Saturday, December 31, 2022
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
The Children’s Movement Helps Drive Home Win For Children And Families
On Friday, September 16th, 2022, 337 organizations across California signed on to this Children’s Movement letter urging Governor Newsom to expand family leave benefits for all Californians.
The Children’s Movement joined the California Work and Family Coalition – a coalition of gender equity, child and maternal health and anti-poverty groups – in pushing for the signing of Senate Bill 951 (SB 951) authored by Senator Maria Elena Durazo. Two weeks later, on Friday, September 30th, Governor Newsom signed the bill. This is a great win for children and families in California.
California’s State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) were designed to ensure that all Californians could afford to take leave for these reasons, however, because SDI and PFL have historically provided benefits equal to only 60 percent of most workers’ wages, these benefits have been unaffordable for too many of California’s families.
Recent analysis show that low-wage workers who are most in need of paid family leave can’t afford to take time off. Yet the passage of SB 951 will increase wage replacement rates and make paid family leave benefits more equitable and accessible to more Californians.
Effective January 1, 2025, SB 951 increases wage replacement rates to 90 percent for low wage workers (individuals making roughly $57k or less annually) and to 70 percent for everyone else. These changes will allow parents and caregivers more access to critical bonding time with their loved ones in their times of need. This is also a racial and gender justice issue as women, those identifying as Black or Latino/a/x, and/or those born outside of the United States are more likely to hold lower wage jobs.
Read more, here.
Sunday, December 25, 2022
Sesame Street: 12 Days of Christmas Cookies
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Spanish Is My Superpower | #ComingTogether
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Advocates & Policymakers Highlight Children’s Environmental Health In California
By Colleen Corrigan
November 3, 2022
Earlier this summer, HR 123 (Eloise Gómez Reyes) was passed to recognize October 2022 as Children’s Environmental Health Month in California. To raise awareness of the environmental issues threatening children’s health in California, Children Now and partners hosted a state policymaker briefing on October 20, 2022, for legislative staff (see below for a full list of co-sponsoring organizations).
The briefing, on environmental hazards like lead and pesticide exposure, included testimony from San Diego pediatrician Dr. Vi Thuy Nguyen, Greenfield city councilmember Yanely Martinez, a youth activist and high school student, Victor, and other policy experts. The panel highlighted how these environmental hazards impact children’s learning, well-being, and lifelong health outcomes and offered potential policy solutions and opportunities for our State leaders.
Read more, here.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Monday, December 12, 2022
Celebrations that Support Child Health
Honoring special occasions with students and staff is an important part of building community within a classroom. Have you ever stopped to think about how many celebrations occur during the school
year? From birthdays to holidays, these events can add up quickly. It's important to make sure that your celebrations reflect the same healthy messages you promote elsewhere throughout the school day.
In fact, school celebrations can be an opportunity to reinforce messages about good nutrition and health when they include healthy foods and beverages and provide opportunities for kids to dance, play games and engage in sports.
Some of our favorite suggestions include using non food rewards, such as:
· Stickers
· Rulers
· Bookmarks
Use these in lieu of sweet treats, and try swapping in plenty of healthy party food. Think more fruit kabobs and nut butters and less cookies and cupcakes.



