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Advocacy and Policy News
Legislative Wrap-Up: Several Bills Signed by Governor Support Early Childhood Development and Learning
On Sunday, Oct. 13, Governor Newsom signed and vetoed the year’s final batch of legislation. The governor signed several bills that support early childhood development and early childhood providers, and help families. Read on below to learn more!
Early Childhood Development
Earlier this year, the governor allocated $54 million to improve rates of developmental screenings. Building on this investment, the governor signed AB 1004 (McCarty) which will help ensure providers adhere to American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines for developmental screening and use validated screening tools. -
Advocacy and Policy News
Federal Judges in New York and California Block Administration’s Public Charge RuleOn October 11, 2019, a federal judge in New York issued a temporary injunction against the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule, preventing the rule from taking effect on October 15.
The public charge rule would make it more difficult for immigrants to get green cards if it looks like they might need public assistance. Titled “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds,” the rule sparked several legal challenges.
Under the rule, U.S. immigration officials who decide whether an immigrant should be granted a green card would weigh whether the applicant will be self-sufficient. -
Advocacy and Policy News
California’s Head Start team of 80 rallies, raises awareness at the nation’s CapitolWhat a great week in our nation’s Capital. In the first official week of autumn, California sent a record number of 80 people to NHSA’s Fall Leadership Institute. There was a buzz of energy with so many states gathered together. The opening keynote by Eric Motley, executive vice president at the Aspen Institute, was inspiring. Workshop general session content was focused on key issues facing our Head Start world, including enrollment, workforce, trauma informed care and immigration.
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Advocacy and Policy News
Now is the time.Join Us in asking California’s senators to support FY20 Federal appropriations for Head Start
The time is now. Advocacy is at the core of our mission. That advocacy most often consists of educating elected leaders by sharing stories and inviting them to our programs. But there are times when we need to make the ask, and that time is now. FY20 appropriations are being debated now. We need to contact legislators now. -
Advocacy and Policy News
How we winIt was an eventful year for your association in the advocacy world. In a prior post, we’ve outlined what we attempted and what we’ve achieved, so I will not reiterate that here. But I would be remiss if I didn’t publicly thank the terrific work of the consultants that helped lead the work.
- Andrea Ball did an excellent job helping us navigate the halls of the state capitol and coordinating meetings with legislative and administration staff.
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Advocacy and Policy News
Thank You for Supporting Head StartOn behalf of Head Start California, thank you for supporting and advocating for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. On June 27, Governor Newsom signed the 2019-20 budget that provides significant increases and investments for early learning initiatives. With your help, we demonstrated the importance of early intervention programs for our most at-risk children and families across California. Thank you!
Here is an update from this session:
Head Start Budget Request
While the $20 million allocation to Head Start did not make it into the final budget, -
Advocacy and Policy News
Last Chance to get Head Start in the CA BudgetTime is running out, but we are not giving up! Head Start California is still fighting to get funding for Head Start and Early Head Start programs in the California budget. And we need your help!
Over the next few weeks, a small group of California lawmakers will decide if our state will invest in Head Start and Early Head Start. We are asking them to provide $20 million to help ensure that critical Head Start and Early Head Start programs are available to California’s most at-risk children. -
Advocacy and Policy News
Numbers That CountMeasurement is such a powerful idea. It is at the heart of science. Numbers are how we test theories, monitor progress and provide feedback. The computer gaming industry certainly understands this. Since the early days of pinball, games have been designed to give constant feedback that is numeric (score), visual (lights) and auditory (bells and whistles).
That’s why dashboards have become so popular. Everyone understands when you’re driving a car that you need to watch a few important indicators: speed, -
Advocacy and Policy News
Blue Ribbon Commission Report30 Recommendations Involving Head Start
It was in Spring 2017 that Speaker Anthony Rendon first convened the Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education. The commission has worked for two years with extensive input and study to develop its recommendations. Their draft report was released on March 12, 2019, and yesterday, March 29 2019, they published their final recommendations.
The report contains more than 30 recommendations regarding Head Start. We’ve created our own report summarizing these and you can find it here. -
Advocacy and Policy News
The Big Conversation – California’s Smallest ChildrenThe governor’s January budget proposes substantial investments in early childhood education and care (ECE)—hundreds of millions of dollars to support ECE facilities, employees and systems. In February, the CDE’s Early Learning and Care Division rolled out its year-long $10.6M Preschool Development Grant needs assessment and planning process. On March 11, the California Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) on Early Childhood Education presented its draft report: a bold, balanced and comprehensive assessment of our mixed delivery system.
