Early Childhood Policy

Child Care Professionals Are on the Front Lines as Climate Change Risks Children’s Health and Development

Amid a changing climate and federal rollbacks to disaster relief and preparedness, early educators face an increasingly untenable child care landscape that will require state and local action.

CAP Comments on HHS’ Notice Affecting Head Start Eligibility Criteria

The Center for American Progress submitted a comment letter to the Health and Human Services Department opposing the agency’s unprecedented notice requiring Head Start programs to verify citizenship status in order for families to qualify for services.

Reaching a Boiling Point: State and Local Efforts To Protect Children From Extreme Heat

Join CAP for a discussion on how to protect the United States' youngest learners from extreme heat in the face of efforts to roll back climate progress.

‘We Are the Resources’: Head Start Is a Crucial Early Learning and Community Program for Families Nationwide

Despite repeated attacks on the program, Head Start has a 60-year track record of providing high-quality services that prepare young children for school and set families up for success.

Promising Models To Support and Expand the Early Childhood Educator Workforce

Early childhood educators do critical work in educating the nation’s youngest learners. Recruiting, retaining, and expanding the workforce through investments in their compensation and benefits must be prioritized.

Fact Sheet: What To Know About the Child Care for Working Families Act

The Child Care for Working Families Act would make child care more accessible and affordable, promote high-quality care options, and support child care workers.

About Extreme Heat, We Need to Prioritize Children

In an op-ed published by InsideSources, Hailey Gibbs highlights proven strategies that communities and policymakers can adopt to better mitigate the deadly effects of climate change for young children and infants.

Debunking Myths About Head Start: How the Program Promotes Opportunity and Strengthens Families, Communities, and Economies

Decades of research illustrate Head Start’s effectiveness and its ability to meet the unique needs of local communities—along with the crucial role it plays in state and local economies.

Stealing From Our Children: Trump’s Dismantling of Head Start Harms Children and Families

Join the Center for American Progress for an event about the Trump administration's serious threats to Head Start, leaving its future in peril and thousands of low-income families in fear of what comes next.

Executive Summary: Differentiating Between Harmful Child Care Deregulation and Helpful Reform

Instead of rolling back critical child care regulations, policymakers should streamline regulations and reduce administrative burdens that are not directly tied to child health, safety, and quality learning.

A Path Forward on Child Care Regulation: Differentiating Between Harmful Deregulation and Helpful Reform

States can and should make child care licensing reforms that ease burdens on providers and improve access—but must do so without endangering child health and safety.

Closures of Head Start Regional Offices Jeopardize Critical Services for Children and Families

A new CAP interactive shows the states affected by recent closures of Head Start regional offices, which play a critical role in administering grants and overseeing the delivery of early childhood services.

Governors’ Addresses Reveal Bipartisan, Nationwide Commitment to Early Care and Education

Governors’ 2025 State of the State addresses showcase the widespread impact of the child care crisis and an increasing recognition of the importance of expanded investments in the sector.

5 Things To Know About Head Start

Head Start provides educational, health, nutritional, and social services to hundreds of thousands of young children and their families every year, playing a critical role in the U.S. early care and learning landscape.

Increased Bipartisan Focus on Child Care Must Lead To Congressional Action

CAP analysis finds that the 118th Congress, facing more pressure than ever to address the nation’s child care crisis, oversaw a significant increase in the introduction of bipartisan child care and early learning bills.

Understanding the Basics of Child Care in the United States

The United States needs real solutions at all levels of government, coupled with robust public investment, to build a child care and early learning system that works for children, families, educators, and providers.

Head Start funding freeze: The panic was the point

In an op-ed published by the Wisconsin Examiner, Casey Peeks discusses Trump’s funding freeze and how it continues to affect Head Start programs across the country.

A 2024 Review of Child Care and Early Learning in the United States

Updated data on child care and early learning in the United States illustrate the urgent need for holistic public policymaking and robust investments that support young children, families, and early educators.

