John,

Early education and child care are necessities, yet funding to keep key programs running hangs in the balance in the upcoming appropriations bills that must be passed by March 22―only 10 days from now.

House and Senate appropriators have been negotiating. Their starting points:

The House proposed a $750 million reduction for Head Start from the FY2023 funding levels. That cut would result in 80,000 Head Start and Early Head Start children no longer receiving services.¹

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed bipartisan legislation that would increase Head Start’s funding by $275 million―well short of what is needed given higher costs of living, but a step in the right direction.

Head Start provides critical services to our most vulnerable population―young children. Multiple studies have shown that children who attend Head Start have better language, cognitive, and pre-literacy skills than children who do not. They are also more likely to have better social skills, more impulse control, and are more likely to graduate from high school. Because of these benefits, Head Start yields at least $7 for every $1 invested.²

Head Start is a critical program that has improved the lives of millions of children and their families. It’s essential that the House budget cuts are rejected and instead, Congress supports the Senate budget increase.

Send a direct message to Congress telling them to pass the $275 million budget increase to Head Start.

The chaos that we’ve seen in the federal government this year―particularly in the House―has led to serious threats for child care funding.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) helped 220,000 child care programs remain operational and helped 10 million children and their families access affordable child care.³ When that aid expired, child care centers were forced to close their doors completely or raise prices, which is why the average cost for weekly child care was $321 in early 2024―an increase of 13% from $284 in 2022.⁴

Congress has a chance to prioritize funding for child care through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). The House’s draft appropriation bill keeps the funding for this program flat, while the Senate appropriation bill increases funding by $700 million.⁵ Unfortunately, both of these amounts fall woefully short of demonstrated need. It’s estimated that $16 billion is needed to stave off increasing child care costs and staffing shortages that will burden families and the economy as a whole.⁶

The bill Congress must pass before March 22 won’t come closer to meeting current needs because the agreement Congress made as part of the deal to raise the debt limit (remember the debt limit?) set tight budget caps. Right now, the fight is against extremists, mostly in the House, who want to go even lower than those caps along with adding harmful policy riders. We have to tell the negotiators to save every child care and Head Start placement they can.

Our children, teachers, and families deserve better. These young people are the future of our society and economy, and if we don’t make up for lost ground, societal, racial, and income gaps are only going to increase.

In addition to defending Head Start and child care, urge your representative and senators to provide enough funds to prevent 1.4 million families and retirees with low incomes from losing their heating and cooling assistance as they finalize spending bills.

Send a letter to Congress today, demanding they increase funding for critical Head Start and child care programs, and prevent deep cuts in heating and cooling assistance, in the March 22 appropriations bills.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ FY24 House Funding Level Will Deprive a Generation of American Children the Opportunity to Succeed in School and in Life (Updated)
² The Head Start Advantage
³ Child Care Cliff: 3.2 Million Children Likely to Lose Spots with End of Federal Funds
⁴ CHN’S HUMAN NEEDS WATCH: TRACKING HARDSHIP, MARCH 8, 2024
⁵ Why Children and Families with Low Incomes Need a Fully Funded Federal Budget
⁶ Solutions to address looming child care crisis