On March 2, 2022, Lily from Parent Voices San Francisco testified before the California Senate Education Committee. She spoke about the importance of justice in child care:
“Childcare providers have been devastated with the pandemic. And before that they were severely underpaid. If we don’t raise the reimbursement rates, child cares will continue to close, and it will be even harder for families.”
Lily, Parent Voices San Francisco
Go Lily! You represented all our voices! It is clear, and her message rings true throughout the fight:
We need affordable care! We need ENOUGH care! We need LIVING WAGES for child care providers! We need resources for our children!
Our parents always advocate. So, let’s listen to our parents: Let’s make child care and early education work for everyone!
Read more of Lily’s powerful testimony below & share the Parent Voices power on Twitter & Instagram!
Lily’s Testimony on Child Care in front of the California Senate Education Committee, March 2, 2022
I couldn’t afford child care when my kids were younger, so I quit my job and made sacrifices so they could go to school. My son was at a disadvantage because he had no early education program. He has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), and I worried he’d be more behind because he struggled with remote learning.
I’m barely starting to focus on myself to help my family get through, and live.
The application [for after school care] was not easy. There was a lot of paperwork. A lot of calls back and forth with staff. COVID made it harder, with staff shortages and such. But in the end, I made it work.
While I feel very fortunate to have access to an after school program at my son’s school, it was very limited due to funding. They weren’t able to help my son with homework because they didn’t have enough staff to offer 1-on-1 support.
Our days are already long, focusing on chores. In a perfect world, after school programs would be balanced to offer support for physical health and school work to exercise their bodies and brains.
I just wish they had the resources they needed to support a child’s individual needs. My son hasn’t been able to get the resources he needs through his IEP because of staff shortages, due to COVID.
I am trying my best to advocate for my son and I will always do that. My daughter was eligible for Transitional Kindergarten, but I wasn’t able to get a spot near our home. We were offered a spot across town.
It’s really important to have an appropriate development plan for childrens of all ages.
This is why it’s so critical to provide reimbursement rates for providers. I can’t believe it took so much of my time and effort to make this work. This isn’t how it should be.
Overall, the system should be simpler. I hope we can take actions to make this process better for all California families. This pandemic has left many children at disadvantages, with learning lost. That’s why it’s important for children to have all the resources they need. An investment in education is essential. An investment in children is worth every penny, because they are our future.
Even though I don’t expect child care programs to help my son with his homework, it does make it harder on us as parents. An after school program to get my son used to his busy body with physical activity would be great.
My son has been needing to get services, but hasn’t been able to get them because of staff shortages and lack of resources. I’m concerned that I wasn’t told about this, and I trusted my programs to keep me in the loop. I was under the impression the IEP was a binding agreement between the family and the school.
I am trying my best to advocate for my son and I will do that always.
Priority for TK (transitional kindergarten) should be given to children with older siblings who go to the same school or at the very least the nearest TK school near their residence.
It’s important to have developmentally appropriate child care for all ages, so parents don’t have to travel far or be on constant wait lists to have proper care for their children. This is why it is so critical to raise the reimbursement rates for child care providers as we add more slots. Child care providers have been devastated with the pandemic and before that they were severely underpaid. If we don’t raise the reimbursement rates, providers will continue to close and it will be even harder for families.
As I said, I feel fortunate for both of my kids to be learning, and cared for close to one another, and I can’t believe it took a lot of my time and advocacy to make that work. And that’s not how it should be.
I hold on to a lot of hope.