Grace Castro and her assistants look after 24 busy, curious, rambunctious preschoolers in her Whittier home. But what she needs most is not a bubble bath and a nap.

She—like 50,000 other family child care providers in California—needs health insurance, the opportunity to learn skills, from child development to business administration, and the ability to join together in advocacy. To get these benefits, they need the combined strength of an organization of family child care providers.

Family child care providers “are providing a crucial service to California,” says Sergio Sanchez, president of Child Care Providers United of California, a joint union of the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. “But because they’re self-employed, they’re not entitled to benefits—no workers’ comp, no health insurance, no unemployment, no disability, no retirement. They’re really out there by themselves.” Currently, California’s child care providers earn an average of $15,000 to $18,000 a year after expenses, Sanchez says. 

But what kind of organization would best represent family child care providers? The California Association for Family Child Care, a network of local family child care associations? Or the combined union Sanchez represents?

That’s now the subject of a heated debate in the child care community.

For a family child care association

Castro’s choosing the association, for a list of reasons:

Dues: The membership dues are less expensive ($12 a year, compared to $120 a year for the union). Castro says the California Associa-tion for Family Child Care provides all the benefits of a union—except political lobbying—for 1/10 of the dues. The union is just looking to increase its dues income, Castro charges: “They just want a piece of the cake, I’m sorry to say. We’re just looked at as a source of money.”

Independence: “We’re independent contractors. We already have the power in our hands to make a difference,” says Castro. “If you belong to the union, you’re giving your rights up as self-employed business people.”

Health insurance: “The CAFCC (health) insurance saved me,” Castro says. The association’s health insurance plan—which she says is more comprehensive than the union’s—saved her $25,000 on her recent hysterectomy.

Networking and support: More than 100 local family child care associations throughout California offer peer support, information on licensing, legislation, and regulations, and workshops on child development, nutrition, safety, and business practices. The statewide California Association for Family Child Care leads advocacy efforts and connects local associations with other local, state, and national child care associations.

Potential for growth: What child care providers really need is help negotiating contracts with the state, tips on business administration, and computer skills, says Castro, who’s now the Greater L.A. regional representative for CAFCC. All those services could be—and many are already—provided through the association, she says.

For a union

For Rasiene Reece-Carter, joining the union was a no-brainer. Reece-Carter, with her assistant, looks after nine children in her home near Lancaster. She decided to join the union four years ago when she saw union members marching in Sacramento to protect child care workers from budget cuts.

A voice in Sacramento: “We get hit every year on budget cuts because we’re not active enough,” she said. “Because we’re not organized, we have no recourse when cuts are made.”

For her, the union’s lobbying efforts are well worth the cost of dues. By becoming involved in the union, she says, she’s learned the political workings of the Capitol, and how to work within the system for change.

Negotiations with the state: A strong union could better negotiate with the state over regulations, policy, and funding, says Sanchez. Many of California’s child care providers support themselves, at least in part, through state funds they receive to look after the kids of low-income parents. Bargaining for those state contracts as a group would be immensely helpful, says Sanchez.

Health insurance and networking: Like the family child care association, the union offers health insurance options, group purchasing power, and a network with other child care providers.

Agreement on priorities

Both sides agree on two key priorities for the child care field:

• Providers need more respect and a greater voice, in communities and in Sacramento.
• The ultimate point of any child care change is to benefit children.

As the economy continues to falter, more parents will head back to work full-time and more will be eligible for state child care subsidies, so providers will play an increasingly important role, both sides say. They prepare kids for kindergarten, they bond with newborns, they care for children whose parents work non-traditional shifts, and often become an integral part of a family. Providers with better pay and training—and more of a voice in policies that affect them—are better able to stay in the field and provide high-quality care.

Need to organize

“We’re so divided. But we really need one large voice in order for people to hear us,” says Reece-Carter.

“One way or another, providers need to stand up for themselves,” adds Castro. “Because guess who’ll benefit? The children.”

For more information

California Association for Family Child Care
www.cafcc.org
Northern California: 510-928-CARE
Central California: 831-449-7017
Southern California: 323-935-4035
(more regional contacts on the web site)

Child Care Providers United
2101 Webster Avenue, #1850
Oakland, CA 94612
866-336-9333
www.ccpunited.org

Growing movement to organize

Family child care providers across the country are increasing their efforts to organize, to boost the quality of their programs, their incomes, and their voice in child care decision-making.

The California Association for Family Child Care is affiliated with the National Association for Family Child Care, which holds annual conferences, promotes training and accreditation, publishes information for providers, and leads advocacy efforts.

California’s Child Care Providers United is part of a growing movement to unionize family child care providers—11 states now have regulations allowing family child care providers to bargain collectively with the state, and providers have negotiated contracts providing rate increases and other benefits in many of these states.

In four recent years, the California legislature passed bills that would have allowed family child care providers to choose a bargaining agent—either union or child care association. All these bills were vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.