The National Association of Counties (NACo) has developed
a Child
Care Stabilization toolkit that can be utilized by
counties as they play a significant role in the stability of and
access to the child care system.
This week the first
Master Plan for Aging (MPA) progress report was released.
This report recaps the last six months of efforts by state and
local stakeholders towards the 2030 goals of an age-friendly
state.
County leaders from across the country were able to connect both
in-person and virtually at the NACo Annual Conference in Prince
George’s County, MD that wrapped up on Monday, July 12.
California leaders were well represented at the various policy
committee meetings, workshops, and task force meetings. In
addition, CSAC officers were able to take advantage of the
proximity of the conference site to Washington, DC to engage
directly with key Biden Administration officials on top federal
advocacy priorities. Some highlights of the conference include:
The California Department of Aging (CDA) is hosting
a webinar to discuss equity in aging specifically for rural
communities, on Wednesday, July 7, from 10 a.m. to
11 p.m. The webinar will feature program leaders in
rural counties who use the distinct qualities of rural
communities to implement culturally competent and responsive
programs for their aging communities. The panelists include:
Child Tax Credit (CTC) Awareness Day will take place on
Monday, June 21. On this day, President Biden’s
Administration will work to reach the millions of families
eligible for this new expanded CTC enacted with the passage of
the American Rescue Plan Act.
The National Governors Association, the National Association of
Counties and the National Conference of State Legislatures will
host a briefing on Thursday, June 24 from 10 – 11 a.m.
PT on the Child Care Stabilization Grants included in
the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The National Association of Counties (NACo) has launched a
comprehensive
Recovery Clearinghouse to help member counties stay
up-to-date on COVID-19 recovery news and resources. Members
may explore key recovery resources, including:
CSAC continues to update our American Rescue Plan
page with additional resources. This page includes resources
about the Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, which will provide $7.7
billion in direct fiscal aid to California counties and other
elements of the law.
Next week, the California Department of Aging (CDA) will host two
public hearings on the Older Americans Act. These two hearings
are taking place on Monday, April 26, from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. and
Thursday, April 29, from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. The purpose of these
hearings is to gather public input to help inform the development
of California’s Older Americans Act (OAA) State Plan for
2021-2025.
The National Association of Counties Research Foundation (NACoRF)
has invited county officials to join in celebrating the Week of
the Young Child. Beginning April 10 and ending April 16 counties
can join national convenings on Prenatal to Three Peer Learning
and share how counties are prioritizing young children.
On March 15, CSAC hosted a virtual webinar, moderated by Inyo
County Supervisor Jeff Griffiths, on the Master Plan for Aging
(MPA). The webinar featured panelists who passionately engaged
and supported the two-year effort to form a statewide roadmap to
support and improve the lives of our growing older adult
population. Please find the webinar recording here.
CSAC is hosting a webinar about California’s new Master Plan for
Aging. The webinar will take place on Monday, March
15 from 2 – 3 p.m. Please
register here.
CSAC is hosting a webinar about California’s new Master Plan for
Aging. The webinar will take place on Monday, March 15,
from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Please
register here.
House Democratic committee leaders took the next steps in the
fiscal year 2021 budget reconciliation process this week as they
began to unveil legislative text that reflects key components of
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal.
Pursuant to the recently adopted FY21 budget resolution (S Con
Res 5), 12 House committees are charged with drafting and
approving provisions of the president’s
American Rescue Plan.
This week, Children Now, released their 2020-21 California County
Scorecard of Children’s Well-Being. Children Now is an
organization that focuses on an array of issues ranging from
childhood development to justice involvement, all of which impact
the safety and wellness of children, youth and young adults.
In a letter to the nation’s governors, the U.S Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that the public
health emergency (PHE) will likely remain in place for the
entirety of 2021, and when a decision is made to terminate the
declaration or let it expire, HHS will provide states with 60
days’ notice prior to termination.
The California Social Work Hall of Distinction will be honoring
individuals who embody the commitment of the social work
profession or practice in October of this year, coinciding with
the National Association of Social Workers California Annual
Conference.
This week, Governor Newsom released the
Master Plan for Early Learning and Care. The Master Plan is
the result of more than a year of collaboration between the
California Health and Human Services Agency, researchers, and
other stakeholders. This framework outlines a vision for
California to achieve a comprehensive and equitable early
learning and care system by 2030.
The Master Plan outlines this vision through four overarching
goals:
Governor Newsom met the September 30 deadline to take action on
measures approved by the Legislature and delivered to his desk.
To keep counties informed of new laws that impact them, CSAC will
be publishing a series of articles to spotlight those laws in
each policy area. This week, the Health and Human Services policy
area provides information on new laws affecting health, human
services, and behavioral health.
The new laws listed below become effective January 1, 2021 unless
otherwise noted.
This year, a new law went into effect, SB 234 (Chapter 244,
Statutes of 2019), that aims to increase the availability of
family child care homes. The sponsor of the legislation, the
Child Care Law Center, reached out to CSAC to share resources
with counties regarding the implementation of this law.
SB 234 makes various changes regarding licensing and zoning for
family child care homes, including several that directly impact
county regulations. These include:
On Tuesday, the Stakeholder Advisory Committee for the Master
Plan for Aging met and submitted their final recommendations to
the Governor’s Administration for consideration in the state’s
Master Plan for Aging. While the COVID-19 pandemic caused some
delays in the Master Plan timeline and forced meetings to be
conducted remotely, progress on this important initiative
continued and the Governor is anticipated to release the state’s
Master Plan for Aging in December.
CSAC’s Health and Human Services policy committee tracked a
number of bills this legislative cycle. All of the following
bills passed both houses and are awaiting action from the
Governor.
Oppose
AB 1976 (Eggman): Mental Health Services: Assisted Outpatient
Treatment.
In a typical year, many representatives from California counties
would have traveled to Florida recently to gather with counties
throughout the nation for the NACo Annual Meeting. While NACo was
not able to host an in-person Annual Meeting this year, several
virtual events were successfully conducted over the past week.
These included a town hall, NACo Board of Directors meeting,
California Caucus, and Annual Business Meeting. California
members were active contributors at these various events.
Highlights and significant actions are described below.
The Governor’s office recently
announced the appointment of Will Lightbourne to serve as
Director of the California Department of Health Care Services
(DHCS).
Earlier this week, the California Department of Finance
submitted a letter to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee
indicating plans to provide a $5 million augmentation for food
banks from the emergency coronavirus funding bill the Legislature
passed in March.
This week the Legislature began holding public hearings to review
the Governor’s May Revision Budget. With the condensed
Legislative timelines, the Budget Subcommittees are doing their
best to fully examine the proposed investments and cuts laid out
in the Governor’s 172 page
summary. In addition to their internal review, the
Legislature has made an asserted effort to hear from the all
parties that will be impacted by what the Legislature approves by
June 15.
CalOES announced that FEMA funding for the senior restaurant
meals program, now dubbed “Great
Plates Delivered,” has been extended from May 10 to June 10.
View resources and guidance documents for the Great Plates
Delivered program
here.
Over the past week, the Governor has made a series of
announcements and focused significant time in his daily press
briefings on the issue of food assistance for older adults and
families.
The California
Testing Task Force hosted a second webinar for local
elected officials, local public health directors and officers,
and local emergency managers to discuss the rapid increase in
COVID-19 testing capacity and areas that they will continue
working on.
