in nearby Santa Monica that had space for the remaining children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We acted fast because the lesson that we learned from COVID is that we have to adapt really quickly,” Levitt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fulton Community School & Farm in Santa Rosa was once a Lutheran church. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She was able to do that because the state is granting\u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/meTVCkRozNIr6xKjTkCyTGeHqZ?domain=cdss.ca.gov\"> licensed child care providers some flexibility\u003c/a> in where they can relocate and how many children they can admit so they can continue their work in the aftermath of a disaster. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also issued \u003ca href=\"https://mayor.lacity.gov/sites/g/files/wph2066/files/2025-02/EO%204%20-%20Emergency%20Executive%20Order%20-%20Temporary%20School%20and%20Child%20Care%20Facility%20Use.pdf\">an executive order\u003c/a> this week to speed up the process of opening new child care facilities in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levitt’s experience parallels what Whitlock-Hemsouvanh went through seven years ago. Two weeks after the Tubbs fire killed 22 people and destroyed 4,600 homes — the most destructive in state history at the time — her preschool moved to a temporary site and relied on donated books and supplies. Parents pitched in to spruce up the classrooms and outdoor play area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She then caught a break when the city of Santa Rosa decided to lease a former church on city-owned land at a fair market value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026087\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12026087 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"660\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Preschooler Joshua plays with a set of toys and (right) changes socks with the direction of his teacher, Yuka Morris, at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/santa-rosa-to-lease-former-church-to-day-care-company-that-lost-facility-in/\">City officials chose the preschool over other proposals to\u003c/a> convert the property into transitional housing or a hospice facility after deciding to make affordable child care a priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, Sonoma County \u003ca href=\"https://upstreaminvestments.org/Microsites/Upstream%20Investments/Documents/READY/READY-Annual-Report-23-24.pdf\">lost 450 child care slots to the 2017 fires and\u003c/a> about 50% of its remaining licensed child care capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic gutted the early education workforce, according to a county report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say that because the sector already struggles with low profit margins, any additional costs brought on by events like the Sonoma and Los Angeles fires can destabilize providers and lead to closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s already this lack of quality, accessible child care and when you add in an extreme weather event or natural disaster, it just kind of multiplies and exacerbates those existing problems,” said Ariel Ford, senior vice president of program impact at Child Care Aware of America, which offers \u003ca href=\"https://www.childcareaware.org/our-issues/crisis-and-disaster-resources/\">emergency preparedness, response and recovery tips\u003c/a> to its national network of child care resource organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care is often an afterthought following a disaster, Ford said, “even though the parents are scrambling to find [it] because when you have little ones, you can’t do the work of recovery while you also have a baby on your hip.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025681\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025681\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sally Soundara prepares lunch for the students at Fulton Community School & Farm. Soundara was on staff at the Mark West Community Preschool before fire destroyed it. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Whitlock-Hemsouvanh, community support was instrumental in helping her recover from her loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Changes in zoning regulations and reductions in red tape allowed her to reestablish her business. She abandoned plans to rebuild the burned preschool and used money raised for that project to convert the church into a spacious preschool named \u003ca href=\"https://fultoncommunityschool.com/\">Fulton Community School & Farm\u003c/a>. Contributions from United Way Wine Country and First 5 Sonoma County helped cover the $100,000 cost of installing a fire sprinkler system to bring it up to licensing standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play on ‘woodchip mountain’ at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, a day after moving into the building in March 2020, the state ordered shutdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a wild time, and we stayed closed for two months,” she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>When it reopened, the preschool operated at a lower capacity as children and teachers gradually returned to in-person learning. But after seven years of turmoil, enrollment has increased, staffing has stabilized, and she has paid off debts associated with losing her preschool to the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new building is on three acres of land, giving kids plenty of room to play outside, grow the food they eat and feed goats and chickens in the garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From that time in 2017 until now has been nothing but change and recovery, and I think that it is this year finally that we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Whitlock-Hemsouvanh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She encourages early educators to strengthen relationships in their community as they seek the help that they need. She also thinks a growing awareness of the child care crisis led voters in November to pass \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014476/3-local-measures-in-california-boosting-funding-for-kids-programs-on-verge-of-victory\">a quarter-cent sales tax\u003c/a> to raise about $30 million annually to fund child care and mental health services for young kids. She sees the funding as part of the long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>There’s a lot more people looking at this early childhood time as a profound time in life and seeing it as valuable and worthy of investment,” she said. “I’m just hoping that that kind of momentum continues in our community. And I realize it’s not that way everywhere, but in Sonoma County and in Santa Rosa, it feels like we’re really being seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "huge-lack-of-communication-how-a-building-code-update-disrupted-child-care-centers-in-california",
"title": "'Huge Lack of Communication': How a Building Code Update Disrupted Child Care Centers in California",
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"headTitle": "‘Huge Lack of Communication’: How a Building Code Update Disrupted Child Care Centers in California | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The renovations are done. Diaper changing tables and cribs are in place. Teachers are hired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dozens of preschools and child care centers across California are just waiting for the licenses they need to care for infants and toddlers, but a change in state fire regulations has disrupted their operations and forced them to turn away or delay enrolling thousands of children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We already have a shortage of infant and toddler care. This just exasperates it,” said Stacey Scarborough, director of an Early Head Start program for Venice Family Clinic, a health care and social service organization in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her agency had almost finished converting the ground floor of a homeless family shelter into an Early Head Start center when she heard about \u003ca href=\"https://codes.iccsafe.org/s/CABC2022P1/chapter-3-occupancy-classification-and-use/CABC2022P1-Ch03-Sec305.2\">an updated state building code\u003c/a>, limiting five babies and toddlers per classroom unless the child care facility has a sprinkler system, fire walls and other fire safety equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Architects and contractors didn’t know they had to install sprinklers, which meant Scarborough would need to spend more time and money to make the upgrade — or lower enrollment and staff and risk losing her federal grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It hits everything,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The regulation went into effect in 2023, but a lack of communication by state regulators left child care centers in the dark. They found out about it earlier this year when they applied for licenses to care for children under 3 and failed to obtain fire clearance. The rule change comes at a time when many child care centers are seeking to serve more younger kids as they lose 3- and 4-year-olds to California’s expansion of transitional kindergarten and other public preschool programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To reconfigure their operations, centers have to meet a different set of health and safety regulations for infant and toddler care, including adhering to a strict ratio of one adult for up to four children. Scarborough planned on grouping eight infants and toddlers in a classroom with two teachers. She said the new building code limiting a classroom to five didn’t align with licensing rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was kind of a random number that didn’t make sense because we’re already set up for eight,” Scarborough said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State fire officials said the updated building code conforms to international standards and that it makes sense to place strict limits on the number of infants and toddlers allowed in a room because they can’t evacuate on their own during an emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re non-ambulatory, as we call them, and so we add extra levels of safety precautions to add more time,” Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berlant acknowledged a “huge lack of communication of the rollout of the code.” The rule applies to new facilities, he said, but many local fire inspectors assumed that child care centers applying for a new license also had to comply with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>While the fire code explicitly states that these requirements are not retroactive — they’re only for new facilities — many [child care centers] were going and getting this new license type and they were selecting the boxes, saying they’re a new license,” he said. “They \u003cem>were\u003c/em> a new license, but they weren’t a new facility. And so that created a lot of confusion with local fire marshals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017806\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The toddler room at Kidango Eary Care & Education in San José on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Advocates pushed back against the updated code and criticized regulators for failing to consult with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We operate in terms of ratios. So as long as we have enough adults per kiddo, we can get those kiddos out of the building,” said Melanee Cottril, executive director of Head Start California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Centers are required to have cribs on wheels so they can evacuate babies during emergencies, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her association, along with several other child care organizations, surveyed 320 providers across the state in August and 34% said they responded to the code change by closing newly renovated classrooms, reducing slots for infants and toddlers or seeking estimates for fire sprinklers so they could salvage their plans. The survey estimated that more than 2,250 infants and toddlers lost or could lose access to center-based care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under pressure from child care advocates, lawmakers passed a bill in September that gives providers a break until the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the California Department of Social Services, which oversees child care licensing, come up with new occupancy standards for child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both departments \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/CCLD/PINs/2024/CCP/PIN%2024-13.1%20AB%20176.pdf\">issued notices about the change (PDF)\u003c/a>, but \u003ca href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/osfm-website/resources/information-bulletins/2024-bulletins/november-2024/24012-child-care-centers--occupancy-classification-and-use-updated.pdf?rev=01a30f5a765847adad2f7ba670f3ddd6&hash=7F053EC54844BBD6D5909F850D11C21B\">the news\u003c/a> is still trickling to local fire inspectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, a child care provider reached out to a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District inspector to clarify the rules and was told by email that if she wanted to open an infant care room in her preschool, the whole building would need fire sprinklers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another provider in Sacramento said she had enough indoor and outdoor space to enroll more infants and toddlers but canceled her plans when she got a $1 million estimate to add sprinklers and other plumbing to increase water pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Child care is a low-margin business. None of us are in this to make money, and trying to dig your way out of a million-dollar upfront debt was a deal-breaker for us,” said Francesca Winn, co-owner of Acorn to Oak nursery and preschool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said roughly 1,000 families are on her waitlist for child care, and she’s disappointed she couldn’t help more of them.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12016440,news_12009791,news_12014476\"]Margarita Saucedo, the director of program development for Kidango, a subsidized child care provider in the South Bay and East Bay, said a fire inspector refused to come to a center she tried to re-license for infant care in San José until fire sprinklers were installed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the work would have cost about $150,000 and would have forced the closure of other classrooms at the center for several months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would have a period of time where families would not have child care. What do we do for all these families?” Saucedo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saucedo said that after lawmakers granted providers a reprieve, she received fire clearance but is still awaiting approval from state licensing regulators before she can open classrooms to infants and toddlers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scarborough was also awaiting final approvals from licensing to open the Early Head Start classroom at the family shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berlant said starting next year, his office, along with the California Department of Social Services, will consult with child care facility operators, local fire officials and other stakeholders as they develop a new building code. He said it will also be important to set standards for existing facilities that can’t “do all those costly retrofits” and figure out how to “provide additional support or programs to help new facilities meet these codes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We recognize that access to child care is critical, as is the safety of our children and our workers … but in particular in child care facilities where children are not able to evacuate on their own,” Berlant said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The renovations are done. Diaper changing tables and cribs are in place. Teachers are hired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dozens of preschools and child care centers across California are just waiting for the licenses they need to care for infants and toddlers, but a change in state fire regulations has disrupted their operations and forced them to turn away or delay enrolling thousands of children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We already have a shortage of infant and toddler care. This just exasperates it,” said Stacey Scarborough, director of an Early Head Start program for Venice Family Clinic, a health care and social service organization in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said her agency had almost finished converting the ground floor of a homeless family shelter into an Early Head Start center when she heard about \u003ca href=\"https://codes.iccsafe.org/s/CABC2022P1/chapter-3-occupancy-classification-and-use/CABC2022P1-Ch03-Sec305.2\">an updated state building code\u003c/a>, limiting five babies and toddlers per classroom unless the child care facility has a sprinkler system, fire walls and other fire safety equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Architects and contractors didn’t know they had to install sprinklers, which meant Scarborough would need to spend more time and money to make the upgrade — or lower enrollment and staff and risk losing her federal grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It hits everything,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The regulation went into effect in 2023, but a lack of communication by state regulators left child care centers in the dark. They found out about it earlier this year when they applied for licenses to care for children under 3 and failed to obtain fire clearance. The rule change comes at a time when many child care centers are seeking to serve more younger kids as they lose 3- and 4-year-olds to California’s expansion of transitional kindergarten and other public preschool programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To reconfigure their operations, centers have to meet a different set of health and safety regulations for infant and toddler care, including adhering to a strict ratio of one adult for up to four children. Scarborough planned on grouping eight infants and toddlers in a classroom with two teachers. She said the new building code limiting a classroom to five didn’t align with licensing rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was kind of a random number that didn’t make sense because we’re already set up for eight,” Scarborough said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State fire officials said the updated building code conforms to international standards and that it makes sense to place strict limits on the number of infants and toddlers allowed in a room because they can’t evacuate on their own during an emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re non-ambulatory, as we call them, and so we add extra levels of safety precautions to add more time,” Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berlant acknowledged a “huge lack of communication of the rollout of the code.” The rule applies to new facilities, he said, but many local fire inspectors assumed that child care centers applying for a new license also had to comply with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>While the fire code explicitly states that these requirements are not retroactive — they’re only for new facilities — many [child care centers] were going and getting this new license type and they were selecting the boxes, saying they’re a new license,” he said. “They \u003cem>were\u003c/em> a new license, but they weren’t a new facility. And so that created a lot of confusion with local fire marshals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017806\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241211-ChildcareFireSafety-JY-006-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The toddler room at Kidango Eary Care & Education in San José on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Advocates pushed back against the updated code and criticized regulators for failing to consult with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We operate in terms of ratios. So as long as we have enough adults per kiddo, we can get those kiddos out of the building,” said Melanee Cottril, executive director of Head Start California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Centers are required to have cribs on wheels so they can evacuate babies during emergencies, she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her association, along with several other child care organizations, surveyed 320 providers across the state in August and 34% said they responded to the code change by closing newly renovated classrooms, reducing slots for infants and toddlers or seeking estimates for fire sprinklers so they could salvage their plans. The survey estimated that more than 2,250 infants and toddlers lost or could lose access to center-based care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under pressure from child care advocates, lawmakers passed a bill in September that gives providers a break until the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the California Department of Social Services, which oversees child care licensing, come up with new occupancy standards for child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both departments \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/CCLD/PINs/2024/CCP/PIN%2024-13.1%20AB%20176.pdf\">issued notices about the change (PDF)\u003c/a>, but \u003ca href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/osfm-website/resources/information-bulletins/2024-bulletins/november-2024/24012-child-care-centers--occupancy-classification-and-use-updated.pdf?rev=01a30f5a765847adad2f7ba670f3ddd6&hash=7F053EC54844BBD6D5909F850D11C21B\">the news\u003c/a> is still trickling to local fire inspectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, a child care provider reached out to a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District inspector to clarify the rules and was told by email that if she wanted to open an infant care room in her preschool, the whole building would need fire sprinklers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another provider in Sacramento said she had enough indoor and outdoor space to enroll more infants and toddlers but canceled her plans when she got a $1 million estimate to add sprinklers and other plumbing to increase water pressure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Child care is a low-margin business. None of us are in this to make money, and trying to dig your way out of a million-dollar upfront debt was a deal-breaker for us,” said Francesca Winn, co-owner of Acorn to Oak nursery and preschool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said roughly 1,000 families are on her waitlist for child care, and she’s disappointed she couldn’t help more of them.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Margarita Saucedo, the director of program development for Kidango, a subsidized child care provider in the South Bay and East Bay, said a fire inspector refused to come to a center she tried to re-license for infant care in San José until fire sprinklers were installed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the work would have cost about $150,000 and would have forced the closure of other classrooms at the center for several months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would have a period of time where families would not have child care. What do we do for all these families?” Saucedo said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Saucedo said that after lawmakers granted providers a reprieve, she received fire clearance but is still awaiting approval from state licensing regulators before she can open classrooms to infants and toddlers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scarborough was also awaiting final approvals from licensing to open the Early Head Start classroom at the family shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berlant said starting next year, his office, along with the California Department of Social Services, will consult with child care facility operators, local fire officials and other stakeholders as they develop a new building code. He said it will also be important to set standards for existing facilities that can’t “do all those costly retrofits” and figure out how to “provide additional support or programs to help new facilities meet these codes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We recognize that access to child care is critical, as is the safety of our children and our workers … but in particular in child care facilities where children are not able to evacuate on their own,” Berlant said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s been 4 years since \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alameda County voters passed Measure C, a sales tax measure aimed at increasing access to social services for low-income families. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After years of legal battles, the county can finally use the money it has been collecting, and advocates hope it will provide relief to families struggling with child care costs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"card card--enclosed grey\">\n\u003cp id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\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=KQINC7385334883&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Links:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eltimpano.org/economics/as-state-cuts-loom-a-court-ruling-provides-a-lifeline-for-child-care-access-in-alameda-county/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">As state cuts loom, a court ruling provides a lifeline for child care access in Alameda County\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to the Bay. Local news to keep you rooted. Some much needed relief is coming for parents in Alameda County who are struggling to pay for child care. Earlier this year, a state Supreme Court judge ruled that Measure C, a county sales tax aimed at increasing access to social services for low income families could finally go forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>In some ways, it’s kind of a drop in the bucket, but in other ways people will say, yes, it’s a drop in the bucket, but it’s a very significant drop in the bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>In Alameda County, the cost of child care has increased by 64% in the past decade. And advocates hope that money from Measure C can help. Today, how help could finally be on the way for Alameda County parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Karina is a single mom. She lives in Oakland. She has a three year old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Erica Hellerstein is a senior labor and economics reporter for El Team Pono, a Spanish language news organization covering issues affecting Latino and Mayan immigrant communities in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>She’s 24 years old and she’s from Guatemala. And she speaks mom, which is a language spoken by indigenous communities in parts of Mexico and Guatemala. So I actually spoke to her through a translator. She works 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.. She sells fruit. She’s a fruit vendor. And as a single mom, she’s she’s grappling with this scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>You know, how do I pay for care and also make a living? A lot of people turn to informal childcare providers so they might not go to a child care center, but they turn to networks of people in their community. Family, friends. Friends of friends, that kind of thing, who provide care. So she’s found someone, but she doesn’t have support to pay for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>How much is Karina spending on child care?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>She’s spending a lot. So basically through the fruit selling that she’s doing, she’s earning not much. She’s earning $300 weekly. She’s spending $35 a day for child care. And so when all is said and done, she is not left with much money because she’s spending that five days a week. She only has $125 to support her family and herself on a weekly basis. So, of course, this is Oakland. That’s not much money. So, yeah, she’s really, really financially insecure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>So, I mean, Crean is the exact kind of person in Alameda County that this measure and Measure C, which we’re talking about today, is supposed to help. What exactly is Measure C and what was the thinking behind it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Measure C is a half percent sales tax. And it would expand access to subsidized child care, which is available either as a voucher, so you get a voucher to go to daycare and use that money there, or you get a spot in a licensed or child care center that has special spots for subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>And currently, there’s a huge gulf between the number of families that are eligible or the kids that are eligible for a subsidy and the number of subsidies available to low income families. The most recent data available from 2021 said there’s almost 7000 kids that are currently on the waiting list for a subsidy and that there’s a 90% unmet need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>So the people who are eligible don’t have access. So Measure C is really intended to address that, and it’s expected to raise about $150 million annually and infuse it into this system for 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>So Measure C is trying to close this gap of the need for child care, it sounds like in Alameda County who is pushing for this?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>So people have been talking about this for a long time. This was really driven by this very grassroots coalition of activists and advocates. And they created this organization called Parent Voices. It’s a statewide organization, but they have a very powerful Oakland chapter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>And the Oakland chapter really pushed for Measure C, They were absolutely a driving force behind this gathering signatures and just really pushing for this, not just as a legislative matter, but to be something that people are really talking about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>It does strike me. This measure passed in 2020, right? Yes. But why hasn’t anyone been reaping the benefits of it yet?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Well, this measure did pass in 2020, but the reason we’re talking about it today really is because for years it was held up in court. The measure was challenged by the Alameda County Taxpayers Association, and it’s been going through the, you know, back and forth of the courts ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>You know, the sales tax, the money from that did start to be collected. But during this time of back and forth in the court system, it was held in escrow, all those funds. In April, the California Supreme Court basically upheld Measure C said this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>You know, we’re we’re done here. We’re done having this back and forth and measures he can go into effect, which meant all of these funds that that had been collected and held in escrow finally could be put out into the world to support families. So there has been this very long wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Yeah. So now this money is hopefully going to be rolling out soon. What could this mean for parents? What are all the different ways that this money could be used?