Parent Voices Organizer Jennifer Greppi Speaks at Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Health & Human Services

Mar 22nd, 2022

Parent Voices California statewide organizer Jennifer Greppi spoke to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No.1 on Health & Human Services! The focus was making CalWORKs better.

The pandemic is an opportunity to rebuild and recreate systems that actually work for families, but in order to do that, it has to be driven by those directly impacted. Recently, we worked with the Department of Social Services to engage families around improving the CalWORKs and child care systems.

Yes, Jennifer!

Jennifer shared her experience of getting support from CalWORKs when she most needed it. She got help with child care, mental health, and more. Because of this help, she was able to get her AA degree & build a beautiful life. She let the committee know, “As a former CalWORKs participant myself, I know all too well just how scary it can be to walk through the doors of the social services agency to ask for help.” Jennifer also shared parent leader Valerie’s powerful story. Read it below.

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Jennifer’s Testimony on Child Care in front of the California Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 On Health & Human Services, March 2, 2022

Hello Chair and committee members, My name is Jennifer Greppi with Parent Voices CA, a statewide parent led organization representing a diverse group of families.My testimony will offer two experiences of families navigating the CalWORKs program.

For so many parents the process to apply  for CalWORKs is overwhelming and Burdensome. When families are in crisis the last thing they need is additional stress and trauma from the one place that is supposed to help. As a former CalWORKs participant myself I know all too well just how scary it can be to walk through the doors of the social services agency to ask for help. When I made that journey almost 17 years ago I was terrified, grieving, and recovering from unspeakable trauma. Filling out the application, getting approval and starting my journey was no easy task.  But once I was in I was lucky enough to learn about a special program during my orientation called “family service team“.  Starting that very day I was met with five social workers all there to help me succeed. We worked on my childcare needs, my school enrollment, my legal challenges, my housing challenges, my mental health challenges, and honestly more challenges than I can even remember.  The services started rolling in immediately  and each month along my two-year journey we would meet around a table to talk about all the things that I needed, how they could support me and what they could do to help. because of that, and my hard work, I received my AA, began working full time and held on to my child care until my kids aged out.

My experience with CalWORKS demonstrates that there is a system that works for some people. That system involves wrapping your arms around another person, supporting them with their own challenges, whatever they may be. The experience I had with CalWORKS, unfortunately, is very different from the experience of those seeking services today. 

Now let me share the experience of one of those families. Valerie’s story represents so many of the challenges parents face when trying to access CalWORKS. Valerie is a Black, English speaking mother of four children, has a masters degree and is a licensed family child care provider. Valerie also suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of her fourth child. The isolation from the pandemic coupled with the postpartum depression Valerie needed support from the social services safety net that is supposed to be there to help people in her situation. And as a former CalWORKS recipient, Valerie was already eligible to receive the Stage 2 CHild Care she needed to get back on her feet. However, she was told she needed to re-apply, and ended up waiting months, submitting a mountain of paperwork, and making countless phone calls often to a central phone system where calls were never answered.  After months with no resolution, she gave up. Valerie did not fail, the system did. This is not the system that we need, this is not the system that we want, this is a system that is failing far too many families!  We have to face the fact that there is racism in this system.  I can’t ignore that my experience as a white mother was so different from Valerie’s as a Black mother.  Many of our members today have to go through a metal detector and the first person they have contact with is a security officer.  My first contact was a social worker ready to help me, not someone that made me feel like a criminal. 

When we look at how our programs are  designed, we need to ensure they are structured to meet the needs of those with the most challenges. When an English-speaking, Master’s Degree holding mom who is a member of an advocacy organization and sits on a variety of policy councils can’t figure it out, clearly the system is failing.! When we meet the needs of our most vulnerable parents, we meet the needs of ALL parents. 

The pandemic is an opportunity to rebuild and recreate systems that actually work for families, but in order to do that, it has to be driven by those directly impacted. Recently we worked with the Department of Social Services to engage families around improving the CalWORKs and Child Care systems through the creation of a Parent Advisory Group. We’ve conducted focus groups with Black families, Chinese and Spanish speaking families, and Tribal families.  We will share their recommendations when our report is ready. Improving these systems cannot work without centering the voices that have been ignored for far too long. Parent Voices is ready to partner with anyone who agrees! Thank you!