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DATE: |
September 27, 2022 |
08 |
SUBJECT
Title
AUTHORIZE COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION FOR CHILD CARE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT PROGRAM AND APPLICATION FOR FUTURE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
On June 8, 2021 (3), the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Board) took critical action in advancing support to vulnerable San Diego County residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic by approving a framework for the use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. As part of this framework, under the Child Care Subsidies component, $10 million in ARPA funding was allocated for Child Care Workforce Investment. Subsequently, on January 25, 2022 (9), the Board approved the 2021-2025 San Diego County Needs Assessment Report and Child Care Plan, which outlines an assessment of local child care needs and provides recommendations to support those who serve our most vulnerable children and families throughout San Diego County with quality, sustainable, and comprehensive early care and education.
In alignment with this resource, and in response to the available ARPA funding, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Child Welfare Services (CWS) and First 5 San Diego developed a collaborative plan to establish the Child Care Workforce Investment Program to increase and strengthen child care provider capacity and provide equitable access to quality early care and education in the region. CWS and First 5 San Diego seek to procure a contract to administer the Child Care Workforce Investment Program, which will focus on supports for early care and education providers with a specific focus on Family Child Care homes. The Child Care Workforce Investment Program will aim to address the overall goal of the Child Care Plan to create a more equitable, accountable, accessible, and affordable child care system that meets the needs of families in San Diego County and supports the early care and education workforce.
Funds will be utilized to build a high quality and skilled early care and education workforce in San Diego County in collaboration with early care and education stakeholders, public institutions of higher education (i.e., universities/ community colleges), school districts, and career development organizations. Additionally, there are plans to support providers with a retention stipend, at an amount to be determined. The retention stipend will support equitable opportunities for adequate compensation and serve as a demonstration of quality retention and impact.
Today’s action requests the Board to authorize the transfer of appropriations of $10 million to the Health and Human Services Agency for the Child Care Workforce Investment Program; authorize the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, to issue competitive solicitations for the Child Care Workforce Investment Program; and authorize the Agency Director, Health and Human Services Agency to apply for any additional funding opportunity announcements, if available, to support high-quality child care.
This item supports the County’s vision of a just, sustainable, and resilient future for all, specifically those communities and populations in San Diego County that have been historically left behind, as well as our ongoing commitment to the regional Live Well San Diego vision of healthy, safe, and thriving communities. This will be accomplished by providing critical resources and services to aid in the development of a comprehensive child care and early childhood education system that aims to justly compensate those who serve our most vulnerable children and families that have been significantly impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
RECOMMENDATION(S)
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
1. In accordance with Section 401, Article XXIII of the County Administrative Code, authorize the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, to issue competitive solicitations for the Child Care Workforce Investment Program and upon successful negotiations and determination of a fair and reasonable price, award a contract(s) for an initial term of up to one year, with four one-year options, and up to an additional six months, if needed; and to amend the contracts to reflect changes in program, funding or service requirements, subject to the availability of funds and the approval of the Agency Director, Health and Human Services Agency.
2. Transfer appropriations of $10,000,000 from the Finance Other, General Miscellaneous Expense, Other Charges, appropriated for the Child Care Subsidies component of the ARPA funds, to the Health and Human Services Agency, Services & Supplies for the Child Care Workforce Investment.
3. Authorize the Agency Director, Health and Human Services Agency, to apply for any additional funding opportunity announcements, if available, to support high-quality child care.
EQUITY IMPACT STATEMENT
High quality, affordable, and accessible early care and education is critical to the overall well-being of children and is essential for working families. There is also an economic impact with over 70 percent of working families reporting having children under the age of 12 years. Child care in general is a concrete support that can strengthen families and enhance family well-being. It is also multi-faceted in that to understand and look at child care as a whole, it must include families, employer engagement, and child care provider considerations (i.e., needs and capacity constraints). Research from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation indicates that 50 percent of parents have not returned to work after the pandemic citing child care as a reason. In addition, up to 75 percent of working families have children under six years old staying at home, and only 10 percent are using child care centers. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, families are experiencing additional challenges in finding child care that meets their diverse needs. Multiple material and economic hardships can overload families and increase their risk for child welfare involvement. Evidence about the root causes of child maltreatment has been well documented, including poverty-related risk factors such as unemployment, single parenthood, housing instability, earlier childbearing, and lack of child care.