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I think the primary thing relevant to what we’re talking about is just that subsidy expansion. So if you meet these income eligibility limits, these thresholds that maybe instead of waiting on, you know, going to agencies across the county and trying to figure out, can I get a spot, can I not being put on all these different waiting lists, maybe waiting for years. I talked to one woman in the North Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>She was on a waiting list for a subsidy for ten years for her kid. So by the time, you know, it was all said and done, her kid went from 2 to 12. She didn’t need it anymore. Right. But during that time, she dropped out of school to care for her kid full time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>She really put her career on hold. So I think she’s an example of somebody who, if the funds could get there sooner, maybe she wouldn’t have to redirect her whole trajectory around this issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Another part of Measure C that I neglected to mention is it would also use some of those funds to increase the the pay for child care providers. It’s a aging workforce largely made up of women of color, and they don’t earn a lot of money. I think they currently earn around $15 an hour in Alameda County, roughly. You know, they’re struggling themselves to keep up with all these rising costs we’re talking about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I’ve asked this question like to the agency that’s administering this like. What’s next when her family’s going to see this money? When is someone like Karina going to get the support? And it’s still kind of a you know, we can’t really answer that. We’re still figuring out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>They’re currently conducting surveys across the county to try to, you know, understand the sort of picture and the need better. And so there’s a lot of steps that need to be taken. And I think in the coming months, we’ll see a clear picture of what this plan will look like and hopefully a timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>So a lot of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Lots of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Work still needs to be done before people see money in their pockets. But I mean, Erica, how big of a deal do you think this is? Like how big of a dent do you think you can make in this problem? We were talking about at the beginning of child care costs in Alameda County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>You know, in some ways it’s kind of a drop in the bucket, right? But in other ways, people will say, yes, it’s a drop in the bucket, but it’s a very significant drop in the bucket. I think the agency administering this said, you know, they expect around 100,000 families to benefit from this over the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>So that’s not nothing. But there is this massive need across the state. The estimate is that there’s something like 2 million families across California that are eligible for subsidies and they’re not getting them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I think what Alameda County actually represents as creative local policymaking to address an issue, one of the organizers really pushing for measures, he said, you know, we’ve actually heard from people in other counties in California who want to replicate what we just did. So they’re also recognizing that they’re not getting enough from the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What challenges are ahead for the implementation of Measure C? It sounds like it’s going to take a while to really know when or how soon parents are going to see this money. But what challenges are ahead for the county and really rolling this out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I wish I knew the answer to what it would look like because even as I was discussing child care needs with, you know, with families and having interviews with folks and we were discussing stuff and then Measure C comes up, we’re talking about policy. They asked me a bunch of questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I’m like, I don’t know the answer to that. So I think, you know, the the primary thing is just figuring out what this is going to look like. You know, I think another question that I think Kareena story in some way encapsulates as well is some of the people who are most in need of this, you know, low income single parents, homeless families as well, or families who are currently struggling to find housing security and families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Speakers, non-English speakers, Yeah, families who are disconnected altogether from social services, which does describe Karina. She had no idea that she could get support, that there is support, you know, making sure that this support gets to the people most in need will be a challenge as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, Erica, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your reporting with us. I appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Thanks so much for having me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Erica Hellerstein, a senior Labor and economics reporter for LTI Pinole, a Spanish language news organization covering issues affecting Latino and Mayan immigrant communities in the Bay Area. We’re going to leave you a link to Erica’s story on Measure C for Latin Bono in our shownotes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>This 26 minute conversation with Erica was cut down and edited by senior editor Alan Montecillo. It was produced and scored by me. The Bay is a production of listeners supported KQED in San Francisco. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thanks for listening. Peace.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s been 4 years since \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alameda County voters passed Measure C, a sales tax measure aimed at increasing access to social services for low-income families. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After years of legal battles, the county can finally use the money it has been collecting, and advocates hope it will provide relief to families struggling with child care costs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"card card--enclosed grey\">\n\u003cp id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\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=KQINC7385334883&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Links:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eltimpano.org/economics/as-state-cuts-loom-a-court-ruling-provides-a-lifeline-for-child-care-access-in-alameda-county/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">As state cuts loom, a court ruling provides a lifeline for child care access in Alameda County\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to the Bay. Local news to keep you rooted. Some much needed relief is coming for parents in Alameda County who are struggling to pay for child care. Earlier this year, a state Supreme Court judge ruled that Measure C, a county sales tax aimed at increasing access to social services for low income families could finally go forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>In some ways, it’s kind of a drop in the bucket, but in other ways people will say, yes, it’s a drop in the bucket, but it’s a very significant drop in the bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>In Alameda County, the cost of child care has increased by 64% in the past decade. And advocates hope that money from Measure C can help. Today, how help could finally be on the way for Alameda County parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Karina is a single mom. She lives in Oakland. She has a three year old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Erica Hellerstein is a senior labor and economics reporter for El Team Pono, a Spanish language news organization covering issues affecting Latino and Mayan immigrant communities in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>She’s 24 years old and she’s from Guatemala. And she speaks mom, which is a language spoken by indigenous communities in parts of Mexico and Guatemala. So I actually spoke to her through a translator. She works 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.. She sells fruit. She’s a fruit vendor. And as a single mom, she’s she’s grappling with this scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>You know, how do I pay for care and also make a living? A lot of people turn to informal childcare providers so they might not go to a child care center, but they turn to networks of people in their community. Family, friends. Friends of friends, that kind of thing, who provide care. So she’s found someone, but she doesn’t have support to pay for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>How much is Karina spending on child care?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>She’s spending a lot. So basically through the fruit selling that she’s doing, she’s earning not much. She’s earning $300 weekly. She’s spending $35 a day for child care. And so when all is said and done, she is not left with much money because she’s spending that five days a week. She only has $125 to support her family and herself on a weekly basis. So, of course, this is Oakland. That’s not much money. So, yeah, she’s really, really financially insecure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>So, I mean, Crean is the exact kind of person in Alameda County that this measure and Measure C, which we’re talking about today, is supposed to help. What exactly is Measure C and what was the thinking behind it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Measure C is a half percent sales tax. And it would expand access to subsidized child care, which is available either as a voucher, so you get a voucher to go to daycare and use that money there, or you get a spot in a licensed or child care center that has special spots for subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>And currently, there’s a huge gulf between the number of families that are eligible or the kids that are eligible for a subsidy and the number of subsidies available to low income families. The most recent data available from 2021 said there’s almost 7000 kids that are currently on the waiting list for a subsidy and that there’s a 90% unmet need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>So the people who are eligible don’t have access. So Measure C is really intended to address that, and it’s expected to raise about $150 million annually and infuse it into this system for 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>So Measure C is trying to close this gap of the need for child care, it sounds like in Alameda County who is pushing for this?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>So people have been talking about this for a long time. This was really driven by this very grassroots coalition of activists and advocates. And they created this organization called Parent Voices. It’s a statewide organization, but they have a very powerful Oakland chapter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>And the Oakland chapter really pushed for Measure C, They were absolutely a driving force behind this gathering signatures and just really pushing for this, not just as a legislative matter, but to be something that people are really talking about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>It does strike me. This measure passed in 2020, right? Yes. But why hasn’t anyone been reaping the benefits of it yet?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Well, this measure did pass in 2020, but the reason we’re talking about it today really is because for years it was held up in court. The measure was challenged by the Alameda County Taxpayers Association, and it’s been going through the, you know, back and forth of the courts ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>You know, the sales tax, the money from that did start to be collected. But during this time of back and forth in the court system, it was held in escrow, all those funds. In April, the California Supreme Court basically upheld Measure C said this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>You know, we’re we’re done here. We’re done having this back and forth and measures he can go into effect, which meant all of these funds that that had been collected and held in escrow finally could be put out into the world to support families. So there has been this very long wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Yeah. So now this money is hopefully going to be rolling out soon. What could this mean for parents? What are all the different ways that this money could be used?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I think the primary thing relevant to what we’re talking about is just that subsidy expansion. So if you meet these income eligibility limits, these thresholds that maybe instead of waiting on, you know, going to agencies across the county and trying to figure out, can I get a spot, can I not being put on all these different waiting lists, maybe waiting for years. I talked to one woman in the North Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>She was on a waiting list for a subsidy for ten years for her kid. So by the time, you know, it was all said and done, her kid went from 2 to 12. She didn’t need it anymore. Right. But during that time, she dropped out of school to care for her kid full time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>She really put her career on hold. So I think she’s an example of somebody who, if the funds could get there sooner, maybe she wouldn’t have to redirect her whole trajectory around this issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Another part of Measure C that I neglected to mention is it would also use some of those funds to increase the the pay for child care providers. It’s a aging workforce largely made up of women of color, and they don’t earn a lot of money. I think they currently earn around $15 an hour in Alameda County, roughly. You know, they’re struggling themselves to keep up with all these rising costs we’re talking about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I’ve asked this question like to the agency that’s administering this like. What’s next when her family’s going to see this money? When is someone like Karina going to get the support? And it’s still kind of a you know, we can’t really answer that. We’re still figuring out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>They’re currently conducting surveys across the county to try to, you know, understand the sort of picture and the need better. And so there’s a lot of steps that need to be taken. And I think in the coming months, we’ll see a clear picture of what this plan will look like and hopefully a timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>So a lot of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Lots of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Work still needs to be done before people see money in their pockets. But I mean, Erica, how big of a deal do you think this is? Like how big of a dent do you think you can make in this problem? We were talking about at the beginning of child care costs in Alameda County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>You know, in some ways it’s kind of a drop in the bucket, right? But in other ways, people will say, yes, it’s a drop in the bucket, but it’s a very significant drop in the bucket. I think the agency administering this said, you know, they expect around 100,000 families to benefit from this over the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>So that’s not nothing. But there is this massive need across the state. The estimate is that there’s something like 2 million families across California that are eligible for subsidies and they’re not getting them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I think what Alameda County actually represents as creative local policymaking to address an issue, one of the organizers really pushing for measures, he said, you know, we’ve actually heard from people in other counties in California who want to replicate what we just did. So they’re also recognizing that they’re not getting enough from the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What challenges are ahead for the implementation of Measure C? It sounds like it’s going to take a while to really know when or how soon parents are going to see this money. But what challenges are ahead for the county and really rolling this out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I wish I knew the answer to what it would look like because even as I was discussing child care needs with, you know, with families and having interviews with folks and we were discussing stuff and then Measure C comes up, we’re talking about policy. They asked me a bunch of questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>I’m like, I don’t know the answer to that. So I think, you know, the the primary thing is just figuring out what this is going to look like. You know, I think another question that I think Kareena story in some way encapsulates as well is some of the people who are most in need of this, you know, low income single parents, homeless families as well, or families who are currently struggling to find housing security and families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Speakers, non-English speakers, Yeah, families who are disconnected altogether from social services, which does describe Karina. She had no idea that she could get support, that there is support, you know, making sure that this support gets to the people most in need will be a challenge as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, Erica, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your reporting with us. I appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erica Hellerstein: \u003c/strong>Thanks so much for having me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Erica Hellerstein, a senior Labor and economics reporter for LTI Pinole, a Spanish language news organization covering issues affecting Latino and Mayan immigrant communities in the Bay Area. We’re going to leave you a link to Erica’s story on Measure C for Latin Bono in our shownotes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>This 26 minute conversation with Erica was cut down and edited by senior editor Alan Montecillo. It was produced and scored by me. The Bay is a production of listeners supported KQED in San Francisco. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thanks for listening. Peace.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"title": "California Law Helps Tribes Keep Kids Out of Foster Care. A New Court Ruling Strengthens Their Hand",
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"content": "\u003cp>For nearly a century, California and other states forced Native American youth into boarding schools, aiming to erase their cultural practices while separating children from their parents and placing them in a foster system that often left them without any ties to their communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was only in the late 1970s that the federal government passed a law to protect families from separation, ensuring that child welfare agencies inquire about Native ancestry and work to keep tribes, relatives and communities together. Decades later, contested cases continue to appear regularly before California courts, where state protections are stronger than federal law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/california-supreme-court/\">California Supreme Court\u003c/a> on Monday reinforced those rules in a new decision, stressing that \u003ca href=\"https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S275578.PDF\">child welfare agencies must investigate (PDF)\u003c/a> whether children have Native American ancestry before placing them in foster care. It’s a decision that could strengthen tribes’ hand in disputes over separating families by compelling social workers to go a step further before removing a child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Incidentally, the case turned on parents who do not claim to have any tribal affiliations or Native ancestry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services in 2019 accused two children’s parents of substance abuse and domestic violence, eventually getting their custody terminated in court. Their mother, Angelica A., has not indicated in court documents that she is Native American, but she appealed the decision on the grounds that officials did not complete a proper inquiry into her children’s heritage. Her last name is not listed in the ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By a 5–2 majority, the justices agreed with the mother, calling into question not just this family’s case but nearly two dozen other cases involving child custody and California courts. They gave little weight to concerns over whether an additional review would make a difference in the actual placement of the children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The department’s inquiry extended no further than mother and father, both of whom have long-standing issues with substance use disorder, even though their parents, siblings, and father’s cousin were readily available and had been interviewed by the department,” Justice Kelli Evans wrote in the majority opinion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The justices reversed a juvenile court’s decision to terminate the parents’ rights on the condition that the agency conduct an “adequate inquiry, supported by record documentation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, said the department could not comment in time for publication.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Indian Child Welfare Act recently upheld\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The issue of child custody and Native Americans has \u003ca href=\"https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/nations-first-family-separation-policy-indian-child-welfare-act/32431\">long been a point of painful history\u003c/a> in the United States. In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/native-american-issues/haaland-v-brackeen/#:~:text=Brackeen%20and%2C%20in%20a%207,people%20in%20the%20United%20States.\">upheld the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act,\u003c/a> which regulates the removal and out-of-home placement of Native children. A July 2024 report from the U.S. Department of the Interior found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/07/30/indian-boarding-schools-native-americans/#:~:text=More%20than%20900%20Native%20American%20children%20died%20while%20being%20forced,children%20and%20destroy%20their%20culture.\">over 900 children died nationwide\u003c/a> in forced boarding schools from 1819 to 1969.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, over half of Native American youth in California’s foster care system end up in non-relative and non-Native households, a number that has remained relatively steady in the past decade, according to state \u003ca href=\"https://ccwip.berkeley.edu/childwelfare/reports/4E/MTSG/r/fcp/l\">data analyzed by researchers at UC Berkeley.\u003c/a> Tribes have long argued they have a necessary stake in ensuring the well-being of Native youth and that social workers must make good-faith attempts to inquire about ancestry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ironically, such (an) inquiry could take only a few days to complete — which is significantly faster than the nearly two years that this appeal was litigated,” wrote Michelle Castagne, executive director of the California Tribal Families Coalition, in a statement. “The court’s decision recognizes the vital role that tribes have in the lives of tribal children and families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Dissent emphasizes children’s ‘instability’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The two dissenting justices blasted the majority for taking a “formulaic approach” that “needlessly condemns these children and others like them to more uncertainty, more instability and more trauma.” The two children were taken into the care of their paternal grandparents, according to the ruling, who are ready to formally adopt them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wrote that the children would have been better off by resolving the case quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"mindshift_64338,news_11985946,news_11985946\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nonetheless, because the department failed to ask additional family members about the children’s ancestry, my colleagues invoke a rule of automatic conditional reversal that is wholly inconsistent with the way in which California courts have assessed state law error for almost seven decades,” Justice Joshua Groban wrote in the dissent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John L. Dodd, an attorney representing the mother, said those concerns are overblown. For far too long, he said, social workers have been making inadequate inquiries about Native ancestry. It’s an often unintentional omission, he said, because investigators are juggling delicate family dynamics involving substance abuse or mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the family he represented did not indicate having any Native ancestry, he said the case matters because it sends a message to child welfare agencies that they can’t ignore state and federal regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the social worker has to do is ask three or four questions when the social worker is doing a report,” he told CalMatters. “So the parade of horribles that the dissent is concerned about is not going to occur because now everybody knows that you can’t just risk it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The children at the center of the case are now 8 and 6 years old, according to the decision, and for the four years it has lasted, they have been in their grandparent’s custody. California is home to around 350,000 Native American youth under 18, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://first5center.org/\">First 5 Center for Children’s policy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For nearly a century, California and other states forced Native American youth into boarding schools, aiming to erase their cultural practices while separating children from their parents and placing them in a foster system that often left them without any ties to their communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was only in the late 1970s that the federal government passed a law to protect families from separation, ensuring that child welfare agencies inquire about Native ancestry and work to keep tribes, relatives and communities together. Decades later, contested cases continue to appear regularly before California courts, where state protections are stronger than federal law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/tag/california-supreme-court/\">California Supreme Court\u003c/a> on Monday reinforced those rules in a new decision, stressing that \u003ca href=\"https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S275578.PDF\">child welfare agencies must investigate (PDF)\u003c/a> whether children have Native American ancestry before placing them in foster care. It’s a decision that could strengthen tribes’ hand in disputes over separating families by compelling social workers to go a step further before removing a child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Incidentally, the case turned on parents who do not claim to have any tribal affiliations or Native ancestry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services in 2019 accused two children’s parents of substance abuse and domestic violence, eventually getting their custody terminated in court. Their mother, Angelica A., has not indicated in court documents that she is Native American, but she appealed the decision on the grounds that officials did not complete a proper inquiry into her children’s heritage. Her last name is not listed in the ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By a 5–2 majority, the justices agreed with the mother, calling into question not just this family’s case but nearly two dozen other cases involving child custody and California courts. They gave little weight to concerns over whether an additional review would make a difference in the actual placement of the children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The department’s inquiry extended no further than mother and father, both of whom have long-standing issues with substance use disorder, even though their parents, siblings, and father’s cousin were readily available and had been interviewed by the department,” Justice Kelli Evans wrote in the majority opinion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The justices reversed a juvenile court’s decision to terminate the parents’ rights on the condition that the agency conduct an “adequate inquiry, supported by record documentation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, said the department could not comment in time for publication.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Indian Child Welfare Act recently upheld\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The issue of child custody and Native Americans has \u003ca href=\"https://imprintnews.org/child-welfare-2/nations-first-family-separation-policy-indian-child-welfare-act/32431\">long been a point of painful history\u003c/a> in the United States. In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/native-american-issues/haaland-v-brackeen/#:~:text=Brackeen%20and%2C%20in%20a%207,people%20in%20the%20United%20States.\">upheld the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act,\u003c/a> which regulates the removal and out-of-home placement of Native children. A July 2024 report from the U.S. Department of the Interior found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2024/07/30/indian-boarding-schools-native-americans/#:~:text=More%20than%20900%20Native%20American%20children%20died%20while%20being%20forced,children%20and%20destroy%20their%20culture.\">over 900 children died nationwide\u003c/a> in forced boarding schools from 1819 to 1969.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, over half of Native American youth in California’s foster care system end up in non-relative and non-Native households, a number that has remained relatively steady in the past decade, according to state \u003ca href=\"https://ccwip.berkeley.edu/childwelfare/reports/4E/MTSG/r/fcp/l\">data analyzed by researchers at UC Berkeley.\u003c/a> Tribes have long argued they have a necessary stake in ensuring the well-being of Native youth and that social workers must make good-faith attempts to inquire about ancestry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ironically, such (an) inquiry could take only a few days to complete — which is significantly faster than the nearly two years that this appeal was litigated,” wrote Michelle Castagne, executive director of the California Tribal Families Coalition, in a statement. “The court’s decision recognizes the vital role that tribes have in the lives of tribal children and families.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Dissent emphasizes children’s ‘instability’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The two dissenting justices blasted the majority for taking a “formulaic approach” that “needlessly condemns these children and others like them to more uncertainty, more instability and more trauma.” The two children were taken into the care of their paternal grandparents, according to the ruling, who are ready to formally adopt them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wrote that the children would have been better off by resolving the case quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nonetheless, because the department failed to ask additional family members about the children’s ancestry, my colleagues invoke a rule of automatic conditional reversal that is wholly inconsistent with the way in which California courts have assessed state law error for almost seven decades,” Justice Joshua Groban wrote in the dissent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John L. Dodd, an attorney representing the mother, said those concerns are overblown. For far too long, he said, social workers have been making inadequate inquiries about Native ancestry. It’s an often unintentional omission, he said, because investigators are juggling delicate family dynamics involving substance abuse or mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the family he represented did not indicate having any Native ancestry, he said the case matters because it sends a message to child welfare agencies that they can’t ignore state and federal regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the social worker has to do is ask three or four questions when the social worker is doing a report,” he told CalMatters. “So the parade of horribles that the dissent is concerned about is not going to occur because now everybody knows that you can’t just risk it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The children at the center of the case are now 8 and 6 years old, according to the decision, and for the four years it has lasted, they have been in their grandparent’s custody. California is home to around 350,000 Native American youth under 18, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://first5center.org/\">First 5 Center for Children’s policy\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "UC Berkeley Report Finds Enrollment in California's Public Preschool Programs Hasn't Recovered From Pandemic",
