San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Nora Vargas Monday announced a proposal intended to increase the number of child care providers in the county and enhance the capabilities of existing providers.
At the County Administration Center on Monday morning, the supervisors explained how their proposal has been “crafted to enhance the infrastructure needs for new and existing child care providers and family child care homes and create a pilot program to implement an emergency child care flex system for county employees,” a statement from the officials reads.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the proposal on Tuesday.
“Child care is a pillar of economic development. Today’s policy is part of the county’s ongoing commitment to help families access quality child care by investing in infrastructure and supporting entrepreneurship,” said Vargas, chairwoman of the board. “I am proud that we are walking the talk and leading by example to ensure our county workforce can take care of their children when an emergency arises.”
According to the proposal, 77% of parents in the county struggle to find child care, many providers have lengthy wait lists and whole swathes of the county do not have adequate — or any — providers.
“Passing this policy will ensure our county supports building child care capacity region wide along with staffing and training,” said Lawson-Remer, who spoke about her experience as a single mother of a 4 year-old daughter. “It also will allow us to develop a pilot program to support our essential county workers with emergency flex days when they are in a pinch.”
“Child care is not a child issue and it is not a women’s issue,” she said. “Child care is an economic issue.”
Also speaking at the news conference Monday were representatives from the county’s Child Care and Development Council.
“The San Diego County Child Care Blueprint framework is crucial for addressing critical needs, overcoming challenges and supporting children, families, and the early learning and care workforce,” said Dezerie Martinez, coordinator for early education special projects at the San Diego County Office of Education, who oversees the Child Care and Development Local Planning Council.
City News Service contributed to this article.
