As a parent, for me, one of the most continuously mind-boggling aspects of raising young children is how expensive child care is. When I learned that child care providers barely make enough to make ends meet, it kind of made my brain break. It was enough to make me want to yell, “But, WHY?”

You may feel the same way about this. Or there may be another aspect about how our society is set up for raising kids that confuses you or makes you want to lay flat on the floor. There are a lot of things you don’t know you don’t know until you have children or start working with them.

So what can you do to make things better for families with kids under 5?

This guide is for people who want to channel that yelling-into-a-pillow energy into doing something to fix things year-round, particularly by sharing your story or learning to navigate power to change policy — that’s advocacy. We’ve talked with LOTS of people who have made a difference — parents, early childhood advocates, and policymakers. Now we’re sharing back some of the basic first steps you can take if you’re interested in changing local or statewide laws.

Maria Antoinetta Jandres, left, at Stand for Children Day on May 8, 2024.

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Courtesy Parent Voices

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Does my voice even matter?

Yes.

Parents we spoke to talked about a whole range of benefits that they gained from becoming their child’s first advocate. They came away with insider knowledge about issues facing their kids, they built community, and they felt like they were part of something bigger. And, importantly, many shared how joining forces with others helped them achieve things they thought were not possible.

“You do it because it works,” said Mary Ignatius, director of Parent Voices. “Most policy change happens because somebody spoke up about it.”

Parent Maria Antoinetta Jandres still remembers one of the first times she shared her story in front of the San Francisco mayor and Board of Supervisors. “I was super nervous. I didn’t even know what to do or what to say,” she said.

Now, after working to make multiple early childhood policy changes through statewide advocacy organization Parent Voices, she feels a different level of confidence.

“The supervisors need to listen to us,” she said. “Because we are the ones paying for their salary. Now when I go there, I’m like, well, this is what you guys should be working on because you work for us. It’s not the other way around.”

Jandres stumbled upon Parent Voices during a time where she was looking for child care for her young son while experiencing homelessness. She went to the organization looking for a child care spot, but through getting involved, she came out with deep knowledge about the inner workings of the early childhood system and, essentially, a master’s degree in how change works.

She was part of a San Francisco campaign that created a tax to fund child care for middle-class (and upper-middle-class) families and set a minimum wage of $28 for early education teachers. In 2023, she was also part of a campaign that eliminated monthly payments (“family fees”) for low-income families who receive child care subsidies.

Parent Iesha Foster in Sacramento to advocate for expanding child care funding in the 2024 budget.

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Isaac Cox

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Crystal Stairs

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What do parents bring to the table?

Justin Blakely, who leads L.A. County advocacy program Community Voices, part of Crystal Stairs, remembers vividly how one legislator shared that every day he has 15 to 20 meetings, mostly with professional lobbyists or advocates.

He said that’s why when a representative hears from a community member, particularly one who lives in his district, it makes a difference. Hearing a community member’s experience illustrates the real impact of policies out in the world. They put a name and a face to an issue, moving an issue beyond just another data point.

Parent Iesha Foster, parent of nine, first connected with Head Start’s Policy Council and eventually, Community Voices, when her older children were small. A lack of child care had caused her to turn down extra hours at work, and eventually lose her job. The experience made her want to fight for child care, she said.

“Without childcare, you can't go to work,” she said. “Without work, you can't pay your rent, you can't pay your bills.”

Foster traveled with Blakely to Sacramento in 2023 with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce to advocate for child care. During a meeting with Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D), chair of the Assembly Education Committee, she told her personal story and shared how hard it is for parents to go to work without child care.

Others in the room had also shared their concerns, but Blakely said that when Foster spoke, her story captivated the full attention of everyone in the room. Muratsuchi kept referring back to her throughout the meeting.

“He just was so passionate in his voice and in his words,” Foster said. “He really listened. And you could tell that he really cared.”

Parent Voices director Ignatius said to remember that you don’t need to speak a particular language or have a degree in anything to make your opinions and experience known.

“Trust that you know what you know and that you have expertise and experiences to offer,” she said. “Being a parent qualifies you for so much.”

A voter places his ballot in a mail-in ballot drop box outside of an L.A. library ahead of Election Day in October 2020.

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Mario Tama

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Getty Images

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An official ballot envelope for the 2024 primary election in Los Angeles.

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Brianna Lee

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LAist

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Small ways to make change, beyond voting.

There are many ways to get involved. The first that comes to mind is voting, which helps make sure your representatives actually represent you and that you have a say in which ballot initiatives go into effect. (In fact, LAist has a whole guide about this.)

Patrick MacFarlane, government relations manager of Child Care Resource Center said that one thing that’s important to keep in mind is this: “Voting is a small part of civic participation. You have to be mobilized in every season, not just in election season.”

Here are just a few ways to do that, year-round:

• Get involved in your child’s school.
• Volunteer for an organization you care about.
• Donate to the cause of your choice. 
• Plaster your street with campaign signs. 
• Start a boycott. 
• Make political art. 
• Start your own organization.

The list goes on.

And of course, parents can become advocates, sharing their stories and informing the process of creating and passing laws in California. Let’s dive in.