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"content": "\u003cp>Since 2021, the federal and state governments have boosted spending on child care and early education by more than $5 billion to help California’s youngest kids recover from COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, many families have not responded with the same level of enthusiasm, according to \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XAP_2Jm3Uv4m0zbqy4Tk59b2yxM3k3Y9/view\">an analysis of state data (PDF)\u003c/a> published Wednesday by researchers at the UC Berkeley School of Education. While enrollment in transitional kindergarten \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr24/yr24rel30.asp\">has significantly grown\u003c/a> in the last three years as the state admits more 4-year-olds into the new grade, demand for other programs that serve this age group, such as Head Start and the California State Preschool Program, has been relatively flat, according to the new findings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The data show that overall enrollment in public preschool has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to Bruce Fuller, who led the analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just have made very little progress since 2019,” said Fuller, an education and public policy professor at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early childhood education in California has long been a patchwork of government-run preschools, private and nonprofit centers, and family child care sites that are run out of providers’ homes. The state typically pays for children from the lowest-income homes. An example is vouchers that give parents the option of putting their kids in a center or at home, under the care of a provider, family member or friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When lawmakers signed off on a $2.7 billion plan to make transitional kindergarten, or TK, available to all 4-year-olds by the 2025–26 school year, experts warned it would take away students and teachers from other early childhood education programs, including private preschools because it’s free and offers teachers better pay and benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state responded to that concern by expanding the California State Preschool Program and widening access to that program for 3- and 4-year-olds from lower-income households. The state focuses on this population because \u003ca href=\"https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/%232023-226%20Benefits%20from%20ECE%20Highlight%20508.pdf\">research shows (PDF)\u003c/a> that kids from lower-income households gain more academic and social skills and benefit more from two years of participating in a high-quality preschool program than kids from more affluent households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11997124\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01%E2%80%AFAM-scaled-e1721844340937.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1339\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01 AM-scaled-e1721844340937.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01 AM-scaled-e1721844340937-800x837.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01 AM-scaled-e1721844340937-1020x1067.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01 AM-scaled-e1721844340937-160x167.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Fuller said these policies contradict each other and add more confusion to what he calls a “crazy quilt of programs that’s hard for parents to understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuller points to a 20% jump in vouchers between 2021 and 2023, indicating a growing preference for child care arrangements that offer parents more choice and flexibility but discourage them from signing up for preschool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care advocates say the popularity of vouchers points to a greater need for child care that matches families’ individual needs, whether during irregular hours for those who work weekend or night shifts or in a setting that aligns with their cultural or linguistic preferences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just because you build (a preschool program), people will not come,” said Linda Asato, executive director of the nonprofit California Child Care Resource & Referral Network. “It may not make sense for families. When setting that goal of universal TK, it can’t be done in a vacuum because it may not be what everyone wants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a pandemic-era “hold harmless” policy, which guarantees a certain level of funding regardless of the number of children enrolled, may have had an unintended consequence for California State Preschool programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During COVID, those programs continued to get the same budget they had in 2019,” Fuller said. “Initially, that was sensible because you didn’t want to start laying off staff and closing down preschools, but it also doesn’t create an incentive to move towards [enrolling 3-year-olds] because why not have smaller classes, and maybe bump up your salary a little bit?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11997130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09%E2%80%AFAM-scaled-e1721844707499.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1591\" height=\"1326\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499.jpg 1591w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499-800x667.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499-1020x850.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499-160x133.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499-1536x1280.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1591px) 100vw, 1591px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, $713 million in unspent California State Preschool Program funding was returned to the state coffers, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://ebudget.ca.gov/2024-25/pdf/Enacted/BudgetSummary/K-12Education.pdf\">summary of the 2024–25 state budget (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Al Muratsuchi, who chairs the state Assembly’s education committee, acknowledges the expansion of TK is disrupting other programs and that more work needs to be done to inform parents about their options and ensure there are enough workers and facilities to provide a high-quality early childhood education for all kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in a transitional period,” said Muratsuchi, a Democrat from Torrance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis also identified zip codes that are populated with young kids but don’t have few, if any, public preschool programs. They include parts of the Central Valley and Central Coast, plus fast-growing working-class suburbs like Antioch and Livermore in the Bay Area. Fuller said these communities lack the “civic infrastructure,” like community-based organizations or school districts, to bid for state funding for a preschool program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He hopes the analysis will compel state officials to target funding on families that have almost no preschool options in their community and simplify the child care and early education system for parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muratsuchi thinks one possible solution is to further invest in community schools that provide a variety of social support services for students and their families on campus, and those services could include childcare and preschool programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to continue to build upon this community school model and take advantage of the existing public school infrastructure,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Since 2021, the federal and state governments have boosted spending on child care and early education by more than $5 billion to help California’s youngest kids recover from COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, many families have not responded with the same level of enthusiasm, according to \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XAP_2Jm3Uv4m0zbqy4Tk59b2yxM3k3Y9/view\">an analysis of state data (PDF)\u003c/a> published Wednesday by researchers at the UC Berkeley School of Education. While enrollment in transitional kindergarten \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr24/yr24rel30.asp\">has significantly grown\u003c/a> in the last three years as the state admits more 4-year-olds into the new grade, demand for other programs that serve this age group, such as Head Start and the California State Preschool Program, has been relatively flat, according to the new findings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The data show that overall enrollment in public preschool has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to Bruce Fuller, who led the analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just have made very little progress since 2019,” said Fuller, an education and public policy professor at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early childhood education in California has long been a patchwork of government-run preschools, private and nonprofit centers, and family child care sites that are run out of providers’ homes. The state typically pays for children from the lowest-income homes. An example is vouchers that give parents the option of putting their kids in a center or at home, under the care of a provider, family member or friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When lawmakers signed off on a $2.7 billion plan to make transitional kindergarten, or TK, available to all 4-year-olds by the 2025–26 school year, experts warned it would take away students and teachers from other early childhood education programs, including private preschools because it’s free and offers teachers better pay and benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state responded to that concern by expanding the California State Preschool Program and widening access to that program for 3- and 4-year-olds from lower-income households. The state focuses on this population because \u003ca href=\"https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/%232023-226%20Benefits%20from%20ECE%20Highlight%20508.pdf\">research shows (PDF)\u003c/a> that kids from lower-income households gain more academic and social skills and benefit more from two years of participating in a high-quality preschool program than kids from more affluent households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11997124\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01%E2%80%AFAM-scaled-e1721844340937.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1339\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01 AM-scaled-e1721844340937.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01 AM-scaled-e1721844340937-800x837.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01 AM-scaled-e1721844340937-1020x1067.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.01 AM-scaled-e1721844340937-160x167.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Fuller said these policies contradict each other and add more confusion to what he calls a “crazy quilt of programs that’s hard for parents to understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuller points to a 20% jump in vouchers between 2021 and 2023, indicating a growing preference for child care arrangements that offer parents more choice and flexibility but discourage them from signing up for preschool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care advocates say the popularity of vouchers points to a greater need for child care that matches families’ individual needs, whether during irregular hours for those who work weekend or night shifts or in a setting that aligns with their cultural or linguistic preferences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just because you build (a preschool program), people will not come,” said Linda Asato, executive director of the nonprofit California Child Care Resource & Referral Network. “It may not make sense for families. When setting that goal of universal TK, it can’t be done in a vacuum because it may not be what everyone wants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a pandemic-era “hold harmless” policy, which guarantees a certain level of funding regardless of the number of children enrolled, may have had an unintended consequence for California State Preschool programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During COVID, those programs continued to get the same budget they had in 2019,” Fuller said. “Initially, that was sensible because you didn’t want to start laying off staff and closing down preschools, but it also doesn’t create an incentive to move towards [enrolling 3-year-olds] because why not have smaller classes, and maybe bump up your salary a little bit?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11997130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09%E2%80%AFAM-scaled-e1721844707499.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1591\" height=\"1326\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499.jpg 1591w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499-800x667.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499-1020x850.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499-160x133.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/Image-7-24-24-at-11.09 AM-scaled-e1721844707499-1536x1280.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1591px) 100vw, 1591px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, $713 million in unspent California State Preschool Program funding was returned to the state coffers, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://ebudget.ca.gov/2024-25/pdf/Enacted/BudgetSummary/K-12Education.pdf\">summary of the 2024–25 state budget (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Al Muratsuchi, who chairs the state Assembly’s education committee, acknowledges the expansion of TK is disrupting other programs and that more work needs to be done to inform parents about their options and ensure there are enough workers and facilities to provide a high-quality early childhood education for all kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in a transitional period,” said Muratsuchi, a Democrat from Torrance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis also identified zip codes that are populated with young kids but don’t have few, if any, public preschool programs. They include parts of the Central Valley and Central Coast, plus fast-growing working-class suburbs like Antioch and Livermore in the Bay Area. Fuller said these communities lack the “civic infrastructure,” like community-based organizations or school districts, to bid for state funding for a preschool program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He hopes the analysis will compel state officials to target funding on families that have almost no preschool options in their community and simplify the child care and early education system for parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muratsuchi thinks one possible solution is to further invest in community schools that provide a variety of social support services for students and their families on campus, and those services could include childcare and preschool programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to continue to build upon this community school model and take advantage of the existing public school infrastructure,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco Mayor London Breed plans to expand child care subsidies for middle-income families in San Francisco and create a program for evening and weekend child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city will invest about $60 million per year for the next two years from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948690/business-tax-provides-crucial-funding-for-early-childhood-education-and-care-in-san-francisco\">Proposition C\u003c/a>, a commercial rent tax that voters approved in 2018 to fund child care services in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The promise of Baby Prop. C is to build out a truly universal early care and education system in San Francisco,” said Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who worked with the mayor to create the Department of Early Childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department already spends about $180 million per year in Proposition C funding to subsidize child care costs for low-income families, build or renovate child care centers, and attract and train child care workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco is committed to supporting our families and children by providing a strong foundation for early childhood services,” Breed said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Breed’s new plans, the city would allocate more funding to increase child care subsidies to families earning up to 150% of the Area Median Income or about $224,800 for a family of four. Currently, eligibility is capped at 110% of AMI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would also create a pilot program for evening and weekend child care to help meet the needs of parents who work in fields like health care, retail and building security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are far long, long, long-awaited services even before Baby Prop. C came into the scene,” Ingrid Mezquita, executive director of the Department of Early Childhood, told KQED. “There are many families who have nonstandard hours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In total, the additional money Breed wants to spend would subsidize care for an additional 6,500 kids, for a total of about 25,000.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" tag=\"child-care\"]San Francisco began collecting Proposition C taxes in 2018 after the measure was passed but was not able to spend it until a lawsuit challenging it was cleared up in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boost in spending on early child care comes as other city departments and services are being cut to balance the city’s 2024–26 budget, and the mayor is campaigning for reelection in the fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breed will submit her proposed budget to the Board of Supervisors for review and approval in early June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Farrell, who is running against Breed in November, also announced a child care spending plan this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said his plan would allocate $400 million of Proposition C funding to subsidize care for 13,000 children in San Francisco. Farrell called for many of the same improvements that Breed has also touted, such as increasing the pipeline of child care workers, increasing locations for child care, and making preschool available to all kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Farrell’s ideas include turning vacant spaces owned by the San Francisco Unified District and vacant commercial office space into child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Child care is too expensive and too hard to find,” Farrell said in a statement. “The status quo forces many parents, particularly mothers, to choose between their careers and caring for their children.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco Mayor London Breed plans to expand child care subsidies for middle-income families in San Francisco and create a program for evening and weekend child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city will invest about $60 million per year for the next two years from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948690/business-tax-provides-crucial-funding-for-early-childhood-education-and-care-in-san-francisco\">Proposition C\u003c/a>, a commercial rent tax that voters approved in 2018 to fund child care services in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The promise of Baby Prop. C is to build out a truly universal early care and education system in San Francisco,” said Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who worked with the mayor to create the Department of Early Childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department already spends about $180 million per year in Proposition C funding to subsidize child care costs for low-income families, build or renovate child care centers, and attract and train child care workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco is committed to supporting our families and children by providing a strong foundation for early childhood services,” Breed said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Breed’s new plans, the city would allocate more funding to increase child care subsidies to families earning up to 150% of the Area Median Income or about $224,800 for a family of four. Currently, eligibility is capped at 110% of AMI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would also create a pilot program for evening and weekend child care to help meet the needs of parents who work in fields like health care, retail and building security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are far long, long, long-awaited services even before Baby Prop. C came into the scene,” Ingrid Mezquita, executive director of the Department of Early Childhood, told KQED. “There are many families who have nonstandard hours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In total, the additional money Breed wants to spend would subsidize care for an additional 6,500 kids, for a total of about 25,000.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>San Francisco began collecting Proposition C taxes in 2018 after the measure was passed but was not able to spend it until a lawsuit challenging it was cleared up in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boost in spending on early child care comes as other city departments and services are being cut to balance the city’s 2024–26 budget, and the mayor is campaigning for reelection in the fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breed will submit her proposed budget to the Board of Supervisors for review and approval in early June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Farrell, who is running against Breed in November, also announced a child care spending plan this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said his plan would allocate $400 million of Proposition C funding to subsidize care for 13,000 children in San Francisco. Farrell called for many of the same improvements that Breed has also touted, such as increasing the pipeline of child care workers, increasing locations for child care, and making preschool available to all kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Farrell’s ideas include turning vacant spaces owned by the San Francisco Unified District and vacant commercial office space into child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Child care is too expensive and too hard to find,” Farrell said in a statement. “The status quo forces many parents, particularly mothers, to choose between their careers and caring for their children.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "state-court-upholds-alameda-county-tax-measure-yielding-hundreds-of-millions-for-child-care",
"title": "State Court Upholds Alameda County Tax Measure Yielding Hundreds of Millions for Child Care",
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"content": "\u003cp>After four years of legal debate, California’s highest court upheld an Alameda County sales tax measure to increase access to child care and pediatric health care for lower-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This ruling makes Alameda County the latest Bay Area local government to increase a tax to fund early childhood education and care. San Francisco began implementing Baby Proposition C about two years ago after a legal challenge to the commercial tax initiative was resolved in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=2410200&doc_no=A166404&request_token=NiIwLSEnXkw7W1BZSyMtTE9IMEw6UVxfJSM%2BVzpSMCAgCg%3D%3D\">denied a petition\u003c/a> to review a lower court’s ruling that Measure C is legitimate, thus making that decision final. That will allow the county to spend hundreds of millions of dollars collected from the 0.5% sales tax since July 2021. The funds have been held in escrow pending a taxpayer group’s legal challenge to the measure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ruling “validates the will of Alameda County voters to fund early education and ensure child care is accessible to all families, and that the labor of child care providers is honored and respected,” Clarissa Doutherd, executive director of the advocacy group Parent Voices Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are thrilled for the initial funding that will lift up children and families throughout the county who have had to suffer through delays that would have helped address growing poverty, under-resourced child care facilities, and severe pediatric needs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure was passed by 64% of voters in March 2020, but the Alameda County Taxpayers Association argued\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/07/alameda-countys-measure-c-for-child-care-funding-scores-a-legal-win-but-money-cant-flow-yet/\"> that state law requires 66%, or two-thirds vote, to pass\u003c/a> for local governments to raise taxes for a specific purpose. The group contends that elected officials, including the late county supervisor Wilma Chan, initiated the measure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county countered that the measure was put on the ballot after enough signatures were gathered to support it. For that reason, only a simple majority is needed for a citizen initiative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doutherd’s effort to put the measure before voters was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.clarissasbattle.com/\">subject of a documentary called “Clarissa’s Battle.”\u003c/a> Her struggle as a single mother trying to maintain work as a bookkeeper and pay for preschool for her son led to her advocacy for affordable early childhood education.[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='early-childhood']“What this means for me is that in my lifetime, I will see a huge transformation through this initiative that will make sure that parents at least will have an easier time and not know the panic and the fear and the pain of not being able to support themselves and go to work or go to school or even just know that their children are in a safe, nurturing environment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://first5alameda.org/files/Appendix%20C-%20Local%20Child%20Care%20Ballot%20Measures.pdf\">When it was first proposed,\u003c/a> officials estimated the tax would raise about $150 million a year over 20 years to add more subsidized child care slots, increase early educators’ pay to at least $15 per hour (with annual adjustments for inflation) and offer free or low-cost pediatric health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First 5 Alameda County, which will administer the child care fund, also plans to use the money to fund training and professional development classes for providers to raise the quality of early education programs. The effort mirrors an ongoing effort in San Francisco to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948690/business-tax-provides-crucial-funding-for-early-childhood-education-and-care-in-san-francisco\">use revenue from a commercial rent tax \u003c/a>to better compensate early educators and lower child care costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The impact of this investment on Alameda County’s children, families and [early childhood education] workforce is not just transformative; it’s imperative for the health of our communities,” Kristin Spanos, CEO of First 5 Alameda County, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said 21 licensed child care centers and 270 in-home family child care businesses in the county closed permanently between 2019 and 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and deepened the vulnerabilities of our already fragile, underfunded and fragmented system of licensed care,” Spanos said. “Funding from Measure C is a significant milestone in our journey toward creating an equity-centered early childhood system of care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A citizen oversight committee will oversee spending from the pediatric health care fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After four years of legal debate, California’s highest court upheld an Alameda County sales tax measure to increase access to child care and pediatric health care for lower-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This ruling makes Alameda County the latest Bay Area local government to increase a tax to fund early childhood education and care. San Francisco began implementing Baby Proposition C about two years ago after a legal challenge to the commercial tax initiative was resolved in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court \u003ca href=\"https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=2410200&doc_no=A166404&request_token=NiIwLSEnXkw7W1BZSyMtTE9IMEw6UVxfJSM%2BVzpSMCAgCg%3D%3D\">denied a petition\u003c/a> to review a lower court’s ruling that Measure C is legitimate, thus making that decision final. That will allow the county to spend hundreds of millions of dollars collected from the 0.5% sales tax since July 2021. The funds have been held in escrow pending a taxpayer group’s legal challenge to the measure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ruling “validates the will of Alameda County voters to fund early education and ensure child care is accessible to all families, and that the labor of child care providers is honored and respected,” Clarissa Doutherd, executive director of the advocacy group Parent Voices Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are thrilled for the initial funding that will lift up children and families throughout the county who have had to suffer through delays that would have helped address growing poverty, under-resourced child care facilities, and severe pediatric needs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure was passed by 64% of voters in March 2020, but the Alameda County Taxpayers Association argued\u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/07/alameda-countys-measure-c-for-child-care-funding-scores-a-legal-win-but-money-cant-flow-yet/\"> that state law requires 66%, or two-thirds vote, to pass\u003c/a> for local governments to raise taxes for a specific purpose. The group contends that elected officials, including the late county supervisor Wilma Chan, initiated the measure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county countered that the measure was put on the ballot after enough signatures were gathered to support it. For that reason, only a simple majority is needed for a citizen initiative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doutherd’s effort to put the measure before voters was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.clarissasbattle.com/\">subject of a documentary called “Clarissa’s Battle.”\u003c/a> Her struggle as a single mother trying to maintain work as a bookkeeper and pay for preschool for her son led to her advocacy for affordable early childhood education.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“What this means for me is that in my lifetime, I will see a huge transformation through this initiative that will make sure that parents at least will have an easier time and not know the panic and the fear and the pain of not being able to support themselves and go to work or go to school or even just know that their children are in a safe, nurturing environment,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://first5alameda.org/files/Appendix%20C-%20Local%20Child%20Care%20Ballot%20Measures.pdf\">When it was first proposed,\u003c/a> officials estimated the tax would raise about $150 million a year over 20 years to add more subsidized child care slots, increase early educators’ pay to at least $15 per hour (with annual adjustments for inflation) and offer free or low-cost pediatric health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First 5 Alameda County, which will administer the child care fund, also plans to use the money to fund training and professional development classes for providers to raise the quality of early education programs. The effort mirrors an ongoing effort in San Francisco to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11948690/business-tax-provides-crucial-funding-for-early-childhood-education-and-care-in-san-francisco\">use revenue from a commercial rent tax \u003c/a>to better compensate early educators and lower child care costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The impact of this investment on Alameda County’s children, families and [early childhood education] workforce is not just transformative; it’s imperative for the health of our communities,” Kristin Spanos, CEO of First 5 Alameda County, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said 21 licensed child care centers and 270 in-home family child care businesses in the county closed permanently between 2019 and 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and deepened the vulnerabilities of our already fragile, underfunded and fragmented system of licensed care,” Spanos said. “Funding from Measure C is a significant milestone in our journey toward creating an equity-centered early childhood system of care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A citizen oversight committee will oversee spending from the pediatric health care fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Despite California's Investments in Public Preschool, Child Care Challenges Continue",
