This article originally appeared in the March-April 2005 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

Children’s Advocates Roundtable

The governor’s budget: Highlights of items affecting children

Action: Let your state legislators know your views on state budget priorities.

Background: Children’s advocates have identified highlights of the governor’s budget proposal.

Early care and education

• Provides cost of living increases for subsidized child care

• Changes rules about eligibility for child care subsidies—they would be based on the federal poverty level, not the state median income as they are now

• Reduces child care subsidies for license-exempt providers, with smaller reductions for those who get training

• Limits the number of years that families who have left CalWORKs can get child care subsides

• Eliminates the current rule that calls for more visits by the licensing agency if a program has had many violations

• Creates a system for paying child care providers according to the quality of their program. This system, to start in two years, would pay the current rate only to programs rated top quality. Payments for programs with lower ratings would be cut.

For more information: California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, 415-882-0234

Health

• Requires families with incomes above the federal poverty level ($1,306 a month for a family of three) to pay a monthly premium for Medi-Cal, with a maximum of $27 per family

• Streamlines the process for enrolling children in Medi-Cal

• Restores fees for “application assisters” who help families enroll children in health insurance

• Supports counties that have created universal health care for children by allowing them to buy into the Healthy Families program for kids receiving health insurance through the county

• Creates the Obesity Initiative for prevention, screening, and treatment plus community- and workplace-based initiatives

• Proposes a program to help Californians buy medicine at a discount

• Increases funds for screening newborns, for Children’s Medical Services, and for the Early Prevention, Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program.

For more information: Children’s Defense Fund California, 510-663-2984 or 213-749-8787 or Health Access, 916-442-2308

Education

• Increases state education spending to allow for enrollment growth and inflation and increases per-pupil spending by 5 percent

• Does not include the $2 billion increase that the governor promised public school advocates last year

• Creates a fitness and nutrition initiative to improve school food and fitness programs

• Includes funds for teacher training and materials for English Language Learners

• Promotes charter schools and small schools.

• Proposes allowing schools to make more decisions at the school level.

For more information: PTA, 213-620-1100, EdSource, www.edsource.org, or your local teachers’ union

CalWORKs

• Reduces the CalWORKs cash grant to families by 6.5 percent

• Eliminates the cost of living adjustment for CalWORKS aid

• Increases work requirements for parents on CalWORKs

• Reduces the amount of earned income parents on CalWORKS are allowed to keep.

For more information: California Partnership, 562-862-2070 ( Southern California) or 415-826-7017 ( Northern California), or Western Center on Law and Poverty, 916-442-0753

Child welfare

• Proposes expanding to more counties a statewide system for assessing child safety, as well as new standards for child welfare services

• Proposes shifting to the counties some of the cost of paying federal fines for California’s violations of federal standards.

For more information: Children’s Advocacy Institute, 916-444-3875

Sources: Children’s Advocacy Institute, California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, California Budget Project

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Federal child nutrition act: New opportunities

Action: Get federal funds for nutrition in your after-school program or get involved in creating a wellness plan for your school.

Background: When Congress renewed the federal program for child nutrition, it created some new opportunities to help boost kids’ nutrition and health.

• Added funding for snacks for kids in after-school programs. For more information, call California Food Policy Advocates, 415-777-4422 or see www.cfpa.net/Snacks/snackattack.html

• Required each school to work with parents and other community “stakeholders” to develop a “wellness” plan, which should include nutrition education, physical activity, and nutrition standards for foods sold at school. For more information, contact the Bay Area Nutrition and Physical Activity Coalition, Janet Leader, 408-792-5131

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State budget solutions

Action: Let your state legislators know your views on how to solve the state’s budget crisis.

Background: The California Tax Reform Association (CTRA) has published a report detailing 21 steps California could take to raise enough money to pay for “education, infrastructure, and vital public services.”

CTRA says tax system has “significant flaws,” is unfair, and doesn’t make sense for today’s economy. Its new report, Tax Policy for the 21st Century: Resolving California’s Long-Term Structural Deficit, CTRA presents a menu of choices for fixing the system. The suggestions include:

• reform property taxes on businesses

• charge sales taxes on services (a growing part of the economy), not just goods

• charge fees or taxes on businesses that create pollution, and end tax breaks for oil drilling

• bring back top income tax brackets, with higher rates on the highest incomes

• eliminate specified tax loopholes for businesses and very wealthy individuals.

For more information: California Tax Reform Association, 916-444-6611, www.caltaxreform.org.

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Advocates’ calendar

Apr 6: Child Abuse Prevention Event. Sacramento. Hosted by the California Department of Social Services, 916-651-9989, and Prevent Child Abuse California, 916-498-8481, http://familyresourcecenters.net

Apr 20: 28th Annual California Association for the Education of Young Children Public Policy Symposium. Sacramento. CAEYC, 916-486-7750; www.caeyc.org

Apr 28: ENACT: Nutrition and Activity Day, an opportunity for parents, health professionals, advocates, and educators to meet with legislators about policy solutions to obesity. Sacramento. For more information, contact Jessica Reich, California Food Policy Advocates, 415-777-4422 x129; www.cfpa.net/ENACT2005/registration.htm

May 1: Worthy Wage Day, a day to increase awareness of the need for adequate wages for child care providers to ensure quality care for children. For information, contact the Center for the Child Care Workforce, 202-662-8005; www.ccw.org/about_wage.html

May 4: Stand for Children with Parent Voices, a day to advocate for quality early childhood programs with hundreds of parents from all over California. For information, call Parent Voices at 415-882-0234

May 10: Hunger Action Day, an opportunity for advocates to talk with legislators about hunger issues and legislation as well as to get information on hunger in California. For more information, contact Danika Choe, California Hunger Action Coalition, at 415-777-4422 x 101 or Frank Tamborello at 213-439-1070 x 115

May 17: United For A Fair Budget, a joint rally by anti-hunger advocates, working families, immigrants, seniors, people of faith, and people with disabilities. Sacramento. For more information, contact Kim McCoy Wade, California Association of Food Banks, 916-321-4435; information online from Health Access at www.health-access.org/calendarhome.htm

May 23 to 24: Annual Environmental Health Legislative Education Days, sponsored by the Environmental Health Legislative Working Group. To register, email Nick Guroff at nickguroff@earthlink.net.

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Put cash in the hands of low-income families!

Action: Let families know about the Earned Income Tax Credit before they file their tax returns.

Background: The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can provide thousands of dollars in income tax refunds to low-income families.

• Children’s Defense Fund California is working on new ways to let families know about the EITC through child care, health care enrollment, and First Five parent education programs. Contact: Victoria Ballesteros, 213-749-5687, www.cdfca.org

• In Los Angeles, a new Earned Income Tax Credit Partnership has launched an educational program to encourage families to take advantage of the EITC and other tax benefits. Contact 800-601-5552

• In the Bay Area, United Way of the Bay Area is promoting Volunteer Income Tax Assistance to help families file for the EITC and other benefits. Contact: United Way of the Bay Area, 415-808-4300, www.earnitkeepitsaveit.org

• Wherever you are, for help with the EITC and other tax issues, you can find out about the free tax assistance site nearest you by calling the Internal Revenue Service information line at 800-829-1040 (press 1, then 4, then you get a live person)

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Action Alliance
for Children
e-mail aac@4children.org
1201 Martin Luther
King Jr. Way
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 444-7136