Urgent Actions!

A number of federal issues have the potential to significantly impact Alameda County children, youth, and families. 

Oppose Tax Reform Bill: On November 16, the House passed its tax reform bill. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this week. We need Congress to stand up for their constituents and oppose a tax reform bill that raises taxes on low and middle income families and threatens our health care safety-net! Visit the STOP Trump Tax Cuts website to find contact information for your Senator, obtain a phone script, and learn how to take action in opposition to the current Tax Reform proposals.

Reauthorize CHIP: The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides affordable, pediatric-appropriate health coverage to nearly 9 million children nationwide, including 2 million children and pregnant women in California. Despite broad bipartisan support there is not yet a agreement on how to pay for CHIP funding. Visit Health4All KIDS website to learn how to take action in support of CHIP funding. According to KQED, California is just a few weeks away from exhausting its reserves, and doesn’t yet have a plan to replace the $2.7 billion in federal support it stands to lose.

News You Can Use

First 5 Alameda County School Readiness Call to Action  ICPC member agency First 5 Alameda County is drawing attention to the fact that only 44% of Alameda County children are ready for kindergarten when they enter the classroom. This call to action highlights concrete examples of how we can strengthen existing partnerships and forge new ones to address the most pressing school readiness predictive factors.

Student Homelessness 

A recent reporting series by Edsource highlights the rising rates of homelessness among California students and points to increasing rates specifically in the Bay Area, where housing and other living costs are soaring. 

According to the most recently released Homeless Census, there are 270 households with children who are homeless and 919 TAY (transition age youth, 18-24 years old). Learn more at EveryOne Home.

A new report from the Voices of Youth Count project at Chapin Hall, Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America shows one in 10 young adults ages 18-25, and at least one in 30 adolescents ages 13-17, experience some form of homelessness unaccompanied by a parent or guardian over the course of a year.

2017 Reflections and Thanks

We would like to thank all of our wonderful council members, community partners, and greater Alameda County community for a memorable year. ICPC and our partners worked to achieve our vision of healthy, safe, and thriving children, youth, and families in many ways in 2017 and we look forward to continuing the work in 2018. 

ICPC engages in cross-system collaboration by improving interagency communication, developing child friendly policies and practices, and initiating systems changes that result in healthy, safe, and thriving children and families throughout Alameda County. To support our work, we track a number of key indicators to understand how our children and youth are faring. Check out our updated scorecard: 

As our scorecard shows, most of our indicators are showing promising movement in the right directions, however once disaggregated, disparities in outcomes among demographic groups are apparent. For example, our recently updated data sheet on the Alameda County Youth and Young Adult populations points to academic achievement gaps that persist despite overall gains:

In 2018, ICPC will continue to work with our members and partners to identify strategies that work to turn the curve on these achievement gaps and other disparities around our indicators, leveraging the great work already being done in our County. Stay tuned for more!

State Legislative Update

October 15 was the last day for Governor Jerry Brown to sign bills for the 2017 Legislative session. Over 100 of the newly signed bills relate to children, youth, and families and may have an impact on our Alameda County children and youth population, including:

Healthy: 

• AB 10 requires public schools serving low-income students to provide free feminine hygiene products in grades 6-12.
• AB 340 expands screenings for children impacted by trauma and adds the provision to include screening for trauma in the EPSDT program.
• AB 214 improves access to the Cal-Fresh program for low-income college students.
• SB 138 enables the automatic enrollment of students into school meal programs through Medi-Cal Direct Certification and enusres high-poverty schools make free breakfast and lunch available to all students.

Safe

• SB 213 bars homes with adults who have been convicted of violent felonies from being a licensed foster care provider or certified resource family and prohibits placement of a child in unlicensed or uncertified home.
• SB 190 abolishes administrative fees for juvenile detention
  
• AB 699 prohibits schools from collecting information about immigration status and ensures educational equity for all students regardless of immigration status.

Thriving

• AB 1520 establishes the statewide Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force
• AB 19 Community College Promise: ensures 1 year of tuition-free enrollment
  
• AB 1124 ensures that students in juvenile court schools receive diplomas if eligible and/or are provided the opportunity to re-enroll in their home school and take advantage of other educational opportunities.
  
• AB 752 prohibits expulsion from state-funded ECE programs without proper attempt to maintain safe participation.
  
  

ICPC will continue to track legislative activity in 2018 and support legislation and budget actions that are aligned with our legislative platform.