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"content": "\u003cp>A year before I-Ting Quinn’s son was old enough for kindergarten, she and her husband had the option to enroll him in “transitional kindergarten,” a program offered for free by California elementary schools for some 4-year-olds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, they kept their son, Ethan, in a private day care center in Concord, Contra Costa County, at a cost of $400 a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Transitional kindergarten’s academic emphasis was appealing, but Ethan would have been in a half-day program, and options for after-school child care were limited. And for two parents with hectic work schedules in the hospitality industry, there was the convenience of having Ethan and his younger brother at the same day care, with a single stop for morning drop-off and evening pickup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ethan is navigating changes at home with a new younger brother and then possibly a new school where he is the youngest,” Quinn said. “That doesn’t even include the concerns around drop-off and pickups, including transportation to and from his class to after-school care at a different location. It is just a lot to consider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Investments that California and other states have made in public preschool have helped many parents through a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/daycare-child-care-democrats-congress-2919cf689423f62d90e28f7f40de2f39\">child care crisis\u003c/a>, in which quality options for early learners are often scarce and unaffordable. But many parents say the programs don’t work for their families. Even when Pre–K lasts the whole school day, working parents struggle to find child care before 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No state has a more ambitious plan for universal preschool than California, which plans to extend eligibility for transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds by fall 2025 as part of a $2.7 billion, four-year expansion. The idea is to provide a two-year kindergarten program to prepare children earlier for the rigors of elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enrollment in the optional program has grown more slowly than projected. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, had estimated about 120,000 students would enroll last year; however, the average daily attendance was around 91,000 students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through December of this school year, the average daily attendance was about 125,000 students, said Sara Cortez, a policy analyst for the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, some families \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/kindergarten-school-registration-homeschool-f6a0c3a8f97f8d6cf616f201f68c04fe\">no longer see the same value\u003c/a> in traditional kindergarten. Some are just as happy with programs that don’t have an academic component. School days requiring midday pickups also can sway families toward private day cares, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/head-start-preschool-child-care-teacher-pay-256a66cc4df8a331a2d0badcba7f72e8\">Head Start programs\u003c/a> and other alternatives offering full-day care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some schools hosting transitional kindergarten offer child care before or after instruction, but not all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If your school doesn’t offer those wraparound child care services at the beginning or end of school days, then staying in child care may be the only option parents have,” said Deborah Stipek, a former dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, who has advocated for equitable access to early childhood education in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States including Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey and Washington have provided early learning options similar to transitional kindergarten, and there is evidence of the program’s benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, where the programs are taught by educators with the same credential requirements as kindergarten teachers, a five-year study found their students \u003ca href=\"https://www.air.org/project/study-californias-transitional-kindergarten-program\">entered kindergarten\u003c/a> with stronger mathematics and literacy skills. In Michigan, where the transitional kindergarten program is not offered statewide, the programs have been linked to \u003ca href=\"https://edworkingpapers.com/ai24-920\">increases in third-grade test scores\u003c/a> in math and English. A California study, however, found \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/assessing-transitional-kindergartens-impact-on-elementary-school-trajectories/\">no such test score increase\u003c/a> by third or fourth grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kids are getting the opportunity to become familiar with the school environment before they start kindergarten,” said Anna Shapiro, a policy researcher at RAND who has studied early childhood program effectiveness for about a decade and analyzed the TK program in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another benefit to transitional kindergarten is that it’s free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>María Maldonado, who has seven children and works at a deli in Los Angeles, sends her 4-year-old daughter, Audrey, to transitional kindergarten at Para Los Niños Charter Elementary School. Her daughter likes it so much, Maldonado said she would happily pay even if it wasn’t free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program includes after-school care, so Audrey remains at the school from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Audrey is learning to read and can count to 35, and asks to stay at the school longer when her parents arrive well before pickup time, her mother said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maldonado only wishes she had heard about the program sooner for her other children. She said she was sold on the school after visiting and speaking to the teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Academically, they have to learn everything they’re taught. But if the atmosphere is good, that’s a combination that will keep kids happy. As a result, this girl loves going to school,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of this school year, California’s transitional kindergarten was open only to 4-year-old children who turn 5 by early April. The cutoff will widen to include more kids this fall in a graduated expansion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Ethan’s parents, the emphasis on play-based learning at his day care center, run by KinderCare, was an important factor in their decision to keep him there, in addition to the all-day care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are families who choose to stay with us because we have full-time, full-year care,” said Margot Gould, senior manager of government relations for KinderCare, which operates in 40 states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ethan’s father, Scott Quinn, recalls thinking, “How bad can it be?” when they opted out of transitional kindergarten. But he has been discouraged to see Ethan — one of the oldest kids in his day care class — pick up the behavior of kids who are several years younger than him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In retrospect, it would have been better to send him to school to be around kids his age and older,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11983016,news_11979071,news_11982934\"]I-Ting Quinn said she also has feelings of regret as she sees Ethan outgrow some of his previous needs, including a midday nap. The couple considered enrolling him in TK midway through the school year, but ultimately decided it would cause too much stress in managing the logistics of their work schedules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raising Ethan was her first exposure to the fragmented landscape of early education, and she said she wishes she started considering the options even before she was pregnant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s easier said than done,” she said. The Quinns are planning to move to Connecticut this year to be closer to family and are looking into kindergarten options for Ethan. “We are for sure enrolling him in a public kindergarten. Not only is he ready, but we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ap.org/about/standards-for-working-with-outside-groups/\">standards\u003c/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at \u003ca href=\"https://www.ap.org/discover/Supporting-AP\">AP.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A year before I-Ting Quinn’s son was old enough for kindergarten, she and her husband had the option to enroll him in “transitional kindergarten,” a program offered for free by California elementary schools for some 4-year-olds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, they kept their son, Ethan, in a private day care center in Concord, Contra Costa County, at a cost of $400 a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Transitional kindergarten’s academic emphasis was appealing, but Ethan would have been in a half-day program, and options for after-school child care were limited. And for two parents with hectic work schedules in the hospitality industry, there was the convenience of having Ethan and his younger brother at the same day care, with a single stop for morning drop-off and evening pickup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ethan is navigating changes at home with a new younger brother and then possibly a new school where he is the youngest,” Quinn said. “That doesn’t even include the concerns around drop-off and pickups, including transportation to and from his class to after-school care at a different location. It is just a lot to consider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Investments that California and other states have made in public preschool have helped many parents through a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/daycare-child-care-democrats-congress-2919cf689423f62d90e28f7f40de2f39\">child care crisis\u003c/a>, in which quality options for early learners are often scarce and unaffordable. But many parents say the programs don’t work for their families. Even when Pre–K lasts the whole school day, working parents struggle to find child care before 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No state has a more ambitious plan for universal preschool than California, which plans to extend eligibility for transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds by fall 2025 as part of a $2.7 billion, four-year expansion. The idea is to provide a two-year kindergarten program to prepare children earlier for the rigors of elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enrollment in the optional program has grown more slowly than projected. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, had estimated about 120,000 students would enroll last year; however, the average daily attendance was around 91,000 students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through December of this school year, the average daily attendance was about 125,000 students, said Sara Cortez, a policy analyst for the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, some families \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/kindergarten-school-registration-homeschool-f6a0c3a8f97f8d6cf616f201f68c04fe\">no longer see the same value\u003c/a> in traditional kindergarten. Some are just as happy with programs that don’t have an academic component. School days requiring midday pickups also can sway families toward private day cares, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/head-start-preschool-child-care-teacher-pay-256a66cc4df8a331a2d0badcba7f72e8\">Head Start programs\u003c/a> and other alternatives offering full-day care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some schools hosting transitional kindergarten offer child care before or after instruction, but not all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If your school doesn’t offer those wraparound child care services at the beginning or end of school days, then staying in child care may be the only option parents have,” said Deborah Stipek, a former dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, who has advocated for equitable access to early childhood education in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States including Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey and Washington have provided early learning options similar to transitional kindergarten, and there is evidence of the program’s benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, where the programs are taught by educators with the same credential requirements as kindergarten teachers, a five-year study found their students \u003ca href=\"https://www.air.org/project/study-californias-transitional-kindergarten-program\">entered kindergarten\u003c/a> with stronger mathematics and literacy skills. In Michigan, where the transitional kindergarten program is not offered statewide, the programs have been linked to \u003ca href=\"https://edworkingpapers.com/ai24-920\">increases in third-grade test scores\u003c/a> in math and English. A California study, however, found \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/assessing-transitional-kindergartens-impact-on-elementary-school-trajectories/\">no such test score increase\u003c/a> by third or fourth grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kids are getting the opportunity to become familiar with the school environment before they start kindergarten,” said Anna Shapiro, a policy researcher at RAND who has studied early childhood program effectiveness for about a decade and analyzed the TK program in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another benefit to transitional kindergarten is that it’s free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>María Maldonado, who has seven children and works at a deli in Los Angeles, sends her 4-year-old daughter, Audrey, to transitional kindergarten at Para Los Niños Charter Elementary School. Her daughter likes it so much, Maldonado said she would happily pay even if it wasn’t free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program includes after-school care, so Audrey remains at the school from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Audrey is learning to read and can count to 35, and asks to stay at the school longer when her parents arrive well before pickup time, her mother said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maldonado only wishes she had heard about the program sooner for her other children. She said she was sold on the school after visiting and speaking to the teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Academically, they have to learn everything they’re taught. But if the atmosphere is good, that’s a combination that will keep kids happy. As a result, this girl loves going to school,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of this school year, California’s transitional kindergarten was open only to 4-year-old children who turn 5 by early April. The cutoff will widen to include more kids this fall in a graduated expansion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Ethan’s parents, the emphasis on play-based learning at his day care center, run by KinderCare, was an important factor in their decision to keep him there, in addition to the all-day care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are families who choose to stay with us because we have full-time, full-year care,” said Margot Gould, senior manager of government relations for KinderCare, which operates in 40 states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ethan’s father, Scott Quinn, recalls thinking, “How bad can it be?” when they opted out of transitional kindergarten. But he has been discouraged to see Ethan — one of the oldest kids in his day care class — pick up the behavior of kids who are several years younger than him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In retrospect, it would have been better to send him to school to be around kids his age and older,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>I-Ting Quinn said she also has feelings of regret as she sees Ethan outgrow some of his previous needs, including a midday nap. The couple considered enrolling him in TK midway through the school year, but ultimately decided it would cause too much stress in managing the logistics of their work schedules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raising Ethan was her first exposure to the fragmented landscape of early education, and she said she wishes she started considering the options even before she was pregnant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s easier said than done,” she said. The Quinns are planning to move to Connecticut this year to be closer to family and are looking into kindergarten options for Ethan. “We are for sure enrolling him in a public kindergarten. Not only is he ready, but we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ap.org/about/standards-for-working-with-outside-groups/\">standards\u003c/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at \u003ca href=\"https://www.ap.org/discover/Supporting-AP\">AP.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Feds Plan Higher Pay for Head Start Teachers Amid Severe Staff Shortage",
"headTitle": "Feds Plan Higher Pay for Head Start Teachers Amid Severe Staff Shortage | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The Biden administration wants to significantly raise the salaries of Head Start teachers to reverse the staffing shortage that it says is threatening the future of the early education program for children from lower-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under a proposed rule change \u003ca href=\"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2023-25038.pdf\">published Monday on the Federal Register (PDF)\u003c/a>, Head Start teachers would have to be paid as much as preschool teachers in their local school district. That could mean an average increase of $10,000 per year for more than 27,500 Head Start staffers in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For too long, our skilled and passionate Head Start workforce has been underpaid, which has impacted the program’s ability to retain and recruit qualified teachers,” Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The change is necessary to ensure young children get reliable care and equal access to high-quality early education, advocates told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Head Start has been plagued by understaffing and high turnover rates since classrooms reopened after the pandemic shutdowns. A survey conducted by the National Head Start Association last month found that 15% of classrooms were closed due to high vacancy rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members who responded to the survey cited low compensation as the main reason Head Start teachers — most of whom have at least a bachelor’s degree — were leaving for better-paying jobs at public schools or other sectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The national average salary for Head Start teachers was $39,096 per year, while the average pay for preschool teachers in a public school setting was $53,200 and $65,210 for kindergarten teachers, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Xavier Becerra, secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services\"]‘For too long, our skilled and passionate Head Start workforce has been underpaid, which has impacted the program’s ability to retain and recruit qualified teachers.’[/pullquote]The pay gap goes as far as 25% in Stanislaus County in the Central Valley, according to a comparison of school district and Head Start salaries conducted by the county’s Office of Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a stark difference, and that’s without going into the fact that Head Start teachers work year-round while K–12 teachers get winter, spring and summer breaks,” said Tony Jordan, executive director of the office’s Child & Family Services Division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wu Yee Children’s Services, the largest provider of Head Start programs in San Francisco, has a 17% vacancy rate and a low pool of substitute teachers, even though salaries range between $28 to $40 per hour thanks to additional funding from the city, said the center’s executive director, Monica Walters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With those wages, we’re still not attracting the people that we need, and they’re not staying because of all the other costs of living [in San Francisco],” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The low pay, combined with the physically and emotionally demanding work, is driving high turnover rates, which affects the quality of care for young children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all know that when kids don’t have the same teacher day after day or year over year, they don’t know what to expect,” Walters said. “Parents don’t know who they’re going to be talking to in the classroom, and that really affects outcomes for the kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of staffing is leading to longer wait lists. This year, California received funding to cover nearly 95,000 slots, but only about 85,000 children are enrolled, according to Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides poor pay, she said many families don’t meet the income requirements to enroll in Head Start because the federal poverty guidelines are “unrealistically low” in California. For example, a family of four must have an annual income of $30,000 to qualify for Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11965328,news_11964236,news_11959904\"]That’s why many early education programs combine funding from the California State Preschool Program, which provides subsidized early care and education for 3- to 5-year-old children. The income limit to qualify for the program — $96,000 for families of four — is higher than Head Start’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Higher reimbursement rates from the state program have helped programs like Izzi Early Education, the largest Head Start provider in San Mateo County, to increase their teachers’ salaries to about $38 per hour — which is about $5 less than what kindergarten teachers in the region earn hourly, said the program’s director, Angel Barrios.\u003cbr>\nShe applauds the proposed rule change that would put Head Start teachers on the same pay scale as elementary school teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is our goal. We’re getting very close to it, but we’re not there yet,” Barrios said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said that since the pandemic, some of her teachers have moved as far away as Sacramento — and still commute back for work — because they couldn’t afford to live in San Mateo County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To develop a pipeline of new teachers, her program offered Head Start parents and those interested in entering the profession a stipend to take child development classes and obtain permits to work in classrooms. Apprentices who want to continue their education receive free tuition from local colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, 37 people have received their entry-level credentials, allowing Izzi to fill vacancies and open all of its classrooms this year, Barrios said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to be creative, innovative and … one of the ways that we were able to do that was to create this pipeline and include parents in our program,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed rules also include important changes to improve mental health support and benefits such as paid leave, as well as support services for families enrolled in Head Start. The public has 60 days to submit comments on the proposed rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Biden administration wants to significantly raise the salaries of Head Start teachers to reverse the staffing shortage that it says is threatening the future of the early education program for children from lower-income families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under a proposed rule change \u003ca href=\"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2023-25038.pdf\">published Monday on the Federal Register (PDF)\u003c/a>, Head Start teachers would have to be paid as much as preschool teachers in their local school district. That could mean an average increase of $10,000 per year for more than 27,500 Head Start staffers in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For too long, our skilled and passionate Head Start workforce has been underpaid, which has impacted the program’s ability to retain and recruit qualified teachers,” Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The change is necessary to ensure young children get reliable care and equal access to high-quality early education, advocates told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Head Start has been plagued by understaffing and high turnover rates since classrooms reopened after the pandemic shutdowns. A survey conducted by the National Head Start Association last month found that 15% of classrooms were closed due to high vacancy rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members who responded to the survey cited low compensation as the main reason Head Start teachers — most of whom have at least a bachelor’s degree — were leaving for better-paying jobs at public schools or other sectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The national average salary for Head Start teachers was $39,096 per year, while the average pay for preschool teachers in a public school setting was $53,200 and $65,210 for kindergarten teachers, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The pay gap goes as far as 25% in Stanislaus County in the Central Valley, according to a comparison of school district and Head Start salaries conducted by the county’s Office of Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a stark difference, and that’s without going into the fact that Head Start teachers work year-round while K–12 teachers get winter, spring and summer breaks,” said Tony Jordan, executive director of the office’s Child & Family Services Division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wu Yee Children’s Services, the largest provider of Head Start programs in San Francisco, has a 17% vacancy rate and a low pool of substitute teachers, even though salaries range between $28 to $40 per hour thanks to additional funding from the city, said the center’s executive director, Monica Walters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With those wages, we’re still not attracting the people that we need, and they’re not staying because of all the other costs of living [in San Francisco],” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The low pay, combined with the physically and emotionally demanding work, is driving high turnover rates, which affects the quality of care for young children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all know that when kids don’t have the same teacher day after day or year over year, they don’t know what to expect,” Walters said. “Parents don’t know who they’re going to be talking to in the classroom, and that really affects outcomes for the kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of staffing is leading to longer wait lists. This year, California received funding to cover nearly 95,000 slots, but only about 85,000 children are enrolled, according to Melanee Cottrill, executive director of Head Start California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Besides poor pay, she said many families don’t meet the income requirements to enroll in Head Start because the federal poverty guidelines are “unrealistically low” in California. For example, a family of four must have an annual income of $30,000 to qualify for Head Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That’s why many early education programs combine funding from the California State Preschool Program, which provides subsidized early care and education for 3- to 5-year-old children. The income limit to qualify for the program — $96,000 for families of four — is higher than Head Start’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Higher reimbursement rates from the state program have helped programs like Izzi Early Education, the largest Head Start provider in San Mateo County, to increase their teachers’ salaries to about $38 per hour — which is about $5 less than what kindergarten teachers in the region earn hourly, said the program’s director, Angel Barrios.\u003cbr>\nShe applauds the proposed rule change that would put Head Start teachers on the same pay scale as elementary school teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is our goal. We’re getting very close to it, but we’re not there yet,” Barrios said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said that since the pandemic, some of her teachers have moved as far away as Sacramento — and still commute back for work — because they couldn’t afford to live in San Mateo County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To develop a pipeline of new teachers, her program offered Head Start parents and those interested in entering the profession a stipend to take child development classes and obtain permits to work in classrooms. Apprentices who want to continue their education receive free tuition from local colleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, 37 people have received their entry-level credentials, allowing Izzi to fill vacancies and open all of its classrooms this year, Barrios said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to be creative, innovative and … one of the ways that we were able to do that was to create this pipeline and include parents in our program,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed rules also include important changes to improve mental health support and benefits such as paid leave, as well as support services for families enrolled in Head Start. The public has 60 days to submit comments on the proposed rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Nancy Harvey opened a daycare out of her West Oakland home nearly two decades ago, she wanted to give kids in her neighborhood a high-quality preschool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was up for the challenge, but what she wasn’t prepared for was the low pay and lack of benefits: two things she took for granted when she worked in marketing and taught in private schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A retirement plan was essential for anyone that worked a job and I couldn’t understand how this very valuable industry did not have that,” Harvey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As workers across occupations walked off the job during this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963717/amid-kaiser-strike-a-look-at-the-biggest-union-walkouts-in-california-recently\">remarkable year of strikes\u003c/a>, a union representing 40,000 home-based child care providers like Harvey approved a landmark deal, which included a roughly 20% pay increase and unprecedented benefits. It was a big moment for a labor movement largely led by immigrants and women of color — two groups whose domestic work has \u003ca href=\"https://www.epi.org/blog/black-womens-labor-market-history-reveals-deep-seated-race-and-gender-discrimination/\">historically been undervalued and excluded \u003c/a>from labor protection laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since child care in the United States is largely privatized, home-based providers are considered self-employed small business owners. But those who serve lower-income families have long argued they should be classified as public employees since their salaries depend on reimbursements from the state. In California, two-thirds of families who receive child care subsidies send their kids to home-based daycares.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, these providers complained \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/the-early-educator-workforce/early-educator-pay-economic-insecurity-across-the-states/\">they were paid so little that they \u003cem>themselves\u003c/em> qualify for public assistance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It spoke pretty loudly as to what folks really thought of child care providers, that we were just folks that they could use and not necessarily think about our well-being and our future,” Harvey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Harvey, her involvement started with a knock on her door not long after she started her daycare. A union rep came in the middle of the children’s nap time and pitched unionizing as a strategy to improve pay and gain benefits. She said she didn’t hesitate to sign up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Nancy Harvey, child care provider, West Oakland\"]‘We have set them aside long enough and we can’t do that.’[/pullquote]Organizing isn’t easy for home-based workers because they work independently, but Harvey said she felt a duty to speak up for her industry because many providers were in the same situation she was in, but were too busy to effect change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It took two decades of organizing — a lot of it done during nap time — before Child Care Providers United \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/09/30/governor-newsom-signs-legislation-allowing-child-care-providers-the-right-to-unionize/\">won the right in 2019 to collectively bargain\u003c/a>. The union represents 40,000 home-based child care providers. It is a partnership between two chapters of the Service Employees International Union locals and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just as Harvey and other providers got ready to negotiate their first contract with the state, the pandemic hit, greatly intensifying their economic insecurity. As essential workers, many home-based providers kept their doors open, but still struggled to pay their bills. They said they were seeing lower revenues due to enrollment declines and higher costs due to inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11963691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11963691\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person speaks into a megaphone in front of a group of people.