DATE:
October 11, 2022
15
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
Title
SAN DIEGO COUNTY CHILDCARE BOARD CONFERENCE (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
Childcare has become an issue of regional significance, and it is imperative that the San Diego County (County) Board of Supervisors (Board) take steps to explore the problem in greater depth, along with generating potential solutions.
The Board and County have taken a greater role in the childcare sector, including efforts led by the First 5 Commission, securing $10 million for Frontline Worker Childcare Vouchers during the COVID-19 pandemic, securing $1 million to support YMCA Summer Camp operations and scholarships so children from low-income homes would have a safe place to be while their parents went back to work, and the recent allocation of $12 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds toward childcare.
The Board Conference convened at this meeting will present the Board with an overview of childcare related challenges in the region, including affordability and availability of childcare spaces, and generating potential solutions.
RECOMMENDATION(S)
CHAIR NATHAN FLETCHER
1. Receive information presented in the San Diego County Childcare Board Conference.
2. Direct the Chief Administrative Officer to review the proposed solutions as directed by the Board and, within eight months, report back with recommendations regarding the County's participation in those proposed solutions.
EQUITY IMPACT STATEMENT
Childcare options are unaffordable to many San Diegans, and working families are struggling to make ends meet. The annual cost of care for one infant in a licensed childcare center in San Diego costs over $19,000.1 Further, childcare workers are underpaid; the median hourly wage in California for these employees is $12.29 per hour. One in four childcare workers in California lives in poverty. Women are disproportionately affected, and particularly women of color. Today's action to convene the Childcare Boar...
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