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SR-301-001 (3) . 30/-00/ \ \ \~-..J .. . f Ii -"'\:. ,/ !; t I/-^ )f J .~ 11 :~ RP:DTA:VR July 8, 1986 Santa Monica, California TO: Mayor and city Council FROM: city staff SUBJECT: Recommendations Related to the Expansion of Child Care Facilities and Programming in the city of Santa Monica INTRODUCTION This staff report provides Council with background information on a range of issues relating to child care and child care services. The purpose of the report is to provide Council with an overview of child care concerns in Santa Monica and to suggest action in various areas which could help to expand the availability of quality child care in the City. The report provides specific information about programs at the state and local levels aimed at expanding child care services in California and provides information on the availability of child care programs currently offered through the City. The report recommends that Council allocate $5,000 for participation in the California Child Care Initiative sponsored by the BankAmerica Foundation, and direct staff to: pursue state grants for afterschool care for junior high age children and the purchase of modular units for child care use; explore the use of developer mitigation fees to expand child care facilities in city parks; and pursue the development of day camp recreation programs for spring and winter school breaks and other school holidays. , \-A .~..... J\L'" ,JIb - 1 - . . BACKGROUND As part of its 1985-86 budget objectives, the Recreation and Parks Department was asked to evaluate the feasibility of expanding child care programs in parks and park facilities. City staff has worked with members of the Santa Monica Child Care Task Force, which includes staff of the Santa Monica/Malibu School District, Santa Monica College, Connections for Children, and non-profit child care providers, in preparing the information contained in this program report. Local Child Care Needs The need for child care services has dramatically increased over the past decade with an estimated 48% of mothers of children under 1 year old now participating in the workforce. Previous needs assessments conducted within santa Monica have suggested that the greatest need exists for infant care and after-school and summer care for school-age children. While Santa Monica has a number of high quality child care programs available in the city, the programs have long waiting lists and find it nearly impossible to locate appropriate sites for program expansion. Last year alone four child care programs left the city after being unable to rent affordable facilities. A few programs are housed in underutilized school district facilities which may be converted in the near future to income-producing uses for the district. - 2 - . . There are a number of ways in which day care needs in Santa Monica can be addressed. These include encouraging individuals to get involved in the provision of child care services, reviewing zoning restrictions to ease establishment of child care programs while protecting local residents, seeking funds for new programming, making reasonably-priced space available for child care centers, and structuring Recreation programming to meet the needs of working parents. All of these approaches are discussed in this staff report. City Funded/Sponsored Child Care Support services in Santa Monica Through its community service grants program, the City currently provides Connections for Children with $60,000 a year for direct child care payments for low income families to use at the child care service of their choice, and provides $57,000 in support for other activities run by Connections. These include a toy loan program for family day care providers and local centers, child care referral and follow-up, referrals for all child-related services, educational programs including parenting classes in English and Spanish, workshops and classes for day care providers, and technical assistance to those currently offering child care. In recent years the summer day camp offered through the Recreation and Parks Department has been expanded to offer extended hours to accommodate the schedules of working parents. Presently the program is offered 8 weeks out of the summer from 8am to 6pm. Consideration could be given to extending the camp - 3 - . . schedule calendar needs. further to begin and end in line with the school in order to more adequately meet summer child care Playground activities are offered at all larger city parks and most elementary school playgrounds for children of elementary school age. These programs are drop-in only and, while providing a variety of recreational activities for 400-600 children each day, do not function as a custodial child care program. No full day programs are offered for school vacations and holidays through the department at this time. The department is capable of providing this additional programming if given additional staff or through the development of a cost-covering program. in this staff report. OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPAND CHILD CARE SERVICES AND FACILITIES "California