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Harvey speaks during a rally to bring attention to a gas leak Felton Institute employees say went unaddressed for more than a year outside of Felton’s Sunshine Community Center in San Francisco’s Mission District on Aug. 10, 2023. Felton Institute is a nonprofit serving children and families in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was at that point that people really recognized the fact that, hey, this industry is important,” Harvey recalled. “We have set them aside long enough and we can’t do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union reached its first contract in 2021, securing $100 million for health care, plus funding for training and pandemic relief. \u003ca href=\"https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/many-california-family-child-care-providers-will-now-be-better-able-to-afford-health-care/\">In one survey\u003c/a>, many home-based providers reported delaying or not getting needed health care because they couldn’t afford out-of-pocket costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gaining the health care fund was bittersweet for Patricia Moran, a daycare owner in San José. She said a fellow provider and member of the negotiation team was diagnosed with lung cancer during the talks and didn’t live long enough to see it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew providers who were going to Mexico, crossing the border for cheaper medical care and going so fast and coming back so fast they would sometimes get into car accidents,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moran, Harvey and dozens of providers bargained for the second contract this past year. They spent nights and weekends negotiating and held union demonstrations, including rallies outside the Capitol and the governor’s mansion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11963692\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11963692\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person stands by a window and looks at the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patricia Moran stands in her child care facility in San José on Oct. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I remember I slept like two hours because, in my daycare, some parents are bringing children at 5 o’clock in the morning,” Moran said. “I was like, OK, I’m going to sleep. Maybe, maybe not. No, I’m going to stay awake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organizing paid off. Last month, the state finalized \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961256/newsom-signs-bills-boosting-child-care-for-struggling-californians-and-providers\">a landmark $2 billion deal \u003c/a>to give them their largest pay raise to date and launch the nation’s first retirement fund for unionized child care workers. The $80 million fund made California the first of \u003ca href=\"https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4.3.2023_Unionizing-Home-Based-Providers-to-Address-the-Child-Care-Crisis.pdf\">11 states with home-based child care worker unions (PDF) \u003c/a>to offer this benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Patricia Moran, child care provider, San José\"]‘I knew providers who were going to Mexico, crossing the border for cheaper medical care and going so fast and coming back so fast they would sometimes get into car accidents.’[/pullquote]Overall, the push to unionize child care workers has had more success in some states than others. Seven other states, for example, had granted that right to home-based child care providers before backing out, \u003ca href=\"https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4.3.2023_Unionizing-Home-Based-Providers-to-Address-the-Child-Care-Crisis.pdf\">according to the Center for Law and Social Policy (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It helped that in California, a record number of women in the state Legislature made \u003ca href=\"https://womenscaucus.legislature.ca.gov/news/2023-03-30-ca-legislative-women%E2%80%99s-caucus-announces-2023-priority-bill-package\">child care funding a priority in the 2023–24 budget year. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Nancy Skinner, an East Bay Democrat who chairs the Legislative Women’s Caucus, said funding was urgently needed because many child care programs permanently closed after the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we just saw this collapse that affected not only families, obviously, and the little kids that really deserve good child care, but also affected California’s employers and our economy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But perhaps the biggest victory is that they got the state to \u003ca href=\"https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/californias-subsidized-child-care-providers-are-overdue-for-pay-raise/\">fundamentally change the way it pays\u003c/a> providers of subsidized child care programs so that they’ll get closer to earning a fair wage, whether they’re in the union or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means, the benefit will extend to larger state-funded child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They fought for the entire system … which is incredibly tremendous for all of us,” said Nina Buthee, executive director of the advocacy group EveryChild California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee said she hopes better pay will encourage more private daycares to serve families who qualify for child care subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More on Affordable Child Care' tag='child-care']“It’s really a huge step forward in terms of equity when you think about who our workforce is,” said Brandy Jones Lawrence, a senior analyst at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s also a huge step forward in our commitment to systemic reform,” she added\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harvey said these gains were long overdue. She’s ecstatic about the changes and hopes child care workers in other states will follow in her union’s footsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 61 years old, she said she feels more secure about retiring in a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think of a retirement plan as a pot of money that’s going to help you survive. And if you don’t have that, then how are you going to survive?” she said. “I’m glad that the state of California heard our cry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As workers across occupations walked off the job during this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963717/amid-kaiser-strike-a-look-at-the-biggest-union-walkouts-in-california-recently\">remarkable year of strikes\u003c/a>, a union representing 40,000 home-based child care providers like Harvey approved a landmark deal, which included a roughly 20% pay increase and unprecedented benefits. It was a big moment for a labor movement largely led by immigrants and women of color — two groups whose domestic work has \u003ca href=\"https://www.epi.org/blog/black-womens-labor-market-history-reveals-deep-seated-race-and-gender-discrimination/\">historically been undervalued and excluded \u003c/a>from labor protection laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since child care in the United States is largely privatized, home-based providers are considered self-employed small business owners. But those who serve lower-income families have long argued they should be classified as public employees since their salaries depend on reimbursements from the state. In California, two-thirds of families who receive child care subsidies send their kids to home-based daycares.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, these providers complained \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/the-early-educator-workforce/early-educator-pay-economic-insecurity-across-the-states/\">they were paid so little that they \u003cem>themselves\u003c/em> qualify for public assistance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It spoke pretty loudly as to what folks really thought of child care providers, that we were just folks that they could use and not necessarily think about our well-being and our future,” Harvey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Harvey, her involvement started with a knock on her door not long after she started her daycare. A union rep came in the middle of the children’s nap time and pitched unionizing as a strategy to improve pay and gain benefits. She said she didn’t hesitate to sign up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We have set them aside long enough and we can’t do that.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Organizing isn’t easy for home-based workers because they work independently, but Harvey said she felt a duty to speak up for her industry because many providers were in the same situation she was in, but were too busy to effect change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It took two decades of organizing — a lot of it done during nap time — before Child Care Providers United \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/09/30/governor-newsom-signs-legislation-allowing-child-care-providers-the-right-to-unionize/\">won the right in 2019 to collectively bargain\u003c/a>. The union represents 40,000 home-based child care providers. It is a partnership between two chapters of the Service Employees International Union locals and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just as Harvey and other providers got ready to negotiate their first contract with the state, the pandemic hit, greatly intensifying their economic insecurity. As essential workers, many home-based providers kept their doors open, but still struggled to pay their bills. They said they were seeing lower revenues due to enrollment declines and higher costs due to inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11963691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11963691\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person speaks into a megaphone in front of a group of people.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Harvey speaks during a rally to bring attention to a gas leak Felton Institute employees say went unaddressed for more than a year outside of Felton’s Sunshine Community Center in San Francisco’s Mission District on Aug. 10, 2023. Felton Institute is a nonprofit serving children and families in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was at that point that people really recognized the fact that, hey, this industry is important,” Harvey recalled. “We have set them aside long enough and we can’t do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union reached its first contract in 2021, securing $100 million for health care, plus funding for training and pandemic relief. \u003ca href=\"https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/many-california-family-child-care-providers-will-now-be-better-able-to-afford-health-care/\">In one survey\u003c/a>, many home-based providers reported delaying or not getting needed health care because they couldn’t afford out-of-pocket costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gaining the health care fund was bittersweet for Patricia Moran, a daycare owner in San José. She said a fellow provider and member of the negotiation team was diagnosed with lung cancer during the talks and didn’t live long enough to see it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew providers who were going to Mexico, crossing the border for cheaper medical care and going so fast and coming back so fast they would sometimes get into car accidents,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moran, Harvey and dozens of providers bargained for the second contract this past year. They spent nights and weekends negotiating and held union demonstrations, including rallies outside the Capitol and the governor’s mansion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11963692\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11963692\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person stands by a window and looks at the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patricia Moran stands in her child care facility in San José on Oct. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I remember I slept like two hours because, in my daycare, some parents are bringing children at 5 o’clock in the morning,” Moran said. “I was like, OK, I’m going to sleep. Maybe, maybe not. No, I’m going to stay awake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organizing paid off. Last month, the state finalized \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961256/newsom-signs-bills-boosting-child-care-for-struggling-californians-and-providers\">a landmark $2 billion deal \u003c/a>to give them their largest pay raise to date and launch the nation’s first retirement fund for unionized child care workers. The $80 million fund made California the first of \u003ca href=\"https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4.3.2023_Unionizing-Home-Based-Providers-to-Address-the-Child-Care-Crisis.pdf\">11 states with home-based child care worker unions (PDF) \u003c/a>to offer this benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Overall, the push to unionize child care workers has had more success in some states than others. Seven other states, for example, had granted that right to home-based child care providers before backing out, \u003ca href=\"https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4.3.2023_Unionizing-Home-Based-Providers-to-Address-the-Child-Care-Crisis.pdf\">according to the Center for Law and Social Policy (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It helped that in California, a record number of women in the state Legislature made \u003ca href=\"https://womenscaucus.legislature.ca.gov/news/2023-03-30-ca-legislative-women%E2%80%99s-caucus-announces-2023-priority-bill-package\">child care funding a priority in the 2023–24 budget year. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Nancy Skinner, an East Bay Democrat who chairs the Legislative Women’s Caucus, said funding was urgently needed because many child care programs permanently closed after the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we just saw this collapse that affected not only families, obviously, and the little kids that really deserve good child care, but also affected California’s employers and our economy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But perhaps the biggest victory is that they got the state to \u003ca href=\"https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/californias-subsidized-child-care-providers-are-overdue-for-pay-raise/\">fundamentally change the way it pays\u003c/a> providers of subsidized child care programs so that they’ll get closer to earning a fair wage, whether they’re in the union or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means, the benefit will extend to larger state-funded child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They fought for the entire system … which is incredibly tremendous for all of us,” said Nina Buthee, executive director of the advocacy group EveryChild California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee said she hopes better pay will encourage more private daycares to serve families who qualify for child care subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s really a huge step forward in terms of equity when you think about who our workforce is,” said Brandy Jones Lawrence, a senior analyst at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s also a huge step forward in our commitment to systemic reform,” she added\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harvey said these gains were long overdue. She’s ecstatic about the changes and hopes child care workers in other states will follow in her union’s footsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 61 years old, she said she feels more secure about retiring in a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think of a retirement plan as a pot of money that’s going to help you survive. And if you don’t have that, then how are you going to survive?” she said. “I’m glad that the state of California heard our cry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "A Child Care Center's Possible Closure Shows Dire Shortage in Marin County",
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"content": "\u003cp>As a social worker connecting residents to public assistance programs in Marin County, Amy Gramajo frequently helps families apply for free or low-cost child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those families typically qualify for subsidized child care, but they wind up waiting for months, or even years before they land an open spot at a child care program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Amy Gramajo, social worker, Marin County\"]‘I don’t have any close family nearby to help me. If the center closes I don’t think I can maintain a full-time job or continue paying for an apartment here.’[/pullquote]The shortage of affordable child care in one of the most expensive counties in the Bay Area is weighing heavily on Gramajo. A center where she sends her 5- and 8-year-old daughters for child care is at risk of closing after losing its lease last month, putting dozens of working parents like her on edge about whether they’ll be able to find alternative care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have any close family nearby to help me. If the center closes I don’t think I can maintain a full-time job or continue paying for an apartment here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For five decades, the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center has played a vital role in the lives of hundreds of lower-income families who rely on its early education and after-school programs. It’s one of just a few subsidized child care centers in Marin. Parents and students cherish the close-knit community and the fact that it’s located in a county park at the foot of Mount Tamalpais, giving children ample space to play outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re surrounded by all these amazing trees and hiking trails, just being so close to nature is such an important part of any human’s development,” said Vesta Torres, 29, one of several teachers who started coming to the center as babies and who now work there to raise the next generation of kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For single or working parents with school-age kids, the center crucially fills in the gap during the afternoon hours or periods when school is out. Eva Polony said the center helped her get through the pandemic by providing a place for her teenage sons to go. The center also supervised her sons’ online learning while she was at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961419\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961419 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of children on mats watch an adult in front of them.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Annie Hanna teaches a yoga class for children at the Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They are here for the essential workers and then some,” she said. “They’re just the foundation for families to keep working and to be able to feel secure. You know your kids’ needs are gonna be met.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the center’s future is uncertain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Eva Polony, resident, Marin County\"]‘They are here for the essential workers and then some. They’re just the foundation for families to keep working and to be able to feel secure. You know your kids’ needs are gonna be met.’[/pullquote]Its aging buildings have structural issues that led the Ross Valley School District, which owns the campus, to terminate the center’s lease on Aug. 31. The school board president, Shelley Hamilton, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2mxmguLyVw&t=1457s\">at a recent hearing\u003c/a> that there were no immediate plans to evict the nonprofit organization that runs the center, but by operating without a lease, the group was exposing itself to increased safety and liability risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The center was holding out hope that the county Office of Education would buy the property and lease it back to the center. The office scrapped its plan, however, after a building inspection report concluded it might cost at least $14 million to bring the property up to current safety standards — an amount that John Carroll, the superintendent of Marin County schools, said his office doesn’t have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heidi Tomsky, the center’s executive director, disputes the findings of the report. She said inspectors were holding the buildings to more stringent standards reserved for schools, rather than for a licensed child care program like the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961416\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961416 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair interacts with two children in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Executive Director Heidi Tomsky works with children on an art project at the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center. The center is one of the few to offer low-cost, subsidized child care in Marin County and is facing eviction after losing its lease on Aug. 31. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Under state law, child care centers undergo random inspections by the Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing division to ensure they meet all health and safety requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that the buildings need renovations. I’m not quite sure or convinced yet that they’re unsafe to the standard that some people believe they are,” Tomsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added that closing the center would create a ripple effect for the parents who send their kids there, many of whom are gardeners, house cleaners and restaurant and grocery store workers in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Heidi Tomsky, executive director, Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center\"]‘Losing child care means likely that a family will lose their job, which will impact their housing, which will impact their food, which will impact their … whole entire economic security.’[/pullquote]“Losing child care means likely that a family will lose their job, which will impact their housing, which will impact their food, which will impact their … whole entire economic security,” Tomsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County is already one of the most expensive places to live in California, so the cost of child care is just as high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://unitedwaysca.org/realcost/\">A recent report by the United Ways of California\u003c/a> found that nearly a quarter of households in Marin don’t earn enough to meet basic needs, including housing, food, transportation and child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last five years, the average price for preschool in Marin has gone up nearly 40% to $2,315 a month, and up to $2,600 per month for infant care, according to Aideen Gaidmore, executive director of the Marin Child Care Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high cost of child care is why more than 900 children are on a waitlist her agency maintains for subsidized child care, Gaidmore said. That means they qualify for low-cost or free child care, but there’s no guarantee they’ll get it because of insufficient funding, staffing or facilities to serve them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961417\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11961417\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A building and play area with children and adults in it.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at the Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center in the Deer Park area of Fairfax. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There are families who are eligible, but will never be pulled off that list for whatever reason,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Increased state funding and federal pandemic aid for child care have helped her agency to serve hundreds more families in the last two years, Gaidmore said, but the number of available slots hasn’t kept pace with demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Aideen Gaidmore, executive director, Marin Child Care Council\"]‘There are families who are eligible, but will never be pulled off that list for whatever reason.’[/pullquote]There have been attempts locally to boost access to early education for Marin’s underserved children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, a proposal \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/depts/rv/election-info/past-elections/page-data/tabs-collection/past2016/nov-8/measure/measurea\">to raise the local sales tax by a \u003c/a>quarter-cent to raise about $12 million per year for the cause received 63% of votes, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass. (A local taxpayer group \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/depts/rv/election-info/past-elections/page-data/tabs-collection/past2016/nov-8/measure/measurea\">argued in voters’ pamphlets \u003c/a>that if the measure passed “many will flock to Marin for free child care.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Left with limited resources, local nonprofits such as the Marin Community Foundation instead focused on \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincf.org/buck-family-fund-grants/economic-opportunity/access-to-quality-child-care\">funding $1.5 million each year on financial assistance, particularly for single, working parents and training early educators\u003c/a> in subsidized programs. The philanthropic organization will phase out the program so it can develop and implement a strategic plan to expand access to child care in Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More on Bay Area Child Care' tag='child-care']Gaidmore said her agency used \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/21/fact-sheet-american-rescue-plan-funds-provided-a-critical-lifeline-to-200000-child-care-providers-helping-millions-of-families-to-work/\">federal pandemic aid\u003c/a> to help family child care homes get properly licensed to increase the kind of facilities set up for infant care. It’s also administering a guaranteed income program for 21 entry-level early educators, giving them $8,000 in stipends per year over a three-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to focus on teachers who were just coming into the field and how we could encourage them to stay there,” Gaidmore said. “We know that they’re the lowest paid. So it made more sense to bring that in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the nearly 90 families enrolled at the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center, Gaidmore said she’s trying to secure funding to minimize potential child care disruption for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our concern is really supporting those families in any way we can, and obviously the teachers and staff of the center,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "One of few subsidized options in Marin County, the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center faces closure from lease loss, worsening the child care shortage in this Bay Area county.",
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"title": "A Child Care Center's Possible Closure Shows Dire Shortage in Marin County | KQED",
"description": "One of few subsidized options in Marin County, the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center faces closure from lease loss, worsening the child care shortage in this Bay Area county.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As a social worker connecting residents to public assistance programs in Marin County, Amy Gramajo frequently helps families apply for free or low-cost child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those families typically qualify for subsidized child care, but they wind up waiting for months, or even years before they land an open spot at a child care program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I don’t have any close family nearby to help me. If the center closes I don’t think I can maintain a full-time job or continue paying for an apartment here.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The shortage of affordable child care in one of the most expensive counties in the Bay Area is weighing heavily on Gramajo. A center where she sends her 5- and 8-year-old daughters for child care is at risk of closing after losing its lease last month, putting dozens of working parents like her on edge about whether they’ll be able to find alternative care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have any close family nearby to help me. If the center closes I don’t think I can maintain a full-time job or continue paying for an apartment here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For five decades, the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center has played a vital role in the lives of hundreds of lower-income families who rely on its early education and after-school programs. It’s one of just a few subsidized child care centers in Marin. Parents and students cherish the close-knit community and the fact that it’s located in a county park at the foot of Mount Tamalpais, giving children ample space to play outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re surrounded by all these amazing trees and hiking trails, just being so close to nature is such an important part of any human’s development,” said Vesta Torres, 29, one of several teachers who started coming to the center as babies and who now work there to raise the next generation of kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For single or working parents with school-age kids, the center crucially fills in the gap during the afternoon hours or periods when school is out. Eva Polony said the center helped her get through the pandemic by providing a place for her teenage sons to go. The center also supervised her sons’ online learning while she was at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961419\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961419 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of children on mats watch an adult in front of them.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Annie Hanna teaches a yoga class for children at the Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They are here for the essential workers and then some,” she said. “They’re just the foundation for families to keep working and to be able to feel secure. You know your kids’ needs are gonna be met.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the center’s future is uncertain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘They are here for the essential workers and then some. They’re just the foundation for families to keep working and to be able to feel secure. You know your kids’ needs are gonna be met.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Its aging buildings have structural issues that led the Ross Valley School District, which owns the campus, to terminate the center’s lease on Aug. 31. The school board president, Shelley Hamilton, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2mxmguLyVw&t=1457s\">at a recent hearing\u003c/a> that there were no immediate plans to evict the nonprofit organization that runs the center, but by operating without a lease, the group was exposing itself to increased safety and liability risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The center was holding out hope that the county Office of Education would buy the property and lease it back to the center. The office scrapped its plan, however, after a building inspection report concluded it might cost at least $14 million to bring the property up to current safety standards — an amount that John Carroll, the superintendent of Marin County schools, said his office doesn’t have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heidi Tomsky, the center’s executive director, disputes the findings of the report. She said inspectors were holding the buildings to more stringent standards reserved for schools, rather than for a licensed child care program like the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961416\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961416 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair interacts with two children in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Executive Director Heidi Tomsky works with children on an art project at the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center. The center is one of the few to offer low-cost, subsidized child care in Marin County and is facing eviction after losing its lease on Aug. 31. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Under state law, child care centers undergo random inspections by the Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing division to ensure they meet all health and safety requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that the buildings need renovations. I’m not quite sure or convinced yet that they’re unsafe to the standard that some people believe they are,” Tomsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added that closing the center would create a ripple effect for the parents who send their kids there, many of whom are gardeners, house cleaners and restaurant and grocery store workers in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Losing child care means likely that a family will lose their job, which will impact their housing, which will impact their food, which will impact their … whole entire economic security.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Losing child care means likely that a family will lose their job, which will impact their housing, which will impact their food, which will impact their … whole entire economic security,” Tomsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County is already one of the most expensive places to live in California, so the cost of child care is just as high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://unitedwaysca.org/realcost/\">A recent report by the United Ways of California\u003c/a> found that nearly a quarter of households in Marin don’t earn enough to meet basic needs, including housing, food, transportation and child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last five years, the average price for preschool in Marin has gone up nearly 40% to $2,315 a month, and up to $2,600 per month for infant care, according to Aideen Gaidmore, executive director of the Marin Child Care Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high cost of child care is why more than 900 children are on a waitlist her agency maintains for subsidized child care, Gaidmore said. That means they qualify for low-cost or free child care, but there’s no guarantee they’ll get it because of insufficient funding, staffing or facilities to serve them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961417\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11961417\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A building and play area with children and adults in it.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at the Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center in the Deer Park area of Fairfax. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There are families who are eligible, but will never be pulled off that list for whatever reason,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Increased state funding and federal pandemic aid for child care have helped her agency to serve hundreds more families in the last two years, Gaidmore said, but the number of available slots hasn’t kept pace with demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘There are families who are eligible, but will never be pulled off that list for whatever reason.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There have been attempts locally to boost access to early education for Marin’s underserved children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, a proposal \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/depts/rv/election-info/past-elections/page-data/tabs-collection/past2016/nov-8/measure/measurea\">to raise the local sales tax by a \u003c/a>quarter-cent to raise about $12 million per year for the cause received 63% of votes, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass. (A local taxpayer group \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/depts/rv/election-info/past-elections/page-data/tabs-collection/past2016/nov-8/measure/measurea\">argued in voters’ pamphlets \u003c/a>that if the measure passed “many will flock to Marin for free child care.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Left with limited resources, local nonprofits such as the Marin Community Foundation instead focused on \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincf.org/buck-family-fund-grants/economic-opportunity/access-to-quality-child-care\">funding $1.5 million each year on financial assistance, particularly for single, working parents and training early educators\u003c/a> in subsidized programs. The philanthropic organization will phase out the program so it can develop and implement a strategic plan to expand access to child care in Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Gaidmore said her agency used \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/21/fact-sheet-american-rescue-plan-funds-provided-a-critical-lifeline-to-200000-child-care-providers-helping-millions-of-families-to-work/\">federal pandemic aid\u003c/a> to help family child care homes get properly licensed to increase the kind of facilities set up for infant care. It’s also administering a guaranteed income program for 21 entry-level early educators, giving them $8,000 in stipends per year over a three-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to focus on teachers who were just coming into the field and how we could encourage them to stay there,” Gaidmore said. “We know that they’re the lowest paid. So it made more sense to bring that in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the nearly 90 families enrolled at the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center, Gaidmore said she’s trying to secure funding to minimize potential child care disruption for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our concern is really supporting those families in any way we can, and obviously the teachers and staff of the center,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "how-to-prep-your-kid-for-kindergarten-if-they-havent-been-to-preschool",
