“They’re not going to have access to health insurance, they’re not going to have access to food, and now are going to have a challenging time accessing childcare. It’s going to be multiple hits to families who already are in a position where they need…
Other states have successfully conjoined funding streams so that extra TANF funds can be used on child care vouchers without technically being considered “transferred funds,” explained Stephanie Schmit, director of Child Care and Early Education at the Center for Law and Social Policy. It can…
Washington, D.C., January 5, 2026 — Last week, an ill-informed YouTube “influencer” accused child care centers run by Somali providers in Minnesota of fraud. In response to these accusations and without any further investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took immediate actions to freeze federal child care funding…
Juan Carlos Gomez and Stephanie Schmit were panelists at the 2025 National Community Leadership Summit, titled “Unwavering Resistance: An Invitation to Beloved Community,” in Boston, MA. They spoke on the panel “Care and Immigration: What Advocates Need to Know about Centering and Supporting Immigrant Children,…
By Stephanie Schmit (op-ed) (EXCERPT) All of us want our kids to get a fair start in life. And for millions of American families, that start has come from the federal Head Start program. But unfortunately, President Donald Trump has frozen Head Start funds, laid…
By Robin Buller (Excerpt) Stephanie Schmidt, the director of childcare and early education at the Center for Law and Social Policy, emphasized that the average cost of infant care in the US is $14,000 per year, with that number ticking up to closer to $25,000…
CLASP’s Stephanie Schmit authored an op-ed in OtherWords about what our country could look like without Head Start. It featured contributions from past Head Start students, parents, and educators to underscore the critical value of Head Start. >> Read the op-ed here
By The Boston Globe (The Editorial Board) (Excerpt) “Stephanie Schmit, director of child care and early education at the Center for Law and Social Policy, a Washington, DC-based antipoverty nonprofit, said while the federal government gives states child-care grants, that money has never come close…
By Pavithra Mohan (Excerpt) The move has left many childcare providers with no avenue to get answers for their questions about grants or approval for critical updates to their facilities. “From my perspective, what is happening is an attack on childcare and early education under the veil…