California is one of the few states that has a paid family leave program (PFL), in additional to disability insurance, that allows parents and caregivers to provide care for a new child, or for a seriously ill family member. Last year’s budget extended the duration of the leave from six to eight weeks – with […]
The California Child Care and Referral Network has just released the 12th edition of the biennial California Child Care Portfolio, which tracks the changing child care landscape by county and statewide. Santa Clara County’s numbers show a continuing pattern of families, particularly low-income families, leaving the county. The number of children in the county continues […]
Strong Start partners, Children Now, have just released their 2020 California Children’s Report Card, detailing where the state is succeeding, and falling short, in meeting the needs of the over nine million children who are the future of our state. Overall, the report is concerning. California ranks towards the bottom of all states in ensuring […]
Last Friday, January 10th, Governor Newsome presented his Budget Proposal. The summary document is over 250 pages and his presentation lasted almost three hours. Compared with last year’s record-setting reinvestment in early care and education (ECE), the proposed funding increases for child care and preschool are relatively modest. The largest increase is $32M in 2020-21, […]
Last month the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved the first ever Santa Clara County Children’s Budget – a comprehensive accounting of the funds flowing through and from the County of Santa Clara that supports programs for children and their families. Altogether, the County spends almost $860 million per year across 180 programs addressing […]
Getting the alignment between preschool and early elementary education right is vital if our children and communities are to receive all the benefits of high quality early care and education (ECE). Recent research following on from the originally disappointing studies of Tennessee’s preschool program have demonstrated that the benefits of the program persist through third […]
Back in May, a delegation of Strong Start coalition members, along with staff from the Santa Clara County Office of Education and Board Trustees, headed to Sacramento for our annual advocacy day. From the raft of early care and education (ECE) legislation that had been proposed, we highlighted five bills to discuss with lawmakers. With […]
Governor Newsom has signed a bill placing a $15 billion bond for schools’ construction and renovation, that includes funding for district operated preschool facilities, on the March 3, 2020 statewide ballot. The “Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2020” will require a two-thirds majority vote to pass. The measure includes […]
AB 776 (Kalra) has passed the Senate Education Committee unanimously as it continues through the legislative process. The bill, co-sponsored by the Santa Clara County Office of Education and Children Now, was included in Strong Start’s advocacy day agenda in Sacramento in May. It requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop a process […]
Governor Gavin Newsom’s first budget has passed the legislature, and includes many – but not all – of the pieces of the May Budget Revise proposal. The record $215 billion budget expands the state’s Medicaid program – MediCal – to cover undocumented young adults, makes supplemental payments into the state’s public employee pension systems, spends […]