"title": "Kindergarten Readiness: A Guide for Parents Without Preschool Access",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s a harsh reality that the first few years of being a parent, when you’re operating on little sleep and learning a completely new set of skills, are some of \u003ca href=\"https://www.zerotothree.org/\">the most important years in a child’s brain development\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>America’s child care shortage makes the first few years even trickier for parents to navigate. \u003ca href=\"https://strongnation.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/1596/4db2b14c-a85b-4b49-9390-c6b90935e3de.pdf\">Seventy-four percent of parents who responded to a nationwide survey in 2022 (PDF)\u003c/a> reported that child care was difficult to access. In 2018, The Center for American Progress found that \u003ca href=\"https://childcaredeserts.org/2018/index.html?state=CA&split=true\">about 51% of Americans and 60% of Californians lived in a “child care desert,”\u003c/a> where the supply of licensed child care is not enough to meet the demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finding child care could get even harder \u003ca href=\"https://tcf.org/content/report/child-care-cliff/\">when stabilization funding from the federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) ends \u003c/a>Sept. 30. One estimate found that \u003ca href=\"https://tcf.org/content/report/child-care-cliff/#\">funding loss could cause more than 13,000 child care programs in California to close\u003c/a> and more than 84,000 kids to lose child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That loss in care will likely affect elementary classrooms down the line because \u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/146/6/e20200978/77108/Kindergarten-Readiness-Later-Health-and-Social?autolog\">child care programs, including preschool, play a huge role in preparing children for kindergarten\u003c/a>, and influence kids’ academic performance throughout elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many parents want to place their kids in child care, but don’t qualify for state-subsidized care and can’t afford private care. Others either don’t have care close by or the available care doesn’t match up with their work schedules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how can parents be sure that their children are growing and learning at a healthy pace without the help of early childhood educators?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No matter the situation, there are still lots of things California parents can do to prepare their children for kindergarten, even if child care and preschool are not viable options. We created this guide with those parents in mind, to help connect them to resources so that they don’t have to face the school readiness challenge alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading to learn why preparing a child for kindergarten is so important, and\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about the tools available to help California families\u003c/span>. Or jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#milestones\">What are my child’s developmental milestones to know?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#readiness\">How can I improve my kid’s “kindergarten readiness”?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#statewide\">What early learning and development resources does the state offer?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#local\">What early learning and development resources does my Bay Area county offer?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Preparing for kindergarten without child care\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922708/californias-2-7-billion-plan-to-expand-transitional-kindergarten-is-off-to-an-uneven-start\">California is in the process of expanding transitional kindergarten\u003c/a> to include all 4-year-olds, which will help close the school readiness gap for children who don’t have access to private preschool. \u003ca href=\"https://www.childcarelaw.org/content/quick-guide-to-affordable-child-care-programs-in-california/\">There are state and federal no-cost or subsidized child care programs\u003c/a> for families that receive CalWORKS benefits, for children experiencing homelessness and abuse, some foster children, and for families who meet low-income requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need a guide on right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>But for the many Californians who don’t qualify for public programs and who cannot find or afford early childhood care on their own, there are some parenting resources and support systems in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#statewide\">Statewide initiatives like Early Start and First 5 California\u003c/a> offer developmental assessments and tools to help build early literacy and numeracy skills at home. And state programs often contract with local nonprofit organizations to provide culturally-relevant programming. These resources can help parents navigate the first few years when child care is hardest to find and when kids’ neural networks are developing at a rapid rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One example of a culturally-relevant resource is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.capsonoma.org/pasitos-playgroups/\">Pasitos program\u003c/a>, started by Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County in 2006 to help boost school readiness for the county’s Latinx communities. Resources like Pasitos are especially crucial in Sonoma County, where the supply of licensed care has been decimated by repeated natural disasters — the devastating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11715439/pge-says-unlicensed-electrical-work-may-have-sparked-tubbs-fire-disaster\">Tubbs Fire\u003c/a> in 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.santarosametrochamber.com/programs/employer-supported-child-care/\">resulted in the loss of 15 programs, displacing 444 children practically overnight\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Pasitos, parents and their kids attend weekly classes, taught in Spanish, at numerous sites throughout the county.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Samantha Carranza, Pasitos parent\"]‘Even a small program like this, when we come for a few hours a week, it’s made a huge difference in my children.’[/pullquote]“We are celebrating the ending of the first school year for these children,” said Ingrid Arceo as she looked around at the toddlers swarming the play structure at a neighborhood park in Santa Rosa. “They are in our Primero Pasitos, that’s when they’re 16 months to two years. For some of them, this is their very first time they’re attending a playgroup for any social setting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way that Pasitos prepares students for school is by getting them familiar with routine and structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have free play at the beginning of their class and then they gather for a circle with the teacher where they sing and read books,” said Arceo. “They talk about different themes every week, like weather, or animals. And then they have an activity that the teacher plans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kids also get a chance to play and work through conflict with other children. That’s especially important because social and emotional regulation is a large component of kindergarten readiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A link to early intervention\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When Samantha Carranza and her husband calculated what child care would cost, they decided it made more sense for Samantha to stay at home full-time rather than return to work. Carranza and her husband are now celebrating their daughter’s graduation from Primero Pasitos, something they wish they knew about when they were first-time parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My daughter has the advantage of coming to this program and it’s night and day,” said Carranza. “Even a small program like this, when we come for a few hours a week, it’s made a huge difference in my children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960470\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960470\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED.jpg\" alt='A table top with with a blue table cloth and cardboard graduation caps and paperwork reading \"Primeros Pasitos: Congratulations.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Graduation gifts and certificates ready to be handed out to participants of the Primero Pasitos program in Santa Rosa on May 17. 2023. \u003ccite>(Amanda Stupi/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Carranza’s son has a speech delay. She said if she had enrolled in Pasitos when he was younger, she would have sought help for his delay earlier because the program taught her about developmental timelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew that it wasn’t normal for a 2-year-old to have no words,” said Carranza. “When I brought it up to his pediatrician, she said, ‘Well, it’s the middle of the pandemic and he’s a boy. Boys talk a lot later.’ In a way, dismissing me. But at the time it was kind of what I wanted to hear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After learning about speech therapy from another parent, Carranza connected with the North Bay Regional Center, part of California’s Early Start Program that offers evaluations and services to kids under the age of 3 who are at risk of having developmental or intellectual disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t really know how serious it is to really make sure that your children are hitting certain milestones,” said Carranza. “And I think a lot of us, we don’t know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The advantage of a peer group\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Amy Westling, executive director of the Association of Regional Center Agencies, said parents with kids in child care or preschool have an advantage when it comes to identifying developmental differences in their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you see children who are about the same age as your child, doing things that your child hasn’t done, it sometimes triggers families to think through perhaps there could be a challenge that their child needs some additional support with,” said Westling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, a preschool teacher or caregiver can offer a second opinion when a doctor raises or dismisses concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When doctor visits fall short\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/health-management/Pages/Well-Child-Care-A-Check-Up-for-Success.aspx\">The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children have preventative check-ins\u003c/a>, often called “well visits,” at 12 different times between birth and 3 years of age. These visits should continue once a year after a child turns 3.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AAP recommends that kids receive developmental and behavioral screenings during the 9-, 18- and 30-month well visits, and that kids be screened for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at their 18- and 24-month visits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But studies indicate that \u003ca href=\"https://www.zerotothree.org/resource/whats-the-most-compelling-data-or-statistic-in-the-early-childhood-field-youve-seen-lately/\">many kids are not being assessed\u003c/a> and that \u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/129/6/1027/32022/Missed-Opportunities-in-the-Referral-of-High-Risk\">developmental delays are being missed\u003c/a>. Research shows that \u003ca href=\"https://ectacenter.org/~pdfs/topics/racialequity/factsheet-racialequity-2023.pdf\">white children and children of wealthier and more educated parents are more likely to be screened (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Early Childhood Education and Care' tag='early-childhood-education-and-care']Westling says that pediatricians and other healthcare providers often don’t have enough time with patients to complete an adequate assessment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They often see them for 10 or 15 minutes every three months or so,” said Westling. “They may rely upon families’ identification of concerns to really trigger a more in-depth exploration. But their families don’t have the awareness that the child may be falling behind same-age peers. They may not flag that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Families on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11944543/on-medi-cal-eligibility-changes-starting-in-april-could-mean-you-lose-coverage-heres-what-to-do\">Medi-Cal\u003c/a> should be especially concerned about short visits, says Westling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pediatricians who accept various types of insurance, particularly Medi-Cal, have to make their practices financially viable, oftentimes through high volume.” said Westling. “So it may be that children who have Medi-Cal as their primary insurance may find that their appointment times are shorter than children who have private commercial insurance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes even if a pediatrician takes the time to conduct an assessment, a child may behave differently in a clinical setting, making it harder to discern between a developmental delay and a scared child acting timid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960375\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960375\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A kindergarten-age white child high-fives a young Black woman teacher in a classroom\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Developmental milestones are important to track because the earlier a child receives help, the more likely they are to overcome a challenge. \u003ccite>(Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"milestones\">\u003c/a>Resources to learn about developmental milestones\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-2mo.html\">The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a developmental milestone\u003c/a> as something that 75% or more children can do by a certain age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The milestones help parents and doctors track children’s growth across physical, cognitive, language and social-emotional areas. Examples of milestones include a child’s ability to hold their head up, to point or to string a certain number of words together in a sentence. If a child misses a milestone it could be an indication that they need extra help to fully develop in one area or that they face a more serious disability or health problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Milestones are important to track because the earlier a child receives help, the more likely they are to overcome a delay or challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most important thing for people to realize is that children can make incredible progress,” said Westling. “And they make the best progress the earlier we can intervene in their lives and in their development. Their little minds are like sponges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/index.html\">The CDC has lots of great information on developmental milestones\u003c/a>, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-in-action.html\">videos of milestones in action\u003c/a> as well as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones-app.html\">milestone-tracking app\u003c/a>, available in English and Spanish, to help you keep track of your child’s development.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.healthychildren.org/English/Pages/default.aspx\">American Academy of Pediatrics’ website organizes milestones and skills by age, making it fairly easy to find information quickly\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) is a common screening tool. \u003ca href=\"https://agesandstages.com/about-asq/for-parents/\">Read answers to commonly-asked questions about this questionnaire.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>California’s Early Start operates a toll-free “babyline” at 800–515–BABY (800–515–2229). You can also email \u003ca href=\"mailto:earlystart@dds.ca.gov\">earlystart@dds.ca.gov\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"readiness\">\u003c/a>Resources to learn about kindergarten readiness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s no single, standardized checklist for kindergarten readiness skills, largely because there is no state or federal requirement for schools to assess them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the school districts that do track kindergarten readiness, several different assessment tools are used. Sarah Crow, managing director of the \u003ca href=\"https://first5center.org/publications/readying-our-state-how-kindergarten-readiness-inventories-can-benefit-california\">First 5 Center for Children’s Policy\u003c/a>, says 35 states are in the process of implementing assessments and that 25 counties in California currently track kindergarten readiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most experts agree that kids entering kindergarten should have some exposure to language and reading, numbers and counting, logic and sorting, and some practice regulating emotions and playing with other children their age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Readiness, as it’s sort of been defined and studied, is about literacy and numeracy knowledge,” said Crow. “But it also refers to things like the ability to listen and ask questions, express your thoughts and communicate and demonstrate some self regulation, like sit on a rug in a kindergarten classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care providers trained in early childhood development incorporate these skills into daily activities. Similarly, parents may already be teaching these skills without even realizing it — \u003ca href=\"https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/pubs/pi2e-first-look.pdf\">every interaction has potential to be educational for babies and infants (PDF)\u003c/a>. Still, intention goes a long way and experts have tips for how to incorporate numeracy and literacy into your day-to-day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/preschool/Pages/Is-Your-Child-Ready-for-School.aspx\">The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a good overview of kindergarten readiness\u003c/a>, including addressing misconceptions about “redshirting,” the parental practice of starting kids in kindergarten late in an attempt to give them a better chance at success.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cocokids.org/beginning-kindergarten-skills/\">Explore an exhaustive list of actions kindergartners may be expected to have the ability to do\u003c/a> via CocoKids, a nonprofit that champions quality child care and early education in Contra Costa County.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) \u003ca href=\"https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/math\">offers lots of resources to help you incorporate math concepts at home\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>First 5’s parenting site \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5california.com/en-us/articles/everyday-opportunities-for-speech-language-and-literacy-development-newborn-baby-toddler-preschooler/\">features a list of ways to encourage language skills in your child\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://talkingisteaching.org/\">Talking Is Teaching public awareness campaign\u003c/a> has great advice for how to have verbal interactions with someone who can’t talk back to you yet — their \u003ca href=\"https://talkingisteaching.org/big-feelings\">videos about developing social-emotional skills are helpful too\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Here’s a \u003ca href=\"https://d4804za1f1gw.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/72/2019/10/28103533/HelpChildRead.pdf\">helpful quick-reference PDF from Contra Costa County Library (PDF)\u003c/a> with guidance on how to have everyday educational interactions with your child, from talking to reading and playing. (You may want to paste this one to the fridge.)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"statewide\">\u003c/a>Statewide resources for early learning and development\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When it comes to finding resources related to child care and child development, three California programs will be key: the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, First 5 California and Early Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://rrnetwork.org/family-services/find-child-care\">California Child Care Resource and Referral Network\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each county in California \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/rragencylist.asp\">has at least one agency that’s part of the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network\u003c/a>. These offices focus on helping parents find child care and recruiting and training more family child care providers: people who care for small groups of kids in their homes. Even if you’re not looking for child care specifically, these agencies can be a good place to contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the organizations that have resource and referral (R&R) contracts provide other services as well — think play groups, parenting classes and financial assistance. Each agency varies, but chances are the people working at your local R&R center know about many of the resources in your community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://rrnetwork.org/\">Look up your local resource and referral agency within the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ccfc.ca.gov/index.html\">First 5 California\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First 5 California is a statewide organization with a presence in each county. First 5 was established in 1998 when voters approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.ccfc.ca.gov/about/prop_10.html\">Proposition 10\u003c/a>, which imposed a tax on tobacco products. The collected funds are divided between First 5 at the state level and a First 5 commission in each county. At a statewide level, First 5 advocates for policies that support children up to 5 years of age and their families. \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5california.com/en-us/\">First 5 operates a resource website for parents that’s worth checking out\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like R&R agencies, each First 5 county commission varies in focus, depending on what challenges families in the region face. Local efforts range from parenting groups to child development classes to tracking kindergarten readiness. Again, if your local First 5 office doesn’t offer a service directly, the people working there likely know who does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ccfc.ca.gov/family/family.html#find\">Find your local First 5 office\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dds.ca.gov/services/early-start/\">Early Start\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early Start is California’s early intervention program for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or those at risk for having a developmental disability. Most people interact with Early Start through one of 21 regional centers throughout the state. Regional centers are agencies contracted by the state to manage services for families with children under 3 years old who have or are at risk of having a developmental disability or delay. Some families are referred to regional centers immediately after birth by a neonatal intensive care unit. Other families may be referred later on by a pediatrician, and still other parents call on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no cost for an evaluation, and one is supposed to be conducted within 45 days of when a parent first contacts the center. \u003ca href=\"https://www.dds.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EarlyStart_FAQ_01262023-.pdf\">This FAQ by the California Dept. of Developmental Services is straightforward and may answer many of the questions you have about calling a center \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dds.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EarlyStart_FAQ_01262023-.pdf\">(PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dds.ca.gov/rc/lookup-rcs-by-county/\">Look up an Early Start regional center near you\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"local\">\u003c/a>Bay Area resources by county for early learning and development\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scroll down to find your Bay Area county below. This guide focuses on programs that can help parents without access to child care make sure their young children are kindergarten-ready. The classes and playgroups here do not require the time or financial commitment of more traditional child care or preschool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the local outposts of the larger statewide organizations mentioned above, parents looking to bolster their kids’ school readiness should check out their local libraries and recreation departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area libraries offer much more than traditional storytimes. Kids can dial a number and have a story read to them in English or Spanish — another library has worked to place books in barbershops — and several libraries have project kits that kids can check out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most recreation departments offer some kind of financial assistance for classes, but that information is often not easy to find. If cost is preventing you from registering for a class, call your county’s recreation and parks department and ask about scholarships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alameda County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://alamedakids.org/resource-directory/early-childhood-resource-directory.php\">Explore First 5 Alameda County’s parenting resources.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://4calameda.org/\">Alameda County 4Cs\u003c/a> offers a play group for children ages 3-5. Find more information on their \u003ca href=\"https://4calameda.org/events-trainings/\">events calendar\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Find \u003ca href=\"https://alamedakids.org/resource-directory/view-program.php?id=782\">free playgroups offered by Oakland Parks and Recreation\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Kids attending kindergarten the next year can enroll in a \u003ca href=\"https://alamedakids.org/summer-pre-kindergarten\">free 5–6 week crash course called Summer Pre-Kindergarten\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://bananasbunch.org/\">Bananas Bunch\u003c/a> in Oakland offers \u003ca href=\"https://bananasbunch.org/bananas-workshops-trainings/\">workshops for parents and caregivers\u003c/a> at multiple locations, \u003ca href=\"https://bananasbunch.org/east-oakland-office-resources/\">including one in East Oakland\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>510 Families features a \u003ca href=\"https://www.510families.com/free-storytimes-east-bay/\">helpful listing of free storytimes in the East Bay\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation\">Berkeley’s Parks and Rec Dept.\u003c/a> offers \u003ca href=\"https://rec.berkeleyca.gov/CA/berkeley-ca/catalog/index/1b0541170dcfdbf827582958f16afda6?filter=c2VhcmNoPXdlZSUyMHBsYXk=\">Together Wee Play\u003c/a>, a drop-in playgroup for parents and their kids. Staff offer ideas for play and skill building. Some scholarships available. There’s \u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Fall-Winter-Activity-Guide_2023-08-15.pdf\">much more in their fall and winter activity guide (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Explore the \u003ca href=\"https://aclibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/events\">Alameda County Library’s Event Calendar here\u003c/a>, including make and play labs, storytimes and more.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.alamedafree.org/PROGRAMS-SERVICES/Childrens-Services/Childrens-Activities\">Find storytimes at the city of Alameda’s Free Library\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://behively.org/\">Hively\u003c/a> operates five family resource centers throughout the county and offers child care resource and referral services.