Thursday, April 30, 2020

We Have Openings


So much has changed for all of us these last few weeks. Many essential workers have found themselves without child care due to school and child care closures. Solano Family & Children’s Services has a list of available child care in Solano County. We also have some funding to help pay for child care costs for children of essential workers, for a limited time. If you are in need of a child care provider or help paying for child care, contact Solano Family & Children’s Services at www.solanofamily.org. Or, click on the survey link below:

Monday, April 27, 2020

Are You Looking For Child Care Due To COVID-19?


So much has changed for all of us these last few weeks.  Many essential workers have found themselves without child care due to school and child care closures.  Solano Family & Children’s Services has a list of available child care in Solano County.  We also have some funding to help pay for child care costs for children of essential workers, for a limited time.  If you are in need of a child care provider or help paying for child care, contact Solano Family & Children’s Services at www.solanofamily.org

Friday, April 24, 2020

Subsidy Webinar, 4/17/20 - Updated Information RE: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Crisis


This is a recorded Zoom webinar facilitated by SFCS on 4/17/20, for all Providers & Parents participating in the Subsidized Child Care Program. Participants learned about the temporary changes put in place to help our clients during the COVID-19 crisis.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Child Care is Part of an Inclusion Strategy | Priya Amin | TEDxPittsburgh


Priya Amin has had many titles. Brand manager. Co-founder. Mom. It’s the latter that inspired her to understand more about the cost of ignoring childcare, the cost to organizations and the cost to working parents. In her talk, she shares ideas on why she believes childcare is a critical part of every organization’s roadmap to inclusion and how can benefit workers and employers alike.

Priya, who holds an MBA from the University of Arizona, and worked as a product and brand manager at corporations such as IBM and Nestle, left her high powered career to be home with her two boys, and never looked back. After successfully launching and running a marketing consulting firm called ROKI, she began looking for ways to continue fostering creativity and entrepreneurship among women. She launched Flexable, LLC in 2016 with her partner Jessica Strong, and was accepted to the 16th cohort of the AlphaLab Accelerator program in 2016.

Flexable has gained regional and national attention for providing innovative childcare solutions, most notably on-site childcare at offices and events. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Mark Bezos: A life lesson from a volunteer firefighter


Volunteer firefighter Mark Bezos tells a story of an act of heroism that didn't go quite as expected -- but that taught him a big lesson: Don't wait to be a hero.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

How To Help Support Our Work


Solano Family & Children’s Services (SFCS) is a private, non-profit Child Care Resource & Referral Agency. Since 1978, we have provided services and support to parents, child care providers, and community members in Solano County.
Last year SFCS helped over 1800 families select the quality child care placements that best suit their individual needs. In addition, the Subsidized Child Care Program served over 2000 families covering child care costs for approximately 3400 children. The Child Care Food Program also served over 2300 children per month.


Please donate, to make a difference in the lives of children who need quality child care.  Solano Family and Children’s Services supports families by making child care more accessible for children living in Solano County.  You can change the lives of children in need too this holiday season by choosing SFCS as your non-profit organization of choice.  

Ways you can support us:


We welcome direct donations:

Please send checks to SFCS, 421 Executive Court North, Fairfield, CA 94534. We will send you a receipt for tax purposes. Please indicate that you are making a donation in your check memo field.


You can make an online donation:


Click on the button below and use your credit card to make donations.


Sign up for escrip:

List us as the organization you would like to support. Register your Debit/Credit/Store cards, and when used at participating stores/restaurants a percentage of your purchase will be donated to us – at no cost to you! Visit eScript family of merchants . Don’t be discouraged by the limited number of participating stores/restaurants listed; the list keeps growing and once you sign up you will receive e-mails from time to time, telling you of new stores/restaurants in your area that are now participating. There are also hundreds of online participating stores.
 escrip_logo

Shop at Lucky’s or Food Maxx:

Call us at (707) 863-3950 or e-mail us through our online contact form and we will send you a Lucky’s/Food Maxx card. Anytime you shop for groceries, have the cashier swipe your card, and a percentage of your purchase will be donated to us – at no cost to you!

