California State Budget, Legislature & The Capitol

CALIFORNIA BUDGET UPDATES

The Legislature reconvenes today.

To help support you staying on top of the 2024-25 budget process and materials connected to the budget, TFC is hosting everything in one place on its Budget Page.

Upcoming Committee Hearings for this week below. All upcoming calendared budget hearings noted here:

• CANCELED Tuesday, April 2 - ASM Budget Sub 3 @ 9:00 - State Capitol, Room 447 - PREK-12 EDUCATION AND STUDENT LEARNING RECOVERY PROPOSALS AND OVERSIGHT
• Wednesday, April 3 - ASM Budget Sub 2 @ 1:30 - State Capitol, Room 444; CHILD WELFARE/CHILD PROTECTION, FOSTER CARE, AND THE ROLE OF SAFETY NET PROGRAMS TO PREVENT CHILD NEGLECT AND REMOVAL
• Thursday, April 4 - SEN B&FR Sub1 @ 9:30 - 1021 O Street, Room 2100 - Department of Education, Expanded Learning

All of the above information can be found on TFC's Budget Page. Be sure to reach out to TFC staff with any questions.

BILL OF THE WEEK

NOTE: AB 1808 will be heard on April 2 @ 1:30 in the ASM Human Services Committee. If you would like to add onto a coalition support letter, please email logo. To send your own letter, click here. All letters must be submitted by March 27th.

AB 1808 (Nguyen) Childcare and development services: eligibility.

Author: Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen

Assemblymember Nguyen served as the Executive Director of Asian Resources, Inc. (ARI) to ensure that all communities, especially the low-income, immigrant, refugee, limited English-speaking youth, formerly incarcerated and undocumented, have access to support and services to help them get one step closer to self-sufficiency. She was elected to the Elk Grove City Council in 2017 and is the first Asian American woman in this role.



Stephanie Nguyen has lived, worked, and served the Sacramento and Elk Grove communities almost all her life. The daughter of Vietnamese Refugees who fled the Vietnam War by boat, she grew up in Sacramento’s Little Saigon district and attended Sacramento schools before graduating from Sacramento State University.

Click here to view the bill.

HOW TO SUPPORT A BILL

As bills move through California’s legislative process, they are presented to and heard by several committees who may recommend amendments and vote on whether or not the bill should continue through the legislative process.

As legislators decide how to vote, they consider public opinion as expressed through position letters. To support a bill and submit a position letter, you must first register here for an account. You only need to do this once. After you register, you will log in, and then you click on submit a letter. From there, you simply click on either AB (Assembly Bill) or SB (Senate Bill) and then the bill number. If you need any support, please email TFC.

IMPORTANT DATES, DEADLINES & BILLS

Last Friday was the deadline to introduce new bills. There were 1556 Assembly Bills introduced and 662 Senate bills.

Upcoming Legislative Hearings:

• ASM Human Services Committee Bills Hearing - April 2nd @ 1:30 p.m. - State Capitol, Room 444 (Bills will be heard in file order)

• A.B.No. 1808Stephanie Nguyen.Childcare and development services: eligibility.
• A.B.No. 1876Jackson.Developmental services: individual program plans and individual family service plans: remote meetings.
• A.B.No. 1911Reyes.Residential care facilities: complaints.
• A.B.No. 1925Rendon.Childcare and development programs: eligibility.
• A.B.No. 1952Dixon.Foster care: infant supplement.
• A.B.No. 2141Gipson.Cash assistance programs: direct deposit.
• A.B.No. 2206Addis.Child daycare facilities: fire clearance requirements.
• A.B.No. 2317Stephanie Nguyen.Child day care facilities: anaphylactic policy.
• A.B.No. 2343Schiavo.CalWORKs: childcare programs.
• A.B.No. 2360Rendon.Developmental services: family services: counseling.
• A.B.No. 2452Quirk-Silva.CalWORKs: supportive services.
• A.B.No. 2671Weber.Family daycare homes: filtered water.
• A.B.No. 2828Bains.Child health and safety: "Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids" license plate program.
• A.B.No. 2866Pellerin.Pool safety: State Department of Social Services regulated facilities.

Bills to Watch:

• AB 1808 (Nguyen) Childcare and development services: eligibility. Extends 24-month eligibility to CalWORKs child care. TFC SPONSORED If you would like to sign on to a COALITION SUPPORT LETTER please send email and logo here. NOTE: Scheduled to be heard on April 2 in ASM Human Services.
• AB 2476 (Bonta) Childcare services: alternative payment programs. TFC SPONSORED
• SB 1112 (Menjivar) Medi-Cal: families with subsidized childcare.

