The Trump Administration continues to harm a child care and early education sector in desperate need of support. Through harmful regulatory action, illegal funding freezes, and unfounded fraud allegations, the Trump Administration has spent its second year continuing to dismantle the early childhood education programs…
By Shira Small The Trump Administration’s cuts to federal child care and early education programs and staff are putting children, families, and the economy at risk. Children are already losing access to care, the remaining federal workforce is overburdened, child care providers are losing their…
By Alyssa Fortner and Shira Small This year’s Black History Month theme, “African Americans and Labor,” provides an important opportunity to uplift and reflect on the ways Black women have shaped America’s child care system. This reflection is particularly critical one month into a new…
Effective child care policies require parents and providers at the table. CLASP highlights federal guidance enabling states to use funding for equitable community engagement, ensuring lived experiences shape policy.
By Shira Small Across the country, parents, providers, and Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) administrators are struggling with a child care sector that doesn’t fully meet families’ needs or support the child care workforce. To discuss the state of child care, key progress that…
CLASP supports HHS's decision to issue a new final rule that increases wages for the Head Start workforce, improves its mental health supports, and enhances services to better meet the needs of children and families across the country.
Federal investments of over $50 billion, including $39 billion from ARPA, helped sustain child care providers during COVID-19. These funds improved access, affordability, and provider support, but are set to expire on September 30, 2024.
This new cost-sharing model's positive and negative impacts are still being realized. What's clear is that this country needs a well-resourced, publicly funded child care system that is universally accessible and affordable.
Given the expiration of the final child care relief investments and the need for resources to implement the new Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) final rule, investments in child care in the FY2025 budget are critically important to ensure that positive progress made at the…
A history of underinvestment in child care results in low wages and lack of other support for providers which can make copayments complex and unaffordable for families. We need increased and sustained public investment.