Governor's State of the State

POLICY and ADVOCACY ALERT	Early Care & Learning Council Winning Beginning NY Child Care Aware of America United States House of Representatives United States Senate NYS Governor's Office NYS Senate NYS Assembly 2013 Public Policy Agenda Guideline for using the Public Policy Agenda
1/8/14 2014 State of the State New York State has a long-standing commitment to early childhood education and last year Governor Cuomo launched the State’s first program dedicated to providing full-day pre-kindergarten to children in our highest-needs communities. More than 5,500 children will enroll in full-day pre-k for the first time over the next few months as a result of $25 million dedicated funding for this proven educational program. Today Governor Cuomo stated, “It is time to fulfill the State’s goal of truly ‘Universal Pre-Kindergarten’ access for all children.” At this time, the Governor did not announce the amount of funding that will be attached to reaching this goal. The Governor also called for a $2 billion “Smart Schools” bond referendum to help New York State re-envision our schools from the ground up. Among many other things, school districts will be able to invest in new pre-k classrooms and related capital upgrades. The Governor also stated that highly effective educators are critical to the success of our students. This year, the State will build on the universal implementation of the teacher evaluation system by recognizing and rewarding our most effective teachers. In 2014, Governor Cuomo is proposing the creation of a Teacher Excellence Fund to help more school districts give meaning to these provisions and  encourage excellent teachers to continue in the classrooms where they are needed the most. Highly effective teachers will be eligible for up to $20,000 in annual supplemental compensation through the Teacher Excellence Fund. Stay tuned for more updates and we hope to see you in Albany for Early Care and Learning Advocacy February 10th! Click here to see the dates that the legislature will be in session during 2014. Sincerely, Jessica Jessica Klos Shapiro Public Policy and Communications Coordinator (518) 690-4217 ex. 32
Early Care & Learning Council   230 Washington Ave. Ext   Albany, NY 12203 Phone: 518.690.4217   Fax: 518.690.2887 www.earlycareandlearning.org

Senator Schumer introduces background check legislation

POLICY and ADVOCACY ALERT

7/26/13 Child Protection Improvements and Electronic Life and Safety Security Systems Act On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer unveiled legislation to close a gaping hole in the federal law that prevents summer camps, children’s groups and other not-for-profit organizations that work with children from gaining access to federal criminal background checks on new employees and volunteers. Under current law, most children’s organizations only have access to the New York State database, and lack access to FBI databases, which are widely considered the most accurate and complete criminal databases. New York State’s criminal database – which is the only resource most local groups have access to – lack records of criminal activity committed out of state, when the offense is not federal. As of 2010, over 40% of the individuals with criminal records had committed an offense in a state other than where they were applying to volunteer, meaning that a state-only search would not have found relevant criminal records. Schumer’s legislation would grant youth-serving organizations access to FBI background checks for volunteers and new employees, so they would be able to check for any violent or sex crime committed anywhere in the country, regardless of where it is committed and whether it is a state or federal crime. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. It has not yet been introduced in the House of Representatives but will be sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff (CA-29) and Rep. Mike Rogers (MI-8). The bi-partisan legislation has already been endorsed by a variety of groups including the American Camp Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and YMCA of the USA. Stay tuned for more updates. Sincerely, Jessica Jessica Klos Shapiro Senior Policy Associate (518) 690-4217 ex. 32

Do you have a story to share with the Governor?

As you know, S.5743(Grisanti)/A.3498A (Peoples-Stokes), the 60 day notification bill, passed both houses of the legislature. If signed into law by the Governor, this law will give parents and providers time to prepare for an increase in co-pay for child care assistance or an altogether a loss of subsidy.

The legislation requires local social service districts to notify the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) at least 60 days before the effective date of a planned reduction in eligibility or increase in co-payments for child care assistance. OCFS will in turn notify key community organizations, including CCR&Rs, as well as providers.

