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Legislative Budget Deal Discounts Essential Child Care Work

For Immediate Release 
June 13, 2026
Contact: Maya Polon

SACRAMENTO, CA – The more than 70,000 family child care providers in California represented by Child Care Providers United (CCPU) responded to the legislature’s joint 2026-27 budget agreement with the following statement from Max Arias, CCPU Chairperson and Chief Negotiator:

“Only one in seven California children eligible for subsidized child care is enrolled. Families across California are struggling to access care due to child care deserts created by rates so low that providers can’t keep their doors open, or a lack of flexible options for the slots that are available. Funding slots without increasing provider pay is an empty gesture. The legislature’s joint budget proposal is putting a fresh coat of paint on a house whose foundation is crumbling.

 

“Since the rollout of universal TK, California has repeatedly made the mistake of assuming early education can be a one-size-fits-all solution, leaving family child care providers and the high-needs children and working families they serve out of the solution and scrambling. And when the State’s 2026-27 budget cycle began in January, we saw a far darker version of this assumption: a deliberate choice to devalue our profession. While the Governor initially proposed equal cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) across all early educators, every successive budget proposal has systematically cut the COLA for family child care providers in half. 

 

“Why do legislators think a TK teacher caring for a four-year-old deserves a 4.31% cost of living adjustment while a family child care provider doing the exact same job deserves only a 2% adjustment? ALL educators deserve to meet their costs of living, full stop. Child care providers have, for too long, been taken for granted and left behind. We will not accept half measures, we refuse to be pitted against our fellow educators, and we will not stand by while elected officials decide that our skilled, dedicated, and essential workforce deserves a discounted COLA.

 

“Family child care providers who provide 24-hour and weekend care so nurses and janitors can work night shifts, who ensure high-needs children access support services while still delivering quality early education, and who often provide the only nutritious meals children receive to fuel their developing brains, are being offered half of what our peers receive. This budget plan will rob the next generation of leaders of the early education they need to succeed, will pull parents from the workforce – harming our economy – and will deepen the child care crisis we’ve been fighting since winning the right to bargain in 2019.

 

“The reality is simple: a 2% COLA on poverty rates is like a Band-Aid on a broken bone. Increasing slots without funding family child care is an empty promise. Legislators and the Governor should get used to seeing us at the Capitol. Until we see a COLA that matches our fellow educators’ and progress toward the true cost of care and prospective pay, we’ll be in their offices and elsewhere making noise for our profession and the young learners we serve. California cannot afford to lose its early educators, and this budget bill proves it hasn’t figured that out yet.”

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Child Care Providers United brings together more than 70,000 family child care providers across California and is a partnership of SEIU Local 99, SEIU Local 521, and UDW/AFSCME Local 3930.

Our Perspectives

Access your portal

Step 1

Go to portal site.

Go to www.MyParticipantEdge.com

STEP 2

Click “Create Account.”

step 3

Complete the following fields, using the information provided in the benefits letter you received.

  • User Type: Member
  • Email: Enter your email address and confirm your email
  • First and Last Name: Enter your first and last name
  • SSN/SIN: Enter the last 4 digits of the Retirement Identification Number you received from your benefits letter. Do not enter the last 4 digits of your Social Security number.
  • Date of Birth: Enter your actual date of birth. If this doesn’t work, then enter the temporary date of birth from your benefits letter.
  • Zip Code/Postal Code: Enter the zip code exactly as written on your benefits letter
step 4

Click “Next” and the following screen displays

Enter the password, and three Security Questions and answers, and select the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy checkbox.

step 5

Click Finish, the account is created, and you are returned to the initial screen (see following screen example)

You will also receive an access code which will be sent to the email that you entered when you created your account. Note: Each time you log in from a new computer/device, you must enter a new access code.

step 6

From the initial screen, enter the email address you used to set up your account and password, and click Login

step 7

Enter the access code you received in your email to access the Dashboard screen

If you have any questions, or would like assistance registering your portal, call our CCPU Provider Resource Center at (888) 583-CCPU (2278) or PRC@ccpuca.org.

Info Sessions Recordings:

July 9 CCPU Retirement Fund Info Session

July 18 CCPU Retirement Fund Info Session

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to common questions in the FAQ section below.

