Budget Center Policy Analyst Kristin Schumacher attended the California Child Development Coalition Retreat and delivered the presentation: “Child Care and Development Programs in California: Key Context and Current Issues.”
You may also be interested in the following resources:
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Q&A
Demystifying California’s Child Care Provider Rate Reform Process
key takeaway California is developing a new single rate structure to pay child care providers based on the estimated cost of care rather than what families can afford to pay, but improvements to the state’s alternative methodology will be needed to ensure the process results in fair and equitable provider pay. Child care is a … ContinuedChild Care & Preschool -
5Facts
Understanding California’s 1.8 Million Gap in Publicly Funded Child Care
key takeaway California’s failure to expand publicly funded child care leaves 1.8 million eligible children without access, worsening affordability, racial inequities, and affordability challenges for families statewide. California’s state leaders acknowledge that child care is a key driver of unaffordability and is critical for children’s healthy development and a strong state economy. Among these state … ContinuedChild Care & Preschool
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CCDAA held a Advocacy Day at the Capitol which featured an orientation training about the legislative process and how to conduct visits with your representatives. Budget Center Policy Analyst Kristin Schumacher delivered her presentation, “Child Care and Development Programs in California: Key Context and Current Issues.”
You may also be interested in the following resources:
-
Q&A
Demystifying California’s Child Care Provider Rate Reform Process
key takeaway California is developing a new single rate structure to pay child care providers based on the estimated cost of care rather than what families can afford to pay, but improvements to the state’s alternative methodology will be needed to ensure the process results in fair and equitable provider pay. Child care is a … ContinuedChild Care & Preschool -
5Facts
Understanding California’s 1.8 Million Gap in Publicly Funded Child Care
key takeaway California’s failure to expand publicly funded child care leaves 1.8 million eligible children without access, worsening affordability, racial inequities, and affordability challenges for families statewide. California’s state leaders acknowledge that child care is a key driver of unaffordability and is critical for children’s healthy development and a strong state economy. Among these state … ContinuedChild Care & Preschool
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Endnotes are available in the PDF version of this Fact Sheet.
Parents with low- and moderate-incomes often struggle to stay afloat, balancing the soaring cost of child care against the high price of housing and other expenses. California’s subsidized child care and development programs, which are funded by both the state and federal governments, help many families make ends meet and allow them to avoid difficult choices about where to leave their children while at work. Yet, seven years after the end of the Great Recession, these programs as a whole continue to operate at below pre-recession levels, with inflation-adjusted funding well down from 2007-08 levels due to state budget cuts. This means that far fewer families with low and moderate incomes receive subsidized child care today than before the Great Recession began in 2007.
There is tremendous unmet need in California for subsidized child care. In 2015, an estimated 1.5 million children from birth through age 12 were eligible for care, according to a Budget Center analysis of federal survey data. However, only 218,000 children were enrolled in programs that could accommodate families for more than a couple of hours per day and throughout the entire year (see chart). Child care subsidies provide job stability and have been shown to increase parents’ earnings. Subsidies also allow families to afford higher-quality child care where their children can learn and grow. Boosting support for families struggling to afford child care is critical, especially given that the cost of child care and nursery school nationally has outpaced overall inflation since the end of the Great Recession. In California, more than two out of three families with children who are living in poverty include someone who is working. Yet, in 2015 the cost of child care for an infant and school-age child in a licensed center was equal to 99 percent of the annual income for a single mother and two children living at the federal poverty line ($19,096).
Recent years have seen bipartisan support for subsidized child care at the federal level. In 2014, Republicans and Democrats worked together to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) – the primary source of federal funding for subsidized child care. This reauthorization included reforms to ensure the health and safety of children, enhance the quality of programs, and simplify families’ access to and retention of services. However, this reauthorization did not provide sufficient federal funding to fully implement these new provisions. In addition, President-elect Trump’s child care proposal falls short in helping low- and moderate-income families afford the high cost of care and, furthermore, would primarily benefit higher-income families. The President-elect’s plan does nothing to address the vast unmet need for subsidized child care.
State and federal policymakers must increase public investment in subsidized child care and development programs. Affordable child care is critical to supporting low- and moderate-income families while parents are at work and is vital to helping families achieve economic security.