Find your people

Start with a quick Google search of what you care about.

It’s an easy way to find out if anyone has proposed or advocated for a bill related to this issue.

“You're almost certain to find a group of people who feel really passionately about that issue,” said Sarah Diaz, policy and media coordinator with the California WIC Association. “They’ve spent a lot of energy on it already and maybe they’re reintroducing it or bringing it back again.”

From there, you can reach out to either the legislators who proposed the bill or the community groups (often listed as co-sponsors on a bill) working on the issue.

This is exactly what Diaz did. One issue she cares about as a parent is schools getting funding. She didn’t think it made sense to link school attendance to funding. In her mind, this creates an incentive for sick kids to go to school instead of staying at home to recover.

In her personal time, she reached out to her representative to ask if they were working on this issue. That’s how she found that there was a bill up for consideration about the issue last year and submitted comments and letters. The bill is currently headed for a floor vote and will likely head to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk for a signature.

Parent Maria Antoinetta Jandres speaks into a mic to give public testimony.

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Courtesy Parent Voices

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Find your representatives. And talk to them.

It may at first seem strange to talk to your elected officials, but as Jandres pointed out, they do work for YOU. As your representative, it’s literally their job to listen to you.

First, find your local representatives on Shape your L.A., a tool by the L.A. Times.

Some ways to get your representative’s attention:

1. Tag them on social media.
2. Email or write them letters. When writing, be brief and clear. If you live in their district, tell them. Here are some tips and a template from First 5 Contra Costa County. 
3. Call them. Calling is a great option because the person has to listen. They can’t skim over your words like they might be able to with something written. Here’s a draft script from Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, which also includes instructions if you’re using a text-to-speech device.
4. Visit them. If they are a state representative, find them at their Sacramento office or at their field office, close to where you live. (Tip: Summer is a great time to visit state representatives at their field offices, during the legislative recess.) You can walk into their office or call in advance to set up a meeting.
5. Find them at public meetings.
6. Contact your local media outlet. Your local representative probably reads the news. Read, watch, and listen to what journalists in your area are saying about the issues you care about. Reach out — perhaps to your friendly public media station — to share ideas you think they should cover. Here’s a cheat sheet for how to talk to a journalist.

Ignatius said that having a conversation with an elected official through social media is an easy way to start and it can be effective. Elected officials are often active through social channels, or have staffers monitoring them.

“They will flag it for their member and say, ‘Hey, you know, I just saw this thing. This sounds super compelling,’” she said.

Even better: go up and talk to them. 

Patrick MacFarlane, government relations manager of Child Care Resource Center said: “I would go up to my assembly member and say, ‘This is what I'm interested in. Where do you stand on this issue?’”

He added that it helps to share solutions when you share your story. Oftentimes, they may be familiar with the problem, but don’t know how to fix it.

Don’t be bummed if you can only meet with your representative’s staff members. Talking with staffers can often be just as productive as talking directly with your representative, many of the experts we spoke to said. After all, they are the ones who are advising the representative and helping them prioritize issues.

What changes have people already made in early childhood policy?

It can be helpful to understand what issues people have already worked on to figure out what’s possible and where you want to make an impact.

Some big things that have changed in early childhood over the past few years, including:

• Low-income families no longer have to pay out-of-pocket “family fees” for subsidized child care.
• California workers now have more sick leave (five days).
• California’s family leave program expanded so people receive a higher % of their paycheck.
• Medi-Cal now pays for doulas.
• Hospitals and maternal care facilities must undergo anti-bias training.
• California expanded transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds. 
• Child care providers unionized.

Many issues continue to affect families with young children, and people are actively working on changing them:

• High cost of child care 
• Lack of subsidized child care slots
• Child care providers — mostly women of color — not getting paid enough
• Poor birth outcomes for Black moms and babies
• Preschool segregation
• Lack of early screening for developmental delays

This list is just the beginning. Do a quick search on the issue you care about to help you find the people working on it. If no one is working on it, it’s still not impossible; it just hasn’t been done yet.

Medi-Cal now covers doulas due to the advocacy of birthworkers and parents across the state. Doula and Birthworkers of Color Collective member Andrea Howard serves Medi-Cal clients.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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California child care providers were able to unionize in 2019 after a years-long campaign of parents and child care providers sharing their stories. Waverly Stone, right, is a family child care provider in Rialto. Shanae Pharaoh, left, sends her two children to Stone's childcare.

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Elly Yu

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LAist

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Be persistent. Enjoy the ride.

Working on changing local and statewide policies takes time. It’s important to buckle up for the long haul, and to be persistent.

When things do start to change, it can be really satisfying.

Parent Iesha Foster said what keeps her motivated to continue the work is being able to share what she has learned with others. She said that she often finds herself giving advice, resources, and information to other parents and even teachers. By getting involved, she’s been able to become the resource for other parents that she wishes she had early on.

“I like to be the voice for the ones who don't know about it,” Foster said. “I can actually help someone that didn't know, so they can have a better understanding.”

This guide was informed by the Hey bb review committee: September Hill, nonprofit advocacy consultant and Ofelia Carrillo, former communications specialist at SEIU-Local 99 / Child Care Providers United.