Voice of the FieldsCalifornia

F A R M L A B O R I N F O R M A T I O N B U L L E T I N

Help your kids get a Head Start in life through the Head Start program

Programs like Head Start are dedicated to promoting the school readiness of children from birth to age five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social,

and emotional development. Research has shown that educating our children at an early age significantly increases their likelihood of graduating from high school, enrolling in college, earning more, remaining off the welfare rolls and staying out of prison than those who didn’t have the same experience.

March 2015 FREE Volume 25, Number 3

Currently, there is a heavy push to recruit children from migrant families into these programs as recent studies have found that the deficits migrant children face are more striking than those of native English-speaking children from equally poor families. This specific group of children are in most need

of exposure to English-language vocabulary, access to dental and health care, and books at home.

The Head Start programs help build relationships with families that support family well-being and many other important areas. In order to qualify, you must have an annual household income (before taxes)

that is below the following amounts:

To find a Head Start or Early Head Start program near you, call 1-866-763-6481 (toll-free) or log-on to this link to for a list of California Head Start locations: http://ca-headstart.org/pdfs/membership/HeadStartAgencyList.pdf

Household Size*

Maximum Income Level (Per Year)

1 $11,7702 $15,9303 $20,0904 $24,2505 $28,4106 $32,5707 $36,730

California’s Paid Family Leave Program

Help for paying for college: Programs you need to know—FAFSA

The application asks the future student questions regarding their (or their parents’) income, assets, and other tax information to determine their eligibility for financial assistance. Over 15 million students are able to attend college with financial aid because each year there is more than $150 billion available through federal grants, loans and work-study programs. The U.S. Department of Education uses the information you provide on your FAFSA application to determine the type of aid you are eligible to receive. Many prospective students wonder if their legal status in this country affects their chances of receiving financial aid. Although you do not need to be a U.S. citizen to qualify for aid, if

you are a non-U.S. citizen, your status must fall under one of the following categories:

n You are a U.S. permanent resident with a Form I-551, I-151, or I-551C (Permanent Resident Card, Resident Alien Card, or Alien Registration Receipt Card), also known as a green card.

n You have an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) showing:• “Refugee,”• “AsylumGranted,”• “Cuban-HaitianEntrant(StatusPending),”

• “ConditionalEntrant”(validonly if issued before April 1, 1980),

Voice of the Fields

California Circulation: 45,000 copies

www.LaCooperativa.orgPublished monthly by:

La Cooperativa Campesina de California

1107 9th Street, Suite 420, Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone 916.388.2220

Fax 916.388.2425This product was funded by the U.S. Depart-ment of Labor’s Employment and Training Ad-ministration.The opinions expressed in this product are ex-clusive of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Depart-ment of Labor. This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.

If your student is heading to college, the costs may seem overwhelming but are not impossible to handle, especially with the right counseling. The important

process for financial assistance begins with completing the FAFSA.FAFSAstandsfor“FreeApplicationforFederalStudentAid”.There’snoexcusefornotapplyingbecausethe FAFSA is free—think of the FAFSA as free money. This money is given to students in the form of grants, loans and federal work study opportunities.

• Youarea“batteredimmigrantqualifiedalien“

Obtain your FAFSA PIN number and application at www.fafsa.ed.gov . For further assistance call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at (1-800-433-3242) Monday through Friday 5 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 5 a.m.- 2 p.m., or Sunday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

College Assistance Migrant Program

The College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) is a federally-funded educational support and scholarship program that helps more than 2,000 students annually from migrant and seasonal

farmworker backgrounds to reach and succeed in college. Participants receive anywhere from $750 to $4,000 of financial support during their first year of college and continued academic support until their graduation. There are 38 colleges nationwide that provide the CAMP program as a service on their campuses. In order to qualify an applicant must be eligible to enroll or already enrolled in one of these schools. Services and deadlines vary from program to program, so be sure to do research specific to the school.