Resources:

• See the full 2023-24 Legislative Calendar here.
• Visit TFC's legislation page to find a comprehensive list of bills of interest.
• Visit TFC's Budget Page for full budget bill details, as well as budget hearing video archive links.
• Visit TFC's dedicated page to find a full list of Senate and Assembly Committee chairs and contact information.
• Click here to view all the bills that the Assembly and Senate introduced this legislative year.

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE INFO, RULES & POSITION LETTER DEADLINES

All changes to committee assignments have been reflected on TFC's Committee Information, Rules & Position Letter Deadlines page. This page has been tailored to only include those committees relevant to the field. However, you can find the full, comprehensive and updated list of all committees on this site.

Please reach out to TFC staff if you have any questions.

Did you know?

Child Care Q&As

Question: When will the new definitions for part-time and full-time be released?

Answer: CDSS posted CCB 24-04 on March 8th with the new definitions.

Question: According to the Funding Terms & Conditions, how many years must a contractor reconcile a physical inventory with property records?

Answer: Every 2 years.

Question: When is the Program Self-Evaluation due? 

Answer: It is due on June 1st.

Federal Update

Federal Update & Take Action

Federal Government Update:

Congress has left DC for their two week Easter recess, after narrowly avoiding a partial government shutdown. More: Congress unveils $1.2 trillion plan to avert federal shutdown and bring budget fight to a close | AP News

As previously reported, Congressional Appropriators, especially child care champions Senator Murray (D-WA) and Representative DeLauro (D-CT), fought hard for increased investments for ECE programs, including:

• $8.75 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), an increase of $725 million over FY23;
• $12.27 billion for Head Start, an increase of $250 million; and
• $75 million for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program (CCAMPIS)—protecting House Republicans’ proposal to eliminate the program.

More: Murray, Top Appropriators Release Second Funding Package | Majority News Releases | News | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

Unfortunately, many programs benefiting women, families, and children will receive the same funding as last year, with a few receiving small reductions or increases. Level funding of these programs amounts to a cut due to increasing costs and inflation. Congressional Appropriators were constrained by funding caps set in a deal agreed to last summer between Congressional leaders and the White House. 

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Child Tax Credit

Improvements to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) remain at a standstill following pushback from key Republican Senators despite bipartisan support. The best chance for the improved CTC to pass in time for this tax season is through a Senate vote when the Senate returns from recess on April 8. 

⇒ Please urge your Senators to pass the expanded CTC now.

We know how to end child poverty. That is why we are fighting for this expansion right now, and why we will keep fighting to further improve the CTC.   

More: 

• Child Tax Credit 2024 Resources & Social Media (Coalition on Human Needs)

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Supplemental Federal Child Care Funding 

As the timeline for passing the national security supplemental request continues to draw out, we are now focused on ensuring that any future domestic supplemental that is considered includes $16 billion for child care and early learning.

⇒ Please urge your Members of Congress to support the $16 billion proposal supported by President Biden and many congressional Democrats. 

As previously shared,

• State-by-State Map on Local Impact of Child Care Funding Cliff - National Women's Law Center (nwlc.org)

• The-Child-Care-Stabilization-Act-One-Pager.pdf (senate.gov)

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⇒ Take Action

• Tell your federal policymakers to fight for funding for child care (NWLC)

• CACFP Federal Advocacy Toolkit 2024 
• If you have questions please contact: Becky Levin, AFSCME blevin@afscme.org; Samantha Marshall, CACFP Roundtable samantha@ccfproundtable.org; or Mary Beth Testa, Home Grown marybeth@mbstsolutions.com 

• Coloring Sheet Action Toolkit (Campaign for Childcare)
• Nap Zap fun toolkit and the plain text toolkit
• Think Babies in the 2024 Election | Think Babies™ (ZERO TO THREE)

• Care Voter Guide (Care Can’t Wait)

• CHN budget and tax toolkit for local groups (Spring 2024) (Coalition on Human Needs)
• To help local and state advocates raise their voices to protect and strengthen key nutrition, housing, early childhood, and other assistance, we’ve created this toolkit focused on resources to use for conversations with members of Congress and/or their staff (which you can use at a local town hall), emails to Congress, requesting meetings during upcoming Congressional Recesses, organizing site visits for policymakers, getting letters published in local newspapers, sharing this letter from 680 organizations opposing cuts, getting Census poverty data to decisionmakers, and beyond. See our budget resource library for additional resources. 

