Alameda County Child Care Planning Council
Public Policy Committee January 17, 2018
MINUTES
“The mission of the Public Policy Committee is to support the mission of the Planning Council by monitoring and developing early care and education legislation, policies and regulations that impact children, families and child care providers and recommending appropriate action to the Child Care Planning Council.”
Attendees:
Nancy Strohl / Steering Committee / Lorita Riga / ConsultantMargaret Jerene / First Five,
Steering Committee / Rosemary Obeid / 4Cs of Alameda County
Phan Fong / Child Care Links / Jennifer Caban / SSA
Pauline McCarthy / 4Cs of Alameda County / Neva Bandelow / ACOE (Office of Ed)
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Alameda County Child Care Planning Council
Public Policy Committee January 17, 2018
MINUTES
Ellen Dektar, Staff
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Alameda County Child Care Planning Council
Public Policy Committee January 17, 2018
MINUTES
1
Alameda County Child Care Planning Council
Public Policy Committee January 17, 2018
MINUTES
Action Items:
· Consider Rebuilding Together collaboration as a consideration in facilities planning.
· Review potential initiative program areas that will need more definition and potential stakeholders and mechanisms, such as Planning Council committees, to develop them.
· Recommend to Steering Committee: approve letter to Governor on Budget; approve revised federal funding guidelines.
I. Announcements
· ACOE is convening an Early Learning Network that meets the second Thursday of every month.
· Winter Institute 2/23 at ACOE: keynote speakers include Carla Bryant who was the director of child development at SFUSD, who will talk about challenges and opportunities to build coherence between preschool and 3rd grade to improve children’s school success.
· There was a recent feature story in The New York Times on ECE teacher wages. The story did not mention unions which are a force here in California/Alameda County.
II. Report out from LPC Committees
· State Contractors: no major updates.
· Facilities: a group including First 5 staff met in December to discuss expected facilities needs and funding linked to new City and County sales taxes.
· ECE Committee: 100 people are expected for LPC convened trauma symposium in late January; the Committee will update LPC quality statement from 2008.
III. Federal, State Legislation and Budget
· State Budget: Ellen shared analysis—modest increases in ECE.
o Foster Care Bridge funding is annualized
o The Committee will recommend that the Planning Council write a letter to Governor Brown:
Message:
o Given the general fund anticipated revenue increases, increase ECE investment and don’t tangle revenue up in the Rainy Day Fund
o Hard to lift children out of poverty with no CalWORKs grant increase
o Appreciate increase in rates
o New pilot inclusion program is good although one time funding not: Draw upon model programs-San Francisco and Alameda County have models.
o Some state contractors offer inclusion, some have separate programs offered through school districts
o We really need adequate funding for Regional Center, IDEA, Offices of Education so services are a universal right
o Pilot should include these elements:
· More than state preschool (Prop 98 money prob only for part day care programs)
· Professional development or shadowing special teachers
· Balance infant toddler and preschool needs and voucher and state preschool
· We look forward to getting more info on proposal
o Restore slots, especially for infants
o Balance investments in Rainy Day fund with program expansion
IV. Federal framework for taking positions
· Nancy made a couple of suggested changes to last year’s Steering Committee approved guidelines for when the Planning Council staff can send letters to federal elected officials without full Steering Committee approval. The updates make it more relevant to 2018 issues. The Planning Council will vote to approve it per Public Policy’s recommendation on Friday.
V. Foster Care and Homeless Program Update
· Foster Care Bridge: 42 out of 58 counties opted in to this state program so there may be more funding available for our County than expected. SSA is planning to amend the resource and referral agencies contracts in February to launch this new program. They cannot increase the $350 rate that foster parents receive for child care until SSA receives a letter from the state. Alameda County expects to receive $422,000 over six months SSA is meeting with the resource and referral agencies to finalize the job description for navigators next week.
VI. B 833 Implementation Update
· Legislative changes needed for the County’s pilot implementation are anticipated in the Budget Trailer Bill. Without this clarifying language, the County’s State Preschool programs can only enroll children if they are 2.9 by December 2 of fiscal year, not throughout the year.
· There is a statewide and County discussion about Stage 1 inclusion in the AB 833 pilot; decision on County participation in Stage 1 will be made in the next six months; Nancy commented that this would provide an opportunity for flexibility where have been barriers; SSA is trying to carefully consider what the ramifications would be for other vulnerable populations. Anecdotally, many Alameda County CalWORKs Stage 1 recipients use family child care, and secondarily, family, friend and neighbor care for infants and toddlers. (Allowing Stage 1 programs to use Pilot rules would impact these).
· Alternative Payment agencies are now engaged in the pilot and part day preschools are now on board. Lorita is participating in statewide planning and policy discussions with other pilot counties.
VII. Develop February Agenda
· Time did not permit addressing this item.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 9:30—11:30 am **4Cs of Alameda
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Alameda County Child Care Planning Council
Public Policy Committee January 17, 2018
MINUTES
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