Child Care Initiative" Based on a statewide needs assessment which highlighted the shortage of child care services throughout California, a Child Care Initiative was spear-headed by the BankAmerica Foundation to expand services by providing recruitment, training and technical assistance to those interested in providing child care. The Foundation identified the childcare problem as a scarcity of quality, affordable child care and designed the Initiative to address availability, affordability, and quality as related to child care services. - 4 - . . Four af the six pilot projects funded by the Initiative in the first year focus on the creation of additional "day care homes," in which a licensed provider cares for children in her own home. The pilot project in Los Angeles County was funded through the Santa Monica-based Connections for Children and covers West Los Angeles, Brentwaod, and century city as well as the South Bay cities of Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo and Hermosa Beach. Santa Monica is not included in the 1985-86 project, which aims to initiate 30 new day care homes wi thin the year, because no funds were forthcoming from private or public entities in the Santa Monica area when the program began. The Initiative program offers classes in quality care and the business aspects of running a day care program through Santa Monica College for newly-recruited day care providers. The Child Care Initiative is a private/public partnership which is also funded by other large companies such as Chevron, Mervyns and American Express and by public entities such as Contra Costa County, Los Angeles County, the city of Sacramento, the State of California, and the County and City of San Francisco. In order to be included in the 1986-87 phase of the pilot project, santa Monica would be expected to provide some funding to the program (see attached letter from BankAmerica). This would allow Santa Monica residents to benefit from the training, recruitment and technical assistance in seeking licensing provided by the Initiative program. Day care homes are seen as a particularly appropriate setting for the care of very young children. In addition the day care home - 5 - . . provides income for women who wish to earn money while remaining at home with their own children during the day. "Latchkey children" who have no care after school can also benefit from day care homes based in their neighborhoods to which they can go for custodial care before their parents return home from work. The California Child Care Initiative has received national recognition for its unique approach to expanding child care services. In its first year, 1985-86, it is expected that the Initiative will facilitate the establishment of 200 day care homes in the state. Zoning ordinance The Child Care Initiative program will establish primarily small day care homes, for up to six children, but will also facilitate the establishment of large day care homes, for up to 12 children, in residential neighborhoods. zoning for large day care homes has recently been discussed by the Planning Commission. Concern has been expressed regarding the presence of these homes in R-l neighborhoods, and the city has been requested to prohibit them once the state legislation mandating their inclusion in R-l areas runs out in 1989. Other cities have made efforts to support the establ ishment of large day care homes. The City of Irvine encourages such homes in residential neighborhoods and waives business license fees for non-profit day care homes. In Oakland, Hayward and Alameda a review of planning and zoning restrictions on child care led to the abolition of all zoning restrictions for family day care - 6 - . . homes. other cities are reviewing requirements and fees for special use permits for child care to determine their necessity. After School Care for School Age Children In recent years a number of city governments in California have become involved in the provision of after school child care for school age children. El Cerrito has offered after school and summer camp child care since 1976 and now has 3 centers which operate on a cost-covering basis. The city of Los Angeles has recently been funded by state Latchkey funds to develop afterschool child care programs at city parks. The city of Irvine funds modular units located on school playgrounds which are then leased to non-profit child care providers to run afterschool child care programs. Sacramento offers 9 before and after school programs on school sites which are self-supporting and run under contracts with non-profit providers. In January, 1986 the Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District received a grant of $100,000 to develop a program for 120 "latchkey Children" whose parents are not home between 3 and 5pm. The funds were available as a result of legislation sponsored by Senator Roberti. The program requires that 50% of the enrollees be full fee paying participants and 50% be subsidized. This program, which began July l, will serve only children from Kindergarten through 6th grade and will be located at McKinley, Edison and Grant Schools. - 7 - . . The