This analysis is the first part of a multiphase effort to analyze subsidized child care and development programs in California. Future phases of this work will examine the unmet need for subsidized child care across different age groups and by race and ethnicity, and will also include an analysis of the number of children and families that would be eligible if the income eligibility limit were updated to reflect the most recent data.
For more information about the methodology used to calculate the estimates provided in this Fact Sheet, see the Technical Appendix.
You may also be interested in the following resources:
-
Q&A
Demystifying California’s Child Care Provider Rate Reform Process
key takeaway California is developing a new single rate structure to pay child care providers based on the estimated cost of care rather than what families can afford to pay, but improvements to the state’s alternative methodology will be needed to ensure the process results in fair and equitable provider pay. Child care is a … ContinuedChild Care & Preschool -
5Facts
Understanding California’s 1.8 Million Gap in Publicly Funded Child Care
key takeaway California’s failure to expand publicly funded child care leaves 1.8 million eligible children without access, worsening affordability, racial inequities, and affordability challenges for families statewide. California’s state leaders acknowledge that child care is a key driver of unaffordability and is critical for children’s healthy development and a strong state economy. Among these state … ContinuedChild Care & Preschool
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For participants in the Women’s Policy Institute, a program of the Women’s Foundation of California, Kristin Schumacher discusses the importance of increasing access to affordable, high-quality child care and preschool.
You may also be interested in the following resources:
-
Q&A
Demystifying California’s Child Care Provider Rate Reform Process
key takeaway California is developing a new single rate structure to pay child care providers based on the estimated cost of care rather than what families can afford to pay, but improvements to the state’s alternative methodology will be needed to ensure the process results in fair and equitable provider pay. Child care is a … ContinuedChild Care & Preschool -
5Facts
Understanding California’s 1.8 Million Gap in Publicly Funded Child Care
key takeaway California’s failure to expand publicly funded child care leaves 1.8 million eligible children without access, worsening affordability, racial inequities, and affordability challenges for families statewide. California’s state leaders acknowledge that child care is a key driver of unaffordability and is critical for children’s healthy development and a strong state economy. Among these state … ContinuedChild Care & Preschool
Stay in the know.
Join our email list!
Policy Insights, the Budget Center’s annual conference, is the premier event for advocates, policymakers, researchers, and other leaders working to improve the lives of low- and middle-income Californians.
The following is the agenda and schedule for Policy Insights 2015, held on March 4 at the Sacramento Convention Center, along with presentations and handouts from the conference sessions.
View CalChannel’s video page from Policy Insights 2015
8:30-8:50 Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00-9:15 Welcome
Chris Hoene, executive director, California Budget & Policy Center
9:15-10:30 Keynote
California Prospects, Act I: The Intersection of Analysis, New Media, and Public Policy
One of the nation’s leading policy wonks discusses how timely, accessible analysis and commentary can shape and advance public policy.
Speaker:
Ezra Klein, editor-in-chief, Vox.com
Moderator:
Steven Bliss, director, strategic communications, California Budget & Policy Center
10:45-12:00 Morning Workshops
- Sentencing Reform in California: Work Left to Do
Lenore Anderson, executive director, Californians for Safety and Justice
Handout: CSJ Fact Sheet on Proposition 47
Hadar Aviram, professor of law, University of California, Hastings College of the Law
Tamisha Walker, founding member, Safe Return Project
Moderator: Selena Teji, policy analyst, California Budget & Policy Center
- What’s at Stake? Key Legislative Staffers Discuss the 2015-16 Budget
Agnes Lee, health policy adviser, Office of Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins
Seren M. Taylor, staff director, Senate Republican Fiscal Office
Presentation: Budget Overview
Nicole Vazquez, deputy chief consultant, Assembly Budget Committee
Moderator: Scott Graves, director of research, California Budget & Policy Center
- A New Federal Policy Landscape: What Republican Control of Congress Means for the Federal Budget – and What’s at Stake for California
