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Early Childhood Education
Though childcare is often among the biggest expenses in a family’s monthly budget, economists say it's hard to know just how big of a problem it is.
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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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Stanford economists estimate it would cost the state up to $21 billion to offer universal child care for kids 3 and under in California.
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The U.S. Senate has until Friday night to approve a package of funding measures or else risk another government shutdown.
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The Governor’s proposal uses cannabis tax revenues to support child care infrastructure affected by the January 2025 fires.
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Last year, homelessness declined overall in the region, but not for families with children. And service providers say even that was an undercount.
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Transitional kindergarten is forcing a change in the way elementary schools operate in California.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will now recommend vaccines against only 11 diseases.
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The state approved money in this year’s budget to help with startup costs for a 'childcare special district' in Riverside County.
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Family child care providers in the union will get $90 million in one-time payments to help stabilize the industry.
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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.
