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CALL TO ACTION ON CHILD CARE FOR LOW-INCOME STUDENTS DURING DISTANCE LEARNING TO:

Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz Arlington County Board Members Arlington County School Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán Arlington County School Board Members Arron Gregory, APS Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Samia Byrd, Arlington County Chief Race and Equity Officer

October 30, 2020 Honored Leaders: The Safety Net Arlington nonprofit leaders, together with community members from the Community Progress Network, the Arlington Child Care Initiative, and the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth, and Families, are committed to public/private collaboration to reduce educational, social, health, and economic disparities among families in Arlington. We write regarding the continuing child care crisis for low-income school-aged children whose parents cannot work from home while their children participate in distance learning. We ask the County and APS to convene and lead a public/private task force to implement immediate action on funding, facilities, licensing, zoning, and staffing items to address this pressing equity issue. We are reaching out in the spirit of partnership and with deep appreciation for the incredible effort both the County and Schools have made in response to the pandemic. We, however, remain deeply concerned about the lack of a coordinated County/APS response for care for low-income school-aged children in distance learning. We are eight months into the pandemic, and, while we understand that the return to school plans are evolving, we are clear there remains a dire and growing need for child care for this vulnerable population. (As an indication of demand, Fairfax County filled 1500 child care slots for their low-income students in just one week.) Until all low-income students are in school full time, these young people and their parents are disproportionately burdened with the lack of options for supervised care. We ask that the County and APS form and lead this time-limited and action-oriented task force to include representatives from APS, Arlington County Department of Human Services, Parks and Recreation, and other departments as appropriate, along with nonprofits providing services to the families described in this letter. We recognize that the resource-sharing dynamics of each county are different, but it is significant to note that at least five other local jurisdictions have managed to combine school, county and nonprofit space, funds and staffing to offer scaled-up child care for low-income students. They have found a way to work with the uncertainty around reopening. If they can do it, surely Arlington can. Given licensing and safety concerns, it is not efficient to respond in an ad hoc basis one pod or one group at a time in non-County/School spaces. We need significant APS and County systems’ involvement and resources. It is clear that Arlington cannot serve everyone in need, but it is critical to start incrementally in a few locations and scale up as options become available. We as community organizations can help identify which low-income students to prioritize for limited spaces. We strongly advocate for more expansive thinking regarding licensing and space in other buildings that could be put to use for school-aged child care. The State has enacted emergency licensing. We ask that the County also extend licensing and fee waivers that retain child safety, follow State

actions, and widen access for service in additional facilities and more providers to support needs. We ask that you maintain these until schools return to 100% capacity for elementary-aged children. We appreciate the many hurdles the County and Schools face in this role, given that neither technically “own” school-aged care. We believe, working together with County and Schools decisionmakers in the lead, we can all own it and bring momentum and more flexible thinking. For example, we have heard the County is challenged by the fact that most of its community facilities are multiuse and involve seniors, students, hypothermia shelter, food distributions and COVID-19 tests. Can some of the adult uses be moved to vacant commercial space so additional community centers could be used for students? Further, we can bring local philanthropic and corporate dollars to complement CARES dollars, local funds, and Title I funds. Ultimately, providing supervision for low-income school-aged children during distance learning (whether full time or in a hybrid model) is both an educational and workforce equity issue. Most low-income parents do not have the option to work from home. This forces them either to forego work and needed income, or to leave their children at home unsupervised. Older children are left tending to the needs of younger siblings, preventing them from being able to focus on their own schoolwork, exacerbating the academic achievement gap across multiple age groups. We must commit to address this need. We look forward to joining forces with Arlington County and School leadership to continue supporting our community through this difficult period. Sincerely,

Safety Net Arlington Nonprofits

Andrew Schneider, Executive Director Arlington Thrive

Kari Galloway, Executive Director Friends of Guest House

Andrea Eck, Executive Vice President Northern VA Family Service

Maureen Devine-Ahl, Interim CEO Doorways for Women and Families

Charles Meng, Executive Director and CEO Arlington Food Assistance Center

Nancy White, President Arlington Free Clinic

Courtney Reeve, Executive Director Aspire!

Nina Janopaul, President and CEO Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing

Deborah Taylor, President/CEO National Capital Treatment & Recovery

Samuel L. Kelly, Jr., CEO Bridges to Independence

Elizabeth Jones Valderrama, Executive Director OAR of Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church

Stephanie Barnes, Operations Director Just Neighbors

Anne Vor der Bruegge, Initiatives Director Arlington Community Foundation Jorge Figueredo, Executive Director Edu-Futuro

Susan Davidson, Director of Resident Services AHC Inc.

