The L.A. County Early Care and Education Response Team recently shared a catalog of federal, state and local financial resources to help child care providers stay open and keep staff on payroll during the crisis. As small businesses, most child care programs are eligible for the relief options offered through the CARES Act.

In an industry already coping with a shortage of workers, the COVID-19 pandemic has further reinforced the need to address this workforce gap. The L.A. Compact’s Health Sector Collaborative (HSC) members continue to work together to support health care employers fill positions critical in the fight to stem the tide of the pandemic.  

The Los Angeles Workforce Systems Collaborative (LAWSC), which focuses on creating high demand, high growth and sustainable careers in the region, has met weekly since April to develop strategies to support students and workers disproportionately affected by COIVD-19. Together, they are urging federal and state leaders to increase their investment in training and employment assistance so that workers and students are better equipped to return to the workforce once the economy recovers.

On April 30, L.A City Mayor Eric Garcetti, in partnership with the L.A. Compact, launched COVID College Connect to support L.A.’s graduating high school class of 2020 in navigating their college options and addressing their enrollment concerns during these uncertain times. Over one hundred students signed up to get help within hours of the initiative’s launch. Check out this five minute video of the mayor announcing COVID College Connect here.

By Heddy Nam and Ariana Oliva

Our economic and workforce landscape has changed dramatically in a matter of days. On the one hand, employers in many industries impacted by COVID-19 had to make the difficult decision to lay off or furlough employees, while others are experiencing an unprecedented demand for labor. In the health care industry, the current situation has highlighted and exacerbated the existing workforce shortage. Amid this crisis, the Health Care Sector Collaborative is working on solutions to connect skilled health care professionals with hospitals and other health care facilities. For instance, UNITE-LA has been coordinating HSC members, the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) and the Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti to determine if health care staff employed by education systems and institutions could be redirected to assist in hospitals and other health care facilities given temporary school closures.

The L.A. County CEO’s office recently reported back to the Board of Supervisors on a collaborative effort three years in the making between the City of Los Angeles, L.A. County and LAUSD to open a college savings account with a $50 seed deposit for every first grader enrolled in LAUSD. Barring any delays due to the coronavirus, the program, dubbed Opportunity LA, is set to launch at the beginning of the 2020 academic year, starting with 10 percent of LAUSD first graders and expanding to all students over five years. Read more about the initiative, which has been championed by City Council Member David Ryu, L.A. County Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas & Hilda Solis and LAUSD Board Members Nick Melvoin and Monica Garcia.

The University of La Verne has made adjustments to their admission policies, including waiving all application fees and letters of recommendation, accepting unofficial transcripts, and maintaining their existing commitment to test-optional admission (no SAT is required). They are maintaining a list of resources and are engaged in active support for all students, including offering laptops and wifi hotspots available for check-out to those University of La Verne students who don’t have technology at home.

Congratulations, Harvey Kawasaki! Harvey retired after contributing 36 years with the County of Los Angeles—and making numerous substantial contributions to the well-being of Los Angeles students and families. His final position was with the County CEO’s office, and in that capacity he served on the L.A. Compact Stewardship group since 2018. Contributions at the County include creating an annual scholarship fund for Asian foster youth entering into post-secondary education, implementing the AB12 policy that extended foster care to age 21 for L.A. County, developing and implementing a tracking system that saw over 6,000 adoptions, and many others. We and so many others will miss Harvey and wish him all the best in his retirement!

Strengthening early childhood systems

2019 was a pivotal year for little kids in Los Angeles County. In addition to elevating the Early Development Instrument (EDI) as a tool to measure early childhood wellbeing, there were several positive developments bringing the field closer to a unified vision where public and community systems are more family-centered and child-focused.