Two years ago, Lourdes Barajas, her husband, and kids were returning from a car trip to visit family in Mexico when her 5-year-old son, David, started complaining of a stomach ache. By the time they arrived home, David was doubled over in agony. She rushed him to the hospital emergency room, where doctors diagnosed him with appendicitis and operated on him.

Two weeks later, David was back running and playing with friends. And, because Barajas has state-funded Healthy Families health insurance, she never saw a bill. “Thank God we had Healthy Families,” she says. “It probably would have taken me a lifetime to pay off the bill.”

Healthy Families at risk

But with the economic downturn, Healthy Families and other state-sponsored programs for children face deep funding cuts. Lawmakers and Gov. Schwarzeneg-ger are continuing to hammer out a final budget, but nearly everyone agrees that severe cuts to dozens of essential programs are inevitable.

“I’m very, very worried,” says Barajas, a Torrance mother of four who was laid off  recently from her job as an MRI technologist. “The last thing any parent wants is to see your kids with no health insurance.”

To fight to preserve state funding for child programs, Barajas—along with hundreds of parents across the state—is writing legislators and trying to spread the word about the critical need for these programs. Without these programs, she says, thousands of children of low-income parents would lack child care, health insurance, and other benefits.

Proposed cuts would “have a ripple effect”

Working families will not only be slammed by cuts to services but also by increases in taxes and fees, warns Mary Ignatius, state organizer for Parent Voices. “We definitely support raising revenues, but we need to (do that in ways) that won’t adversely affect families. An increase of $40 or $50 for child care might not sound like a lot, but in the economic crisis, this is money that could be coming out of a food bill.”

Many schools have already reported more parents dropping their children off early or picking them up late—leaving them unsupervised instead of enrolling them in on-site child care programs, adds Ignatius. In some cases parents are turning to lower quality, and possibly unsafe, child care situations in order to save money. Or they’re relying on extended family, who might not be equipped to provide safe, high-quality care.

Meanwhile, the state’s child care providers are also likely to see a drop in enrollment and reimbursement due to the impending budget cuts. Those who rely heavily on state funding could be forced to close their doors, Ignatius says. “These cuts will have a ripple effect. Whole communities will be affected.”

Families get mobilized

Tracy Young, a Calaveras County single mother of four who relies on Head Start and other child care subsidies, is organizing other parents in her community to attend meetings, get involved with advocacy groups, and go to Sacramento to meet with legislators. “Politicians need to see the faces of families and children who will be affected,” she says. “Child care is the very last thing that should be cut.”

Young, who works at her local Head Start office and is studying to become a social worker, has already cut her telephone long-distance, cable TV, and clothing bills to afford her children’s child care bills. A rate increase would be devastating her and thousands of other families across the state.

“I’ll be going to the food bank more, probably applying for food stamps,” she says. “I think for a lot of parents, if they can’t afford child care they’ll just quit their jobs and go on welfare. Families are already struggling. And the children feel that. It’s really, really hard. I think we’ll be seeing more incidents with (Child Protective Services) and other issues like that.” But Young tells parents that worrying won’t help matters—getting involved will.

Advocates join forces

To lobby lawmakers and the governor, Parent Voices is teaming up with nonprofits that advocate for the disabled, seniors, schools, and other groups threatened by budget cuts. The groups plan to hold joint press conferences, bring families to the Capitol to testify in budget hearings, and lobby legislators directly.

Many child advocacy nonprofits are not only busy fighting the 2009-2010 budget cuts, they’re still protesting last year’s cuts. Tim Morrison, campaign coordinator of the 100 Percent Campaign, says his group continues to battle against increased Medi-Cal premiums for low-income families in the 2008-09 state budget.

But there is also some hope—Congress has earmarked some funds for California in the economic recovery package. “We just need to convince lawmakers that if the money comes through, kids should be at the top of the list,” says Morrison.

Activism to protect kids’ programs from budget cuts

• Families speak out: On Jan. 12, more than 300 parents, kids, seniors, disabled people, and others took part in press conferences held in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento, as part of a protest organized by Parent Voices, Health Access, and the California Partnership, a coalition of more than 100 community-based nonprofits around the state fighting to end poverty.
  
  The rallies were focused around a quote by former vice president Hubert Humphrey: “It was once said that the moral test of government is how (it) treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the (disabled).”
  
  
• Families rally: More than 100 parents and kids rallied outside Gov. Schwarzenegger’s office in January to urge him to protect programs that benefit low-income families. The rally was organized by LIFETIME, which helps low-income parents complete their educations and find jobs.
  
  
• Teachers march: Los Angeles area teachers marched through downtown L.A. in January and rallied at the state building to protest proposed cuts in education funding. The protest was sponsored by United Teachers Los Angeles, a teachers’ union.

Resources

For more information or to get involved, contact:

• Child care: Parent Voices, 415-882-0234,
  www.parentvoices.org
• Health: 100% Campaign, 916-443-1680, www.100percentcampaign.org
• Poverty: California Partnership, 213-385-8010, www.california-partnership.org
• Schools: EdVoice, 916-448-3868, www.edvoice.org