By Shira Small, Rachel Wilensky, and Stephanie Schmit Since taking office on January 20, the Trump Administration has repeatedly undermined families’ access to child care and early education—disproportionately harming families with low incomes and families of color—by forcing Head Start closures; sowing fear and uncertainty…
As Congress negotiates the FY2026 appropriations package, another year of level funding for CCDBG, which has been proposed in the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill marked up this week, would result in more children losing access to child care.
CLASP writes in opposition to the harmful new interpretation the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is taking in regard to the definition of a “Federal public benefit” under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. We respectfully submit this comment urging the…
CLASP responds to the Request for Information (RFI): Ensuring Lawful Regulation and Unleashing Innovation To Make America Healthy Again. We seek to offer our perspective and insights based on our work on programs administered by HHS, including child care and early education programs run by…
By Rachel Wilensky and Stephanie Schmit On March 15, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 into law. The law decreased nondefense spending by $13 billion but kept spending levels the same as fiscal year (FY) 2024 for many…
Accessible, affordable, high-quality child care and early education are vital for the economic well-being of families, communities, and the nation. However, families, especially those of color with low incomes, face significant challenges in accessing these services due to systemic racial and economic barriers.
This national report and series of state fact sheets analyze variations in eligibility and access to Child Care and Development Block Grant subsidies in 2020.
On March 23, 2024, President Joe Biden signed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 into law. The act’s allocations for fiscal year (FY) 2024 included a significant increase of $725 million in discretionary funds for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). This…
This report addresses and assesses many policies—particularly presumptive eligibility—that may be useful to other states' efforts to improve their child care subsidy programs.