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Administration Updates, SAVE - Reducing Student Debt Burden

From the White House:

This week, the White House held an event discussing a new income-based repayment program started by the Biden-Harris Administration that will substantially reduce the debt burden for federal borrowers.

A link to the fact sheet is here, and a report from the President’s Council of Economic Advisers with real-life examples, including a child care worker, is here. 

Please share with your networks. Highlights from the fact sheet include:

The SAVE Plan helps student loan borrowers by:

• Protecting more income from payments. The SAVE Plan bases monthly payments on income and family size. Compared to earlier income-driven repayment plans, SAVE increases the amount of income exempted from payment calculations, from 150% to 225% of the federal poverty line.
• Cutting monthly payments in half. Starting in July, monthly payments on undergraduate loans will be cut in half from 10% to 5% of discretionary income.
• Providing forgiveness faster. Borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan who originally took out $12,000 or less in student loans can reach forgiveness after being in repayment for as few as 10 years. For each additional $1,000 above this amount, an extra year of payments is added to this timeline, with a maximum period of 20 years for undergraduate loans and 25 years for graduate loans. Just last month, the Administration announced $1.2 billion in student debt relief for almost 153,000 low-balance borrowers enrolled in SAVE who qualified for forgiveness.
• Stopping balances from growing. Unlike other IDR plans, borrowers on the SAVE Plan who make timely payments will never see their balances increase if their payment does not cover all the interest accumulating each month.
• Excluding Spousal Income. The SAVE Plan further reduces costs for borrowers by allowing those who are married and file taxes separately to exclude their spouse’s income from any monthly payment calculations.

Administration Update, FACT SHEET: The Biden-Harris Administration Announces Month of Action on Care with New Actions to Support Small Businesses

From the White House and Small Business Administration (SBA):

This week, the White House and Small Business Administration (SBA) announced new actions to support small businesses that offer child care for millions of working families. These announcements were made at a roundtable discussion with small business owners, lenders, and resource partners hosted at the White House by Director of the Gender Policy Council Jennifer Klein, Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, and Small Business Administrator Isabel Guzman. The new actions include: 

• Funding Opportunities to Support Small Businesses in the Child Care Sector. In the coming months, SBA will make available new funding opportunities to support small businesses in the child care sector through SBA’s Women Business Center (WBC) program. WBCs are a part a national network of entrepreneurship centers designed to assist women in starting and growing small businesses. The additional funds will support the expansion of child care delivery systems, increase child care slots, and improve child care access, affordability, and quality.
•  
• Development of a Child Care Guide. SBA announced it will make funding available to create a child care business development guide, which would provide resources on starting and running a business throughout the child care business life cycle, including information on accessing capital, licensing requirements, and tax considerations.
•  
• Lender Campaign. SBA is launching a lender campaign to highlight the resources SBA has available to support small, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses, including child care businesses. As part of this campaign, SBA will discuss with stakeholders the potential for additional reforms to support the growth of child care capacity across the country, including the expansion of eligibility to nonprofit child care providers under the signature 7(a) loan program, which supports financing to small businesses for working capital and a range of other uses, and the 504 loan program, which provides financing for major fixed asset purchases.

The roundtable kicks off the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Month of Action on Care” in April, which the President designated Care Worker Recognition Month last April when he signed a historic Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers, directing nearly every cabinet-level agency to expand access to affordable, high-quality care and provide increased support for care workers and family caregivers. As the cabinet-level agency dedicated to supporting small businesses, SBA plays a critical role in these efforts. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, SBA lending for child care businesses has increased by more than $200 million and is up nearly 10% compared to the same period in the previous Administration.

The announcements made today are part of President Biden’s economic agenda to address challenges in the care economy and answer the call for investments in the fragile child care industry, which faces numerous challenges impacting the country’s child care supply. Those interested in starting a child care business—95% of which are small businesses—often struggle to access credit and find the significant start-up capital necessary to begin operating. And once up and running, many child care businesses struggle to break even and keep their doors open—as most child care facilities operate on profit margins less than 1%.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s Record on Child Care

Since day one of the Administration, President Biden and Vice President Harris have been committed to addressing the structural challenges within the child care ecosystem, including low wages for workers, high costs for families, and inadequate supply of high-quality care. The President’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) not only helped keep over 225,000 child care providers open, but had a significant impact on the economy. According to the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, that investment alone brought hundreds of thousands of women with young children into the workforce, lowered child care costs per child by $1,250, and increased wages for child care workers by 10%.