On January 25, 2022 (9), the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the 2021-2025 San Diego County Needs Assessment Report (Needs Assessment) and Child Care Plan which evaluated the needs of San Diego County residents in all communities with an equity lens to ensure the needs of all residents are considered regardless of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender identity and/or sexual orientation. The Needs Assessment provides data on race, ethnicity, language needs, special education needs, protective services involvement, working families, income, and migrant families as well as access to care for all residents. The Child Care Plan is developed to address the needs identified in the Needs Assessment and incorporates input and recommendations provided by the community.
The Child Care Workforce Investment Program will involve a focused cross-sector collaboration with early care and education providers and community stakeholders, public institutions of higher education (i.e., universities/community colleges), school districts, and career development organizations to keep community needs and engagement at the forefront and leverage complementary and available resources. Outcome measures will be developed, in alignment with the San Diego Quality Preschool Initiative and First 5 San Diego’s Learn Well Initiative, to monitor the success of the programs in supporting the overall goal of the Child Care Plan to create a more equitable, accountable, accessible, and affordable child care system that meets the needs of families in San Diego County and supports the early care and education workforce. In partnership with the community, Child Welfare Services and First 5 San Diego will continue to explore pathways to sustainability including layering of available funding from various sources and participating in collaborative grant-funding opportunities to ensure long-term positive community outcomes.
SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT STATEMENT
Implementation of the Workforce Investment Program will enhance sustainability in areas of wellbeing and the economy. The program will contribute to Sustainability Goal #2 to provide just and equitable access to resource allocation by providing training and education supports to new and existing early care and education workforce. The program will build and expand the availability of high quality and skilled child care and positively impact early care and education providers by investing in child care as a career field. In turn, greater accessibility of quality child care will enable more families to work outside of the home, strengthening their financial health and security. Additionally, participation in child care can provide enrichment opportunities for children, better preparing them for learning and extracurricular activities in school.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds for this request are included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-24 County of San Diego Operational Plan. If approved, this request will result in estimated total program costs and revenue of $10 million in FY 2022-23 through FY 2024-25. The funding source is the American Rescue Plan Act. There will be no change in net General Fund costs and no additional staff years.
BUSINESS IMPACT STATEMENT
N/A
Details
ADVISORY BOARD STATEMENT
This item was presented to the Child and Family Strengthening Advisory Board as an informational item on May 13, 2022.
This item was presented to the First 5 Commission of San Diego as an informational item on April 20, 2022.
This item was presented to the Child Care and Development Planning Council as an informational item on April 25, 2022.
BACKGROUND
On June 8, 2021 (3), the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Board) took critical action in advancing support to vulnerable San Diego County residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic by approving a framework for the use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. As part of this framework, under the Child Care Subsidies component, $10 million in ARPA funding was allocated for Child Care Workforce Investment. The COVID-19 pandemic substantially impacted the lives of working families trying to balance work and child care, child care providers attempting to remain open, and employers seeking to carry out their return to work plans in consideration of working families challenged in finding quality child care that fits their diverse needs. According to the United States Census Bureau, in San Diego County, 70 percent of working families have children under the age of 12 years. Nearly 190,000 children in San Diego County under 12 have no stay-at-home parent and no available child care spot. The lack of child care as a concrete support in time of need can impact a family in a multitude of ways including increased child welfare involvement. Some experts have suggested early care and education services may mitigate the effects of child maltreatment and enhance the safety, permanency, and wellbeing of children removed from their homes and placed in out-of-home foster care.
On June 18, 1991 (84), the Board established the Child Care Planning Council, subsequently renamed the San Diego County Child Care and Development Planning Council (CCDPC), to assess the child care needs of families in San Diego County. Pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 10486(b)(1), the CCDPC shall conduct an assessment of local child care need at least every five years. This needs assessment identifies planning activities associated with child care needs in San Diego County and informs the local Child Care Plan which outlines strategies to address the identified needs. The 2021-2025 San Diego County Needs Assessment Report (Needs Assessment) and Child Care Plan were approved by the Board on January 25, 2022 (9). In alignment with these findings and in response to the available ARPA funding, as well as strengthen the early care and education system, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Child Welfare Services (CWS) and First 5 San Diego developed a collaborative plan to establish the Child Care Workforce Investment Program to increase and strengthen child care provider capacity and provide equitable access to quality early childhood education and care in the region. CWS and First 5 San Diego seek to procure a contract for the administration of the Child Care Workforce Investment Program which will focus on supports for early care and education providers, with a specific focus on Family Child Care (FCC) providers.
