We Were at the Capitol Today! What We Shared on Behalf of Providers & Call to Action

Today, EveryChild California testified before Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 3 to advocate for child care providers, families, and the early learning system Californians have spent years building. Our message was clear and urgent: providers should not be penalized for delays and barriers created by the state, and California should protect the child care spaces and flexibility that families and programs rely on every day. 

One of the most pressing issues discussed was a proposed reduction of approximately 4,200 CCTR child care spaces. We strongly urged the Senate to protect these spaces. Many are already in development and reflect intentional planning by providers to meet real community needs. Cutting them now would not only waste public investment but also erode trust with families and providers who have been counting on the state to deliver on its commitments.

We also raised serious concerns about the nine-month delay in finalizing CCTR contracts, along with ongoing licensing barriers that continue to slow progress across the system. These challenges are not the result of provider actions, they stem from state timelines, processes, and structural bottlenecks. Reducing child care spaces or holding providers accountable for these delays is both unfair and counterproductive. Providers are doing their part; the system must do the same.

EveryChild California also voiced support for the Senate’s proposal to fund all 44,000 CCTR and CAPP child care spaces. At a time when families still need care and providers are working hard to sustain and expand access, California should continue moving forward. Funding these spaces is essential to preserving and strengthening the early care and education infrastructure the state has spent years building. 

We also supported the proposal to move CSPP under Proposition 98, with one critical caveat: the current flexibility that allows providers to temporarily transfer contracts between CSPP and CCTR must be maintained. This flexibility is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It allows providers to respond to shifting enrollment, changing community needs, and the realities of operating within a mixed-delivery system. Without it, programs risk becoming less responsive and less sustainable.

Finally, we urged policymakers to ensure that families with two-year-olds continue to have access to CSPP programs. As the state evolves its early learning system, it is vital that families do not lose options that are already working and that younger children are not inadvertently left behind.

California has spent years building its early care and education system, and providers have been at the center of that effort, adapting through constant change, uncertainty, and complexity. Now is the time to protect that progress, not dismantle it.