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Contra Costa County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.first5coco.org/who-we-are/\">First 5 Contra Costa\u003c/a> operates \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5coco.org/strengthening-families/first-5-centers/first-5-centers/\">five centers throughout the county, each with a downloadable event calendar available in English and Spanish\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cocokids.org/\">Coco Kids offers child care resource and referral services\u003c/a> and other family supportive services.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/106/Recreation\">Richmond’s recreation department\u003c/a> offers a drop-in play group at two locations. Cost is $5. \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/66240/2023-Fall-Activity-Guide---Eng-PDF\">Find more information on page 6 of the Fall Activity Guide (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://pram.net/playgroups-1\">Pram (Parents, Resources and More) operates volunteer-led playgroups in and around Richmond\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Contra Costa County libraries offer \u003ca href=\"https://ccclib.org/earlylit/\">storytimes\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://ccclib.org/kids/#story-walk\">story walks\u003c/a>. They also offer \u003ca href=\"https://ccclib.org/kindergarten-countdown/\">Kindergarten Countdown activity kits\u003c/a>, with some also available in Spanish.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.antiochca.gov/recreation/\">Antioch’s\u003c/a> Recreation Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.antiochca.gov/fc/recreation/RecGuide.pdf\">offers tumbling and dance classes, some on Saturdays, for young kids (PDF)\u003c/a>. Scholarships are available.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Pittsburg’s recreation department \u003ca href=\"https://secure.rec1.com/CA/city-of-pittsburg/catalog\">offers a Mommy and Me Yoga class and more\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marin County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Explore \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5marin.org/parenting/\">First 5 Marin’s parenting resources\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Marin Child Care Council \u003ca href=\"https://www.mc3.org/\">offers child care referrals and training for parents and providers\u003c/a>. They also run \u003ca href=\"https://www.mc3.org/playgroups\">Kaleidoscope Play and Learn\u003c/a>, a playgroup for children ages 0–5.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Help Me Grow Marin \u003ca href=\"https://helpmegrowmarin.org/\">helps parents find developmental and behavioral screenings\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Parent Services Project \u003ca href=\"https://parentservices.org/program/literacy-child-development-supports/\">offers a Raising a Reader program where participants access a rotating selection of books\u003c/a>. They also offer playgroups in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood and in Point Reyes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>North Marin Community Services operates out of Novato and offers lots of services \u003ca href=\"https://www.northmarincs.org/education-programs/developmental-playgroup/\">including a developmental playgroup for ages 2–5\u003c/a>. They also \u003ca href=\"https://www.northmarincs.org/pathways-to-programs/\">offer individual peer emotional support\u003c/a> for Spanish speakers.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Marin County Free Library \u003ca href=\"https://marinlibrary.org/kids-0-5/\">offers multiple story times throughout the week and also has online story playlists\u003c/a>. There’s also a \u003ca href=\"https://marinlibrary.org/learning-bus/\">learning bus\u003c/a> that brings free, bilingual activities to locations throughout the county. In West Marin, they \u003ca href=\"https://marinlibrary.org/west-marin-literacy-services/\">offer a yearly Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) program and a summertime Reading on the Ranches program\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Napa County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.first5napa.org/\">Explore First 5 Napa’s parenting resources\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://crcnapa.org/family-friend-and-neighbor/\">Community Resources for Children\u003c/a> offers bilingual resources with a focus on informal caregivers like family, friends, and neighbors. They also offer \u003ca href=\"https://crcnapa.org/portfolio-item/active-minds/\">Active Minds, a six-week program for parents and their children designed to promote school readiness skills through play\u003c/a>. Space is limited.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.countyofnapa.org/911/Storytimes\">Napa County Library offers storytimes at four locations\u003c/a>. The Napa branch offers a Spanish-language storytime. That branch also hosts \u003ca href=\"https://www.countyofnapa.org/236/Parenting-Classes\">Triple P positive parenting classes\u003c/a>, which provide parenting information and support.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cope Family Center \u003ca href=\"https://www.copefamilycenter.org/about-parenting-classes\">offers Triple P positive parenting classes for parents of kids 2 years and older\u003c/a>. The classes are free and most are offered in Spanish and English.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>UpValley Family Resource Center \u003ca href=\"https://upvalleyfamilycenters.org/events/\">offers playgroups in St. Helena and Calistoga\u003c/a>. It also offers books through the Raising a Reader program and a \u003ca href=\"https://upvalleyfamilycenters.org/children-youth-schools/\">summer bridge program for incoming kindergartners\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>San Mateo County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://first5sanmateo.org/\">Explore First 5 San Mateo’s parenting resources\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sanmateo4cs.org/families/child-care-referrals/\">San Mateo 4Cs\u003c/a> offers child care referrals and training and support for providers.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://helpmegrowsmc.org/\">Help Me Grow\u003c/a> connects parents, caregivers and providers with information and resources about early childhood development.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://web2.myvscloud.com/wbwsc/casanmateowt.wsc/\">city of San Mateo Parks and Recreation Department\u003c/a> offers several child care programs and a variety of Adult and Child classes. Kids can participate in some activities like ballet and soccer by themselves starting at age 4. There are class fees but the city activity guide says that financial assistance may be available if requested at least 10 business days before a class starts.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.burlingame.org/library/services/kids/storytimecorner.php\">Burlingame City Library\u003c/a> hosts four different storytimes throughout the week.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://ccy.jfcs.org/workshops/\">Center for Children and Youth, part of Jewish Family and Children’s Services\u003c/a>, puts on playgroups throughout the Bay Area. The most regular offerings appear to be on the Peninsula. Playgroups cost $10 each.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dalycity.org/845/About-Us\">Daly City’s\u003c/a> recreation department \u003ca href=\"https://anc.apm.activecommunities.com/dalycity/daycare/program/185?onlineSiteId=0&locale=en-US&from_original_cui=true&online=true\">hosts a Tiny Tot Playtime\u003c/a>. Cost is $5 for residents, $6.50 for nonresidents. The department \u003ca href=\"https://www.dalycity.org/DocumentCenter/View/769/Scholarship-Policy-and-Application-PDF?bidId=\">does have some scholarships available (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dalycity.org/289/Kids\">Daly City Library\u003c/a> offers numerous storytimes at its branches, including two that start at 6 p.m.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://smcl.bibliocommons.com/v2/events?_gl=1*rq44ly*_ga*NTIwNTgxMzAxLjE2OTI2NzkzMjA.*_ga_G99DMMNG39*MTY5MjY3OTMyMS4xLjAuMTY5MjY3OTMyMS4wLjAuMA..*_ga_C65HB4ZH63*MTY5MjY3OTMyMS4xLjAuMTY5MjY3OTMyMS4wLjAuMA..&locations=1E\">The San Mateo County Library\u003c/a> hosts a weekly bilingual story time at the East Palo Alto branch.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/library/events/storytimes-calendar-events\">Redwood City Public Library’s offerings\u003c/a> include evening “pajama” storytimes in Spanish and English.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/parks-recreation-and-community-services/activities-programs/activity-guide\">Redwood City Parks and Recreation offers several different preschool options\u003c/a> including Spanish and Persian immersion programs. \u003ca href=\"https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/parks-recreation-and-community-services/early-learning\">Various Adult and Child classes are offered\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ssf.net/departments/parks-recreation/\">South San Francisco\u003c/a> Parks and Recreation Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssf.net/home/showpublisheddocument/30344/638263894278470000\">offers some preschool programming and classes (PDF)\u003c/a>, including a PE-style class called “Gym Daddy.” Scholarships are available for city residents.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ssf.net/departments/library/kids\">The South San Francisco Public Library offers storytimes\u003c/a> in Cantonese and Tagalog, as well as a storytime that takes place outside.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>San Francisco\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/\">San Francisco’s Department of Early Childhood\u003c/a> operates 26 family resource centers throughout the city. Offerings at each vary, but span from playgroups to Triple P positive parenting classes. \u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/family-event-calendar/\">Explore the department’s family event calendar\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/\">San Francisco’s Department of Recreation and Parks\u003c/a> offers free, drop-in “kinder gyms” for kids 4 years and younger and their caregivers \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/406/Recreation-Programs\">at various sites throughout the city\u003c/a>. Some classes are also geared for kids ages 3–5.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/kids\">San Francisco Public Library\u003c/a> offers storytimes for different age groups in multiple languages at branches across the city.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.ymcasf.org/family-resource-centers\">YMCA of San Francisco\u003c/a> operates a handful of family resource centers across the city.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Santa Clara County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.first5kids.org/\">First 5 Santa Clara\u003c/a> operates 20 Family Resource Centers throughout the county that \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5kids.org/what-we-fund/family-strengthening-initiative/family-resource-center/\">offer parenting classes and a wide range of resources\u003c/a>, including bridge libraries with books available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and other languages.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.childcarescc.org/\">Santa Clara County Childcare Resource and Referral agencies\u003c/a> help families locate child care, offer training for child care providers and help with locating developmental screenings.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.inclusioncollaborative.org/warmline.aspx\">Inclusion Support WarmLine\u003c/a> offers support for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities and other challenges. They can also be reached at (408) 453-6651 or by email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:inclusionwarmline@sccoe.org\">inclusionwarmline@sccoe.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sccld.org/kids/\">The Santa Clara County Library District\u003c/a> offers storytimes for different age groups at multiple branches including bilingual options and one geared toward kids with special needs. There’s also a “Play and Learn” offering that incorporates 30 minutes of free play for kids 1–5 years old.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The district also offers members free access to \u003ca href=\"https://sccld.org/ready-rosie/\">Ready Rosie, an online subscription tool that provides videos and tips for early literacy\u003c/a>. Ready Rosie is available in English and Spanish. The district’s website also includes a page \u003ca href=\"https://sccld.org/kinderreadiness/\">dedicated to kindergarten readiness\u003c/a>, which includes resources for developing literacy and information on registering for kindergarten.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/parks-recreation\">Cupertino Parks and Recreation\u003c/a> offers dance, sport and music classes starting as young as 2 years old, but most start at age 4. There are class fees but limited scholarships are available. Search by activities \u003ca href=\"https://anc.apm.activecommunities.com/cupertino/activity/search?onlineSiteId=0&locale=en-US&activity_select_param=2&max_age=4&viewMode=list\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofgilroy.org/340/Recreation-Division\">Gilroy Recreation’s classes for kids\u003c/a> include dance, soccer and science classes. \u003ca href=\"https://secure.rec1.com/CA/gilroy-ca/catalog\">Some of Gilroy Recreation’s classes start as early as age 2\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lasmadres.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=177487&module_id=9888\">Las Madres playgroups\u003c/a> offers memberships at $85 annually.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sjpl.org/early-education\">San José Public Library events for kids\u003c/a> include storytimes, play groups, art activities. Library members also get free access to Ready4K, a service that texts early learning strategies once a week. The library also has \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC29BE8C245D07700\">70 recorded story times on YouTube\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sclibrary.org/kids-teens/kids/resources-for-little-ones-kindergarten-under\">The Santa Clara City Library\u003c/a> offers storytimes, including bilingual and “Stay and Play” options. They also \u003ca href=\"https://www.sclibrary.org/kids-teens/kids/dial-a-story\">offer a Dial-a-Story service\u003c/a> in English and Spanish and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sclibrary.org/kids-teens/kids/early-literacy-kits\">early literacy kits that you can check out\u003c/a> and use while at the library.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Solano County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.solanocounty.com/depts/first5/default.asp\">First 5 Solano County\u003c/a> operates a family center in Vallejo which offers parenting classes, developmental assessments, car seat fittings and drop-in play groups and \u003ca href=\"https://solanotriplep.com/\">offers Triple P positive parenting classes\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://solanofamily.org/\">Solano Family and Children’s Services\u003c/a> offers child care referrals and trainings for providers.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Solano County Library \u003ca href=\"https://solanolibrary.com/services/storytimes/\">offers storytimes for three different age groups under 5\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://solanolibrary.evanced.info/signup\">events\u003c/a> like Coloring Book Week and Read to a Dog. They also \u003ca href=\"https://solanolibrary.com/kids/storytime-kits/\">offer thematic online literacy kits\u003c/a> for young children and operate \u003ca href=\"https://solanolibrary.com/kids/reading-at-the-barbershop/\">Reading at the Barbershop,\u003c/a> which places books at barbershops around the county.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Explore programs \u003ca href=\"https://www.gvrd.org/teacher-kay-s-mini-alphapals\">from the Greater Vallejo Recreation District\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.solanocounty.com/depts/fvp/community_resources/family_resource_center_(frc).asp\">Nine family resource centers\u003c/a> are located throughout the county, offering a myriad of services and supports.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sonoma County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://first5sonomacounty.org/resources-for-parents/parents-resource-guide/child-activities-safety-and-clubs-for-families/\">Explore offerings from First 5 Sonoma County\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>4Cs of Sonoma County \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonoma4cs.org/families/\">offers child care referrals and training and support of child care providers\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.earlylearninginstitute.com/playgroup\">The Early Learning Institute offers multiple playgroups\u003c/a> including one for children with special needs.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Children’s Museum of Sonoma County \u003ca href=\"https://www.cmosc.org/visit/membership/access-program/\">offers Family Access Programs with reduced membership rates\u003c/a> as low as $18 a year.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.capsonoma.org/education/\">Community Action Partnership\u003c/a> offers parenting classes and support groups in English and Spanish, \u003ca href=\"https://www.capsonoma.org/pasitos-playgroups/\">including the Pasitos and Primeros program\u003c/a>. They also operate \u003ca href=\"https://www.capsonoma.org/padres-unidos/\">FUERZA\u003c/a>, a parent and youth support center.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.corazonhealdsburg.org/\">Corazón Healdsburg\u003c/a> runs a bilingual family resource center, offering case management services and classes for a variety of age groups.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rpcity.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=3037873&pageId=3360871\">Rohnert Park’s Community Services Department\u003c/a> runs a preschool program for kids ages 3–5 and offers a variety of youth classes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://rccservices.org/\">River to Coast Children’s Services\u003c/a> serves Western Sonoma County. They offer services ranging from child care referral, trainings for providers and a \u003ca href=\"https://rccservices.org/kindergym.html\">weekly kindergym playgroup\u003c/a> in Forestville.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The City of Santa Rosa Parks offers a variety classes for kids which cost money — \u003ca href=\"https://www.srcity.org/1235/Apply-for-a-Scholarship\">but you can apply for scholarships\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Sonoma County Library \u003ca href=\"https://legacy.sonomalibrary.org/kids/early-literacy/storytimes\">offers storytimes geared for different age groups at branches throughout the county\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken id=\"10483\" src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/10483.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "With child care becoming increasingly harder to access, parents are having to navigate kindergarten readiness on their own. Here’s a guide to help them do that.",
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"title": "Preparing Child for Kindergarten Without Preschool | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>t’s a harsh reality that the first few years of being a parent, when you’re operating on little sleep and learning a completely new set of skills, are some of \u003ca href=\"https://www.zerotothree.org/\">the most important years in a child’s brain development\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>America’s child care shortage makes the first few years even trickier for parents to navigate. \u003ca href=\"https://strongnation.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/1596/4db2b14c-a85b-4b49-9390-c6b90935e3de.pdf\">Seventy-four percent of parents who responded to a nationwide survey in 2022 (PDF)\u003c/a> reported that child care was difficult to access. In 2018, The Center for American Progress found that \u003ca href=\"https://childcaredeserts.org/2018/index.html?state=CA&split=true\">about 51% of Americans and 60% of Californians lived in a “child care desert,”\u003c/a> where the supply of licensed child care is not enough to meet the demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finding child care could get even harder \u003ca href=\"https://tcf.org/content/report/child-care-cliff/\">when stabilization funding from the federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) ends \u003c/a>Sept. 30. One estimate found that \u003ca href=\"https://tcf.org/content/report/child-care-cliff/#\">funding loss could cause more than 13,000 child care programs in California to close\u003c/a> and more than 84,000 kids to lose child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That loss in care will likely affect elementary classrooms down the line because \u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/146/6/e20200978/77108/Kindergarten-Readiness-Later-Health-and-Social?autolog\">child care programs, including preschool, play a huge role in preparing children for kindergarten\u003c/a>, and influence kids’ academic performance throughout elementary school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many parents want to place their kids in child care, but don’t qualify for state-subsidized care and can’t afford private care. Others either don’t have care close by or the available care doesn’t match up with their work schedules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So how can parents be sure that their children are growing and learning at a healthy pace without the help of early childhood educators?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No matter the situation, there are still lots of things California parents can do to prepare their children for kindergarten, even if child care and preschool are not viable options. We created this guide with those parents in mind, to help connect them to resources so that they don’t have to face the school readiness challenge alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading to learn why preparing a child for kindergarten is so important, and\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about the tools available to help California families\u003c/span>. Or jump straight to:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#milestones\">What are my child’s developmental milestones to know?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#readiness\">How can I improve my kid’s “kindergarten readiness”?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#statewide\">What early learning and development resources does the state offer?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#local\">What early learning and development resources does my Bay Area county offer?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Preparing for kindergarten without child care\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11922708/californias-2-7-billion-plan-to-expand-transitional-kindergarten-is-off-to-an-uneven-start\">California is in the process of expanding transitional kindergarten\u003c/a> to include all 4-year-olds, which will help close the school readiness gap for children who don’t have access to private preschool. \u003ca href=\"https://www.childcarelaw.org/content/quick-guide-to-affordable-child-care-programs-in-california/\">There are state and federal no-cost or subsidized child care programs\u003c/a> for families that receive CalWORKS benefits, for children experiencing homelessness and abuse, some foster children, and for families who meet low-income requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need a guide on right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>But for the many Californians who don’t qualify for public programs and who cannot find or afford early childhood care on their own, there are some parenting resources and support systems in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#statewide\">Statewide initiatives like Early Start and First 5 California\u003c/a> offer developmental assessments and tools to help build early literacy and numeracy skills at home. And state programs often contract with local nonprofit organizations to provide culturally-relevant programming. These resources can help parents navigate the first few years when child care is hardest to find and when kids’ neural networks are developing at a rapid rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One example of a culturally-relevant resource is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.capsonoma.org/pasitos-playgroups/\">Pasitos program\u003c/a>, started by Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County in 2006 to help boost school readiness for the county’s Latinx communities. Resources like Pasitos are especially crucial in Sonoma County, where the supply of licensed care has been decimated by repeated natural disasters — the devastating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11715439/pge-says-unlicensed-electrical-work-may-have-sparked-tubbs-fire-disaster\">Tubbs Fire\u003c/a> in 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.santarosametrochamber.com/programs/employer-supported-child-care/\">resulted in the loss of 15 programs, displacing 444 children practically overnight\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Pasitos, parents and their kids attend weekly classes, taught in Spanish, at numerous sites throughout the county.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Even a small program like this, when we come for a few hours a week, it’s made a huge difference in my children.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We are celebrating the ending of the first school year for these children,” said Ingrid Arceo as she looked around at the toddlers swarming the play structure at a neighborhood park in Santa Rosa. “They are in our Primero Pasitos, that’s when they’re 16 months to two years. For some of them, this is their very first time they’re attending a playgroup for any social setting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way that Pasitos prepares students for school is by getting them familiar with routine and structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have free play at the beginning of their class and then they gather for a circle with the teacher where they sing and read books,” said Arceo. “They talk about different themes every week, like weather, or animals. And then they have an activity that the teacher plans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kids also get a chance to play and work through conflict with other children. That’s especially important because social and emotional regulation is a large component of kindergarten readiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A link to early intervention\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When Samantha Carranza and her husband calculated what child care would cost, they decided it made more sense for Samantha to stay at home full-time rather than return to work. Carranza and her husband are now celebrating their daughter’s graduation from Primero Pasitos, something they wish they knew about when they were first-time parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My daughter has the advantage of coming to this program and it’s night and day,” said Carranza. “Even a small program like this, when we come for a few hours a week, it’s made a huge difference in my children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960470\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960470\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED.jpg\" alt='A table top with with a blue table cloth and cardboard graduation caps and paperwork reading \"Primeros Pasitos: Congratulations.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/Certificates-and-gifts.jpg-LJ-KQED-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Graduation gifts and certificates ready to be handed out to participants of the Primero Pasitos program in Santa Rosa on May 17. 2023. \u003ccite>(Amanda Stupi/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Carranza’s son has a speech delay. She said if she had enrolled in Pasitos when he was younger, she would have sought help for his delay earlier because the program taught her about developmental timelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew that it wasn’t normal for a 2-year-old to have no words,” said Carranza. “When I brought it up to his pediatrician, she said, ‘Well, it’s the middle of the pandemic and he’s a boy. Boys talk a lot later.’ In a way, dismissing me. But at the time it was kind of what I wanted to hear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After learning about speech therapy from another parent, Carranza connected with the North Bay Regional Center, part of California’s Early Start Program that offers evaluations and services to kids under the age of 3 who are at risk of having developmental or intellectual disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t really know how serious it is to really make sure that your children are hitting certain milestones,” said Carranza. “And I think a lot of us, we don’t know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The advantage of a peer group\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Amy Westling, executive director of the Association of Regional Center Agencies, said parents with kids in child care or preschool have an advantage when it comes to identifying developmental differences in their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you see children who are about the same age as your child, doing things that your child hasn’t done, it sometimes triggers families to think through perhaps there could be a challenge that their child needs some additional support with,” said Westling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similarly, a preschool teacher or caregiver can offer a second opinion when a doctor raises or dismisses concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When doctor visits fall short\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/health-management/Pages/Well-Child-Care-A-Check-Up-for-Success.aspx\">The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children have preventative check-ins\u003c/a>, often called “well visits,” at 12 different times between birth and 3 years of age. These visits should continue once a year after a child turns 3.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AAP recommends that kids receive developmental and behavioral screenings during the 9-, 18- and 30-month well visits, and that kids be screened for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at their 18- and 24-month visits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But studies indicate that \u003ca href=\"https://www.zerotothree.org/resource/whats-the-most-compelling-data-or-statistic-in-the-early-childhood-field-youve-seen-lately/\">many kids are not being assessed\u003c/a> and that \u003ca href=\"https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/129/6/1027/32022/Missed-Opportunities-in-the-Referral-of-High-Risk\">developmental delays are being missed\u003c/a>. Research shows that \u003ca href=\"https://ectacenter.org/~pdfs/topics/racialequity/factsheet-racialequity-2023.pdf\">white children and children of wealthier and more educated parents are more likely to be screened (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Westling says that pediatricians and other healthcare providers often don’t have enough time with patients to complete an adequate assessment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They often see them for 10 or 15 minutes every three months or so,” said Westling. “They may rely upon families’ identification of concerns to really trigger a more in-depth exploration. But their families don’t have the awareness that the child may be falling behind same-age peers. They may not flag that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Families on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11944543/on-medi-cal-eligibility-changes-starting-in-april-could-mean-you-lose-coverage-heres-what-to-do\">Medi-Cal\u003c/a> should be especially concerned about short visits, says Westling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pediatricians who accept various types of insurance, particularly Medi-Cal, have to make their practices financially viable, oftentimes through high volume.” said Westling. “So it may be that children who have Medi-Cal as their primary insurance may find that their appointment times are shorter than children who have private commercial insurance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes even if a pediatrician takes the time to conduct an assessment, a child may behave differently in a clinical setting, making it harder to discern between a developmental delay and a scared child acting timid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960375\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960375\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A kindergarten-age white child high-fives a young Black woman teacher in a classroom\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68798_iStock-1408303916-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Developmental milestones are important to track because the earlier a child receives help, the more likely they are to overcome a challenge. \u003ccite>(Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"milestones\">\u003c/a>Resources to learn about developmental milestones\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-2mo.html\">The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a developmental milestone\u003c/a> as something that 75% or more children can do by a certain age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The milestones help parents and doctors track children’s growth across physical, cognitive, language and social-emotional areas. Examples of milestones include a child’s ability to hold their head up, to point or to string a certain number of words together in a sentence. If a child misses a milestone it could be an indication that they need extra help to fully develop in one area or that they face a more serious disability or health problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Milestones are important to track because the earlier a child receives help, the more likely they are to overcome a delay or challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most important thing for people to realize is that children can make incredible progress,” said Westling. “And they make the best progress the earlier we can intervene in their lives and in their development. Their little minds are like sponges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/index.html\">The CDC has lots of great information on developmental milestones\u003c/a>, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-in-action.html\">videos of milestones in action\u003c/a> as well as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones-app.html\">milestone-tracking app\u003c/a>, available in English and Spanish, to help you keep track of your child’s development.