Page 14 - Strengthening California’s Emergency Child Care Bridge Program

Strengthening California’s Emergency Child Care Bridge
Caregivers are Interested in Community Resources and More
Information on the Child and the Bridge Program Process
40% of caregivers interviewed are interested in receiving more information on resources including child care options after Bridge, support groups for caregivers, and free community activities for children and families A few caregivers expressed wanting more information about the child they were fostering and greater clarity on the Bridge process at the before accepting the child into their care Caregivers expressed that the time period when they initially accept the child is a stressful time with a lot of information to absorb and many very involved steps to take Multiple reminders and points of contact repeating important information would be helpful to increase communication with caregivers during this transition time
Findings: Program Implementation
Bridge Program Varied Little Across Programs
As stated previously, there were very few guidelines for implementation of the Bridge Program at a statewide level, and counties were able to design the program to meet their county’s specific needs Even with this flexibility, the counties that participated in this evaluation varied little in how they implemented the Bridge Program All counties mentioned that the Bridge process began with the social worker submitting a Bridge referral to the CCN Staf from half of the counties mentioned that the CCN made contact with caregivers within 24 hours of receiving a Bridge referral It was noted that 50% of all counties in the study used encrypted emails when submitting referrals via email, while the other counties faxed or hand delivered paper referrals
Overall, counties did not mention experiencing any challenges or concerns related to the process for submitting referrals and contacting caregivers Two-thirds of CCNs mentioned they did not have any program implementation changes due to COVID-19 and the referral process from Child Welfare to the CCN did not change during the pandemic In contrast, two-thirds of child welfare agencies mentioned experiencing challenges with Bridge referrals primarily due to COVID-19 causing closures to both schools and child care facilities In addition, counties saw a fluctuation in the number of referrals increasing and decreasing in response to the changing regulations and policies taking place statewide due to COVID-19 At least half of counties mentioned receiving fewer referrals in the early stages of the pandemic, but saw their numbers return to average once COVID-19 restrictions loosened
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The process itself, the eligibility, and all of that remains the same, but the process because of COVID. And we were no longer seeing in person appointments and such. We’ve gone more virtual in regards to the enrollment, collecting of the paperwork, electronic signatures, trainings, and coaching all had to be via zoom or over the phones.
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– Early Implementing County
14 | 2022