Pursuant to the Care Executive Order, this Administration has taken a broad range of actions across different agencies to make child care more accessible and support child care workers. These historic actions include: steps to lower child care costs for military families; a proposal to increase pay for Head Start teachers; sample employment agreements to ensure domestic care workers and their employers understand their rights and responsibilities; and a final rule that will lower child care costs for over 100,000 families that rely on federal child care assistance.

Finally, the President’s commitment to care is reflected in his most recent budget. The Fiscal Year 2025 Budget, released earlier this month, proposes major investments to increase accessibility and reduce child care costs, guaranteeing affordable, high-quality child care from birth until kindergarten, with most families paying no more than $10 a day and the lowest income families paying nothing at all.

Report - Ohio’s Child Care Crisis: Parents and Providers Out of Options

From Policy Matters Ohio:

Ohio's child care crisis (policymattersohio.org)

Child care should be a top priority for Ohio policymakers. A recent poll found that for Gen-Z and millennial workers, child care benefits are ranked more important than even health insurance benefits in the workplace. Child care is vital to millions of families in Ohio, but there are many barriers to access, the early childhood educators providing care are grossly underpaid, and child care is simply unaffordable for most Ohioans.

Our labor force is stronger when parents can go to work knowing their kids are cared for. When child care providers can afford to hire and retain skilled staff, they can keep our children safe and give each child the attention they deserve. Everyone benefits when child care workers — who are disproportionately women and disproportionately Black — can afford high-quality care for their own kids.

To get child care right, Ohio leaders need to balance the needs of those three groups — parents, providers and workers. For too long, policymakers have gotten it wrong, and the littlest Ohioans suffer the consequences.

The average annual cost for one infant’s child care in Ohio is $9,697—that’s $808 per month! For $9,697 in annual child care costs to be affordable (as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), a family of three with two parents and one infant would need an annual income of $138,528. Put another way, two parents would have to each make $33.30 per hour working full time to make child care affordable at the average rate, for just one infant.

Key findings: Child care in crisis

• Ohio now has the lowest eligibility for Publicly Funded Child Care in the country for kids 0 to 5. North Carolina, who previously held last place, updated their eligibility to 200% FPL for children 0-5 in July of 2023, leaving Ohio in last place for the same age group at 145% FPL.
• Between 2019 and 2021 (the most recent figure available), the number of children benefiting from publicly funded child care in Ohio dropped by 28,697, from 172,585 children to 143,888.Publicly funded child care enrollment peaked seven years ago in 2017 at 181,122 and has declined since.
• From 2017 to 2022, the number of child care workers in Ohio dropped by 35.89%, with the biggest decrease of nearly 5,000 workers happening between 2019 and 2020. Many areas around the state simply have not recovered from this loss of workforce and many remaining child care facilities are at a high risk of closure as key federal COVID emergency funding ends.
• The median hourly wage for child care workers in Ohio is $13.15 — an annual salary of $27,352 for those working full time. For comparison, the median for all workers in Ohio was $21.51 an hour in 2022, with 13.4% of Ohioans living in poverty.
• The amount the state reimburses child care providers per child is not based on the actual cost of child care, but rather on a backward-looking market rate survey of what providers recently charged for services in an area. This rate is important because it determines the amount of money providers receive and therefore their ability to stay open, improve facilities, and pay providers a living wage.
• 39% of Ohioans live in a child care desert. A child care desert is any census tract with more than 50 children under age 5 that contains either no child care providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots. 41% of white Ohioans, 37% of Hispanic or Latino Ohioans, and 29% of Black Ohioans live in a child care desert. In Ohio, child care deserts are most prevalent in rural areas.
• Affordable child care lets parents work. According to a poll done in 2023 by the First 5 Years Fund, nearly 59% of parents who are not working full time would do so if child care was more affordable.

Across America, other states are also feeling the effects of this child care crisis. In 2021, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen shared her analysis:

The free market works well in many different sectors, but child care is not one of them. It does not work for the caregivers. It does not work for the parents. It does not work for the kids. And because it does not work for them, it does not work for the country.

Ohio legislators through neglect, underfunding, and an insufficient response to the sector’s needs during the pandemic have created the current child care landscape in Ohio, including the low wages, tiny margins, and high turnover common in the sector. It is a system that serves no one well. Policy makers can and must do better for Ohio’s children. Sensible policy solutions, informed by all stakeholders, can guide a comprehensive approach to the reforms Ohio’s children, families, and child care workers need.