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.healthychildren.org/English/Pages/default.aspx\">American Academy of Pediatrics’ website organizes milestones and skills by age, making it fairly easy to find information quickly\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) is a common screening tool. \u003ca href=\"https://agesandstages.com/about-asq/for-parents/\">Read answers to commonly-asked questions about this questionnaire.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>California’s Early Start operates a toll-free “babyline” at 800–515–BABY (800–515–2229). You can also email \u003ca href=\"mailto:earlystart@dds.ca.gov\">earlystart@dds.ca.gov\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"readiness\">\u003c/a>Resources to learn about kindergarten readiness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s no single, standardized checklist for kindergarten readiness skills, largely because there is no state or federal requirement for schools to assess them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the school districts that do track kindergarten readiness, several different assessment tools are used. Sarah Crow, managing director of the \u003ca href=\"https://first5center.org/publications/readying-our-state-how-kindergarten-readiness-inventories-can-benefit-california\">First 5 Center for Children’s Policy\u003c/a>, says 35 states are in the process of implementing assessments and that 25 counties in California currently track kindergarten readiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most experts agree that kids entering kindergarten should have some exposure to language and reading, numbers and counting, logic and sorting, and some practice regulating emotions and playing with other children their age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Readiness, as it’s sort of been defined and studied, is about literacy and numeracy knowledge,” said Crow. “But it also refers to things like the ability to listen and ask questions, express your thoughts and communicate and demonstrate some self regulation, like sit on a rug in a kindergarten classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care providers trained in early childhood development incorporate these skills into daily activities. Similarly, parents may already be teaching these skills without even realizing it — \u003ca href=\"https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/pubs/pi2e-first-look.pdf\">every interaction has potential to be educational for babies and infants (PDF)\u003c/a>. Still, intention goes a long way and experts have tips for how to incorporate numeracy and literacy into your day-to-day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/preschool/Pages/Is-Your-Child-Ready-for-School.aspx\">The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a good overview of kindergarten readiness\u003c/a>, including addressing misconceptions about “redshirting,” the parental practice of starting kids in kindergarten late in an attempt to give them a better chance at success.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cocokids.org/beginning-kindergarten-skills/\">Explore an exhaustive list of actions kindergartners may be expected to have the ability to do\u003c/a> via CocoKids, a nonprofit that champions quality child care and early education in Contra Costa County.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) \u003ca href=\"https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/math\">offers lots of resources to help you incorporate math concepts at home\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>First 5’s parenting site \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5california.com/en-us/articles/everyday-opportunities-for-speech-language-and-literacy-development-newborn-baby-toddler-preschooler/\">features a list of ways to encourage language skills in your child\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://talkingisteaching.org/\">Talking Is Teaching public awareness campaign\u003c/a> has great advice for how to have verbal interactions with someone who can’t talk back to you yet — their \u003ca href=\"https://talkingisteaching.org/big-feelings\">videos about developing social-emotional skills are helpful too\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Here’s a \u003ca href=\"https://d4804za1f1gw.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/72/2019/10/28103533/HelpChildRead.pdf\">helpful quick-reference PDF from Contra Costa County Library (PDF)\u003c/a> with guidance on how to have everyday educational interactions with your child, from talking to reading and playing. (You may want to paste this one to the fridge.)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"statewide\">\u003c/a>Statewide resources for early learning and development\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When it comes to finding resources related to child care and child development, three California programs will be key: the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, First 5 California and Early Start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://rrnetwork.org/family-services/find-child-care\">California Child Care Resource and Referral Network\u003c/a> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each county in California \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/rragencylist.asp\">has at least one agency that’s part of the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network\u003c/a>. These offices focus on helping parents find child care and recruiting and training more family child care providers: people who care for small groups of kids in their homes. Even if you’re not looking for child care specifically, these agencies can be a good place to contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the organizations that have resource and referral (R&R) contracts provide other services as well — think play groups, parenting classes and financial assistance. Each agency varies, but chances are the people working at your local R&R center know about many of the resources in your community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://rrnetwork.org/\">Look up your local resource and referral agency within the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ccfc.ca.gov/index.html\">First 5 California\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First 5 California is a statewide organization with a presence in each county. First 5 was established in 1998 when voters approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.ccfc.ca.gov/about/prop_10.html\">Proposition 10\u003c/a>, which imposed a tax on tobacco products. The collected funds are divided between First 5 at the state level and a First 5 commission in each county. At a statewide level, First 5 advocates for policies that support children up to 5 years of age and their families. \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5california.com/en-us/\">First 5 operates a resource website for parents that’s worth checking out\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like R&R agencies, each First 5 county commission varies in focus, depending on what challenges families in the region face. Local efforts range from parenting groups to child development classes to tracking kindergarten readiness. Again, if your local First 5 office doesn’t offer a service directly, the people working there likely know who does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ccfc.ca.gov/family/family.html#find\">Find your local First 5 office\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dds.ca.gov/services/early-start/\">Early Start\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early Start is California’s early intervention program for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or those at risk for having a developmental disability. Most people interact with Early Start through one of 21 regional centers throughout the state. Regional centers are agencies contracted by the state to manage services for families with children under 3 years old who have or are at risk of having a developmental disability or delay. Some families are referred to regional centers immediately after birth by a neonatal intensive care unit. Other families may be referred later on by a pediatrician, and still other parents call on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no cost for an evaluation, and one is supposed to be conducted within 45 days of when a parent first contacts the center. \u003ca href=\"https://www.dds.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EarlyStart_FAQ_01262023-.pdf\">This FAQ by the California Dept. of Developmental Services is straightforward and may answer many of the questions you have about calling a center \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dds.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/EarlyStart_FAQ_01262023-.pdf\">(PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dds.ca.gov/rc/lookup-rcs-by-county/\">Look up an Early Start regional center near you\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"local\">\u003c/a>Bay Area resources by county for early learning and development\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scroll down to find your Bay Area county below. This guide focuses on programs that can help parents without access to child care make sure their young children are kindergarten-ready. The classes and playgroups here do not require the time or financial commitment of more traditional child care or preschool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the local outposts of the larger statewide organizations mentioned above, parents looking to bolster their kids’ school readiness should check out their local libraries and recreation departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area libraries offer much more than traditional storytimes. Kids can dial a number and have a story read to them in English or Spanish — another library has worked to place books in barbershops — and several libraries have project kits that kids can check out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most recreation departments offer some kind of financial assistance for classes, but that information is often not easy to find. If cost is preventing you from registering for a class, call your county’s recreation and parks department and ask about scholarships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alameda County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://alamedakids.org/resource-directory/early-childhood-resource-directory.php\">Explore First 5 Alameda County’s parenting resources.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://4calameda.org/\">Alameda County 4Cs\u003c/a> offers a play group for children ages 3-5. Find more information on their \u003ca href=\"https://4calameda.org/events-trainings/\">events calendar\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Find \u003ca href=\"https://alamedakids.org/resource-directory/view-program.php?id=782\">free playgroups offered by Oakland Parks and Recreation\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Kids attending kindergarten the next year can enroll in a \u003ca href=\"https://alamedakids.org/summer-pre-kindergarten\">free 5–6 week crash course called Summer Pre-Kindergarten\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://bananasbunch.org/\">Bananas Bunch\u003c/a> in Oakland offers \u003ca href=\"https://bananasbunch.org/bananas-workshops-trainings/\">workshops for parents and caregivers\u003c/a> at multiple locations, \u003ca href=\"https://bananasbunch.org/east-oakland-office-resources/\">including one in East Oakland\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>510 Families features a \u003ca href=\"https://www.510families.com/free-storytimes-east-bay/\">helpful listing of free storytimes in the East Bay\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation\">Berkeley’s Parks and Rec Dept.\u003c/a> offers \u003ca href=\"https://rec.berkeleyca.gov/CA/berkeley-ca/catalog/index/1b0541170dcfdbf827582958f16afda6?filter=c2VhcmNoPXdlZSUyMHBsYXk=\">Together Wee Play\u003c/a>, a drop-in playgroup for parents and their kids. Staff offer ideas for play and skill building. Some scholarships available. There’s \u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Fall-Winter-Activity-Guide_2023-08-15.pdf\">much more in their fall and winter activity guide (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Explore the \u003ca href=\"https://aclibrary.bibliocommons.com/v2/events\">Alameda County Library’s Event Calendar here\u003c/a>, including make and play labs, storytimes and more.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.alamedafree.org/PROGRAMS-SERVICES/Childrens-Services/Childrens-Activities\">Find storytimes at the city of Alameda’s Free Library\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://behively.org/\">Hively\u003c/a> operates five family resource centers throughout the county and offers child care resource and referral services.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Contra Costa County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.first5coco.org/who-we-are/\">First 5 Contra Costa\u003c/a> operates \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5coco.org/strengthening-families/first-5-centers/first-5-centers/\">five centers throughout the county, each with a downloadable event calendar available in English and Spanish\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cocokids.org/\">Coco Kids offers child care resource and referral services\u003c/a> and other family supportive services.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/106/Recreation\">Richmond’s recreation department\u003c/a> offers a drop-in play group at two locations. Cost is $5. \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/66240/2023-Fall-Activity-Guide---Eng-PDF\">Find more information on page 6 of the Fall Activity Guide (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://pram.net/playgroups-1\">Pram (Parents, Resources and More) operates volunteer-led playgroups in and around Richmond\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Contra Costa County libraries offer \u003ca href=\"https://ccclib.org/earlylit/\">storytimes\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://ccclib.org/kids/#story-walk\">story walks\u003c/a>. They also offer \u003ca href=\"https://ccclib.org/kindergarten-countdown/\">Kindergarten Countdown activity kits\u003c/a>, with some also available in Spanish.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.antiochca.gov/recreation/\">Antioch’s\u003c/a> Recreation Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.antiochca.gov/fc/recreation/RecGuide.pdf\">offers tumbling and dance classes, some on Saturdays, for young kids (PDF)\u003c/a>. Scholarships are available.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Pittsburg’s recreation department \u003ca href=\"https://secure.rec1.com/CA/city-of-pittsburg/catalog\">offers a Mommy and Me Yoga class and more\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marin County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Explore \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5marin.org/parenting/\">First 5 Marin’s parenting resources\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Marin Child Care Council \u003ca href=\"https://www.mc3.org/\">offers child care referrals and training for parents and providers\u003c/a>. They also run \u003ca href=\"https://www.mc3.org/playgroups\">Kaleidoscope Play and Learn\u003c/a>, a playgroup for children ages 0–5.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Help Me Grow Marin \u003ca href=\"https://helpmegrowmarin.org/\">helps parents find developmental and behavioral screenings\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Parent Services Project \u003ca href=\"https://parentservices.org/program/literacy-child-development-supports/\">offers a Raising a Reader program where participants access a rotating selection of books\u003c/a>. They also offer playgroups in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood and in Point Reyes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>North Marin Community Services operates out of Novato and offers lots of services \u003ca href=\"https://www.northmarincs.org/education-programs/developmental-playgroup/\">including a developmental playgroup for ages 2–5\u003c/a>. They also \u003ca href=\"https://www.northmarincs.org/pathways-to-programs/\">offer individual peer emotional support\u003c/a> for Spanish speakers.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Marin County Free Library \u003ca href=\"https://marinlibrary.org/kids-0-5/\">offers multiple story times throughout the week and also has online story playlists\u003c/a>. There’s also a \u003ca href=\"https://marinlibrary.org/learning-bus/\">learning bus\u003c/a> that brings free, bilingual activities to locations throughout the county. In West Marin, they \u003ca href=\"https://marinlibrary.org/west-marin-literacy-services/\">offer a yearly Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) program and a summertime Reading on the Ranches program\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Napa County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.first5napa.org/\">Explore First 5 Napa’s parenting resources\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://crcnapa.org/family-friend-and-neighbor/\">Community Resources for Children\u003c/a> offers bilingual resources with a focus on informal caregivers like family, friends, and neighbors. They also offer \u003ca href=\"https://crcnapa.org/portfolio-item/active-minds/\">Active Minds, a six-week program for parents and their children designed to promote school readiness skills through play\u003c/a>. Space is limited.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.countyofnapa.org/911/Storytimes\">Napa County Library offers storytimes at four locations\u003c/a>. The Napa branch offers a Spanish-language storytime. That branch also hosts \u003ca href=\"https://www.countyofnapa.org/236/Parenting-Classes\">Triple P positive parenting classes\u003c/a>, which provide parenting information and support.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cope Family Center \u003ca href=\"https://www.copefamilycenter.org/about-parenting-classes\">offers Triple P positive parenting classes for parents of kids 2 years and older\u003c/a>. The classes are free and most are offered in Spanish and English.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>UpValley Family Resource Center \u003ca href=\"https://upvalleyfamilycenters.org/events/\">offers playgroups in St. Helena and Calistoga\u003c/a>. It also offers books through the Raising a Reader program and a \u003ca href=\"https://upvalleyfamilycenters.org/children-youth-schools/\">summer bridge program for incoming kindergartners\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>San Mateo County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://first5sanmateo.org/\">Explore First 5 San Mateo’s parenting resources\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sanmateo4cs.org/families/child-care-referrals/\">San Mateo 4Cs\u003c/a> offers child care referrals and training and support for providers.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://helpmegrowsmc.org/\">Help Me Grow\u003c/a> connects parents, caregivers and providers with information and resources about early childhood development.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://web2.myvscloud.com/wbwsc/casanmateowt.wsc/\">city of San Mateo Parks and Recreation Department\u003c/a> offers several child care programs and a variety of Adult and Child classes. Kids can participate in some activities like ballet and soccer by themselves starting at age 4. There are class fees but the city activity guide says that financial assistance may be available if requested at least 10 business days before a class starts.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.burlingame.org/library/services/kids/storytimecorner.php\">Burlingame City Library\u003c/a> hosts four different storytimes throughout the week.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://ccy.jfcs.org/workshops/\">Center for Children and Youth, part of Jewish Family and Children’s Services\u003c/a>, puts on playgroups throughout the Bay Area. The most regular offerings appear to be on the Peninsula. Playgroups cost $10 each.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dalycity.org/845/About-Us\">Daly City’s\u003c/a> recreation department \u003ca href=\"https://anc.apm.activecommunities.com/dalycity/daycare/program/185?onlineSiteId=0&locale=en-US&from_original_cui=true&online=true\">hosts a Tiny Tot Playtime\u003c/a>. Cost is $5 for residents, $6.50 for nonresidents. The department \u003ca href=\"https://www.dalycity.org/DocumentCenter/View/769/Scholarship-Policy-and-Application-PDF?bidId=\">does have some scholarships available (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dalycity.org/289/Kids\">Daly City Library\u003c/a> offers numerous storytimes at its branches, including two that start at 6 p.m.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://smcl.bibliocommons.com/v2/events?_gl=1*rq44ly*_ga*NTIwNTgxMzAxLjE2OTI2NzkzMjA.*_ga_G99DMMNG39*MTY5MjY3OTMyMS4xLjAuMTY5MjY3OTMyMS4wLjAuMA..*_ga_C65HB4ZH63*MTY5MjY3OTMyMS4xLjAuMTY5MjY3OTMyMS4wLjAuMA..&locations=1E\">The San Mateo County Library\u003c/a> hosts a weekly bilingual story time at the East Palo Alto branch.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/library/events/storytimes-calendar-events\">Redwood City Public Library’s offerings\u003c/a> include evening “pajama” storytimes in Spanish and English.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/parks-recreation-and-community-services/activities-programs/activity-guide\">Redwood City Parks and Recreation offers several different preschool options\u003c/a> including Spanish and Persian immersion programs. \u003ca href=\"https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/parks-recreation-and-community-services/early-learning\">Various Adult and Child classes are offered\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ssf.net/departments/parks-recreation/\">South San Francisco\u003c/a> Parks and Recreation Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssf.net/home/showpublisheddocument/30344/638263894278470000\">offers some preschool programming and classes (PDF)\u003c/a>, including a PE-style class called “Gym Daddy.” Scholarships are available for city residents.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ssf.net/departments/library/kids\">The South San Francisco Public Library offers storytimes\u003c/a> in Cantonese and Tagalog, as well as a storytime that takes place outside.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>San Francisco\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/\">San Francisco’s Department of Early Childhood\u003c/a> operates 26 family resource centers throughout the city. Offerings at each vary, but span from playgroups to Triple P positive parenting classes. \u003ca href=\"https://sfdec.org/family-event-calendar/\">Explore the department’s family event calendar\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/\">San Francisco’s Department of Recreation and Parks\u003c/a> offers free, drop-in “kinder gyms” for kids 4 years and younger and their caregivers \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/406/Recreation-Programs\">at various sites throughout the city\u003c/a>. Some classes are also geared for kids ages 3–5.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/kids\">San Francisco Public Library\u003c/a> offers storytimes for different age groups in multiple languages at branches across the city.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.ymcasf.org/family-resource-centers\">YMCA of San Francisco\u003c/a> operates a handful of family resource centers across the city.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Santa Clara County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.first5kids.org/\">First 5 Santa Clara\u003c/a> operates 20 Family Resource Centers throughout the county that \u003ca href=\"https://www.first5kids.org/what-we-fund/family-strengthening-initiative/family-resource-center/\">offer parenting classes and a wide range of resources\u003c/a>, including bridge libraries with books available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and other languages.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.childcarescc.org/\">Santa Clara County Childcare Resource and Referral agencies\u003c/a> help families locate child care, offer training for child care providers and help with locating developmental screenings.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.inclusioncollaborative.org/warmline.aspx\">Inclusion Support WarmLine\u003c/a> offers support for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities and other challenges. They can also be reached at (408) 453-6651 or by email at \u003ca href=\"mailto:inclusionwarmline@sccoe.org\">inclusionwarmline@sccoe.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sccld.org/kids/\">The Santa Clara County Library District\u003c/a> offers storytimes for different age groups at multiple branches including bilingual options and one geared toward kids with special needs. There’s also a “Play and Learn” offering that incorporates 30 minutes of free play for kids 1–5 years old.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The district also offers members free access to \u003ca href=\"https://sccld.org/ready-rosie/\">Ready Rosie, an online subscription tool that provides videos and tips for early literacy\u003c/a>. Ready Rosie is available in English and Spanish. The district’s website also includes a page \u003ca href=\"https://sccld.org/kinderreadiness/\">dedicated to kindergarten readiness\u003c/a>, which includes resources for developing literacy and information on registering for kindergarten.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/parks-recreation\">Cupertino Parks and Recreation\u003c/a> offers dance, sport and music classes starting as young as 2 years old, but most start at age 4. There are class fees but limited scholarships are available. Search by activities \u003ca href=\"https://anc.apm.activecommunities.com/cupertino/activity/search?onlineSiteId=0&locale=en-US&activity_select_param=2&max_age=4&viewMode=list\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cityofgilroy.org/340/Recreation-Division\">Gilroy Recreation’s classes for kids\u003c/a> include dance, soccer and science classes. \u003ca href=\"https://secure.rec1.com/CA/gilroy-ca/catalog\">Some of Gilroy Recreation’s classes start as early as age 2\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lasmadres.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=177487&module_id=9888\">Las Madres playgroups\u003c/a> offers memberships at $85 annually.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sjpl.org/early-education\">San José Public Library events for kids\u003c/a> include storytimes, play groups, art activities. Library members also get free access to Ready4K, a service that texts early learning strategies once a week. The library also has \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC29BE8C245D07700\">70 recorded story times on YouTube\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sclibrary.org/kids-teens/kids/resources-for-little-ones-kindergarten-under\">The Santa Clara City Library\u003c/a> offers storytimes, including bilingual and “Stay and Play” options. They also \u003ca href=\"https://www.sclibrary.org/kids-teens/kids/dial-a-story\">offer a Dial-a-Story service\u003c/a> in English and Spanish and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sclibrary.org/kids-teens/kids/early-literacy-kits\">early literacy kits that you can check out\u003c/a> and use while at the library.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Solano County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.solanocounty.com/depts/first5/default.asp\">First 5 Solano County\u003c/a> operates a family center in Vallejo which offers parenting classes, developmental assessments, car seat fittings and drop-in play groups and \u003ca href=\"https://solanotriplep.com/\">offers Triple P positive parenting classes\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://solanofamily.org/\">Solano Family and Children’s Services\u003c/a> offers child care referrals and trainings for providers.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Solano County Library \u003ca href=\"https://solanolibrary.com/services/storytimes/\">offers storytimes for three different age groups under 5\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://solanolibrary.evanced.info/signup\">events\u003c/a> like Coloring Book Week and Read to a Dog. They also \u003ca href=\"https://solanolibrary.com/kids/storytime-kits/\">offer thematic online literacy kits\u003c/a> for young children and operate \u003ca href=\"https://solanolibrary.com/kids/reading-at-the-barbershop/\">Reading at the Barbershop,\u003c/a> which places books at barbershops around the county.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Explore programs \u003ca href=\"https://www.gvrd.org/teacher-kay-s-mini-alphapals\">from the Greater Vallejo Recreation District\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.solanocounty.com/depts/fvp/community_resources/family_resource_center_(frc).asp\">Nine family resource centers\u003c/a> are located throughout the county, offering a myriad of services and supports.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sonoma County\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://first5sonomacounty.org/resources-for-parents/parents-resource-guide/child-activities-safety-and-clubs-for-families/\">Explore offerings from First 5 Sonoma County\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>4Cs of Sonoma County \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonoma4cs.org/families/\">offers child care referrals and training and support of child care providers\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.earlylearninginstitute.com/playgroup\">The Early Learning Institute offers multiple playgroups\u003c/a> including one for children with special needs.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Children’s Museum of Sonoma County \u003ca href=\"https://www.cmosc.org/visit/membership/access-program/\">offers Family Access Programs with reduced membership rates\u003c/a> as low as $18 a year.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.capsonoma.org/education/\">Community Action Partnership\u003c/a> offers parenting classes and support groups in English and Spanish, \u003ca href=\"https://www.capsonoma.org/pasitos-playgroups/\">including the Pasitos and Primeros program\u003c/a>. They also operate \u003ca href=\"https://www.capsonoma.org/padres-unidos/\">FUERZA\u003c/a>, a parent and youth support center.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.corazonhealdsburg.org/\">Corazón Healdsburg\u003c/a> runs a bilingual family resource center, offering case management services and classes for a variety of age groups.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rpcity.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=3037873&pageId=3360871\">Rohnert Park’s Community Services Department\u003c/a> runs a preschool program for kids ages 3–5 and offers a variety of youth classes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://rccservices.org/\">River to Coast Children’s Services\u003c/a> serves Western Sonoma County. They offer services ranging from child care referral, trainings for providers and a \u003ca href=\"https://rccservices.org/kindergym.html\">weekly kindergym playgroup\u003c/a> in Forestville.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The City of Santa Rosa Parks offers a variety classes for kids which cost money — \u003ca href=\"https://www.srcity.org/1235/Apply-for-a-Scholarship\">but you can apply for scholarships\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Sonoma County Library \u003ca href=\"https://legacy.sonomalibrary.org/kids/early-literacy/storytimes\">offers storytimes geared for different age groups at branches throughout the county\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"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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