On March 19, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom announced the statewide order to shelter at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting 40 million people and restricting non-essential travel and activities outside the home. What some thought would maybe only last a few weeks has now become a major historical event that has affected the entire globe. We are right around the corner from this one year anniversary of California’s shelter at home order and have already surpassed the one year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in the USA and California.
We have all been affected by COVID-19, but the pandemic has shone a bright light on racial inequities that cannot be ignored. Across the nation, Latino and Black communities are disproportionately affected by the virus. Latinos are being hospitalized at a rate three times higher than Whites and are twice as likely to die from the virus.
In California, Latinos account for nearly half of the total COVID-19 deaths and represent 58% of total cases even though they represent only 38% of the state population. In Los Angeles, the chances of infection and death from COVID-19 also remain disproportionately higher for those living in impoverished areas in the county. Those living in the poorest areas of Los Angeles County had a 65% higher rate of contracting the virus than those in wealthier areas.
In addition to health concerns, the pandemic has affected families in areas of income, food insecurity, and extreme learning loss due to distance learning. Over 1,100 low-income Latino and Black LAUSD families were surveyed and more than three-quarters reported a loss in income and more than seven in 10 said they had experienced food insecurity since the coronavirus pandemic hit a year ago. Additionally, while 88% of respondents had access to a computer, nearly 1 in 5 lived in households where devices had to be shared, and a quarter of families had no internet access or only mobile access.
The impact of this past year has been vast and devastating. As we continue on in 2021 with hope for improved circumstances, we turn to the Governor’s recent budget proposal for indicators of how California is going to strive for an equitable recovery from the pandemic. One thing is certain: if we don’t see change for the Latino population we risk the future of our entire state.
How is the CA budget addressing COVID-19 response?
- $300 million for vaccine distribution that includes a public awareness campaign
Although the distribution of vaccines provides some hope for the hardest hit communities, there is disparate impact on vaccinating the most vulnerable. According to the COVID Racial Data Tracker, a partnership between the COVID Tracking Project and the Center for Antiracist Research, only a third of states share race and ethnicity information for vaccine recipients naming CA as one of the states that does not report race and ethnicity data or disaggregated demographic data of vaccine recipients. Meanwhile young White people are standing in line for vaccines in predominantly communities of color regardless of the fact that Latinos are dying at a rate of 21% higher than statewide and 62% of the COVID cases across the state are Latinos even though they make up 48% of the state population.
ABC’s Response: Our call is for bold, equity-centered and innovative strategies for vaccine distribution that is community-centered and compliments a culturally-relevant public awareness campaign. We urge for the administration to supplement the proposed investment with the anticipated $350 million federal funds.
How is the CA budget supporting K-12 education?
- $4.6 billion one time investment to address learning loss
- $2 billion one time investment for re-opening of schools and safe in-person instruction
Even before the pandemic, Latino students were underserved in Los Angeles. The pandemic and the learning loss that has come with has made this situation worse. Addressing learning loss will take more than just additional instructional minutes or additional work for students to complete. It will also take the additional preparation for teachers and school staff to understand how to best serve students while meeting social emotional needs.
ABC’s Response: We call for funding investments to prioritize Latino students to ensure that we are not only addressing the learning loss due to the pandemic but thinking of ways to accelerate and supplement their learning to thrive academically and achieve equity. Strategies developed must move beyond traditional credit recovery options and must be evidenced based. ABC urges the anticipated $6 billion federal COVID-19 relief funds should be used to supplement the proposed $4.6 billion proposal. ABC also calls for the specific inclusion of the Latino community, parents, and families priorities in school reopening plans.
How is the CA budget supporting higher education?
- $100 million one time investment for emergency grants for full-time, low-income community college students that can demonstrate an emergency financial need
Data from the California Community College demonstrates that during the Fall 2020 semester, 66.2% of Latino students enrolled in community college were enrolled in less than 12 units while they compromise 46.9% of the total student population.