Additional Community Members of Partnership for Children, Youth & Families, Community Progress Network and Arlington Child Care Initiative Alicia Guajardo

Kateri Gajadhar

Alison Evans Cuellar

Kathy Panfil

Ann Marie Douglass

Kim DeBlauw

Anne O’Brien

Linda Henderson

Caroline Jones

Lizzette Arias

Cheryl Ramp

Megan Mack

Devanshi Patel

Michael Brown

Emily Vincent

Michelle McCready

Emma Violand-Sanchez

Michelle Winters

Jennifer Endo

Patrick Brennan

Judy Hadden

Paty Funegra Rev. Ashley Goff

FOLLOW-UP TO CALL TO ACTION ON CHILD CARE FOR LOW-INCOME STUDENTS DURING DISTANCE LEARNING TO: Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz Arlington County Board Members Arlington County School Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán Arlington County School Board Members Arron Gregory, APS Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Samia Byrd, Arlington County Chief Race and Equity Officer December 18, 2020 On October 30, 2020, Safety Net Arlington was joined by three other coalitions (represented by more than 3 dozen local community leaders)1 in a call to action to Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools (APS). In it, we outlined the following recommended actions in response to the continuing school-age childcare crisis. This crisis overwhelmingly impacts Black and Brown families and those from low-income households:    

Arlington County and APS jointly form a short-term public/private task force to address the urgent need for supervised care for low-income elementary students until they are in school full time. Extend APS and County systems involvement and resources to provide scalable opportunities for in-person supervised care. Nonprofit partners can help identify which students to prioritize for enrollment. Learn from the experiences of our neighboring jurisdictions, all of whom have managed to address this issue. Demonstrate more flexible, while safe, thinking regarding childcare licensing and facilities, including adopting a similar licensing exemption as the Commonwealth has done, and extending fee waivers.

Concurrent with the above actions, we ask APS to immediately work with our community organizations to identify and admit low income students whose parents cannot work from home into the 150 slots set aside originally for McKinney Vento students and APS staff, but as yet unfilled. Work with us to reduce some of the barriers that exist in filling these slots. To date, we have not received a formal response to our urgent call to action. School buildings have been closed for more than ten months and will not be fully open for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, we continue as a collective to support families making impossible decisions-- feeding their family and maintaining housing vs. keeping their kids safe and academically on course. We therefore ask for the action-oriented task force to be formed before December 31, 2020 and to include representatives from APS, Arlington County Department of Human Services, Parks and Recreation, and other departments as appropriate, along with nonprofits providing services to the families described in this letter. Providing supervision for low-income school-aged children during distance learning (whether full time or in a hybrid model) is both an educational and workforce equity issue. Most low-income parents do not have the option to work from home. This forces them either to forego work and critical income, or to leave their children at home unsupervised. Older children are left tending to the needs of younger siblings, preventing them from being able to focus on their own schoolwork, exacerbating the academic achievement gap across multiple age groups. We already have submitted testimonials to members De Ferranti and Karantonis from disadvantaged parents requesting a countywide solution for childcare for their children. There is ample data to inform action. The pandemic has clearly magnified our County’s established commitment to address the inequities that pose life-threatening and life-altering consequences for Arlington’s residents surviving on low incomes and who are predominantly from immigrant and Black communities. We seek APS and the County’s leadership and willingness to work with each other on this critical issue. We stand ready as a nonprofit collective to join with the resources we have to offer in addressing the need.

Call to Action Signatories Safety Net Arlington Nonprofits

AHC, Inc. Susan Davidson, Director of Resident Services

Capital Treatment & Recovery Deborah Taylor, President/CEO National

Arlington Community Foundation Anne Vor der Bruegge, Initiatives Director

Doorways for Women and Families Maureen Devine-Ahl, Interim CEO

Arlington Food Assistance Center Charles Meng, Executive Director and CEO

Edu-Futuro Jorge Figueredo, Executive Director

Arlington Free Clinic Nancy White, President

Friends of Guest House Kari Galloway, Executive Director

Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing Nina Janopaul, President and CEO

Just Neighbors Stephanie Barnes, Operations Director

Arlington Thrive Andrew Schneider, Executive Director

Northern Virginia Family Service Andrea Eck, Executive Vice President

Aspire! Courtney Reeve, Executive Director

OAR of Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church Elizabeth Jones Valderrama, Executive Director

Bridges to Independence Samuel L. Kelly, Jr., CEO Community Members of Partnership for Children, Youth & Families, Community Progress Network and Arlington Child Care Initiative Alicia Guajardo