Ed Bolen, senior policy analyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Edwin Park, vice president for Health Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Presentation: The 2015 Federal Budget Landscape and the Threat to Key Low-Income Programs
Moderator: Luke Reidenbach, policy analyst, California Budget & Policy Center
- State Support for California’s Public Universities: Looking Beyond the Current Debate, Reinvesting for the Long Term
Lande Ajose, deputy director, California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy
Presentation: The Committee of Two
Debbie Cochrane, research director, The Institute for College Access & Success
Presentation: Costs and Affordability at California’s Public Universities
Hans P. Johnson, senior policy fellow and Bren fellow, Public Policy Institute of California
Presentation: Higher Education Finance in California
Handout: Higher Education in California: Institutional Costs
Moderator: Phaelen Parker, policy analyst, California Budget & Policy Center
- Revenue and Tax Policy: Weighing Options and Prospects for Reform
Tim Gage, principal and co-founder, Blue Sky Consulting Group
Lenny Goldberg, executive director, California Tax Reform Association
Jean Ross, program officer, Ford Foundation and former executive director, California Budget & Policy Center
Moderator: Chris Hoene, executive director, California Budget & Policy Center
12:15-1:45 Luncheon Plenary
Celebrating 20 Years of Analysis and Impact
Paul Rosenstiel, managing director, public finance department, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company and board chair, California Budget & Policy Center
Jean Ross, program officer, Ford Foundation and former executive director, California Budget & Policy Center
California Prospects, Act II: Big Challenges, Big Ideas
Three of our state’s foremost thought leaders and influencers discuss the opportunities and questions
presented by changes in the state’s demographics, economy, and social conditions.
Speakers:
Joe Mathews, California and innovation editor, Zócalo Public Square
Senator Holly J. Mitchell, chair, Senate Budget Subcommittee 3 on Health and Human Services
Manuel Pastor, director, Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, University of Southern
California
Moderator:
Anthony York, president and publisher, Grizzly Bear Media and the Grizzly Bear Project
2:00-3:15 Afternoon Workshops
- Children’s Health Programs in California: Where We Are and What Comes Next
Kelly Hardy, senior managing director, health policy, Children Now
Presentation: Medi-Cal Covers Over Half of the State’s Kids
Handout: Yes, At Least Half of All of California’s Kids Are Enrolled in Medi-Cal
Jenny Kattlove, senior director, programs, The Children’s Partnership
Presentation: Opportunities to Improve the Oral Health of California’s Most Vulnerable Children
Handouts: Virtual Dental Home | State Audit of Medi-Cal Dental | Infographic: Fix Medi-Cal Dental
Handouts, “Your Child Has Dental Coverage”: LA County | Sacramento County | Statewide - Edwin Park, vice president for health policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Presentation: Children’s Health in 2015: CHIP Funding Reauthorization
Moderator: Kristin Schumacher, policy analyst, California Budget & Policy Center
- Poverty in California: Key Policymakers Discuss State Strategies to Address Poverty
Speaker of the Assembly Toni G. Atkins
Senator Mark Leno, chair, Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review
Assemblymember Mark Stone, member, Assembly Committee on Human Services
Erica Williams, assistant director of state fiscal research, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Moderator: Chris Hoene, executive director, California Budget & Policy Center
- Finding the Right Balance: What Role Should the State Play in Improving Education for Disadvantaged Students?
Brooks Allen, deputy policy Director and assistant legal counsel, State Board of Education
Carolyn Chu, senior fiscal and policy analyst, Legislative Analyst’s Office
Presentation: Review of California’s Local Control and Accountability Plans
Samantha Tran, senior managing director, education policy, Children Now
Moderator: Jonathan Kaplan, senior policy analyst, California Budget & Policy Center
3:15-4:30 Afternoon Plenary
California Prospects, Act III: Confronting Policy Choices That Will Define Our Future
Three leaders with deep Capitol experience will discuss the policy choices likely to define California’s
future and examine how the state can position itself for economic prosperity that is broadly shared.
Speakers:
Ana J. Matosantos, policy consultant and former director, Department of Finance
John A. Pérez, regent, University of California Board of Regents and Speaker emeritus, Assembly
Darrell Steinberg, chair, California Government Law and Policy Practice, Greenberg Traurig and former Senate President pro Tem
Moderator:
Ben Adler, Capitol bureau chief, Capital Public Radio
4:30-6:00 20th Anniversary Reception
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