Read more here.

Webinar - The Fight for Family Child Care

From The CAYL Institute:

Family Child Care has always been a critical piece of the ECE landscape. Even so, there has always been a battle for FCC recognition within the profession as well as in public policy.

In April, we'll dive into the constant struggle with how FCC is funded, perceived, and supported as we highlight courageous leader Jessica Sager. Jessica will share her brave story of fighting to move Family Child Care forward. She will be joined by next-generation leaders who are supporting this movement.

Join us on April 4 @ 4 p.m. ET for Portraits of Courage: The Fight for Family Child Care featuring Jessica Sager

Register here.

Can't make this session? Register for the webinar and a recording of the live session will be sent to you in a follow up email!

What time will the webinar begin in my time zone? 4pm ET | 3pm CT | 2pm MT | 1pm PT/MT

Take Action - Weigh in on CCDF Plans in Your State!  

From Child Care Aware of America:

Your state is currently reviewing its child care policies! All states will undergo a process this spring to shape their 2025-2027 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plans. The state planning process presents you with the opportunity to speak about your child care experiences, spotlight current system challenges and make recommendations for the future.

Gear up for your state's CCDF plan process by checking out our FY 2025-2027 CCDF Plan, which includes resources to help advocates engage.

View the Hub Page here.

Most Viewed Bills of the Week:

1. H.R.7521 [118th] - Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act
2. S.686 [118th] - RESTRICT Act
3. H.R.4366 [118th] - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024
4. H.R.7024 [118th] - Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024
5. H.R.7511 [118th] - Laken Riley Act
6. H.R.231 [118th] - Terminate TikTok on Campus Act of 2023
7. H.R.2 [118th] - Secure the Border Act of 2023
8. H.R.1332 [118th] - Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act
9. S.1143 [117th] - No TikTok on Government Devices Act
10. S.596 [117th] - Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021

Thriving Families CA Events- This Week!

To better support our field, Thriving Families CA, in partnership with DSS, will be hosting an informational training for our field in Pomona. We will be offering 3 tracks- one for AP's, one on Strengthening/Engaging Families and one for Executives.



This Statewide Meeting will be very interactive and bring our field together to share insights and experiences, explore ideas, shape policy, and discuss best practices.



We hope you can join us!

Learn More & Register Here.

Social Media Spotlight

Field Highlights

Providing Affordable, Accessible, and

High-Quality Child Care

Child care is work that supports all other work: It enables parents to participate in the workforce. Among parents who are not working full time, 3 in 5 say that they would choose to do so if they had access to affordable child care. Mothers, who do the bulk of the caregiving, weigh the care options that they have: They can stay home or reduce their paid work hours to provide care for their own children, which is nearly always unpaid; they can arrange formal child care, which can be so expensive it may not be financially worthwhile in the short term to continue to work; or they can find informal care from a neighbor, close friend, or family member...

Click here to view the full article.

Biden proposes 'historic new program' to address child care shortages

As part of his budget proposal on Monday, President Joe Biden is asking Congress to make child care more affordable for the parents of 16 million children around the country.

The president is requesting a $500 million increase in Child Care and Development Block Grant funding, which states use to lower the cost of child care for low-income families and raise child care provider wages.

But advocates say it’s not enough to stabilize the nation’s child care system, which has been teetering ever since the nearly $40 billion in child care subsidies approved under the American Rescue Plan Act expired at the end of September.

To date, more than a quarter of providers have had to cut salaries, according to a national survey by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. A similar share also reported serving fewer children. Since the subsidies ran out, advocates warned that as many as 70,000 programs could ultimately close, affecting more than 3 million children...

Click here to view the full article.

Field Happenings

California Budget and Policy Center is hosting their Policy Insights conference on Tuesday, April 16th in Sacramento!

The dynamic workshops will cover some of the most important issues facing our state, including:



• Building Wealth, Building Futures: Strategies for Fostering Economic Opportunity and Mobility for Children
• Advancing Racial Equity in California: From Policy to Progress
• Dream Big: Increasing State Revenues Through Corporate Tax Fairness
• Expanding Child Care Access: Analyzing Supply Gaps and Policy Opportunities

Click here to register.

