SFCCPA August 8, 2016 News Update

Please see the updates below from CPAC on the 2016-2017 California and San Francisco Budget.

Sara Hicks-Kilday

SFCCPA

Dear CPAC Community,

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors officially adopted the city budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year, which brings the local and state budget season to a close. CPAC Members should be very happy with the results of their hard work; advocating at both the local and state level for additional funds and legislation that best supports the children and families of San Francisco.

State funding: Through the advocacy efforts of child care and early education champions a clear set of priorities and a shared agenda pushed the needle in the right direction for the ECE field this budget season.  California committed $527 million over the next four years for child care and development services, of which $145 million is allocated for FY 16/17.

  •  Increased the State Reimbursement Rate (SRR) for state-contracted child care centers and preschools by 10% beginning January 1, 2017
  •  Raised the Regional Market Rate (RMR) used for child care vouchers to the 75th percentile based on the 2014 survey as of January 1, 2017.
  •  Increased the rate paid to license-exempt providers through voucher programs from 65% to 70% of the FCC rate beginning January 1, 2017.
  • Increased the number of preschool slots statewide by nearly 3,000 slots, beginning March 1, 2017.
Local funding: San Francisco leaders demonstrated a commitment to early care and education by adopting the largest funding increase in years.
  •  Increased subsidies for low-income infant and toddlers to attend quality early learning programs by $1.9 million.
  •  Allocated $2.8 million of new Children and Youth Fund dollars to support operating grants for state-contracted child care centers and preschools.
  •  Supported ECE providers by increasing the amount of local funds by $464,000 to mitigate the impacts of San Francisco’s minimum wage increases.

CPAC would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Mayor, Board of Supervisors and the Mayor’s Budget Office.  We truly appreciate the time they dedicated to meet with CPAC Members to gain a better understanding of the issues facing the early education community.  More importantly, we appreciate them hearing our concerns and making a financial commitment to address the issues impacting San Francisco children and families.  CPAC would specifically like to recognize Supervisor Yee, who championed the ask for additional funds to be dedicated to early childhood education and demonstrated leadership by gaining the support of his fellow Supervisors.

CPAC would also like to acknowledge Assembly Budget Committee Chair, Phil Ting, for his strong leadership during the state budget negotiations!  Assembly Member Ting played a key role in achieving the gains in state funding reported above!  Thank you, ASM Ting, for your leadership and commitment to California’s families and children!

Congratulations to our local ECE Champions who worked hard to make this happen!  We need to celebrate these victories, but we also need to capitalize on the momentum created this year and continue to advocate to our local and state officials.  This continued effort will help to ensure our city has the financial resources necessary to provide all children and families in San Francisco with access to high quality early childhood education.
Best,

Tony Tyson
CPAC Coordinator
San Francisco Child Care Planning & Advisory Council
1650 Mission St., Suite 312
San Francisco, CA 94103
P: 415-355-3673
E: CPACsanfrancisco@gmail.com