Our Mission

Solano Family & Children’s Services promotes and advocates for the well-being of children, their families, and child care providers by offering access to a variety of child care resources.



Sunday, April 12, 2020

Subsidized Child Care For Essential Workers



On April 4, 2020, Governor Newsom issued an Executive Order, that was intended to make child care subsidies available for Essential Workers in California, during the COVID-19 crisis.  Unfortunately, this executive order did not come with additional child care funding.  In Solano County, Child Care Subsidies are provided in the form of Child Development Centers, located and managed by such entities as school districts and Solano Community College.

The other form of subsidy is in the form of a voucher program, which is administered by Solano Family & Children’s Services (SFCS).  The voucher system provides the parent greater flexibility in choosing different types of child care providers (center-based care, family child care homes, and license-exempt providers), as well as flexibility in the hours of care needed (including evenings & weekends).  Many of the Solano County Subsidized Child Development Centers have been closed due to school district campus closures.  Voucher funding provided to SFCS from the State Department of Education, that would otherwise be available to serve essential workers during the COVID-19 crisis, is not available as our California Alternative Payment Program (CAPP) is fully enrolled, and has a waiting list.

Solano County is provided a specific amount of child care subsidies for both the Child Development Center Contracts and Voucher Contracts.  The amount of funding we receive is never enough to fully meet the needs of all eligible families.  We are hopeful that the California Department of Education will work with the Administration to release more funds in order to serve our present families on the program, and the additional essential workers who qualify for this temporary assistance.

In the meantime, there are licensed family child care homes and centers that are still open and making spaces available to essential workers who can afford to pay for their child care.  Families in need of child care providers can contact Solano Family & Children’s Services at 707-863-3950 Ext. 709 or by going to www.solanofamily.org and filling out the Child Care Referral form for a list of licensed child care providers.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Choosing Quality Child Care


Solano Family & Children’s Services provides FREE child care information and referrals. Our goal is to promote the healthy growth, care, and development of children by educating families about  Choosing Quality Child Care.
A successful child care arrangement requires special effort between families and caregivers.
See more at SolanoFamily.org

Monday, April 6, 2020

Children's Services Internet Resources



As a resource and referral agency we make a point to utilize as many professional resources in the field of child development, parenting and family support to provide information to the community. We have listed some of the professional organizations and resource tools related to our work on the resource page. We hope you find them helpful and we always appreciate hearing from you if you are aware of a useful on-line Internet resource.

SFCS has listed professional organizations that we are aware of on this page. We do not take responsibility for any of the specific content on their web pages. As with any Internet resource we recommend that the reader review and check their sources for legitimacy.

See much more at https://www.solanofamily.org/internet-resources/

Friday, April 3, 2020

COVID-19 Information Update From Solano Family & Children's Services

Update – March 30, 2020:  We just received a new directive from the California Department of Education (CDE) regarding family fees.  Family fees for the months of April, May, & June 2020 have been waived, and are not to be collected.  Family fees for March & prior months will not be credited or refunded and are to be paid by the parent to their provider.


  • Parents Who Pay Family Fees: For the months of April, May, & June 2020, please DO NOT pay the provider your monthly family fees.  Your fees will resume, as assessed/scheduled, on July 1, 2020, unless otherwise notified.
  • Providers: For the months of April, May, & June 2020, please DO NOT collect family fees from your Subsidized Child Care Families.  SFCS WILL NOT deduct any family fees from your reimbursements for these three months.  Please keep in mind that in April, we will still be reimbursing you for March & prior months of service, so these amounts will still reflect a deduction for family fees that you should have collected for March & prior months.  The reimbursements we begin to process in May, for April services, is when you will first see that we are not deducting family fees.
  • Delinquent Family Fees: CDE has asked that parents who are behind on paying their family fees for March and prior months, not be expected to pay on these fees until after July 1, 2020.  Therefore, we will not be taking action against any parent for not following through with their delinquent fee payment arrangement.  If a parent would like to continue paying on their delinquent fees between now and June 30, 2020, they may do so.
See all the updates at SolanoFamily.org