Justice for children, families, and child care providers.
We focus on increasing affordable child care for families with low incomes, equitable pay for family child care providers, and rights for children with disabilities. We use the following advocacy strategies:
I. Legislative Advocacy
Our Strategy: The Child Care Law Center uses our legal expertise and relationships within the community of California’s child care providers and families to advocate for child care reforms, including child care policies, laws, and funding.
Some of Our Legislative Wins:
Keeping Kids Close to Home Act (2019)
Different rules from city to city hindered home-based child care programs and caused a steep decline in licensed care. Our solution created a uniform law for zoning, fees, and the use of homes to provide child care.
Neither landlords, homeowners’ associations, nor cities may bar child care from operating in any home. Child care providers will find it easier to open or expand their businesses and create more child care spaces for families.
Strong Start for CalWORKs Families (2019)
Families are now entitled to longer-term child care assistance to focus on the things they need to succeed – like health, education, and job training. This law ensures that families enrolled in CalWORKS will have reliable, safe child care for at least twelve months. (The legislation was adopted through the state budget.)
Continuous Child Care for Working Families (2018)
When legislators raised the state minimum wage, many California families became ineligible for child care benefits. We made it possible for families to get a raise in pay, and keep their child care subsidy. This paved the way for equal educational and economic opportunity for approximately 280,000 children in California.
II. Budget Advocacy
Our Strategy: We fight for appropriate and inclusive funding for child care in California by monitoring federal and state legislation, educating our supporters and colleagues, urging people to take action, and coordinating with our national partners.
Twice as many families with affordable child care
Child Care Law Center’s budget advocacy has helped increase the number of dollars dedicated to child care and increased the number of children who are able to have it. Between 2012 and 2022, the number of children with affordable child care in California has doubled.
III. Racial Justice Education
Our Strategy: Child Care Law Center helps people understand the legal underpinnings of child care that are harmful to families and providers — particularly those that are Black and Brown.
Racist Roots of Child Care
We created this Learning Journey with Parent Voices California and California Resource & Referral Network. We unearthed the problematic origins of the troubling and racist policies that exist today. Advocates armed with an understanding of the past are better equipped to build a better future for our Black and Brown providers and families.
Child Care Law Center’s Communications Conference
In 2022, we presented the Child Care Communications Conference: Movement Building for Racial Equity. This conference for child care advocates explored how to craft racially just messaging to win racially just legislation. This conference was built around the ECE Toolkit for Effective Messaging.
IV. Community Education and Outreach
Our Strategy: Workshops for child care providers, advocates, and legal aid attorneys inform and update them on the law, their rights, and children’s rights (including the Americans with Disabilities Act).
We are building a network of in-the-know providers, families, advocates, lawmakers, and legal aid attorneys
Annually, we offer workshops and training to nearly 5,000 Californians.
V. Movement Building
Our Strategy: The Child Care Law Center does our part to build a movement of child care providers, legislators, and community advocates who are equipped with the knowledge to fight for equity and racial justice in child care.
Family child care providers helped write and pass the Keeping Kids Close to Home Act
When child care providers come to us with a problem, we not only solve the problem on the individual level, we also pave the way for a broader impact that can benefit everyone. We gave child care providers draft legislation, legal analysis, and support so that they could, together, have a say in the rules that affect their businesses.
What our community has to say about Child Care Law Center:
“What the Law Center has given us – helping us understand the legislature and how to advocate for ourselves – is so powerful. So many more families will be able to find child care in their neighborhoods because more providers will be able to open up or expand.”
Ana Andrade- Child Care Leader & founder of The Wolf Pack Family Child Care
“I’m so grateful for you guys. I ended up getting the house! I’m just relieved that I found one [landlord willing to rent to me], now on to getting my license and students.”
Alicia- A family child care provider who secured a rental home for her family child care after we educated landlords to whom she had applied.
“The Child Care Law Center diligently worked on an appeal case to help me get through my semester and try to keep my children’s school … Ultimately I was able to finish my semester in school. We will forever be grateful for all the work the Child Care Law Center did for our family and is doing for many families facing similar struggles.
Tammy- A parent who kept her children enrolled in child care, with the help of Child Care Law Center.
“We did it! I’m just happy to know that my grandson will be able to get educational services and help for his behavior. With tears in my eyes. I could not [have] have come this far without your team of educated experts in child care law. We are almost to the finish line.”
Mia- A grandparent who got her grandson re-enrolled in child care after he had been expelled, with support from Child Care Law Center.
