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CLASP's roundup of the top AFP provisions that support people with low incomes.
This week, Congress is making important appropriations decisions about the funding of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and other programs that support children and families. The latest CCDBG data make clear what we already know: CCDBG needs more investment so that all families needing child care assistance have access to it.
Mental health is a huge part of individual wellbeing. Systemic barriers like racism and stigma have blocked many people with low incomes and people of color from high-quality mental health care. Unaddressed mental health challenges undermine their ability to learn, work, and thrive. That’s why CLASP’s work in this area has dramatically deepened.
On August 1, 2019, the U.S. Senate passed a two-year budget bill, already approved by the House, for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. While this year’s bill did not include a specific funding commitment for child care, it paves the way to maintain and build on last year’s historic increase.
In exactly one year, the 2020 Census will go out to households across the nation. The count records who we are as a nation, it shows how we’ve changed and helps us predict where we’re going. But the 2020 Census is under attack, and the stakes are too high for us to ignore these threats.
This year’s increase in federal child care funds offers states an opportunity to take bold steps toward achieving racial equity in their child care assistance programs.
The U.S. Census has historically undercounted young children. Adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census will make the count even less accurate than it already is.
In his final budget, Governor Brown proposed directing $27 million of California TANF dollars to a home visiting program. Congress should also invest in home visiting by reauthorizing the national MIECHV program.
Last month, the majority of Maine voters chose to expand Medicaid coverage to include more low-income adults. Expansion will raise the program’s income eligibility threshold to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, giving more than half of Maine’s uninsured population—including thousands of parents—access to affordable health insurance.
On September 14, 2017, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Representative Jared Polis (D-CO), and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would guarantee affordable, high-quality child care to millions of working families.