When something is broken, we work to fix it — that’s the approach I’ve brought to the job as your County Supervisor. But something else I’ve learned over the years is the bigger the problem, the more friends you need to get the job done!

Thanks to the advocacy of so many — including people like you who read this email — we were able to gain approval this week of two actions that will put the new San Diego County Child Care Blueprint to work and start growing our region’s capacity for child care centers, staffing, and training!

While this is only one step of many we have to take, it’s a big win for parents, children, and child-care workers across the region. 

Putting this blueprint into action will help bring affordable and accessible child-care options to a marketplace where services are too scarce and too expensive. 

It also acknowledges that without child-care workers, there is no child care — something that is essential for our society and economy to properly function. Enacting this blueprint will address the severe shortage in childcare employees by investing in making the child care industry more attractive to workers. 

Thank you to my fellow parents for helping us move this forward!

Millions for Moms

If there’s been a theme of our work these past few weeks, it’s “Parents Are Superheroes… But We’re Not Invincible!” 

Lack of time, money, sleep… any of them can be kryptonite for even the most powerful superparent. The reality is every mom, dad, and guardian needs a helping hand sometimes. So I was excited to vote to accept about $1 million each year through 2028 to provide at-home public health nurse visits for pregnant women and families with young children. 

In-home public health nurse services are a valuable resource for moms and families, and this vote guarantees that support will continue to flow to many of our neighborhoods here in District Three. 

The funds come from California’s Home Visiting Program, which is designed for families at higher risk of domestic violence, substance use disorder and mental health-related issues. The support is available for mothers and families in our region’s north coastal neighborhoods and inland areas. 

Nurses help with things like depression screenings, referrals to food and diaper banks, transportation, and developmental screenings for babies. 

Helping moms access the support systems they need to be the best parent possible is one of the many valuable services we’re working to bolster at the County. Thank you to my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors for their support!

Shifting Mental Health Off Our Sidewalks

People experiencing a mental health crisis should be in the care of a trained professional, not suffering on our streets. This week I joined my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to approve a plan to expand the number of mental health Board and Care facilities available to San Diegans in need.

Some of our neighbors rely on Medi-Cal for their mental health care, but right now there are not enough beds to meet the growing mental health crisis. This vote will move us toward opening more board and care facilities and catch up with increasing demand. 

This proposal, from my colleague Supervisor Joel Anderson, will give us an accurate picture of the need.

This isn’t the first time the Board of Supervisors has done this. We’ve brought in more than $16 million to the region to help sustain existing licensed residential adult and senior care facilities that may be struggling to continue operating. We also secured a $44+ million state grant to expand board and care capacity for individuals with behavioral health conditions.

This is about helping people who cannot afford private care before they end up on our streets — by doing the work of analyzing what they need and then deploying an effective strategy to make it happen. There is still a big gap in regional board and care bed reimbursement rates and capacity, but rest assured — we aren’t stopping when there’s still work to be done!

In Service, 

Terra