SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday, November 22, announced the selection of diverse experts, practitioners and parents to guide California’s efforts on early learning and care. The Governor today appointed 20 members of the state’s new Early Childhood Policy Council and advisory committees, including national experts, practitioners, and parents. He also announced the creation of an Early Childhood Action Research Team to develop a Master Plan for Early Learning and Care, which includes state and national leaders in social impact, financing, policy, and equity issues.
“Every child in our state should have the resources and support they need to live happy and healthy lives,” said Governor Newsom. “We are bringing together experts from diverse backgrounds to create a Master Plan for Early Learning and Care that will be rooted in lifting up California’s children and families today, tomorrow and into the future.”
The Early Childhood Action Research Team will develop a comprehensive roadmap for California to accelerate the governor’s goal of providing universal preschool and action steps to increase access to affordable, high-quality child care that embraces the strengths and meets the needs of parents and young children.
The Action Research Team will consist of social impact experts from respected organizations including Child Trends, RAND, WestEd, Social Policy Research Associates, Parent Voices, Low-Income Investment Fund, American Institutes for Research, Stanford University’s School of Education, and Neimand Collaborative. The Action Research Team will produce a report by October 1, 2020. The Health and Human Services Agency will oversee the Team’s work in collaboration with the State Board of Education, the Department of Education and the Governor’s Office.
The governor announced that the Early Childhood Policy Council will be chaired by California’s Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris.
The governor also named 20 members to the Council, including thought leaders from across the state in social services, child care and child trauma. The Council will elevate the needs of young children and their families as well as advise the governor, Legislature and the Superintendent of Public Instruction on statewide early learning, care and overall development.
The Council will provide recommendations on all aspects of the state’s early childhood system, including support for the demographic, geographic and economic diversity of the state’s children and families and ways the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care and the Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education’s final report can be updated and improved. It will hold at least four public meetings per year and prepare a formal annual report.
The governor invested an additional $2 billion in this year’s budget to ensure that all children in California have the critical foundation they need for healthy development and learning in the earliest years. This down payment immediately expands California children’s access to quality education and health care, funds a two-generation strategy that invests in parents so they can invest in their children, and eases some of the financial pressures on parents to help them provide opportunities for their children and achieve economic security for their families.
