With new legislation for early childhood education (UPK) and the after effects of the pandemic, childcare providers are at risk of losing their livelihood like never before. We were praised as hero's during the pandemic only to be disregarded and left struggling. California lost almost 30% of providers due to many not being able to keep their doors open due to loss of income and now the hits just keep coming. 

As a childcare provider and a mother I am painfully aware of how impacted childcare is for infants. California, unfortunately, has designated that a child is considered an infant until the age of 24 months. This age is well past the infant stage. The limit on the number of infants in care and age limitations in the state hinders new parents from finding quality care for infants. This 6 month change would free up infant spots and relieve the impact. 

If the age were brought down to 18 months, like many other states, it would lessen the impact on parents finding care for infants due to state restrictions on the amount of “infants” providers are allowed to have in their care at one time. This law/policy in Title 22 needs to be revised to benefit parents and providers alike.

An 18 month old is a toddler by almost all other standards. Encyclopedia Brittanica defines a toddler as a child who is between 12 and 36 months old (1 to 3 years old), as does the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC considers children who are ages 3 to 5 years old to be preschoolers.

If we were allowed more infants in home childcare settings we might be more likely to be able to hang on to our means of income in the midst of this storm government is causing. We should however be required to properly staff for the safety of the children.

Please sign and share this petition to all you know in California.