By Fairfax County Times
(Excerpt)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) spoke with staff at Child & Family Network Centers in Alexandria to discuss his child care proposal and the need to invest in pre-kindergarten and other early childhood education programs. Kaine’s proposal with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) would lower child care costs, raise wages for child care providers, and invest more funding into child care and early childhood education programs. His proposal would provide more funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), expanding access to an estimated 23,256 children in Virginia according to an analysis by the Center for Law and Social Policy.
Read the full article here.
By Alycia Hardy
On March 15, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, which included $6.2 billion in annual discretionary funds for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). The annual appropriations process is an important opportunity for federal policymakers to invest in programs, such as CCDBG, that support children, families, and child care providers nationwide as well as respond to their needs. CCDBG is a critical support for families with low incomes who, without access to assistance, would likely be unable to afford their current child care arrangement. However, due to limited federal funding, the program only served 1 in 7[1] eligible children in 2018.[2]
The $6.2 billion in FY 2022 appropriations included a $254 million increase above FY 2021 funding, a 4 percent increase.[3] However, annual inflation—or the change in prices from year to year—requires federal funding adjustments to ensure that as child care prices increase, due to inflation, federal funding also increases at the same rate to keep up with those increased costs. The pandemic amplified inflation, creating some of the highest increases in more than 30 years.[4] Federal investments in child care that expand access to the types of affordable, quality child care families need can act as a tool to combat inflation. Expanded access to child care can create opportunities to start or advance careers, which helps expand the workforce, increase productivity, and drive down inflation.[5] Unfortunately, the CCDBG appropriations increase for FY 2022 did not keep up with this increased rate, despite an overall increase in federal CCDBG appropriations funding.
The following table provides each state’s actual distribution of FY 2021 annual discretionary funds;[6] the estimated distribution for FY 2022 discretionary funds; and the estimated increase from FY 2021 to FY 2022. The increases for each state range from $368,000 in Wyoming to $34 million in Texas.
| State | Distribution of GY 2021 Discretionary Funds[7] | Estimated Distribution of GY 2022 Discretionary Funds[8] | Increase from FY 2021 to GY 2022 Discretionary Funds |
| Alabama | $105,775,324 | $111,440,881 | $5,665,557 |
| Alaska | $10,624,396 | $11,193,462 | $569,066 |
| Arizona | $139,770,178 | $147,256,574 | $7,486,396 |
| Arkansas | $67,043,434 | $70,634,427 | $3,590,993 |
| California | $542,085,585 | $571,120,872 | $29,035,287 |
| Colorado | $67,060,083 | $70,651,967 | $3,591,884 |
| Connecticut | $39,810,895 | $41,943,253 | $2,132,358 |
| Delaware | $15,643,379 | $16,481,273 | $837,894 |
| District of Columbia | $9,336,960 | $9,837,068 | $500,108 |
| Florida | $356,937,029 | $376,055,355 | $19,118,326 |
| Georgia | $226,914,017 | $239,068,027 | $12,154,010 |
| Hawaii | $18,722,408 | $19,725,221 | $1,002,813 |
| Idaho | $32,471,392 | $34,210,631 | $1,739,239 |
| Illinois | $186,604,713 | $196,599,669 | $9,994,956 |
| Indiana | $126,596,889 | $133,377,695 | $6,780,806 |
| Iowa | $53,326,045 | $56,182,304 | $2,856,259 |
| Kansas | $50,126,397 | $52,811,276 | $2,684,879 |
| Kentucky | $110,158,549 | $116,058,881 | $5,900,332 |
| Louisiana | $111,483,487 | $117,454,786 | $5,971,299 |
| Maine | $17,148,747 | $18,067,271 | $918,524 |
| Maryland | $72,431,386 | $76,310,969 | $3,879,583 |
| Massachusetts | $73,674,156 | $77,620,305 | $3,946,149 |
| Michigan | $164,209,586 | $173,005,010 | $8,795,424 |
| Minnesota | $75,975,097 | $80,044,489 | $4,069,392 |
| Mississippi | $74,868,624 | $78,878,751 | $4,010,127 |
| Missouri | $104,083,429 | $109,658,365 | $5,574,936 |
| Montana | $15,953,404 | $16,807,903 | $854,499 |
| Nebraska | $33,533,611 | $35,329,744 | $1,796,133 |