Currently, affected families only receive 10 days notice to adapt to a change in subsidy assistance. Such a short notification period often forces parents to quit their jobs or place their children in questionable care until a better solution can be found. Do you have examples from local child care providers and parents that illustrate the need for this legislation? Please forward these stories (1-2 paragraphs) for use by the Winning Beginning NY Subsidy Committee by July 17^th in asking the Governor to sign this legislation into law.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Best,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Senior Policy Associate

www.earlycareandlearning.org

230 Washington Ave. Ext.

Albany, NY  12203

518.690.4217 ext 32

518-690-2887 (fax)

www.facebook.com/earlycareandlearning

http://twitter.com/#!/NYS_ECLC

https://www.rebelmouse.com/NYS_ECLC/

POLICY and ADVOCACY ALERT: Recap of This Year's Legislative Session

6/28/13

The legislative session in Albany is always an interesting and exciting time, with this year proving no different.  Many different issue were brought to the table and despite the atmosphere and budgetary constraints, there was forward progress made for early care and learning. There is also the possibility of additional legislation passing if a special session is convened later this fall.

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Child Care Legislative Victory

S.5743(Grisanti)/A.3498A (Peoples-Stokes), the 60 day notification bill, passed both houses of the legislature. If signed into law by the Governor, this law will give parents and providers time to prepare for an increase in co-pay for child care assistance or an altogether a loss of subsidy.

The legislation requires local social service districts to notify the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) at least 60 days before the effective date of a planned reduction in eligibility or increase in co-payments for child care assistance. OCFS will in turn notify key community organizations, including CCR&Rs, as well as providers. Currently, affected families only receive 10 days notice in this situation.

This bill will provide families with much more time to plan how they might be able to continue to work without a subsidy and will allow child care providers more time to adjust accordingly when parents withdraw children from care because of the loss or reduction of a subsidy.

Members of the Winning Beginning NY Child Care Subsidy Committee worked hard to achieve passage of this bill. It is currently being opposed by the New York Public Welfare Association, so there is a bit more advocacy to be done to ensure the Governor signs the bill into law.  

Information on reaching out to the Governor’s Office will be coming and thank you to everyone for all their hard work thus far!

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Expand Full-Day Pre-Kindergarten

The 2013-2014 NYS budget provided a victory for early learning though $25 million in competitive grant funds to school districts across the state to establish new full-day pre-kindergarten placements and to convert existing half-day slots into full-day ones. The competitive grant sponsors programs that adopt quality indicators and offer instruction consistent with the state’s common core standards. The pre-kindergarten competitive grant targets high-need school districts and students. The RFP is set to be released in the coming days.  Again, thank you to all who advocated tirelessly on this issue, particularly the commitment to quality.

Stay tuned for more updates and have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Senior Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

POLICY and ADVOCACY ALERT

6/11/13 CCDBG Reauthorization Bill Introduced through Bi-Partisan Effort in US Senate Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have introduced a bill to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the primary federal grant program that provides child care assistance for families and funds child care quality initiatives. The legislation, “The Child Care Development and Block Grant Act of 2013,” would reauthorize the program for the first time since 1996. Under the Reauthorization Bill, states would be required to ensure that all child care providers who care for CCDBG funded children: • Receive health and safety training in specific areas • Receive comprehensive background checks (including fingerprints, checks of the sex offender and child abuse registries) • Receive on-site monitoring This bill includes many measures to improve the quality of child care and ensure that all children in child care settings are safe. Currently, more than 500,000 providers serve about 1.6 million low-income children through this funding nationwide.  The bill is currently being considered by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Early Learning Days of Action Last week, advocates across the country participated in the Strong Start for Children Campaign’s Early Learning Day of Action which included a tweet chat using the hashtag #PreKforAll.  This chat and usage of the hashtag resulted in 1.3K unique participants and a reach of 4.5 million people! To compliment this, many CCR&Rs are participating in Winning Beginning NY’s Early Learning Days of Action to support President Obama's Early Learning Initiative which calls for an investment of $75 billion in early childhood education. The President's bold plan includes investments in supporting early learning and healthy development from the prenatal period, through school age!  The plan also includes critical investments in quality improvement, including better compensation for the early childhood workforce.  To see pictures and media from the NY events as well as our partners, visit https://www.rebelmouse.com/NY4EarlyLearning/. To support the President’s Early Learning Plan: Click Here to Contact your Member of Congress today. Stay tuned for more updates. Sincerely, Jessica Jessica Klos Shapiro Senior Policy Associate (518) 690-4217 ex. 32

Take Action on Sequestration

As you know, federal sequestration that went into effect March 1, 2013 will have an effect on child care in New York State that is yet to be determined.

At this time we know that approximately $5 million will be reduced from the NYS Office of Children and Family Services discretionary portion of the CCDF grant, but exactly which programs will be cut and to what extent are still unknown.  

