Child care is getting attention in Congress.
Last week, Massachusetts Congresswoman Katherine Clark reintroduced two bills that would, as a press release from Clark’s office explains, address “America’s child care crisis with robust investment in early learning facilities and educators.”
The bills—the Child Care Infrastructure Act and the Child Care Workforce Development Act—promise to improve child care access and affordability.
The Child Care Infrastructure Act would authorize investing $10 billion over five years in child care facilities. Specifically, it calls for:
- directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “to conduct a national needs assessment of early child care and learning facilities to understand the impact of the child care crisis and evaluate the ongoing infrastructure needs of child care facilities across the U.S.”
- setting up a program “to award grants to states for the purpose of constructing new or renovating existing child care facilities,” and
- setting aside between 10% and 15% of the authorized funds “to award grants of up to $10 million to intermediary organizations that have demonstrated experience in developing or financing early care and learning facilities”
The other bill, the Child Care Workforce Development Act, “would help tackle the nationwide shortage of early educators by providing up to $4,000 of annual support for those who study early education and repaying up to $30,000 of their student loans once they are in a job, WTAJ reports.
This bill would:
- authorize HHS “to administer a student loan repayment program of up to $6,000 annually for five years for early childhood educators working for providers eligible to receive Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funding,” and
- establish a program to provide up to $4,000 annually to eligible individuals pursuing an associate’s degree or a certificate in early childhood education
The bills are supported by members of Congress who are also parents, including Congressman Jimmy Gomez of California.
“As a father and the founder of the Dads Caucus, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to find affordable child care, and I know that the working parents of this nation face the same concern,” Gomez says in the press release. “Many families today are living in child care deserts, where there aren’t enough quality, affordable daycares nearby—my colleagues and I are fighting to change that.”
The First Five Years Fund also praises the two bills, and adds, “To better support hard working families and our littlest learners, Congress must seize every opportunity to strengthen child care and early learning, including investing in federal programs, providing robust funding through the appropriation process, modernizing child care provisions in the tax code, bolstering child care infrastructure, and supporting the child care workforce.”
Advocates can help by reaching out to their Congressional representatives and asking them to support these bills. The federal government is a key partner in building a stronger early childhood system.