Latchkey Program also identifies after school care for junior high age as eligible for funding. No such applications were submitted from Santa Monica in the first funding cycle. ~apital Outlay Funds for School-age Child Care The Roberti School Age Community Child Care Services Program also will make one-time capital outlay funds available for the renovation of existing facilities or purchase of portable buildings to be located on public land and leased to after school child care programs for $1 a year. These buildings are currently being designed by the State of California and are valued at approximately $60,000 including plumbing. The city could pursue a grant for the purchase of such a building for location in an appropriate city park. Staff has identified Stewart, Ozone, Virginia and Joslyn Parks as ones where such a portable unit would not interfere with current park and building usage. If the outlay funds were received, the City would conduct a competitive proposal process to contract with a quality afterschool child care provider. Based on the responses to the Clover Park Fire station Request for Proposal, staff feels that there would be quality providers interested in the use of such a facility. Alternatively, the City's Recreation and Parks Department could also explore running such a program itself. The use of portable buildings for child care programming in City parks would assure that the existing recreation facilities which are heavily used by the public would not be affected. - 8 - . . Child Care Development Ordinances San Francisco and Concord have recently adopted development ordinances to ease the impact of new development on demand for child care services. In San Francisco, developers of commercial projects proposing a net addition of at least 50,000 square feet of office space will be required either to pay a fee of one dollar per square foot of space to the city I s Affordable Child Care Fund or to provide a child care center meeting specifications described in the ordinance. The center would then be leased rent-free to a non-profit child care provider. This is an arrangement similar to the one which Santa Monica has with the Colorado Place development. Concord's ordinance requires developers of industrial, commercial, and office projects costing over $40,000 either to pay a child care impact fee equal to 0.5 percent of development costs or to provide a child care center meeting the needs of parents employed in the finished development. Impact fees will be used to support affordable child care in Concord. Developer Mitigation Fees in Santa Monica Santa Monica recently adopted an ordinance requiring mitigation fees from large developments related to the impact of these developments on the local community. The ordinance designated the use of these fees for "the aquisition and development of new parks or for significant capital improvements which increase the recreational opportunities of existing parks," as well as for affordable housing. Mitigation fees are a potential source of - 9 - . . funds for the purchase and installation of portable child care units In Santa Monica city parks. The expenditure of the mitigation fees designated for open space and recreation facilities will be determined by guidelines yet to be presented to and approved by Council but could include the installation of facilities in local parks for child care programs. Child Care for City Employees A number of cities and public entities have begun to address the child care needs of their own employees as discussed below. Burbank took the lead in the L.A. area in providing child care for employees by joining a child care consortium with the local school district and large local employers. The consortium provided the start-up funds to establish a child care center at a vacant elementary school. Glendale is now working to replicate that model in cooperation with two local hospitals and the local school district. San Diego is currently seeking bids for a child care operator to run a center for city employees. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power recently conducted a needs assessment of their over 10,000 employees regarding major child care concerns of employees. The Department is now engaged in a feasibility study to determine what can be done to meet those needs. The Iowa Department of Transportation provides an on-site child care center for employees; the state of New York provides 25 on-site subsidized child care centers for state employees: and - 10 - . . the states of New Jersey and Arizona are currently running pilot, on-site, subsidized day care centers for their employees. In March of this year the City Manager hired a child care consulting firm to conduct a child care needs assessment of city employees and to report on options which the City could pursue to meet those needs as well as the costs involved with each option. The analysis will include the calculation of the costs to the city in absenteeism resulting from the unmet needs of employees for reliable child care arrangements. The consultant report will be presented to Council in July, 1986. BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Currently