If any money is to be restored our federal Representatives and Senators really have the power at this moment, as proven by the legislation to ease the air-traffic delays that sailed through both houses of Congress late last week.

Find your member of Congress and contact information for our U.S. Senators here: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

In addition, advocacy to state representatives should still be ongoing. State representatives can discuss the issue with all departments of government.

Thank you for your attention to this issue and please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Senior Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

Recently, President Obama released his 2014 budget proposal. This budget includes historic investments across several early childhood programs including increased investment in a comprehensive birth-to-five early education continuum built upon child care, home visiting, Head Start, Early Head Start, and preschool – all critical programs for children, especially the most vulnerable children.

From the National Women’s Law Center and CLASP:

The President's plan does three incredibly important things: It expands voluntary home visiting programs that support and educate parents, increases availability of high-quality child care for infants and toddlers, and gives all children in low- and moderate-income families access to high-quality prekindergarten programs. Click here to send a letter to President Obama 

To show our thanks for this ambitious initiative, we need to gather as many letters as possible. After you send yours, please show your support one more way — by forwarding this email to any networks that you're a part of. If you are a parent or work with children, handwritten thank-you artwork would be a great addition! All notes and artwork must be received by NWLC (11 Dupont Circle, NW, #800, Washington, DC 20036) by May 2. If you have any questions, please email the National Women’s Law Center at info@nwlc.org.

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Families Need Child Care. Ask our Senators to Sign Senator Franken's CCDBG Letter Today

Child Care Aware® of America   
Throughout the country, child care is hard to find, harder to afford, and too often, it is of questionable quality. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) wants to help. He is collecting signatures from members of the United States Senate on a letter to be sent to Appropriations Committee members urging an increase of nearly $1 billion in funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). Urge our Senators today to sign onto the letter. The deadline for signing is COB, Today, Thursday, April 25.

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Social Services Block Grants Supplemental Funds Available

HHS has released $474.5 million to help five states, including New York, recover from Hurricane Sandy.  All funds will be awarded no later than September 30, 2013 and must be used by September 30, 2015.  New York State's allocation is $235,434,600.   To read more about ACF's efforts to help people recover from Hurricane Sandy click here.  For more information about SSBG, click here.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Senior Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

NYS Passes $135.1 billion budget

3/29/13

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Coalition Co-Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced early passage of the 2013-14 Budget. 

The Budget closes a $1.3 billion gap with no new taxes or fees.

• Total State Operating Budget: $90.2 billion
• Total All Funds Budget, excluding Sandy and the Affordable Care Act: $135.1 billion

The Enacted Budget continues the state's focus on economic growth through a series of initiatives to create jobs and grow the economy including new tax cuts for small businesses, tax cuts for middle class families, major education reforms and investments, and an increase in the minimum wage to $9 per hour. The Budget passed both houses of the Legislature days before the April 1 deadline, marking the first time New York has had three consecutive, on-time budgets since 1984, and the earliest budget since 1983.

Early Care and Learning Budget Victories include:

$7.265 million earmarked for facilitated enrollment :  $1.147 for Monroe; $2.767 million for Oneida and $3.442 million for NYC, funded from TANF transfer dollars.

Right now the total appropriated for child care stands at $910,510,924  which is $3 million more than last year, and $9 million more than was in the Governor’s proposed budget.  This does not reflect Flexible Fund for Family Services transfers made by the counties (they usually have until June to make these transfers). If FFFS transfers equal the $6 million made last year, New York’s children will be $3 million ahead of last year and $9 million ahead of the Governor’s proposed budget. 

Pre-kindergarten Program Expansion: Recognizing that quality early education is critical for long-term success and that children who attend full-day pre-k often outperform their peers, the Budget provides a $25 million additional investment for pre-kindergarten with an emphasis on high quality, full-day pre-k. Funding is targeted toward higher need students in lower wealth school districts via a competitive process.

Thank you to everyone for their advocacy efforts throughout the budget season and keep up the great work!

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Senior Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

Continuing Resolution Eases Some of the Sequester Child Care Cuts

Today the US House and Senate passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government for the rest of Fiscal Year 2013 and avoid a government shutdown.  The bill does not overturn the Sequester but it does include small funding increases (known as anomalies) for Early Childhood programs. Child Care will receive an additional $50 million and Head Start will receive an additional $33 million.  However this funding does not make programs whole again.