While programs may vary from school to school, the services offered by CAMP include counseling, tutoring, skills workshops, financial aid health services, and housing assistance to eligible students during their first year of college. After their first year, follow-up services are provided to participants on a more limited basis.

The CAMP program uses

information gathered from FAFSA applications to determine the need of its applicants. In order to receive the additional assistance CAMP provides, applicants must have or meet the following criteria:

n HighschooldiplomaorGED

n Migrant or seasonal farm-working background

n U.S. Citizenship or U.S. Permanent Legal Residency

n Seeking a 4 year academic degree

n Be eligible to enroll or already be enrolled in a school providing CAMP

The CAMP application and list of schools that offer CAMP can be found online at: www.migrantStudents.org/campcolleges.html. If an applicant prefers to apply in person, one can seek help at a local college by visiting the financial aid office, and speaking to an assistant. To speak to someone over the phone, applicants can call the Office of Migrant Education at (202) 260-1164. Normal hours are 8am to 5pm, Eastern Time, Monday-Friday. Assistance is available in both English and Spanish.

The H-2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. The H-2A employers must demonstrate that qualified U.S. workers are not available for the job and the employment of temporary foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed. Preference in hiring will be given to qualified U.S. workers before employers are allowed to bring in foreign workers under the program.

Agricultural Jobs available to U.S. workers under H-2A contractYou may apply for these jobs by phone or in person at your nearest Employment Development Department (EDD) field office

Active CalJobs Number

Job Title Pay Rates Contract Dates Positions City of Job Employer’s County (for ECMS)

EDD Workforce Service Site Office

1 14310876 Farmworker Lettuce

$ 11.33 HR 04/25/15 - 11/15/15

56 Salinas Monterey Salinas WS (831) 796-3600

2 14324437 Farmworker Strawberry/Raspberry

$ 11.33 HR 05/01/15 - 7/01/15 124 Oxnard Ventura Oxnard WS (805)382-8610

3 14328237 Farmworker Starwberry

$ 11.33 HR 05/06/15 - 11/30/15

40 Nipomo/Guadalupe

San Luis Obispo/Santa Barbara

Santa Maria WS (805)614-1550

4 14340648 Strawberry/Blackberry $ 11.33 HR 05/25/15- - 09/25/15

70 Watsonville/Salinas

Santa Cruz/Monterey Watsonville WS (831)763-8700

5 14342333 Strawberry/Blackberry $ 11.33 HR 05/25/15- - 11/01/15

70 Santa Maria/Nipomo

Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo

Santa Maria WS (805)614-1550

6 13898523 Farmworkers Sheepherder

$1600.34 Mo. on-going 206 California and Western States

California and Western States

Selected EDD WSB Offices

California Student Aid Commission and CalGrants

The purpose of the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC)andCalGrantsaretomakeeducationbeyondhigh school financially accessible to all Californians. Cal

Grantawardsarestategrantsthatareawardedandadministeredby the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC). The Commission provides financial aid policy analysis and leadership, in partnership with California’s colleges, universities, financial institutions, and financial aid associations. To apply for a Cal Grant,theFreeApplicationforFederalStudentAid(FAFSA)mustbecompletedandGradePointAverageinformationsenttoCSAC by March 2nd for the following academic school year the student is applying for.

Eligible candidates include being a California graduating high school senior or recent graduate, or

havingreceivedaGED,andmeetacademic, financial and eligibility requirements and submit the

form by the deadline of March 2nd to maximize the opportunity toreceiveanaward.CalGrantrecipients qualify for funds for college, career or technical school.

If the student misses the March 2CalGrantdeadlineANDplanstoattend a community college in the fall, they have until until September 2 to apply. However, the number of CalGrantawardswillbelimited.

If you have questions or need help applying for student aid, call the California Student Aid Commission at (888) 224-7268 or email them at studentsupport@csac.ca.gov.