This article originally appeared in the January-February 2006 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

Children's Advocates Roundtable

California Child Care Portfolio

The California Child Care Resource and Referral Network this month publishes its latest county-by-county survey of child care need, supply, and cost. This year’s Portfolio includes a special section, “The New Child Care Consumer,” highlighting information on the diversity of California families. The Portfolio shows that:

• Licensed child care is still not available or affordable for many California families, with the severest shortage of care for children under two—the portfolio details supply, cost, and need for child care in each county.

• California’s child care centers and homes reflect the diversity of languages families speak, with many providers speaking Spanish or Asian languages.

• The high cost of living in some counties is forcing more families into long commutes—more workers are now traveling an hour or more to work.

• An increasing number of families work night and weekend hours, while most child care is available only during the day.

For information: 415-882-0234, www.rrnetwork.org.

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Children Now California Report Card

Children Now’s 2005 California Report Card, released in November, highlights generally poor health and education statistics for California’s children, for example:

• California ranks 44th in school spending

• Less than 55% of 3rd and 7th graders scored at or above grade level on school achievement tests

• 800,000 California children lack health insurance

• Less than 30% of 5th, 7th and 9th graders meet state physical fitness standards

• 46% of four-year-olds aren’t enrolled in preschool.

Recommendations include:

• quality preschool available to all children

• health insurance for all children

• continuing rigorous statewide standards for school achievement

• required daily physical education in schools.

For information: 510-763-2444, www.childrennow.org

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Children’s Health Initiative ballot measure

Action: Children Now, PICO California, and The Children’s Partnership are asking supporters to join in gathering signatures and passing an initiative for the November 2006 ballot.

Background: The Tobacco Tax Act of 2006 would raise the state cigarette tax by $2.60/pack. (Currently it’s $.87/pack). Funds would

• make sure every child in California can receive affordable health care insurance

• expand other prevention, treatment, and research programs.

Many children are already eligible for Healthy Families or Medi-Cal. This measure would make all other children eligible for Healthy Families if their family income is below 300% of the poverty line (about $46,000 for a family of three). It would also make it easier to enroll and stay in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families and make the programs operate as one.

For information: 510-663-2984, 510-763-2444, or 310-260-1220, www.100percentcampaign.org.

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Tax fairness

The California Partnership recently published a Tax Fairness Tool Kit, a curriculum that explains problems with the tax system and provides resources for research and advocacy. Among other things, it covers:

• Budget balancing that always happens through cuts to crucial programs and services

• The unfair tax system favoring corporations and wealthy individuals.

The curriculum and tax facts are available in Spanish, English, and Chinese.

For more information or to order the toolkit, go to: http://www.california-partnership.org/
artman/publish/cat_index_23.shtml or call 510-292-6941 or 562-862-2070, ext. 34.

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Fair rates for state-funded child care centers

Action: The California Child Development Administrators Association (CCDAA) is rallying support for a campaign for fair funding for state-subsidized child care programs.

Background: Some high-quality child care centers have state contracts to provide subsidized care for low- and moderate-income families. But they’ve been closing at an alarming rate, saying they can’t afford to keep going. Why?

The state subsidizes child care for low- and moderate-income families in two ways:

• It contracts with some centers for care for a certain number of children and

• It provides child care vouchers that parents of other children can use anywhere.

Quality requirements are much stricter at centers with state contracts. But the amount they get for each child is often lower—sometimes a lot lower—than the amount paid through the voucher system. Why? Because per-child rates for centers with state contracts have not kept up with inflation, while rates paid in the voucher system are set according to the “market rate”—how much people pay for child care in each region.

CCDAA is campaigning for a law that would require the state to pay centers with state contracts at least as much per child as it pays through the voucher program in their area. They say this will preserve high-quality child care for low- and moderate-income families.

For information: 800-835-3083, www.ccdaa.org

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Prevent Child Abuse California: Policy goals

Action: Prevent Child Abuse California (PCA-CA) is asking supporters to join in advocating for this year’s policy goals.

Background: At a policy conference November 8, PCA-CA identified top policy priorities for 2006:

• Implement a strong statewide home visitation coordinating structure that would connect home visitation and related programs to coordinate and evaluate programs statewide.

• Pass legislation to reduce domestic violence by creating public school programs on healthy and unhealthy relationships and by creating a “differential response system” for reports of child abuse.

• Conduct a public education campaign to give people information on what they can do to prevent child abuse.

For information, including a list of other policy goals:
916-244-1945, www.pca-ca.org.

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New funds for prevention of serious mental illness

Action: The Mental Health Association in California is urging all children’s advocates to get involved in planning for how to spend new mental health funds for prevention and early intervention.

Background: In 2004 California voters passed Proposition 63, which placed an additional 1% tax on incomes over $1 million to fund mental health services. The proposition says at least one-fifth of the money—about $150 million a year—must go to “prevention and early intervention” to keep mental health problems from getting severe.

Prevention and early intervention are “not currently part of the mental health system,” says Rusty Selix of the Mental Health Association in California. A new system for catching problems early should focus on kids, Selix says, and create partnerships between the mental health system and schools, doctors, child care programs, and community organizations.

This year the state Department of Mental Health will be creating systems and policies to guide county plans. “Every child advocacy organization should be involved” in helping to shape these policies, says Selix.

For information: The Department of Mental Health sends out emails updating people on the process—sign up at www.dmh.ca.gov/ Or call the Mental Health Association in California at 916-557-1167.

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Alan Watahara

California has lost a dedicated champion of children with the death of Alan Watahara in October. Alan founded and led organizations advocating for children including the California Partnership for Children and Youth, the California Children’s Lobby, the Sacramento Dental Care Foundation, and the UC Berkeley Children and Youth Policy project. He was most recently working with First 5 and California Tomorrow.

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Additional resources

Racial justice

The California Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity, by Californians for Justice, California Church Impact, the California Pan Ethnic Health Network, and California NAACP, with the Applied Research Center, points out that more than three in four Californians will be people of color by 2050 and scores legislators and the governor on how well they have served the cause of racial equity. Online at www.arc.org, or call 653-3415.

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