| Nevada | $52,124,864 | $54,916,785 | $2,791,921 |
| New Hampshire | $11,168,333 | $11,766,533 | $598,200 |
| New Jersey | $100,195,065 | $105,561,731 | $5,366,666 |
| New Mexico | $46,184,538 | $48,658,283 | $2,473,745 |
| New York | $263,524,388 | $277,639,329 | $14,114,941 |
| North Carolina | $188,829,869 | $198,944,009 | $10,114,140 |
| North Dakota | $10,932,633 | $11,518,209 | $585,576 |
| Ohio | $187,436,478 | $197,475,985 | $10,039,507 |
| Oklahoma | $85,041,253 | $89,596,248 | $4,554,995 |
| Oregon | $58,331,163 | $61,455,507 | $3,124,344 |
| Pennsylvania | $170,807,685 | $179,956,517 | $9,148,832 |
| Puerto Rico | $44,238,109 | $46,607,599 | $2,369,490 |
| Rhode Island | $13,416,731 | $14,135,360 | $718,629 |
| South Carolina | $102,312,198 | $107,792,263 | $5,480,065 |
| South Dakota | $14,504,242 | $15,281,121 | $776,879 |
| Tennessee | $129,929,828 | $136,889,153 | $6,959,325 |
| Texas | $638,449,971 | $672,646,745 | $34,196,774 |
| Utah | $61,256,057 | $64,537,065 | $3,281,008 |
| Vermont | $6,874,023 | $7,242,211 | $368,188 |
| Virginia | $114,503,619 | $120,636,683 | $6,133,064 |
| Washington | $91,297,829 | $96,187,940 | $4,890,111 |
| West Virginia | $37,583,748 | $39,596,816 | $2,013,068 |
| Wisconsin | $83,663,223 | $88,144,408 | $4,481,185 |
| Wyoming | $6,867,453 | $7,235,289 | $367,836 |
| United States | $5,911,000000[9] | $6,165,330,000[10] | $254,000,000[11] |
[1] Nina Chien, Factsheet: Estimates of Child Care Eligibility & Receipt for Fiscal Year 2018, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2021-08/cy-2018-child-care-subsidy-eligibility.pdf.
[2] The most recently available data for this statistic is from the FY 2018 analysis from the Office of the Assistance Secretary for Planning & Evaluation which was released in August 2021.
[3] CLASP calculation based on enacted appropriations amount according to each appropriations bill, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ260/PLAW-116publ260.pdf, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2471/text.
[4] Alberto Cavallo and Oleksiy Kryvtsov, How the pandemic has affected the economy, empty shelves to higher prices, PBS News Hour, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/how-the-pandemic-has-affected-the-economy-from-empty-shelves-to-higher-prices.
[5] Josh Bivens, Child care and elder care investments are a tool for reducing inflationary expectations without pain, Economic Policy Institute, 2022, https://www.epi.org/blog/child-care-and-elder-care-investments-are-a-tool-for-reducing-inflationary-expectations-without-pain/.
[6] CCDBG annual discretionary funds are distributed based on three main factors, the first of two which compare the ratio of the number of children within a state compared to the number of children in the country within the following categories: the number of children under five and the number of children who receive free or reduced priced lunch. The distribution is also based on a comparison of the three-year national per capita income with the three-year average state per capital income.
[7] Fiscal Year (FY) refers to the period from October 1 through September 30, during which states and territories may spend funds awarded in the current and prior years. Grant Year (GY) refers to the year the funds were awarded, although states and territories may liquidate some CCDF funding streams in later fiscal years. Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) State and Territory Spending Under The Grant Yar 2019 Award as of 9/30/2019, Office of Child Care https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/data/ccdf-expenditures-overview-gy-2019-9-30-2019.
[8] State estimated discretionary funding distributions are based on the GY 2021 CCDF Allocations Based on Appropriations, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, 2021, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/data/gy-2021-ccdf-allocations-based-appropriations. Actual amounts may differ due to Secretary authority and discretion in set aside funding.
[9] The total includes funds for tribes, territories, and states, as well as funds for research, evaluation, technical assistance, and the CCDF hotline and website. The total does not reflect the $59 million transferred from CCDBG based on the discretion and authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, which reduced the total amount of funds allocated to $5.85 billion in FY 2022.
