Developed in partnership with
Child Care
Master Plan
OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
THE 2021
SHAPE SSF
2040 GENERAL PLAN
A PLAN FOR 2020–2030
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 2021 Child Care Master Plan for South San Francisco (CCMP SSF) tells a story. It contains a comprehensive overview of local child care, including a view of the landscape, a nod to the recent history, the evolution of the formal child care system in the city, and then offers a summary of key findings. By establishing the narrative of the present, the path forward is then informed by current conditions and projected needs.
Data elements related to the assessment of child care supply for current residents and employees, as well as an informed projection of future needs are derived from a range of sources listed in the “Resources” section of this report.
Spanning over 140 pages, the CCMP SSF includes an introductory chapter that defines purpose, priorities and elements of the plan as well as a definition of the components of quality child care and a look back in time, establishing the role child care has played.
The key goals were to explore the varying child care needs and gaps for children between birth and 12 years old, spanning the time period of 2020–2030. Alignment with the 2022 SHAPE SSF GENERAL PLAN recommendations and ensuring fidelity between the planning documents was a priority, as was highlighting the range of care settings and offerings currently available in the city.
Commitment to the value of a mixed delivery system centered around family choice was prioritized.
A centerpiece of plan is the “SSF Parent/Family Survey”, conducted in 2021. To date, 1,111 respondents described their child care needs and challenges (survey in English and Spanish) in securing care in South San Francisco. Parents and guardians of infants, toddler preschoolers and school-age children weighed in on their experiences searching for, utilizing and prioritizing child care needs. Families in South San Francisco demonstrated that they have similar needs to those in other communities. Child care needs spanned a range of models including full-time and parttime care, care for specific age groups, for children in diapers, for those with non-traditional schedules and in need of occasional care. Affordability and high quality were ranked as priority elements, which is expected. Identified gaps correlated with San Mateo County data studies, including a significant gap in schoolage child care (of almost 1000 spaces) for children attending elementary school. Parent and guardian representation in the survey from area public and private schools was noted.
Reaching the modest goal of providing after-school and summer care for 50% of the school-age population should be achievable, yet no one elementary school provided child care resources for half of their attending students. This is especially critical, as pandemic conditions begin to ease, parents and guardians of school-age children represent the population that is best able to resume employment and pre-pandemic commitments, including 5 SHAPE SSF: CHILD CARE MASTER PLAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
higher education, training and pre-employment preparation. This is due in part to vaccine availability for children over 5 years, the resumption of in-person instruction, the compulsory nature of elementary school and the relative developmental independence of older children.
Other identified gaps include addressing the need for subsidized child care for infants and toddlers, full time subsidized care for preschoolers as well as the geographic gaps of services west of El Camino Real to the Westborough neighborhood. While survey respondent representation from all neighborhoods was evident, responses from the Buri Buri/Winston Manor and Westborough areas were the highest.
An overview of what families look for in care as well as an explanation of the why child care is so expensive and yet, so under-resourced is also included. Unfortunately, as child care costs are heavily dependent on suppressing the wages of the workforce, the contradictions within the current system are also described.
San Mateo County data was utilized from a wide range of sources, including the San Mateo County Child Care Partnership Council (CCPC) report on the, Child Care and Preschool Needs Assessment, 2017 Report which is a mandated activity of child care partnership councils throughout California as a part of the local structure of assessing and responding to county specific child care conditions.
Additional sources were utilized to describe population details as well the additional economic challenges for low-moderate income families based on the high cost of living locally.
As the CCMP SSF was developed during the COVID Pandemic, the conditions of the child care community reflected a sector in crisis.
Child care utilization, business vitality and school operations were in flux, therefore, gaining an accurate assessment of child care required looking back to the 2019-2020 year and projecting forward, beyond the pandemic, and then assuming an eminent return to stability.
Additionally, the formulation of the CCMP SSF occurred during the final year of the development of the 2022 SHAPE SSF GENERAL PLAN, which was in the process of being of being revised for the first time since 1999. Frequent communications with the 2022 SHAPE SSF GENERAL PLAN development team as well as the
principal planning department staff resulted in an integrated product that reflects a commitment to child care and thoughtful, well-integrated recommendations within the 2022 SHAPE SSF GENERAL PLAN. Detailed recommendations on increasing child care availability, access and meeting the needs of the community are found within the CCMP SSF, including the priority gaps mentioned above, as well as numerous other stated needs.
