|
John,
Funding for child care and early childhood education is at a crisis point, with the expiration on September 30 of the COVID-19 assistance in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The loss of these funds could lead to the closure of more than 70,000 child care centers in the United States, leaving 3.2 million children without child care.
With child care expenses unaffordable, low income families cannot afford to have a needed parent work outside the home, worsening an ongoing cycle of poverty. Most affected are families in rural areas, with low incomes, with single parents, and in communities of color.
Sen. Patty Murray, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, argued for more funds, saying, “There was a child care crisis even before the pandemic -- and failing to extend these critical investments from the American Rescue Plan will push child care even further out of reach for millions of families and jeopardize our strong economic recovery.” As she says, this is important for workers, employers, and children: “The child care industry holds up every sector of our economy -- and Congress must act now.”
Click here to send Congress a message to make these crucial investments in child care and early childhood education.
As the advocacy organization Child Care Aware notes, “For a vast majority of this country’s families, good quality child care is neither affordable nor accessible... [We must] increase funding to continue to build a child care system that helps families, child care providers, businesses and our economy to succeed.”
Their analysis shows a huge discrepancy between the House and Senate appropriations bills for child care and early childhood education for Fiscal Year 2024. Not surprisingly, the Republican-led House is calling for drastic cuts, while the Democratic Senate seeks modest increases in several important areas.
The House of Representatives bill represents a 29% decrease in child care programs from FY 2023. This includes a $750 million cut to Head Start and Early Head Start, which would lock 80,000 young children out of these programs that have proven to promote long-term success throughout children’s school careers and out into the workforce.
The House bill completely eliminates the Preschool Development Grant program for Birth through 5 (PDGB-5), which distributes over $300 million to 42 states.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program is still severely underfunded in the House Bill. Though it is the largest federal source of child care funding, at $8 billion, it only provides funding for 16% of eligible families. Altogether, these cuts would make it much more difficult for families to afford appropriate child care.
The Senate numbers are more encouraging, but negotiations between the House and Senate will doubtless reflect a less rosy picture in the final bill. The proposed Senate bill would include a $1 billion increase for child care and early education programs, including a $700 million increase to CCDBG, $275 million to Head Start and Early Head Start, $20 million to Special Education Part C, and $5 million to Child Care Access Means Parents in School. They do call for a $5 million cut to PDGB-5 funds.
Contact your congresspersons today to advocate that the Senate numbers should be considered a floor for child care and early childhood education funding!
Providing sufficient funding for these services will benefit the economy in long term gains in productivity and quality of life for all Americans.
- Amanda
Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund
|
