In March of this year we hosted our 27th Policy Forum, where we announced our Billions for Babies campaign and covered topics such as government investment in early childhood education, universal preschool and overall access and affordability for all families. We started the conversation then, now we are taking action.
CCRC is a part of the Early Care and Education (ECE) Coalition, which is a partnership of early childhood education advocacy and service organizations working together to ensure access to high quality education and care for California’s low-income families. California alone is the 5th largest economy in the world, yet less than 14% of eligible families have access to infant and toddler care compared to England. Early care and education are essential in providing California’s youngest learners the brightest future possible.
The ECE Coalition requested the following from members of the California Legislature:
- A $1 billion increase in child care spaces to immediately improve access for California’s families as well as increasing the infant/toddler factor to better reflect the actual cost of high quality care.
- Provide a significant investment of one-time dollars across the ECE system so, child care providers can open their doors to all babies and toddlers in need by:
- Reestablishing professional development days for Title 5 providers
- Providing child care centers with start-up funds as a percentage of contracts so providers can begin to convert existing preschool classrooms into appropriate infant and toddler rooms
- Providing additional funding to the Child Care Initiative Project.
California has an $8.8 billion surplus since the proposed January budget, with $4 billion in one-time funding. We have faith that California can exceed the federal government's investment and follow their wisdom by investing in our children.
We thank the Legislative Women’s Caucus for their leadership in these efforts and whole-heartedly agree that California’s working families need greater access to child care.
If you would like more information or have any questions about our advocacy efforts, contact Donna Sneeringer at (916) 715-0575.
Dr. Michael Olenick
President and CEO
P.S. On Saturday, June 9th we will be hosting a Community Volunteer Day from 10 am – 1 pm! Please contact us to learn more at 1-866-67-4KIDS.