FCC is child care offered in a provider’s home. FCC providers offer small mixed-age group settings in nurturing home environments and depending on the size, have either one person as a sole caregiver or two or more individuals providing child care services. FCC providers were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and struggled to sustain business amid capacity restrictions, declining enrollment, and increasing costs which contributed to a decrease in the number of FCC providers. The California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing department Child Care Home Data-Report shows that over 400 San Diego County FCC licensed providers hold a status of closed or inactive and 131 FCC providers in San Diego County closed between 2020 and 2021.
The Child Care Workforce Investment Program will support early care and education providers throughout the region. Funds in the amount of $10 million will be utilized through a contractor to build a high-quality and skilled early care and education workforce in San Diego County in collaboration with early care and education stakeholders, public institutions of higher education (i.e., universities/community colleges), school districts, and career development organizations. The intent of the program is to promote investment in child care as a career field and expand the availability of high-quality child care. Regional partners with extensive early care and education backgrounds will provide a continuum of job training supports for new early educators joining the field and compensate interns and mentors.
The Child Care Workforce Investment Program will be comprised of multiple components including:
• Job training and professional development supports,
• Funding for continuing education in child and family development,
• Retention stipends, and
• A cost estimation model.
Funding will be provided to pay for continuing education in child and family development for new and existing workforce. The education and training model will increase access to culturally responsive educational opportunities and trauma informed practices, provide best practices in working with the diverse needs of children, and impart effective ways to engage with children and families. The spectrum of training opportunities will incorporate continued input from the community, and early care and education and FCC providers, and will be designed with the flexibility to allow for the changing needs of the community. Training and professional development supports will align with the San Diego-Quality Preschool Initiative - which focuses on continuous quality improvement of early care and education programs.
Compensation of child care providers and early educators remains low in comparison to other occupations and teaching jobs relative to their qualifications and skills. The Public Policy Institute of California reports that 1 in 4 child care workers in California lives in poverty. The program will incorporate a retention stipend, at an amount to be determined, to provide additional financial support to participating child care providers and will evaluate the impact of that support. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is also establishing a program to provide a supplemental rate for providers. This local stipend would be made available to providers that would not be eligible for the supplemental rate paid by the CDSS. The retention stipend will support equitable opportunities for adequate compensation and serve as a demonstration of quality retention and impact.
Additionally, identifying the true cost of providing services for young children and families is critical to addressing the underfunding of the early care and education systems, as well as addressing the capacity needs of current and potential child care programs. A cost estimation model (CEM) will be used to understand the cost of providing child care in different types of programs and at varying levels of quality. CEMs can also integrate revenue modeling to understand if the revenue streams available to providers can cover the actual cost of care and to identify any gaps between revenue and expense. Importantly, CEMs are dynamic tools that can show both the current cost of operating and the cost of operating a program with higher quality standards.
The Child Care Workforce Investment Program is projected to be a three-year pilot program and is anticipated to begin in Fiscal Year 2022-23. In partnership with the community and in pursuit of sustainability, CWS and First 5 San Diego will continue to explore pathways to sustain safe, high-quality child care including layering of available funding from various sources and participating in collaborative grant-funding opportunities. The Child Care Workforce Investment Program will maximize community resources and leverage the existing San Diego-Quality Preschool Initiative efforts which include the First 5 San Diego Learn Well Initiative, Quality Counts California State Preschool Program Grant, Quality Counts California Quality Block Grant, and the Quality Counts California Workforce Development Grant. More specifically, the Child Care Workforce Investment program will leverage these existing grants and allow for the scalability of these efforts.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the challenges of FCC and early care and education providers. The Child Care Workforce Investment Program affords an opportunity to institute concrete actions to address the workforce and child care crisis, help working parents seek and obtain employment or return to work, and bolster economic recovery efforts. Today’s action requests the Board to authorize the transfer of appropriations of $10 million to the Health and Human Services Agency for the Child Care Workforce Investment Program; authorize the Director, Department of Purchasing and Contracting, to issue competitive solicitations for the Child Care Workforce Investment Program; and to authorize the Agency Director, Health and Human Services Agency to apply for any additional funding opportunity announcements, if available, to support high-quality child care.
LINKAGE TO THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO STRATEGIC PLAN
Today’s proposed action to award a contract for the Child Care Workforce Investment Program supports the County of San Diego’s 2022-2027 Strategic Plan Initiatives of Sustainability (Economy and Resiliency), Equity (Health and Economic Opportunity), Empower (Transparency, Accountability, and Innovation), Community (Engagement, Quality of Life, Communications, and Partnership), and Justice (Environmental) by increasing and strengthening child care provider capacity, and providing equitable access to quality early childhood education and care.
Respectfully submitted,
HELEN N. ROBBINS-MEYER
Chief Administrative Officer
ATTACHMENT(S)
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