ABC’s Response: This allocation is a good first-step in supporting students through the pandemic and ABC calls for the inclusion of part-time students as they often have outstanding circumstances that led to their part-time status. Excluding part-time students will contribute to the exodus of low-income students and Latino students from the higher education pipeline. ABC also calls for the reconsideration of requiring students to demonstrate an emergency financial need. Latino students are experiencing a digital divide, the financial impact of pandemic, and it creates an unnecessary burden to require them proof of the need in order to receive additional support.
How is the CA budget addressing Earned Income Tax Credit and supporting undocumented immigrants?
- $2.4 billion to refund $600 to individuals who received California Earned Income Tax and will include taxpayers with individual tax identification numbers
Undocumented individuals and mixed status families have been deliberalty excluded from federal relief dollars previously provided. The California Budget and Policy Center reports that undocumented and mixed status families did not receive nearly $7,000 of federal EITC dollars and do not have access to unemployment benefits.
ABC’s Response: This allocation is a good first step in supporting families that are experiencing harsh economic conditions and we call for additional relief dollars for undocumented individuals to fill the gap that the federal government has left.
How is the CA budget supporting child care?
- $55 million one time funds to support child care providers’ and their families
- $44.3 million in Proposition 64 Cannabis tax revenues to expand access to childcare to 4,500 children
Before the pandemic, child care was in short supply and expensive, particularly for Latino, Black and Indigenous families. A report from 2018 finds that Latino families across the nation disproportionately reside in child care deserts, with nearly 60 percent of their population living in areas with an undersupply of licensed child care. Child care disruptions hurt parents of color the most due to decades of occupational and residential segregation; they have less access to telework and the flexibility it affords families with young children.
Census data from 2018 shows that 43% of Latino and Black workers have jobs that cannot be done remotely; only one in four white workers have such jobs. This means as COVID-19 has shut down many schools and daycares, many Latino parents have been forced to choose between earning income for essential expenses and providing children with the close supervision and enrichment they need. Without child care options, many parents are unable to return to work, have reduced incomes and lose early education opportunities that are crucial for a child’s development.
Furthermore, women of color make up 40% of the child care industry according to the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. Funding and improving child care not only helps parents in need but also offers employment opportunities for Latinos.
ABC’s Response: A continued lack of child care options will setback Latino families from recovering financially from the COVID-19 pandemic. Child care helps build prosperous communities and promotes racial, economic and gender equity as well as child well being. It must be a part of California’s economic recovery plan.
What health initiatives are included in the proposed CA budget?
- No funding allocation for the expansion of Medi-Cal for seniors regardless of immigration
- $13 million in several proposals tied to the goal of improving health equity
- $94.8 million ongoing to expand and make permanent certain telehealth flexibilities authorized during COVID-19 for Medi-Cal providers, and to add remote patient monitoring as a new covered benefit, effective July 1, 2021
- New Office of Health Care Affordability
- $1.7 million to conduct an analysis of the intersection of COVID-19, health disparities, and health equity to help inform future response
The Governor’s proposed budget includes several initiatives to address health disparities for communities of color that have been highlighted and exacerbated by COVID-19. These include investing in health plan equity and quality standards, improving equity through managed care plan re-procurement, telehealth flexibilities in Medi-Cal, a new Office of Health Care Affordability, and investments in CalAIM.
These initiatives include focusing on health plan contractual language to address health disparities and cultural and linguistic competency. Flexibilities in telehealth will make preventative services through Medi-Cal more accessible, especially for vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities. The new Office of Health Care Affordability will investigate the drivers of healthcare costs and track equity metrics on the entire system, and hold them accountable and impose consequences. Investments in CalAIM will focus on payment reforms, incentive payments, investing in preventions, and whole person care.
ABC’s Response: While there are several proposals to increase health equity, the proposed budget continues to delay Medi-Cal expansions to undocumented seniors who are uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19. We applaud strides for health but also urge more substantial, long-term investments in the health and economic well-being of Californians including low-income and communities of color, hardest hit by COVID-19.