Jackie's End of Year Message 2025

Greetings to Friends and Colleagues:

When I came home three years ago after a decade and one-half in Congress, I thought I knew San Mateo County. But what I found stunned me. We are the fourth richest county in the nation, and yet 10% of our children under five live below the poverty line. That’s 27,000 children in poverty — here, in one of America’s most prosperous regions.

Our food banks are serving record numbers — Second Harvest is feeding more than 100,000 residents every month. And with the temporary elimination of SNAP, more families are falling off the cliff.

We called our first report “Hidden in Plain Sight” — because that’s the status of these families. Invisible in the shadows of our success.

For three years, I’ve held listening tours loop across the county, meeting women who are often the only parent and the backbone of their families — and hearing stories that break my heart and fuel my determination.

And so, I made a decision: I will devote the rest of my life to eliminating child poverty in San Mateo County.

We decided to focus on three critical issues:

Baby Brain development

Childcare

Building Partnerships to expand our reach

The Evidence Is Clear:

When the National Child Tax Credit was in place, it cut child poverty in half. Think about that — in half.

Then I learned of an NIH demonstration project studying how poverty affects the developing brain. Families who received just $300 a month showed measurable differences in their babies’ brain activity and development within the first year compared to families who didn’t. Although significant differences didn’t show two years later, the study is continuing to evaluate children in school performance over the next several years.

Parents spent the money on books, toys, learning materials, and most importantly they spent more time with their children. The science is clear. Poverty isn’t just about money. It’s about potential and we are robbing children of theirs.

Our Moonshot: The Baby Bonus Program

So our first initiative is what I call a Moonshot Challenge:  the Baby Bonus Program for San Mateo County.

We’re partnering across agencies to build on the NIH model — combining a monthly $300 gift with wraparound support services tailored to each family’s needs.

Here’s how it works:

• Launched April 2025

• 600 randomly selected families, greeted at the hospital, enrolled for three years

• Families will receive both cash support and services

• Stanford University is conducting a robust evaluation, which also includes a control group

• We’ve built a core design team and advisory committees to monitor progress and ensure accountability

This is not charity. It’s an investment.
And if we get it right, it will be a model for California and the nation.

The Human Cost of Doing Nothing:

We know what happens when we look away:Impaired brain development. Academic decline. Juvenile incarceration. Domestic violence. Generational trauma. These are the downstream costs of child poverty and they are far greater than the cost of prevention.

As I like to say,

“You either invest in children early or you pay for the consequences forever.”

Next Frontier: Free Child Care for All

Our next challenge is one every working parent knows too well.

Child care costs more than college tuition and often more than a mortgage.

Families search for months to find an opening. Providers are closing their doors under financial strain. Waitlists stretch endlessly.

In the richest nation on earth, the United States ranks next to last among developed countries in childcare spending. The Wall Street Journal reports that child care in San Mateo County is the fifth most expensive cost in the country. Here in San Mateo County, middle-class families, including nurses, police officers, teachers are being priced out or forced to leave the workforce altogether. We can’t build a strong economy on a weak foundation.

Child care is economic infrastructure. If we want families to thrive, we must make it universal, affordable, and high-quality. That’s why we've prepared a report and I've formed a coalition of leaders, experts, and families to design both short- and long-term childcare solutions.

A big thank-you to County Executive Mike Callagy, who’s leading the creation of a Childcare Portal to connect families with openings near their homes and help providers manage their businesses more efficient.

And finally, the Foundation has formed an Advisory Board to develop our strategic plan and oversee our grant initiatives. Student volunteers created and developed a Diaper Drive to collect and distribute diapers to families throughout the County.

None of this happens without people like you: friends, supporters, believers. Because progress doesn’t come from one person with a plan. It comes from a community that refuses to look away.

Together, let’s make San Mateo County a place where every child in every zip code has a fair shot at a full life.

Thank you and best wishes for the holidays.

Jackie