there is $5,000 available in the nondepartmental contingency account #01-700-274-000-785 for participation in the California Childcare Initiative. The $5,000 allocation will be handled as an extension of the contract which the City has for child care-related services through connections for Children and will be matched by private money through the Initiative. The funding will facilitate the establishment of 6-8 day care homes in the Santa Monica area which will serve 6 children each, thus providing additional child care opportunities for 36-48 individual children. The other recommendations made in this staff report have no specific budget impact in the immediate future. The receipt of various grants from the state may require some match in funds or in-kind contributions. However, Council will have the - 11 - . . opportunity to approve each individual grant request before it is submitted. The use of mitigation fees for purchase of buildings for use as child care centers would require no general fund contribution. Day camp and school holiday day care programs are designed as cost-covering programs which may require additional staff hours. RECOMl-IENDATIONS It is recommended that Council: 1. Authorize the expenditure of $5,000 from account #01-700-274-000-785 for participation in the Child Care Initiative program organi zed by the BankAmerica Foundation for the recruitment, training and support of day care home operators in Santa Monica as an extension of the City I S contract with Connections for Children. 2. Authorize staff to pursue state grants for the provision of after school child care for junior high school age students on school property and/or for the purchase of a portable unit to be located at Ozone, Stewart, Virginia or Joslyn Parks for rent to a non-profit child care provider for $1 a year for afterschool or full day programs. 3. Direct staff to explore the use of developer mitigation fees to expand child care facilities in city parks. 4. Direct staff to study the feasibility of developing day camp recreation programs for spring and winter breaks and other school - 12 - . . holidays on a trial basis to attempt to provide cost-covering child care programs to serve working parents during those periods. Prepared by: Vivian Rothstein Assistant to the Director Recreation and Parks Attachment - 13 - . . BankAmerica Foundation Hay 7, 1986 The Honorable Christine Reed Nayor of Santa l10nica Santa Monica City Hall 1685 r.1a i n Street Santa nom ca, CA 90401 Dear tlayor Reed: It has been brought to our attention that the City of Santa r~nica is researching ways to support'progra~s that wlll expand the supply of Chlld care in Santa Monica. We understand that this issue will be addressed in an upcc~ing staff report. BankftF:erlCa Foundation has deslgned a progra~, the California Child Care Inltlative, wnlch is see~lng to address this irbalance beb:een the supply and desand for licensed quality Chlld care. The !ni~iative operates through cocwunlty-based child care resource and referral asencies. These agencies are belng funded to expand the supply of Chl1d care serVlces by uSlng speclally developed tools to recfult and train new Chlld care provlders and offer then technlcal asslstance to get licensed and lnto operation. (A detalled prograw descflptlon and materials are enclosed.) Connections for Chlldren in Santa Monica was selected as one of six agencies around the state to pilot thlS prograo. (Other agencIes are conductlng pilot prOjects In Kern, San Franclsco, Contra Costa, and Sacramento count~es.) The project goal for the Santa Monica pllot is to recruit and train at least 40 new fa~ily day care provlders and supply techn,cal assistance to hel~ them thraush the licenslr.g process. This translates lnto mere than 200 neH SDaces for children. At the prese~t time, the Inltla~lve-wide pllot soal of 200 new provlders and lCOO new spaces for chlldren has reached ~ore than the half-way nark. 8an~ c' ;.re"c.l Ccr'cr Bcx 3T:~O S.l1 F'Jrc-scc C.l,.rcrrIJ 9.113 7 r~' 5.1953 3175 ! ~ '" . . The Honorable Christine Reed Mayor or Santa Mon1ca May 7. 1986 Page 2 The Initiat1ve is the largest public-private partnership for Ch1ld care in the nation. Currently there are thirteen pr1vate sector and SlX public sector funders. Each of the public sector funders throu~h their partnership in the Initiative has shown support for the supply-building pilot in their co~nunlty. We are now working on plans to expand the Initiative to e1ght more agencies bring1ng t~e total to fourteen. Private funders have indlcated an interest 1n cont1nued fundlng. and the Depart~ent of Health and Human Serv1ces has awarded the Initiative $150,000 for th1S next year of expa~sion recognizing the Initiatlve's potential for nat1ona1 replicatlon. I waul d 1 ike to reques~ that the City of Santa r.lonica becor.:e a partner in t~e Ca11fornla Child Care Initlat1ve through a grant of $5.000 for the second year eX~JnS10n project of Connections for Chil dren. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (415) 622-229~. Si ncere 1y . ~~~ Geraldine Caldarola Prograr.1 Office" GC/rah Enc1 osu res "- be: V _ BrC:1stclIl J. Davl.c.