HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/18/2020 Item Public Comment, Roudebush
Kris Roudebush <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Public Comment on 8/18/20
Attachments:image001.jpg; August 2020 WATC Public Comment.docx
Dear City Council,
Thank you for the opportunity to deliver a public comment last night. Attached is a copy of my comment.
Again thank you very much for all that the City of SLO is doing to support child care and early education.
Sincerely,
Kris Roudebush
--
Kris Roudebush, Special Projects Administrator
First 5 San Luis Obispo County
3220 S. Higuera Street #232
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
805-781-4058 http://www.first5slo.org/
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August 2020 We Are the Care Public Comment
Greetings from the We Are the Care Initiative, my name is Kris Roudebush.
Now more than ever, we are reminded that access to quality and affordable care is vital for our community to
function and support our economy. We can clearly see that child care professionals are now, and always have been, an
essential part of our workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken over most aspects of our lives, and it has widened
gaps that already existed in access to quality child care and early education for children. Awareness of racial and socio-
economic inequity and privilege has also been brought to the forefront of our society, and these issues also impact child
care. We need to work to address access to quality care for ALL children and especially families who are disadvantaged
from the start.
When I last spoke to you, we asked you to support early childhood and child care by identifying a member of this
council to serve as a Child Care Liaison. We would like to thank Mayor Harmon, for accepting this role for San Luis
Obispo! We have identified liaisons from each city council and the board of supervisors in SLO County, and this group
will have its first convening on August 20th. We look forward to building our regional partnership, and hope that we are
able to come together to find solutions to the child care crisis.
One way we are hoping to gain perspective and understanding of the existing framework of child care in San Luis
Obispo County is the Collaborative Child Care Study, launched with support from the City of San Luis Obispo, the County
of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Coastal Unified School District, and Cal Poly. We are happy to announce that we have found
a contractor and they began work on August 1st with Phase 1 of the study. This Feasibility study will develop a suite of
recommended options for public sector organizations to pursue that contribute to expanding quality affordable child
care capacity in the County.
As our community continues to cope with the current new realities of life, many more parents and families find
themselves back at work, with many school age children not returning to school in the traditional sense this fall. The
health and safety of our children are crucial, but distance learning creates an entirely new set of obstacles. The child
care sector is already past its breaking point due to the pandemic, and we have now introduced a new group of children
who require care. Thankfully, cities, school districts, and nonprofits in our county are coming together to address this
expanded need, but they still require our support.
Thank you so much for your time, we will be back soon with more updates. If you want to learn more about the
We Are the Care Initiative or to get involved, please contact First 5 San Luis Obispo County or find more information on
our website, www.first5slo.org