Are the benefits from the Retirement Plan taxable income to me?

The State contributions to your Retirement Plan account are not taxable to you until you receive a distribution. There may be distributions options to defer those taxes.

When can I sign up for the Retirement Fund and where can I learn more?

Eligible providers are automatically enrolled in the retirement fund. However, the administrator, Zenith American Solutions, will ask eligible providers to update necessary information. It is important to provide this information so that your records are accurate, and to avoid delays accessing your account.



If you believe you are eligible, but have not received this mail, you may contact the CCPU Provider Resource Center for assistance at (888) 583-CCPU (2278) or PRC@ccpuca.org.

Have more questions?

If you have additional questions, you can call the CCPU Provider Resource Center at 888-583-CCPU (2278) from 9am to 5pm Monday-Friday or email at PRC@ccpuca.org.

WHAT – What benefits does the Retirement Fund expect to offer providers?

Expand the Retirement Fund Benefits Table to see benefits.

 Plan Rules
Eligible participants*

You are eligible to participate in the Retirement Plan for a 2024 contribution if you are:

  • A licensed child care provider
  • Who has been paid 6 or more months of child subsidy in the 2023 calendar year (can be non-consecutive months).
Eligibility for benefit credit for contributions in 2024*You will earn your full service credits for 2023 if you were paid for ten or more months of child subsidy in 2023. If you were paid for 6 or more months of child subsidy, you will receive 60% of your service credits, 70% for 7 months, 80% for 8 months and 90% for 9 months. You will not earn any service credit if you were paid for less than 6 months.
ContributionsThe only contributions to the Retirement Plan will be paid from funding won through the CCPU collective bargaining agreement. The Plan does not accept contributions from you.
Amount of annual employer contributions for 2024 service allocable to participants in 2025*You will earn one full service credit for the State contribution on your behalf in 2025 if you were paid for ten or more months of child subsidy in 2024. If you were paid for 6 to 9 months in 2024, you will receive a pro-rated service credit. You will not earn any service credit if you were paid for less than 6 months in 2024.
VestingYou are “vested” in any contribution correctly made to your account. You do not need to work a minimum number of years before 2024 to be entitled to a benefit.
Distribution events

You can elect to receive your account when:

  • You stop all work as a licensed provider paid for state subsidized child care for 9 consecutive months at any age (“terminate from service”);
  • You stop all work as a licensed provider paid for state subsidized child care for 3 consecutive months at age 60 or older (“retirement”); or
  • You attain age 73, which is the age you are required to start receiving payments, unless you are still working.
Forms of distributions

If you are age 60 or older and stop all work as a licensed provider for 3 consecutive months and elect to retire, you can choose to receive your account balance as:

  • One lump-sum payment
  • Approximately equal monthly payments for 5 years
  • Approximately equal monthly payments for 10 years

If you are younger than age 60 and stop all work as a licensed provider for 9 consecutive months, you can only elect to receive your account as one lump-sum payment.

Death benefitsSince your account is 100% vested, you can designate a beneficiary (or multiple beneficiaries) to receive your account balance if you die before you receive it.
InvestmentsThe Board of Trustees will manage how the Retirement Plan is invested on your behalf, with the assistance of investment professionals.

*Special rules apply to providers where more than one provider is on the payment record.

who

Who is eligible for the Retirement Fund benefits?

State contributions to the Retirement Plan are tied to the child care subsidy program. To be eligible for retirement benefits in 2024, you must be a licensed provider who has have been paid for work with a subsidized child in at least 6 months in 2023-these months do not need to be consecutive. License exempt providers are not eligible; however, if you become licensed in a year, your work in that year may count for eligibility.

when

When will the benefits be available?

Contributions to the Retirement Plan are tied to the child care subsidy program. To be eligible for retirement benefits in 2024, you must be a licensed provider who has have been paid for work with a subsidized child in at least 6 months in 2023-these months do not need to be consecutive. License exempt providers are not eligible; however, if you become licensed in a year, your work in that year may count for eligibility.

how

How can I get help enrolling?

If you are eligible, the Plan will automatically enroll you based on data received by the State of California. You should immediately update your information with the Plan so it has has all of your current information and you receive credit for your years of licensed work.