President-Elect Obama has described early childhood education as among his highest priorities and Arne Duncan, his choice for Secretary of Education, is a strong supporter. 

Mr. Obama has pledged to establish a Presidential Early Learning Council to coordinate federal, state and local policies. The currrent system is “fantastically fragmented, unconscionably underfinanced and bureaucratically bewildering” according to an article in The New York Times. According to Bruce Fuller, an education professor at the University of California at Berkley, “California has 22 different funding  streams for child care and preschool…”

As a Senator in Illinois, Mr. Obama supported efforts to expand child care and education and his presidential platform emphasizes extending services to infants and toddlers, increasing funding and helping poor children as priorities, despite the recession.

The 14^TH Annual Report on the Conditions of Children in Orange County will be released at the Community Forum to be held on Thursday, November 6, 2008 from 8 – 11 a.m. at Cal State Fullerton Titan Center. This report provides a comprehensive picture of the present condition of children in Orange County and establishes a baseline from which to measure future progress and track changing conditions. The report tracks 38 indicators, ranging from low birth rates, to physical activity and overweight children, developmental disabilities, access to health care and children living in poverty.

The Child Care Connections Barriers Mitigation Work Group is hot on the advocacy trail to promote the benefits of quality child care.  With partners Anne Broussard, County Child Care Coordinator,  Diamond Tran of The Public Law Center and Roseann Andrus of Child Care Connections we recently joined forces to educate the Newport Beach City Council, staff and community about the impact that a proposed increase from $194.00 to $729.00 in fire department fees would have on parents using child care services in the community. Background: The Newport Beach Municipal Code establishes the percentage of costs to be recovered from direct user fees. Hundreds of fees were reviewed for potential changes and a 154-page document was made public. Brianna Bailey, reporter from the Daily Pilot, noticed that the fees for day care centers were to increase and wrote about that and other proposed changes.  The Commission put out an Action Alert, advocates testified at the City Council meeting and Councilmember Keith Curry amended the proposed ordinance to state that Day Care Facilities (Child Care Centers, preschool and afterschool programs) be exempt from the increase and retain the current fee for fire inspections. The motion passed unanimously. We count this as a great success for Child Care Connections working to change the regulatory system to support child care facilities throughout Orange County.

Child Care Connections has been making strong and positive in-roads toward the goal of including supportive language linking affordable child care with homes that families can afford in the Housing Elements of the following jurisdictions:

County of Orange and the cities of:
Huntington Beach
Anaheim
Fullerton
Santa Ana–(they requested a meeting)
Costa Mesa
Orange

Connections has also requested such language and will continue to follow-up with:

San Clemente
Newport Beach
Irvine

Connections members have submitted letters, attended public hearings, made presentations, met with city staff, served on task teams, and answered all specific questions regarding the importance of linking affordable child care with homes that families can afford.

The advocacy strategy by Child Care Connections, (a collaborative of community groups including the Kennedy Commission, United Way, the County of Orange, Public Law Center and Childrens Home Society) to encourage city planning departments to create policies for child care in their Housing Elements (HE) is working. As a result of a letter sent to Mayor Pulido in February, Santa Ana representatives will be meeting with the collaborative to discuss proposals to streamline child care facilities’ development and increase the supply to accommodate the children of working families. In addition, The County of Orange will include child care language in their draft HE.Specific policies the collaborative is requesting in Housing Elements include:

1. Allowing child care centers by-right when co-located with affordable housing communities.
2. Provide incentives such as density bonuses, increases to floor area ratios, reduced parking requirements, and allowing child care facilities to serve as traffic mitigation measures to affordable housing developers to help them include child care as part of their developments.

The collaborative is targeting ten cities in Orange County to focus advocacy efforts based on the RHNA requirements and needs assessments of families in the cities.For more information, please contact Beverly Schuberth.

Child care advocates are using Housing Elements as tools for policy changes.

Housing Element comments are being sent by Child Care Connections, a collaborative of community groups including Orange County United Way, the Children’s Home Society and the Kennedy Commission, to cities asking them to help meet the needs of families in their communities by incorporating child care into the planning process.

Unfortunately, community development plans and policies do not address the need for child care even as housing costs require that both parents work. Cities are being urged to:

1. require the consideration of child care in reports, surveys and studies
2. reduce the barriers to child care in land use ordinances and planning codes
3. require mitigation or incentive measures to encourage developers to plan for child care facilities
4. provide governmental assistance for child care facility development

As a result of advocacy efforts led by Roseann Andrus of Orange County United Way, the City of Huntington Beach has revised policies, expanded goals, and strengthened their commitment to providing adequate child care centers by including child care language in several sections of their 2008-2014 Draft Housing Element.

If you have any information about mitigation of barriers or suggestions for successful strategies, or for more information, please contact Beverly Schuberth.

According to a just-released policy brief for 2008 candidates for federal office written by the National Children’s Facilities Network, a considerable body of research demonstrates that high quality early care and education can improve the life chances of poor children and save more than $7 in downstream costs on welfare, juvenile justice and special education for every $1 invested.

In order to fully realize these benefits - academic achievement and long-term savings in remedial programs to name just two - the federal government must play a more active role in stimulating facilities investments. Recommendations include the creation of a pool of flexible capital with funding channeled to experienced nonprofit community development financial intermediaries who understand real estate planning and financial packaging and can leverage private resources for early care and education facilities and provide technical assistance.

Locally, as a result of advocacy efforts led by Roseann Andrus of Orange County United Way, the City of Huntington Beach has revised policies, expanded goals, and strengthened their commitment to providing adequate child care centers by including child care language in several sections of their 2008-2014 Draft Housing Element.

If you have any information about mitigation of barriers or suggestions for successful strategies, or for more information, please contact Beverly Schuberth.