Senator Mikulski in her remarks on the Senate floor said the increases in Child Care would allow approximately 9,000 more children to receive child care assistance above the Sequester level (the Administration estimated that 30,000 children would lose child care assistance under the Sequester). The Department of Health and Human Services has not yet released official numbers on the number of children served under the CR. 

Even with these increases, the Sequester will still require significant cuts to Child Care and Head Start. New York Congresswoman Nita Lowey, ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee who voted for the bill was quoted as saying, “Like any compromise, this measure is far from perfect.”  The resolution will now be sent to the White House for President Obama’s signature.

There is still time to stop these cuts and to restore funding for these important programs if Congress decides to do so. It is critical that you continue to talk about the impact of these cuts in your communities.  Are you going to the Child Care Aware of America Policy Symposium? Make your appointments to see your representatives about these important issues today!

Stay tuned for more updates, including final details regarding the New York State Budget.

Sincerely, 
Jessica Klos Shapiro
Senior Policy Associate
(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

Take action on the Federal Budget

3/18/13

Federal Budget Update

In the days ahead this week, the House and Senate are each expected to pass a budget resolution, a blueprint for spending and savings for committees to follow as they consider appropriations and tax measures later this year.

House Budget Committee Chairman, Paul Ryan (R-WI), drafted a plan to balance the budget over the next 10 years by

• cutting spending by $4.6 trillion;
• reforming the tax code;
• turning the SNAP program (formerly Food Stamps) into a block grant and cutting it by $135 billion; and eliminating the 2010 health care law.
• significantly cut funding for programs like child care assistance and Head Start, which help women work and children learn.

The Ryan plan, “The Path to Prosperity: A Responsible, Balanced Budget,” was approved by the Budget Committee on a party-line vote. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 66 percent of the savings in the House plan come from budget cuts to programs assisting low income families.

Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman, Patty Murray (D-WA), drafted a plan to reduce spending over the next 10 years by $1.85 trillion that calls for replacing the sequester, reducing spending by $975 billion and raising revenue by $975 billion over 10 years. The Murray plan, “Foundation for Growth: Restoring the Promise of American Opportunity,” also includes reserve fund language for child care; pre-kindergarten; and home visiting. Reserve funds are used to place a marker that if legislation in those areas were to be considered later this Congress, the Budget Committee “reserves the ability” to reallocate budget allocations so that such legislation would not be subject to a point of order. These reserve funds do not have money attached to them, but conceptually it is great news that the Senate budget resolution would preserve the right to proceed to legislation on these issues later this year. During committee consideration, an amendment by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was adopted that calls for an increase in the minimum wage. The Murray plan was approved by the Budget Committee on a party-line vote.

The Coalition on Human Needs has sent letters to the House and Senate, opposing the Ryan budget and supporting the Murray budget. See them here:  CHN House Budget Letter  -  CHN Senate Budget Letter

You can send your own letters:  click here 

Remember, ACTION is needed now! The House of Representatives could vote as early as tomorrow on the Ryan budget. Tell your Representative to vote NO on the Ryan Budget.

Thank you for taking action!

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

Ensure that children have a quality early learning experience by restoring quality language to the pre-kindergarten expansion.

At this time, the Assembly one-house budget does not include the quality language surrounding the pre-kindergarten expansion. The New York Senate does not include expansion at all.  When originally proposed by the Governor, the programs were all intended to be high-quality.  The early care and learning community is concerned that if the expansion goes forward without specifically prescribing quality, there will be no way for quality to be measured or for a quality rating and improvement system to ever be taken up.

                                                                                            

Click here to contact: New York State Assembly Budget Leaders

Click here to contact: New York State Senate Budget Leaders

Thank you for taking action!

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

Do your lawmakers know your budget priorities?

With one house budget bills due for negotiation early next week and hopes that a budget is passed before the legislature leaves Albany for recess on March 21, time is running out to tell your legislators what children, families and CCR&Rs need in this year’s New York State budget.