[10] The total includes funds for tribes, territories, and states, as well as funds for research, evaluation, technical assistance, and the CCDF hotline and website.
[11] The estimated increase in funds from FY 2021 to FY 2022 totals $319 million instead of $254 million, due to the $59 million that was transferred out of CCDBG under the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Therefore, the estimated overall increase in funds allotted from FY 2021 to FY 2022 is $319 million due to states receiving fewer dollars than were originally enacted through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ260/PLAW-116publ260.pdf.
>> View the fact sheet and analysis here
By Grace Segers
(Excerpt)
An analysis by the Center for Law and Social Policy, or CLASP, estimated that the $72 billion over six years would benefit roughly one million additional children who do not currently have access to affordable childcare. Stephanie Schmit, the director of childcare and early education at CLASP, told The New Republic that this investment would increase the reach of the existing block grants by 70 percent. Because of the size and scope of this proposal, Schmit said that reconciliation was the best route for addressing the childcare crisis.
Read the full article here.
By Carly Shaffer
(Excerpt)
The core of the proposal — more federal funds flowing to the states — would increase the number of children receiving child care assistance by1 million or more, according to an estimate by the Center for Law and Social Policy, while also expanding the supply of child care.
Read the full article here.
By Alia Wong
(EXCERPT)
A report by a software company called HiMama found that roughly half (48%) of the child care sector was understaffed this past school year. A report by the Center for Law and Social Policy, the National Women’s Law Center and the Century Foundation, a trio of liberal think tanks, found the child care workforce has dropped by more than 10% from its pre-pandemic levels. By comparison, the average decline among all sectors was 2%.
Read the full article here.
By Mike Costanza
Employment in the child care industry has steadily declined nationwide in the last decade. A recent Center for Law and Social Policy report found that child care employment peaked at 631,000 in 2011 and then began to fall. By 2019, the industry had lost 69,000 employees, a drop of 11 percent.
Read the full article here.
Child care is too expensive and far too difficult to find for most families, while providers make far too little. The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) is the primary federal source for child care assistance and was designed to provide access to child care for families with low incomes. However, a historic lack of investment in the program means it only reaches a small portion of eligible families, serving only 1 in 7 eligible children nationally. The pandemic has made painfully clear what has always been true: a lack of access and resources for families and low wages for providers cannot create a viable and sustainable system that equitably meets the needs of families. The need for action is urgent, and the opportunity to act is now.
To address the ongoing child care crisis and begin to build a robustly funded system that truly works for families and providers, Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) released a new child care and early education proposal for inclusion in the federal budget reconciliation package. Nationally, an estimated 1 million+ children could benefit from the proposal. The new framework—which includes $72 billion in additional CCDBG funds—will provide direct support to children and families and build up the supply of child care, including investments in the child care workforce. It will also invest in preschool, Head Start, and establish a pilot program for states that would further expand access and affordability to reach families with higher incomes and cap families’ child care expenses.
These fact sheets explain the status of families and providers in all 50 states across the country—including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico—and highlight the positive impact the Murray-Kaine proposal’s CCDBG investment could have on children and families. Each state’s fact sheet includes analyses that estimate how much new CCDBG funding states could see in one year and the additional children that could gain access to the program through the new federal funds. Across all 50 states and D.C. and Puerto Rico, this could mean a 70 percent increase in child care access through those CCDBG investments alone.
By Kati Mapa
(Excerpt)
Several reports were released this week supporting the new child care proposal. Notably, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) published a fact sheet that estimates that more than one million children could benefit from the new proposal. It also included a state-by-state analysis of the proposed funding.
Read the full article here.
By Bryce Covert
(Excerpt)
“Especially in this particular legislative session, there has been significant attention to the issue and then subsequently a lot of movement,” said Stephanie Schmit, director of child care and early education at the Center for Law and Social Policy. As of mid-February, half of all gubernatorial state of the state addresses mentioned the need to invest in child care and early childhood education. But it’s not just lip service: States have dedicated millions of dollars of their own budgets toward new and ongoing funding for the sector. “The scale of investment is not something that we have seen a lot of previously.”
Read the full article here.
(Excerpt)
Last week, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) released an analysis estimating that one million new children would be served with the increase in CCDBG funding. Current CCDBG funding is woefully inadequate, only serving one out of every nine eligible children.
Read the full article here.