FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 25, 2023 at 3:30 p.m. PT
CONTACT: Carter Ashforth, [email protected], (510) 763-2444 x 108
Over 1,100 organizations demand child care rate reform
Diverse groups ask state leaders to make child care a top budget priority
OAKLAND, CA—Today the Children’s Movement of California delivered this letter, signed by 1,164 diverse organizations across the state, to Governor Newsom and the California Legislature urging them to prioritize child care in this year’s state budget. The letter calls on state leaders to address the child care crises by authorizing rate increases for providers, including making a substantial downpayment this year and finding an equitable, permanent solution for family fees.
“Accessible and affordable child care needs to be the top priority budget issue,” said Ted Lempert, President of Children Now, which coordinated the letter. “This is not an issue California can keep putting off. There is an urgent need to support our child care workforce, ensure access so parents and guardians can get jobs, and provide the early care and education that our kids need to thrive.”
The letter cites the Administration’s Rate and Quality Work Group, which calls on the Governor to adopt the recommendations garnered by extensive feedback, engagement and analysis and will help thousands of child care providers stay in business and thrive by transitioning to a cost-based model. This transition is essential to ensuring the state pays for the true costs of subsidized child care and ends the current, unjust system that exploits the current workforce, who are predominantly low-income women and women of color.
Among the groups signing the Children’s Movement letter are SEIU, the State Chamber of Commerce, Parent Voices, The Child Care Resource Center, CA Child Care Resource & Referral Network, and EveryChild California.
“We are excited by the unprecedented level of diverse support this letter has received and are confident that our state leaders hear us,” said Lempert. “But the proof will be substantial additional dollars in the state budget.”
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About Children Now
Children Now is a non-partisan, whole-child research, policy development and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting children’s health, education and well-being in California. The organization also leads The Children’s Movement of California, a network of over 5,000 direct service, parent, youth, civil rights, faith-based and community groups dedicated to improving children’s well-being.
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