Washington, D.C. — Today’s Senate passage of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, or CCDBG, Act of 2014 will reauthorize the federal child care subsidy program, which has not been updated in more than two decades. Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
Every day, more than 11 million children spend much of the day in child care, and all parents want to go to work knowing that their child will be safe. With the enactment of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, the Senate has taken a positive step forward to ensure that the families and children that depend on the federal subsidy have care that is safe, healthy, and stable. Importantly, under the new law, families will be able to utilize the program for a minimum of 12 months, promoting stability for both working parents and their children.
The enactment of CCDBG is an encouraging sign of bipartisanship, and I hope it marks a renewed commitment from Congress to supporting working families and early childhood education. Under current funding levels, just one in six eligible children has access to care through the federal subsidy program. In the upcoming Congress, both sides should work together to further improve access to affordable, high-quality child care by increasing funding to support families’ access to child care, as well as targeting federal funds to high-quality providers to support early learning and school readiness.
Related resources:
The following CAP experts are available today to discuss the enactment of CCDBG:
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Allison Preiss at 202.478.6331 or [email protected].
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