Child Care

Today more than ever, working families need access to affordable, high-quality, early care and education that will provide a safe environment and strong foundation for children. Employers also are seeing the positive economic impact early care and education has on communities. In California, more than half of women with children under age six are in the workforce, many in low-paying jobs. Current funding is insufficient to ensure the basic health and safety of children, and is far from providing the nurturance and developmental opportunities California’s children deserve. The Commission seeks to increase the availability of high-quality child care to all families, thereby benefiting not only children, but also the State of California.

To learn more about this issue, please see below.

• Understanding the Child Welfare System in California: A Primer for Service Providers and Policymakers (PDF) - By Diane F. Reed, MPH and Kate Karpilow, PhD, 2nd Edition, June 2009
• California Report Card 2008: The State of the State's Children (PDF) - By Children NOW
• Our Children, Our Duty, Our Future (www.childrendutyfuture.org) - Comprehensive, one-stop-shopping library of budget-related issue papers and reports, budget-related news stories and personal accounts documenting how California’s most vulnerable children will be harmed by cuts to the programs that serve them.
• Understanding Child Care: A Primer for Policymakers (PDF) - A report to provide policy makers and others a concise introduction to California's child care system - to assist readers in understanding child care and making informed decisions.
• Who is Least Likely to Attend Pre-School? (PDF) - By Elias Lopez, PhD
  Prepared at the request of Assemblymember Kerry Mazzoni, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee - November 1999
• Birth to Kindergarten: The Importance of the Early Years (PDF) - By David C. Illig, PhD
  Prepared at the request of Senator Dede Alpert - February 1998

Visit our child care links/resources section for additional information.