1993 Need Assessment Update & Fiscal Year 1994-95 Interim Priorities
[ Table of Contents ] [ Back ] [ Next ]

SAN MATEO COUNTY
FIELDS OF SERVICE CATEGORIES

• There is an unmet need of 43,914 spaces.

• Licensed day care providers serve about 28% of the need.

• The estimated number of children under 12 years old needing care is 86,423. (4C Needs Assessment, July 1991)

• There are 98,622 children under 18 mothers in the labor force in San Mateo County. Of these, 26,932 are children under five who live with both parents. (California State Census Date Center, Released April 1983)

• There are 22,867 children in San Mateo County who live with a single parent in the labor force. (Census 1990)

• The majority of request (81%) for child care were from parents who were employed or seeking employment. (4C Reported, 1993)

• There were 6,676 child care requests 1992-1993. Over 64% of the calls were for infant care compared to 61% in 1989-1990 (4C Services Date Reported, June 1993)

Estimated Number of Children Needing Care      86,423

# Family Child Care Homes:  747   # Spaces:   6,626
# Child Care Programs:         363   # Spaces:   16,983

Total Programs                      1,098 Total Spaces:          21,609

• San Mateo County childcare coasts are  among the most expensive in the state. All of those factors point to a need for expansion of childcare services including subsidized card or low income families.

• San Mateo's greatest unmet needs are: Childcare for the mildly ill children and care for disabled chidden; odd hour childcare for shift working parents; and developmentally appropriate services for older children, those who have outgrown formal childcare but who still need supervision. Also needed is childcare for Skyline college Students.
  

• Of 855 children in the foster care system, 57% of the placements of children in foster care system signaled parental alcohol and drug abuse as a factor.

• Locally as well as statewide, adoptive homes are decreasing while the need is increasing. Black children in all counties are least likely to be adopted even though proportionately Black families adopt more children than other California families. Of the foster care children in San Mateo County in 1989, these were the ethnic percentages: Black 47%; White 37% Hispanic 13%; Filipino 1%; Samoan 0.1%; and other 0.7%

• Children are being removed from their homes at an earlier age now more than ever.

• In 1989, 46% of foster care Children were minorities.

Trend  in Northern California foster care or Residential Care in State:

1986:     34,387  - 25.0% increase from previous year
1987:     41,645  -   6.0% increase from previous year
1988:     44,337  -   6.0% increase from pervious year
1989:     50,448  - 13.8% increase from pervious year

• The ethnic background of children continues to change. In the state. 50% of children are Hispanic and Asian. The immigrant child population is growing. One out of six school-age children in California is born in another country. One out of four have non-English primary Language.

• In North/Central  San Mateo and East of Bayshore Freeway near North Shoreview school, are low income, high numbers of minority children with few service providers. Children in North/Central San Mateo are bussed out of the neighborhood to their school, making after school programming especially difficult. In the city of San Mateo alone, single parent households made up 30% of the total number and that number will continue to grow. The Mid-Peninsula Boys and Girls Club serves 600 youth dally. 70% of these members are latchkey youth. The number of children will continue to grow and more service will be needed although the current budget can't support expansion.

• State: children in poverty doubled between 1969 and 1987.

• 52% of California Children in poverty  live in 2 parent families where at least one parent works.

• Children from single parent homes are six times more at risk for involvement with the criminal justice system than children from two parent homes. The situation is compounded if they're also from low income homes. So services for youth of single parents are vital. The link of at risk youth with elders is a timely national trends since both are growing segments of the population.

• The companionship services for youth have waiting list (90 children, 80% boys, 20% girls on one). Of the 350 families in one companionship program, six of the adults are men. Because of funding shortages the agency hasn't been able to actively recruit, bur recruitment is especially necessary with minorities.

• The Community Information Program lists seven companionship services in San Mateo: four for senior citizens, two for youth, and one for homebound and institutionalized persons.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• The population of people 60 years and older in this decade will increase 34% and in the next decade 11%, while the total county population is expected to remain stable.

• In the county there are four social daycare programs, two in North County (In South San Francisco and Pacifica), and two in South County (In Menlo Park and San Carlos). Several of these have waiting lists. Mid-county needs service because it is  served only peripherally by the existing programs.

• All the programs need a strong multi-cultural, multilingual component to serve the Hispanic and Filipino population in North County, the large Asian population in Central County and the large Hispanic and Black populations in South County.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• The most serious issue is isolation, for individuals not having a social group and parents being pulled in many directions by young children, career, elderly parents and home. Some of the difficulties caused by this can develop into depression, stress and economic problems.

• Single parents with preschool and school-age children are in great need of basic services such as a group peer counseling, support groups, parenting education, socialization, and leadership development. These programs are of interest to many different population groups , including Black and Hispanic. These programs need to include a child care. Many single parents have few other opportunities for support and guidance toward better parenting.

• Nationally one in five people are functionally illiterate. The actual number of illiterate whites is twice that of illiterate Blacks and Hispanics. However, the percentage of Blacks and Hispanics who are illiterate is much higher than the percentage of Whites who are illiterate. Hispanics have the highest level of English illiteracy.

• Whites illiteracy is not a new phenomenon in this county, the number of those who cannot read at all has either decreased or not changed. It is functional illiteracy that has increased. Function is imposed by economic and social factors. Functional illiteracy in our society demands twelfth grade reading, writing and calculating skills.

• Functional illiteracy has two facets; limited basic skills and limited proficiency in English. According to the California State Department of Education, fewer than 10% of the state's 1.7 million illiterates are enrolled in literacy programs. Funded English language training for new immigrants is limited to 40 hours of basic English training. 80 % of all literacy programs in the Bay Area are geared toward immigrants. On a national level, up to 86% of non-English speakers who are illiterate in English are also illiterate in their native languages.

• The illiteracy rate is highest among the disadvantaged.

• 75% of the work force projected for the year 2,000 are in the work force now. Twenty to thirty million cannot read, write, calculate, solve problems or communicate well enough to function effectively on the job. There is no way in which the US can remain competitive in a global economy, maintain it's standard of living, and shoulder the burden of the retirement of the baby boom generation unless these adults get assistance to upgrade their basic skills.

[ Table of Contents ] [ Back ] [ Next ]