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New estimates from CLASP show how much states can expect to receive in emergency child care funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which passed the U.S. Senate late last night and will be considered by the U.S. House on Friday, March 27.
The bill includes $3.5 billion in emergency funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). This fact sheet includes state-by-state estimates of emergency funding for CCDBG, which states can use to:
- provide continued payments and assistance to child care providers in the case of decreased enrollment or closures related to coronavirus, and to assure they are able to remain open or reopen as appropriate;
- provide child care assistance, without regard to income, to health care sector employees, emergency responders, sanitation workers, and other workers deemed essential during the response to the coronavirus; and
- provide funding to child care providers who were not participating in subsidy prior to the public health emergency for the purposes of cleaning and sanitation and other activities necessary to maintain or resume the operation of programs.
This is a step forward, but the funding is insufficient given the scope of the crisis, and child care providers and families have many additional needs the bill does not address. We urge Congress to include a substantial investment of $50 billion in child care in the next coronavirus stimulus package to provide communities with the support they need.
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