At the following link you will find some materials that will be helpful for any visits that you have planned: http://www.earlycareandlearning.org/documents/WinningBeginningWednesday.htm

If you have already seen your lawmaker, whether in Albany or at home in the district, please add that information to attached sheet and send it back as soon as possible. We want to ensure that all lawmakers are reached statewide.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

Advocacy: Week of 2/11-2/15 2013

2/12/13

Assembly QUALITYstarsNY sign on letter

Letter to Speaker of the Assembly on QUALITYstarsNY

As budget amendments are due, there is also a letter being circulated asking Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to add funding for QUALITYstarsNY to the New York State budget. 

Last year, the State Education Department (SED) awarded a $4 million grant to implement QUALITYstarsNY in child care programs in high-needs school districts over a three-year period. There are about 400 programs that are presently evaluated and supported by QUALITYstarsNY thanks to the grant. While this is a great start, 400 programs are only a small part of the over 20,000 regulated early child care programs in New York State.

An investment of $5 million would build on SED’s grant by supporting partial implementation of QUALITYstarsNY in early child care programs throughout the state.

If you do not see your Assemblyperson on this list attached with a number 1 next to their name, please contact them and make sure they sign on to this important letter.  Calls from constituents make a big difference. The deadline is COB, today, February 12, 2013!

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

2/13/13

Letter to Speaker of the Assembly on QUALITYstarsNY

Yesterday, Governor Cuomo released his 21 day budget amendments.  While they did not include funding for any of our issues, sources on the Governor’s staff state that there will be an additional round of 30 day amendments.

Furthermore, the deadline for the budget letter being circulated by Assemblymember Amy Paulin asking Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to add funding for QUALITYstarsNY to the New York State budget has been extended to COB, today February 13, 2013!

Last year, the State Education Department (SED) awarded a $4 million grant to implement QUALITYstarsNY in child care programs in high-needs school districts over a three-year period. There are about 400 programs that are presently evaluated and supported by QUALITYstarsNY thanks to the grant. While this is a great start, 400 programs are only a small part of the over 20,000 regulated early child care programs in New York State.

An investment of $5 million would build on SED’s grant by supporting partial implementation of QUALITYstarsNY in early child care programs throughout the state.

Please look at the attached list and see if your Assemblymember has signed-on.  If there is a “1” next to his/her name, s/he has signed.  If there is not a “1” next to his/her name, s/he has not.  Those identified in red are members that signed on last year. If s/he has not signed on, please call your Assemblymember(s) and ask him/her to sign-on to the letter.  The Assemblymember simply needs to call Assemblywoman Paulin’s office and say they want to sign-on to THE QUALITYstarsNY budget letter! 

Calls from constituents make a big difference.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32

2/15/13

Our Budget Strategy

Albany will be a little quieter next week as legislators remain in their districts for the week.  This is a great opportunity to visit their local offices to discuss budget priorities and establish a connection with their them and their staff.

So far, as a response to the Governor’s Executive Budget, the Early Care & Learning Council has:

·         Delivered budget testimony to the Human Services Budget Committee;

·         Submitted budget testimony to the Economic Development Budget Committee;

·         Submitted a Budget Amendment Letter to the Governor’s office;

·         Met with several Legislators on our budget priorities;

·         Spoken with the Governor’s staff;

·         Participated in the Advocacy efforts and events of Winning Beginning NY and partners;

·         Assisted Assemblywoman Amy Paulin’s office in writing and distributing a Dear Speaker letter requesting funding for QUALITYstarsNY.  The letter was submitted to Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver with 44 Assemblymembers signed on.

Our budget asks need to be supported by your stories! How have the children and families in your community been impacted by contract cuts and flat funding of subsidies while child care costs continue to rise? How has QUALITYstarsNY changed the programs in your community and how could non-participating programs benefit from an expansion?  Legislators want to hear about community impact!

Coming Soon:

·        The Early Care & Learning Council Legislative Agenda

·        Materials for Albany Advocacy

And please don’t forget to RSVP to me at jklos@earlycarecareanlearning.org by 2/20 to let know if you and your organization will be coming to Albany for CCR&R Winning Beginning Wednesday on the 27^th!

The network needs you in Albany to tell your story!

The Council will remain at a table in the Liberty Cafe on the Empire State Plaza until 2:30pm on the 27^th to answer your questions and discuss your meetings throughout the day.  Please remember each organization is responsible for making their own meeting appointments. The Liberty Cafe is located just outside of Legislative Office Building and Capitol security.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Sincerely,

Jessica

Jessica Klos Shapiro

Policy Associate

(518) 690-4217 ex. 32