January 14, 2021
The Metropolis will present $25 million in grants and zero-interest loans to youngster care suppliers assist reduce the monetary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on early care and teaching programs
San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed in the present day introduced $25 million in monetary help for San Francisco’s early care and teaching programs, which care for about 10,000 youngsters throughout the town. These youngster care and teaching programs present important companies for San Francisco households, nonetheless, many are struggling financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic and are vulnerable to completely closing. Mayor Breed and former Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee created the Early Schooling Financial Restoration Program with funding from income unlocked by Proposition F. The Program will assist San Francisco’s early youngster care and teaching programs stay open and provides them the sources they should provide high-quality companies to the kids of their care.
San Francisco is house to greater than 500 licensed and cooperative early care applications which may be eligible for grants of as much as $15,000 as a part of this new program. Early care applications may also apply for added assist within the type of interest-free loans as much as $50,000, repayable over the subsequent 5 years. These one-time funds will help licensed early care and teaching programs and license-exempt cooperative preschool applications to cowl prices related to COVID-19 resembling lodging of smaller group sizes, Private Protecting Gear (PPE), and employees compensation.
“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a big toll on our total neighborhood and financial system, creating hardships that threaten the steadiness of our San Francisco early care and schooling system,” stated Mayor Breed. “Baby care suppliers have actually stepped up in the course of the pandemic, with lots of them offering emergency youngster care and making vital modifications to the way in which they function. This program ensures that protected, high-quality early care and schooling stays obtainable to our Metropolis’s youngest residents in the course of the pandemic and past, which can play a important function in our financial restoration. As soon as dad and mom and guardians return to work, it’s vital that they proceed to have youngster care obtainable to them and know that their youngsters are in good palms.”
This Early Schooling Financial Restoration Program is a part of the Workplace of Early Care and Schooling’s broader plan, developed in coordination with Mayor Breed and former President Yee, to shut the early schooling hole for San Francisco’s youngest youngsters and their households and to boost wages for the professionals working on this sector. This system is funded with revenues which were made obtainable as a result of passage of Proposition F in November 2020. The June 2018 Proposition C, also known as “Child C,” because it established the “Infants and Households First Fund,” is presently being litigated in court docket. Proposition F in November 2020 established a “backstop tax” that may come into impact provided that the Metropolis loses the litigation. The backstop tax in Proposition F frees up funding to assist early care and schooling investments within the spirit of Child C. These further funds might be programmed as a part of the upcoming finances course of.
This funding helps San Francisco’s COVID-19 response and financial restoration in a number of methods. The provision of protected, accessible youngster care choices might be important for households to efficiently take part in and return to the workforce as San Francisco recovers. This system will present much-needed monetary reduction to youngster care suppliers in order that they’ll cowl primary bills and proceed working. With this funding, the Metropolis anticipates that extra suppliers will be capable to stay open, which preserves youngster care choices that households must. By offering focused assist for a sector that primarily employs girls of colour and has been confirmed to enhance academic outcomes for college students of colour, this system advances Mayor Breed’s ongoing dedication to make sure San Francisco’s restoration is equitable and helps our most weak residents.
“Through the pandemic, we noticed many early care suppliers make the powerful determination to shut and so many others are struggling to proceed. We merely can’t afford to lose any extra slots. These financial restoration grants and zero-interest loans to early care and schooling suppliers is just not solely important to our Metropolis’s restoration, however will assist construct the inspiration for what I hope would be the strongest common early schooling system across the nation,” stated Supervisor Myrna Melgar. “Each youngster deserves high-quality early schooling. I need to thank former President Norman Yee for his visionary management in shepherding historic initiatives and growing this Financial Restoration program to supply the much-needed reduction for our early care suppliers and the households that desperately want this assist now and within the years forward.”
“It is a enormous lifeline for our Early Childcare Educators, our kids, our metropolis and for my district. District 11 has essentially the most household childcare suppliers within the metropolis and we now have the second largest variety of youngsters underneath the age of six,” stated Supervisor Ahsha Safaí. “High quality and inexpensive childcare is a primary proper if we count on to have a simply workforce for households. It’s also crucial that we worth, assist and maintain our Early Care Suppliers and acknowledge their contribution to our workforce and this fund does simply that.”
“Regardless of our early childhood lecturers’ tireless efforts in offering protected early studying experiences to San Francisco’s youngsters and households throughout this pandemic, ECE applications are financially struggling,” stated Ingrid Mezquita, Director of the San Francisco Workplace of Early Care and Schooling. “Whereas group measurement restrictions, PPE purchases, and services upgrades are important to holding youngsters and employees protected, additionally they create a big monetary burden for applications already struggling to maintain tempo with the excessive value of working in San Francisco. Grants and interest-free loans made obtainable by way of the Early Schooling Financial Restoration Program will allow applications to deal with what issues most: caring for our Metropolis’s youngsters and making ready them to succeed.”
This new, vital funding in early care and schooling will bolster applications that hold youngsters on monitor for varsity success, assist households, and supply jobs for youngster care professionals. In 2019, the Workplace of Early Care and Schooling discovered that 40% of Black and Latino college students weren’t prepared for Kindergarten, demonstrating the necessity for continued investments in bettering outcomes for college students from traditionally deprived communities. Guaranteeing early care and schooling choices stay obtainable and accessible all through San Francisco is crucial for ensuring all younger persons are prepared for Kindergarten and success in class.
“We’re grateful to the town for his or her community-driven response and offering ECE suppliers the a lot wanted monetary reduction now, particularly throughout these extremely troublesome occasions related to working amid a worldwide pandemic,” stated Yohana Quiroz, Chief Operations Officer on the Felton Institute. “Our early educators and assist employees who’re important employees, are risking their very own well being and security on the entrance strains every single day as a result of they know the way essential it’s for youngsters to have a protected and caring place to work together and be taught. This funding will assist ECE suppliers to proceed to supply a protected and high quality studying surroundings for all youngsters and assist to maintain the just about 50% increased value of working our applications. With out monetary reduction, we will not and will not survive this disaster.”
“Public assist and funding is significant for constructing a greater system of early care and schooling post-pandemic, together with constructing equitable, top quality early childhood techniques that serve our communities and assist early educators,” stated Ben Wong, Govt Director, Wah Mei College. “This funding would assist Wah Mei College rent extra bilingual preschool lecturers, protect and shield our standing as a cultural and neighborhood anchor, and permit us to proceed to serve our neighborhood of San Francisco households in want of top of the range care. It has by no means been extra clear that youngster care is crucial for households, companies, and the labor power. Top quality early care and schooling is integral to the longer term well-being of our kids and households, in addition to financial restoration.”
“A lot of our metropolis’s workforce continues to wrestle in the course of the pandemic now and long-term — eating places, retail and hospitality, to call just a few — and since our workforce depends on childcare to get to work within the first place, we have to present elementary assist to our childcare system,” Gina Frommer, Chief Govt Officer, Youngsters’s Council of San Francisco. “This fund will assist childcare operators of every type stay open and viable, and helps our total neighborhood get again to work.”
All licensed youngster care or license-exempt co-operative early care applications offering companies to youngsters age delivery to 6 in San Francisco are inspired to use on the San Francisco Workplace of Early Care and Schooling’s (OECE) web site: sfoece.org/covid-19/early-education-recovery-program/.
This press launch was produced by the Office of the San Francisco Mayor. The views expressed listed here are the writer’s personal.