As requested by city departments, key definitions of child care regulations, (including those that recently changed) and 6 SHAPE SSF: CHILD CARE MASTER PLAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Key Terms in This Report
The city of South San Francisco – located within San Mateo County, CA, and the area this report covers. Abbreviated to SSF The two surveys that factored into this report:
“SSF Parent/Family Survey” – A survey given to families and parents in the SSF area in 2021 with 1,111 respondents “SSF Child Care Provider Survey” – A survey given to child care centers and licensed homes in 2021 with 53 respondents 2022 SHAPE SSF GENERAL PLAN – The new general plan for South San Francisco launching in 2022. This report contains general child care recommendations that are have been integrated, co-developed or expanded and listed in Section 8 of this report. Abbreviated to SHAPE SSF.
San Mateo County Child Care Partnership Council, Child Care and Preschool Needs Assessment, 2017 Report – The mandated report of the Child Care Partnership Council designed to assess and summarize child care need for San Mateo County ( produced every 5 years). Abbreviated to CCPC CCPNA The 2021 Child Care Master Plan for South San Francisco – this report and its associated mapping resources available at ssf. net/departments/parks-recreation/recreation-division/childcareplan Abbreviated to CCMP SSF definitions of types of care including local regulatory agency contacts are included. An interactive GIS map of all of the licensed and exempt child care centers and licensed family child care homes located in South San Francisco was developed with accompanying heat maps that further define and elaborate on current enrollment and existing waiting lists in city-sponsored child care programs. The detailed mapping resources are already available on the 2021 Child Care Master Plan for South San Francisco website at https://www.ssf.net/departments/ parks-recreation/recreation-division/childcareplan and
can form the basis for the formulation of a comprehensive city website that consolidates child care information for families, as well as resources and support for business development.
This recommendation will help to inform both consumers and providers of services and link this community.
As part of plan development, the “SSF Child Care Provider Survey” was administered (English and Spanish) in 2021 to current center administrators and licensed family child care homes to assist in formulating recommendations. The need for operational support for all child care programs as well assistance with COVID business stabilization, renovation and repair assistance, help securing facilities and identifying expansion resources, finding financial resources to help families pay for child care and solutions to staffing shortages were key survey findings.
The most important priority recommendations center around the immediate need to address critical workforce pipeline shortages that are actually preventing program growth and expansion.
There is an urgent need to begin building opportunities for local residents to enter the early childhood, recreation, youth worker, Transitional Kindergarten and K-12 education workforce pathways with a realistic and achievable goal of at least 10% of high school graduates in South San Francisco, pursuing local pathways in education. Ensuring that “Grow Your Own” is a city priority and providing workforce support (such as apprenticeships, Middle College, dual-enrollment, partnerships with college pathway support) to those that already reside in South San Francisco is a first step. Providing internships and graduated pathways to local jobs with private providers, Parks and Recreation and SSFUSD will result in a workforce that knows the community, reflects the community and is committed to the community. Taking a holistic approach to addressing the need for increased salaries and benefits and improving the viability of the profession will help to address this workforce gap. These recommendations as well as labor market detail and the relationship between child care and economic growth and stability are also highlighted.
Key recommendations for improving the child care landscape include facilitating the updating of the current Joint-Use Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding between the
city of South San Francisco and the South San Francisco Unified School District to ensure shared facilities and joint program planning between the two providers of public agency child care services is especially critical due to the 2021–2022 State Budget which contained significant child care expansion funds including Universal Transitional Kindergarten for all 4-year-olds and unprecedented after-school program expansion funds. Accessing 7 SHAPE SSF: CHILD CARE MASTER PLAN
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available resources will take a collaborative approach. Joint planning and engaging in shared solutions are time sensitive recommendations, as the proposed 2022–2023 State Budget contains additional allocations to fund the Governor’s Master Plan for Early Learning and Care: California for All Kids, released in December 2020. Federal American Families Plan proposals also still include significant child care expansion funds, although the final outcomes of this component of the Build Back Better Plan are still in discussions.
Recommendations are included for specific city departments including Human Resources, Planning and Zoning, Economic Development, Parks and Recreation specifically with a range of recommendations attributed to the city in general.
And finally, the CCMP SSF contains a summary of key legislation and funding opportunities contained in both the federal and state budgets as well as local financing, policy and grant opportunities.
Strategies for maximizing and braiding funding, addressing both the current needs and gaps as well as future projected needs concurrently and investigating financing and incentives for encouraging employers and housing developers to meet growing gaps in services (especially east of the Downtown areas) are provided.
A vision of what success will look like in 2030 and strategies for ensuring that the CCMP SSF reflects a living document that moves the city towards a sustainable roadmap concludes the plan. A summary of all report recommendations as well as a list of resources utilized are also available to assist with informing planning efforts.
As South San Francisco transitions from a residential, industrial and business center to the regional beacon for innovation and development, the need to elevate child care and education to the level of infrastructure (as critical as transportation, open space, environmental and climate factors, housing, workforce and economic development), is critical to creating an even more healthy and vibrant community in 2030. It will be here quickly! 8 SHAPE SSF: CHILD CARE MASTER PLAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY