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Early Childhood Education
In Los Angeles County alone, there are about 9,000 licensed early care and education providers. Here's how to get started with understanding your options.
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The report by the National Institute for Early Education Research found California met 3 out of 10 quality benchmarks for transitional kindergarten.
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Teachers with the Los Angeles Unified School District will get four weeks of paid parental leave under terms of a new contract.
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California Botanic Garden opens Children’s Woodland, a free-form nature play space that emphasizes connections to native plants.
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Under the new law that went into effect this year, childcare providers are barred from asking about a child's or family member’s immigration status.
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Officials say the change will affect an estimated 23,000 people in Los Angeles County.
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The state has a program for self-employed workers and small business owners, but workers don’t always know to opt in.
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Experts say play can be key in helping children through big feelings.
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In 2025, the state increased payments for people who took time off to care for a child or a family member.
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First 5 Orange County was recently awarded $75,000 from O.C. Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento.
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Experts say California isn't studying its own transitional kindergarten program, despite research that has shown a public preschool program doesn’t guarantee better outcomes.
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California requires every school district to offer the preschool program to all 4-year-olds. But uptake has been uneven.
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The survey, done every month since 2021, found that the number of child care providers struggling economically is rising.
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A family shelter in Woodland Hills unveils a new Head Start center on site, one of only a few such shelters in the state.
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The estimated number of unsheltered children and teens under 18 in the county went up this year, and data suggests larger families especially are struggling.
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Childcare providers face high costs, low pay and a changing landscape as California adopts universal transitional kindergarten.
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In 2021, California launched an ambitious plan to make transitional kindergarten available by the 2025-26 school year, creating a brand new grade level.
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Starting in January, the state offered more-generous leave benefits. Claims in the first two quarters this year were up about 16%, compared to the same time period last year.
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Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that children without legal status cannot enroll in Head Start — effective immediately. But without implementation guidelines, providers say they're in a holding pattern.
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The ACLU and other groups have taken legal action to challenge the Trump administration's policy to bar children without legal status from Head Start programs.
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More dads in California are taking family leave, but still behind mothers. Here's what the data showMen made up 44% of claims for paid family leave to bond with a new child in fiscal year 2024, compared to only 18% in 2005.
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Child care providers and their union want the state to up the rates it pays them to care for children from low-income families.
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Experts say preparing a plan with your family is essential in the event of an emergency. Here’s how to coordinate childcare, find legal services and gather vital documents.
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A family with four kids was getting ready to celebrate their middle schooler's graduation. Then federal authorities came.