CDSS & CDE Information & Updates

Upcoming Webinars

SAVE THE DATE: Rate and Quality Advisory Panel

Greetings Executive Directors, Program Directors, Family Child Care Home Owners, and Family, Friend, and Neighbor Child Care Providers,

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is pleased to announce the next Rate and Quality Advisory Panel meeting is scheduled on April 8, 2024, from 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. The meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. All meetings are open to the public so that community members can participate and share advice and ideas. The meetings will include interpretation and translation in Spanish, Chinese and American Sign Language (ASL) and additional interpretation support will be added to later meetings if needed.

Please save the following details for the next meeting:

• April 8, 2024
• 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Zoom Registration

Information & Updates

RELEASED March 27, 2024: 2024 Final Rule Announcement

Greetings,

On February 29, 2024, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care (OCC) announced a new rule that will reduce costs and improve access for families who receive child care subsidies funded with federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) resources. 

The federal regulations described in the Final Rule 2024 - 04139 are effective April 30, 2024. The Legislature and Governor in California have already enacted policies that are consistent with some of these new requirements. 

Below is a summary of the key updates to the federal regulations for which CDSS has already implemented the relevant policy direction.  

Click here for more information.

RELEASED March 13, 2024: Child Care Bulletin (CCB) 24-03: Program Self-Evaluation for Fiscal Year 2023-2024

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Child Care and Development Division (CCDD) has recently posted the following document on its Internet website: CCB 24-03: Program Self-Evaluation for Fiscal Year 2023-2024.

The purpose of this CCB is to describe the requirements for the Program Self-Evaluation of CDSS subsidized child care and development contractors. Within the bulletin, guidance is provided on the submission requirements for the Fiscal Year 2023- 2024 Program Self Evaluation (PSE) as well as a list of all the required documents to be maintained onsite by contract type. 

If you have any questions or need additional guidance regarding the information in this letter, please contact your assigned CCDD Program Quality and Improvement (PQI) Consultant.

RELEASED March 8, 2024: Whole Child Community Equity Workgroup Membership Application

Assembly Bill (AB) 2832, also referred to as the “End Racial and Economic Inequities in Childcare in California Initiative,” seeks to bridge the racial and socioeconomic gaps in California’s early childhood education system. This bill requires the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), in consultation with the California Department of Education, to convene the Whole Child Community Equity Workgroup to provide recommendations to CDSS for purposes of developing the Whole Child Community Equity Framework, Whole Child Equity Screening Tool, and recommended uses of the Screening Tool for equitable distribution of early childhood investment and whole child resources.  

The goal of the CDSS Whole Child Community Equity Workgroup is to provide recommendations on the Framework categories essential to support children 0 to 13 years of age, inclusive, as well as the index or set of indicators which should be used in the Equity Screening Tool to classify communities in these categories, and the ways that the categories and indicators may be used to equitably distribute early childhood investments and whole child resources in service of closing the racial and socioeconomic gaps in the State’s early childhood education system. The Whole Child Equity Workgroup will be composed of parents and families, practitioners, researchers, experts, advocates, and other interest holders that bring insight to address racial and economic inequities for California’s children.   

Interested individuals must complete the Whole Child Community Equity Workgroup application for the CDSS to identify workgroup candidates. Please find the link to the Application in English and Spanish. The application includes questions about the personal and professional experiences of prospective workgroup members. The questions are designed to ensure the workgroup addresses the needs of all communities. Please click on the link provided below to begin the workgroup application process. To be considered, the application must be completed and submitted by April 8, 2024.

Please note that if you are selected to participate in the Whole Child Community Equity Workgroup the first meeting is tentatively scheduled for May 30, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

For technical assistance regarding the mechanics of the application, please email RADDsurveyhelp@dss.ca.gov.   

For general inquiries regarding the CDSS Whole Child Community Equity Workgroup, please contact WCCE@dss.ca.gov.

Happening This Week, April 1st - 5th:

Tuesday, April 2nd:

Assembly Human Services Hearing. 1:30 p.m. - State Capitol, Room 444. Agenda.

Thursday, April 4th:

Thriving Families CA Statewide Meeting in Pomona. 9:30am-2:30pm.

Thriving Families California (formerly CAPPA) is committed to supporting our field with a coordinated calendar. Click here to see current calendar of events. If you have an event to add, email us and it will be added.

The Weekly Good

An uplifting way to start the week, for those of us who need a break from the chaos that is our lives.

During this time where we are all stressed, it would be great to celebrate the positive. Each week we will celebrate everyday heroes, inspiring movements and great things happening in our field.