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Homeless Students: New research from UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools shows there was a 48% increase in the number of homeless K-12 students in California over the last decade, with almost 270,000 students lacking stable housing in 2018-19, reports EdSource. Researchers point to a constellation of reasons, including increased cost of living and housing costs as well as economic instability, which has only gotten worse in the pandemic. “That’s enough students to fill Dodger Stadium five times over,” reports The Los Angeles Times about the grim findings. According to the numbers, Black and Latino students are disproportionately impacted, with Latino students making up 70% of the student homeless population. In addition to the data, the report includes perspectives from over 150 students, educators, homeless liaisons, community-based organizations and school districts throughout the state, and shows a need for more funding and support, reports ABC 7. Currently only 9% of California school districts that have significant numbers of homeless student received federal funding, despite the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act which is intended to support the educational success of students experiencing homelessness. In Los Angeles County, more than 68,000 K-12 students are homeless, which carries forward data findings in First 5 LA’s newly released, "Pathway to Progress: Indicators of Young Child Well-Being in Los Angeles County," showing 30,543 children ages birth through 5 as homeless in 2019.
The Compton Pledge: The city of Compton is launching a two-year pilot program called Compton Pledge that will guarantee free, recurring cash stipends to 800 of its low-income residents with no strings attached, as reported by CNN. The program was announced by Compton Mayor Aja Brown earlier this week and will seek to “challenge the racial and economic injustice plaguing both the welfare programs and economic systems.” Compton Pledge is the largest city-led income initiative in the country and will be funded by privately raised funds, as reported by Spectrum 1 News. One in five of Compton’s 95,000 residents live in poverty and the city has seen a 22% increase in unemployment since the pandemic hit. The program will aim to include a representative sample of the city’s residents -- 68% Latino and 30% Black -- as well as those often excluded from federal and state aid programs, including undocumented immigrants and formerly incarcerated residents, as reported by The Los Angeles Times. Each selected family will receive anywhere between a few hundred dollars to $1,000 per month, and anonymous researchers will track the participants spending and well-being over the course of the pilot.
Wrap Around Services: The importance of “wrap-around” care –– or programs that help participants navigate and connect to a variety of services such as mental health care, medical care and social services –– has been critical for new moms and children during the pandemic, reports USA Today. As many doctor’s offices and other services closed or became difficult to access at the start of the pandemic, wrap-around services like home visiting programs helped fill the void by continuing to link new mothers and children to various resources that have been proven to help stop the cycle of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, as well as boost parenting skills, reduce childhood obesity and improve babies’ lifelong health. While there was a 22% drop in overall vaccination rates during the first three months of the pandemic, participants in one clinic network, where specialists helped connect new mothers to food, formula and diapers while also reminding them to stay up-to-date on vaccines, the trend was not mirrored. Experts say that one of the driving factors of positive outcomes for wrap-around programs is a strong foundation of trust built between specialists and patients. By building trust and opening up lines of communication, wrap-around programs are able to listen and respond to patients and connect them with resources to serve the specific needs of each community in ways that other single-focus clinics aren’t able to do. Click here to learn more about First 5 LA’s Home Visitation Program, Welcome Baby, and the continued support during the pandemic.
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ECE Leadership Mostly White: While comprehensive data on California’s early childhood workforce hasn’t been collected in a decade, half a dozen anecdotes shared from women of color in leadership positions suggest that the early childhood field –– which is largely made up of women of color –– is led by primarily white leadership, as reported by Early Childhood Reporter Mariana Dale for LAist. As decisions are being made on how to rebuild California’s early childhood system after the pandemic, some worry about who will have a seat at the table and if they will continue to perpetuate inequities such as poverty-level wages and fewer professional development opportunities for early childhood educators. For example, L.A. County early educators make an average of $14.65 an hour, while home child care providers earn even less at $11.73 an hour. The early childhood leaders profiled in Dale’s story share how they got into the field of early education leadership and why diversity in leadership matters. In a companion article by Dale, the early childhood leaders profiled offer advice for aspiring leaders in early childhood, underscoring the importance of naming your goals, finding a mentor and finding a “your people.” “There's a lot more people for you than against you and a lot more opportunities than you think there are,” shares Executive Director of Head Start and Early Head Start at Pacific Clinics Wassy Tesfa.
Child Care Sector: The union representing California child care providers held a news conference in Los Angeles this week to pressure the state government to provide financial support for the sector, reports NBC Los Angeles. Max Arias, Executive Director of SEIU Local said that more support is needed if child care providers are to continue to provide care, considering the financial burden caused by increased safety measures, and remote learning support such as laptops and hotspots. Federal Congressional Democrats recently released a detailed report explaining the need for more aid for the industry, however, the next federal stimulus package is at an impasse, reports The Wall Street Journal. Still some are seizing the opportunity to open small-scale home-based care, reports TIME. Once regarded as the "used-car yards of the U.S. childcare ecosystem," the pandemic has shown home-based childcare to be the backbone of the sector; and with tech companies like Wonderschool, WeeCare or NeighborSchools, which provide “out of the box” support for those who want to open a home-based child care, it’s become easier than ever.
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Politics and Current Events
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Lost Parents: It's been over two years since the Trump Administration first initiated a "zero tolerance" policy for families attempting to cross the U.S. border, separating children from their parents. While a federal judge ended the practice and ordered that families reunite, there are still 545 children whose parents cannot be located, and about 60 of the children are under 5 years old, reports CNN. More than two-thirds of the children are from Central America, and are believed to be with sponsors or other family members in the United States, reports The Washington Post. While the Administration claims that some of the parents of these children have been located and have refused to take them back, Lee Gelernt of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project calls the claim unfortunate and untrue in an interview with NPR. Attempts to find the parents continue, however, in the form of radio spots airing throughout Mexico and Central America and court appointed researchers, reports The New York Times. “The Trump administration had no plans to keep track of the families or ever reunite them and so that’s why we’re in the situation we’re in now, to try to account for each family,” said Nan Schivone, legal director of Justice in Motion, which is leading on-the-ground search efforts for separated families.
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Early Childhood Philanthropy: The Hunt Institute, a nonprofit organization part of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is hosting a webinar series focused on early childhood education during the pandemic. Next Tuesday, they are hosting a panel discussion about how leading organizations in early childhood philanthropy have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to learn more and register!
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ICYMI: In Case You Missed It, More Great Reads
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