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Check out our newly redesigned Children's Advocate website.

• Multilingual: Navigate and read articles in English, Spanish, and Chinese (for Spanish and Chinese, just click the language link at the top of any page!)
• Easier to use: New, easy-to-use search feature helps you quickly find the articles you're interested in -- and tags at the end of each article help you find more articles on that topic.
• Read online and share with others: Read our archive of articles online and download pdfs to share with colleagues and families.

Now online at www.4children.org!

Governor's budget: Deep cuts proposed for children's programs

Governor Releases 2009-10 Budget Proposals, from the California Budget Project, reports on the governor's proposed budget. The governor plans to close the predicted $39 billion budget shortfall (which includes last year's budget shortfall) by cutting spending ($17 billion), raising revenues ($14 billion), and borrowing ($10 billion). The governor proposes to:

Revenues

• Temporarily increase the sales tax by 1.5% and charge sales tax on some services, such as car repair, amusement parks, and sporting events
• Reduce the tax credit claimed for children and other dependents
• Impose a 9.9% oil severance tax
• Increase alcoholic beverage taxes by a nickel a drink

Changes to First 5 and Prop 63 funds (would require voter approval)

• Eliminate the First 5 California Commission and redirect state funds and 50% of county funds to children's programs under the Department of Social Services
• Divert Prop 63 mental health funds to reduce state's costs for mental health managed care

Health

• Eliminate Medi-Cal dental and other benefits for adults
• Restrict Medi-Cal eligibility for low-income adults with children, keeping an estimated 429,000 low-income parents off of Medi-Cal
• Reduce health services provided to some legal immigrants
• Restrict access to health care services for undocumented immigrants
• Eliminate the California Food Assistance Program, which provides food assistance for some legal immigrants who are not eligible for federal food stamps
• Cut funding for Regional Centers, which coordinate services for people with developmental disabilities

CalWORKs

• Suspend the July cost-of-living increase
• Cut CalWORKs grants by 10%
• Eliminate cash assistance
  --> for children in CalWORKs "safety net" program if their parents don't work enough hours.
  --> after 60 months for some children whose caregivers are ineligible for CalWORKs
  --> for some CalWORKs families if an adult fails to attend a "self-sufficiency review"

Early care and education

• Increase child care fees for families up to a maximum of 10% of their income
• Reduce reimbursement rates for providers in voucher-based programs
• Suspend the 2009-10 cost-of-living increase

Schools

• Reduce Prop 98 funds to the minimum required
• Reduce "revenue limit funding" for districts and county offices of education as well as funds for a number of educational programs
• Use some public transit funds to pay for transporting kids to and from school
• Eliminate cost-of-living increases for K-12 educational programs
• Allow districts to cut the school year by five days
• Eliminate the High Priority Schools Grant Program
• Suspend almost all education mandates

For more info

• Summary of cuts to schools, health, and human services from the California Budget Project
• More on child care from the Child Care Law Center
• More on health from Health Access (scroll down to Dec 31)
• More on poverty and CalWORKs from the California Partnership
• More on schools from Parents and Students for Great Schools
  

January-February Children's Advocate

Check out our January-February Children's Advocate issue -- now available and online in English, Spanish, and Chinese! This issue includes our annual multicultural calendar with dates for key 2009 multicultural holidays as well as anniversaries of significant events. In this issue:

• 2009 multicultural calendar (online only!)
• Grassroots Snapshot: Families win pesticide buffer zone
• Hot topics: LIFETIME helps parents get their CalWORKs benefits
• Early Care and Education: Learning through play: Ways children can bump into numbers
• Hot topics: Union? Family child care association? Family child care providers debate the benefits
• Raising kids: Parents talk with kids about their family's tough times
• Community resources: Resources for families going through tough times
• California Child Development CORPS: The CARES stipend is a strong motivator
• Parent Voices: "Now everything I do incorporates Parent Voices"

In English at http://www.4children.org/issues/2009/january_february
(for Spanish or Chinese, click on the link at the top of that page)