Child care advocates shouted “Measure C, victory!” outside the Susan S. Muranishi County of Alameda Administration Building this week, celebrating the unanimous passage of $209.6 million in investments for child care as part of nearly $1 billion in early childhood investments over the next five years in what advocates described as long-awaited relief.
“Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin accepting applications for emergency relief grants to help providers stay open, pay staff and approve facilities,” Kristin Spanos, chief executive officer for child-development nonprofit First 5 Alameda County, said to the crowd. “You have our commitment to get desperately needed money into the community as quickly as possible.”
The funding addresses continuing issues within Alameda County’s child care industry since the 2008 recession, as parents have been left reeling from child care costs, child care providers face widespread financial hardship and children are ill-prepared to begin school, according to Alameda County First 5.
Child care advocates had waited years for the county to disperse funds since Measure C was approved by voters in 2020 — an acknowledgement that the pandemic and historic inflation pushed many child care providers to the brink of closure. Children’s advocates argue that lack of access to child care has exacerbated child development disparities in the county, with a 2022 survey finding that “two out of three children” assessed by educators and parents were not ready to begin kindergarten.
Child care has become a major issue of concern for parents and industry workers since the pandemic. In May, as part of an effort to bring attention to the poor wages within the industry, child care workers in San Jose joined a nationwide “Day Without Child Care.” A poll by Bay Area News Group and the think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley found that 37% of Bay Area respondents said the availability of affordable child care services in their area was “not too good,” while another 31% rated it as “poor.”
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Oakland child care provider Nancy Harvey, 63, said she was ecstatic and relieved by the Board of Supervisors’ unanimous approval of the implementation plan. Harvey has been raising and educating children for 21 years. She joined the advocacy organizations Child Care Law Center and Parent Voices 14 years ago to advocate for improving child care standards across the board. Since then, she’s appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor to describe the challenges in the child care industry.
“This was a long journey. We saw the wheels of justice moving slowly, but we hung in there, and now we have victory,” Harvey said. “A lifeline has been thrown to all of us, not only just the providers, but the families and the children that we serve.”
The initial appropriation of funds approved on Tuesday includes a slew of immediate assistance for child care providers. These initial funds support more than $80 million in one-time emergency grants of up to $100,000 available for child care providers, 80% of whom are expected to be eligible. In addition, the plan calls for up to $4,000 in relief grants in the first year.
Year two aims to improve standards across the industry, setting a wage floor of $25 per hour for 3,000 early educators. Additionally, eligible providers will receive a monthly voucher enhancement of approximately $500. Eventually, the funds will “extend far beyond the classroom” through developmental screenings to identify learning disabilities, pediatric care to ensure children’s health, and mental health services for issues that have plagued school-aged children since the pandemic, according to the plan.
Over the 5-year plan, Measure C funding is expected to benefit 5,500 early educators who care for up to 37,000 children, according to the county.
“We’re going to see some tremendous benefits in Alameda County, not just as a government, but as a county, collectively,” said Supervisor Nate Miley, who represents parts of Oakland, Pleasanton and the unincorporated communities of Ashland, Cherryland and Castro Valley. “I’m just very, very pleased that we could make history, set some good public policy, and do the right thing.”
Miley acknowledged the collective, sustained effort in the “10-year journey” of Measure C. He specifically noted the advocacy of parents, educators and child care providers like Harvey, who never ceased in their efforts to expand child care and make Alameda County a model for child care for the rest of California. Harvey said she felt like she and her staff had been “hanging on by a thread” in recent years. But now, child care providers won’t just be able to survive, they’ll be able to put a little money away for themselves.
“We will not be struggling to get and keep staff so that our children are continuing to thrive and to learn and be prepared for kindergarten,” Harvey said. “That’s why I hung in there so long, because I knew the power of us collectively working together, all of us throughout Alameda County, from Oakland into Livermore.”
Child care providers can learn more about the program and their eligibility at apply.fist5alameda.org.
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