States Seek To Improve Early Childhood Outcomes Through Consolidated Governance Structures

In recent years, a number of states have moved to consolidate disparately administered early childhood programs into a single agency to improve coordination of services and reduce administrative burdens.

The Childcare Crisis Hampers Opportunity for America’s Families

In an op-ed published by Ms., Hailey Gibbs write about how a second Trump presidency could affect America’s child care crisis.

A Progressive Vision for Education in the 21st Century

This report encompasses key recommendations for strengthening the American education system across early childhood education, K-12 education, higher education, and workforce development.

Pandemic-Era Funding for Early Learning Programs Showcases One of the Most Important Investments the United States Can Make

Actions by the Biden-Harris administration and state policymakers illustrate how early learning investments are effective and necessary, paving the way for systemic changes to the country’s child care system.

Hear From a Child Care Director: How Extreme Heat Affects Young Children

Extreme heat places a strain on child care program facilities and poses risks to children’s health, learning, and development.

Hear From a Teacher: How Extreme Heat Affects Student Learning

In rural and low-income communities, inadequate school infrastructure fails to protect students from extreme heat, negatively affecting student attendance, engagement, and achievement.

Hear From a Pediatrician: How Extreme Heat Endangers Children’s Health and What We Can Do About It

Dr. Debra Hendrickson, clinical professor of pediatrics and author of The Air They Breathe, explains the risks extreme heat and climate change pose to children's health and the actions parents, communities, and policymakers can take to protect them.

Executive Summary: Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development

This fact sheet summarizes a recent Center of American Progress report highlighting the need for policymakers to take steps to develop heat standards for children and support infrastructure improvements to ensure schools, child care centers, and communities are safe and healthy places for children.

Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development

As climate change intensifies extreme heat around the globe, policymakers must take steps to develop heat standards for children and support infrastructure improvements to ensure schools, child care centers, and communities are safe and healthy places for children.

Project 2025 Would Eliminate Head Start, Severely Restricting Access to Child Care in Rural America

If enacted, the elimination of Head Start would undermine economic growth and exacerbate inequalities among families with young children.

Summit on Education: Reset. Reframe. Reform.

2024 Summit on Education: Reset. Reframe. Reform.

Fact Sheet: Using Federal Preschool Grant To Build State Early Learning Systems

The Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five program is a valuable tool for increasing families’ seamless access to early care and education programs.

Governors Are Calling for Investments in Early Care and Education

Echoing 2023, governors from both political parties prioritized child care and pre-kindergarten in their 2024 State of the State addresses.

States Are Taking Action To Address the Child Care Crisis

Federal COVID-19 relief funding for child care stabilization grants ended in September 2023, but a number of states have stepped up this year to address the child care needs of working families.

CAP Comments on the EPA’s Proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements

The Center for American Progress submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in response to the agency’s proposed improvements to the Lead and Copper Rule.

Executive Summary: How Federal Investments in Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Are Improving Public Health

This fact sheet summarizes a recent Center for American Progress report highlighting the use of federal investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to replace dangerous lead service lines and advance public health among vulnerable communities.

How Federal Investments in Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Are Improving Public Health

Pennsylvania and Wisconsin offer lessons for how states can remove lead service lines and protect community health by maximizing the unprecedented opportunity provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Building a Comprehensive State Child Care Agenda

Join CAP's Early Childhood Policy team to learn how the recently released data dashboard and state policymaker toolkit can be used to increase investments in child care and early learning programs.

Data Dashboard: An Overview of Child Care and Early Learning in the United States

The Center for American Progress has developed a data dashboard that allows users to explore national- and state-level data trends on a range of child care and early learning topics, including access to affordable care, the child care workforce, Head Start, and exclusionary discipline policies.

Related Resources on Child Care and Early Learning

This webpage offers a list of resources that can help make the case for investments in child care and early learning at the state level.

How To Expand Access to Affordable, High-Quality Child Care and Preschool

This webpage provides a menu of state policy recommendations and examples of state policies to expand access to affordable, high-quality child care and preschool opportunities.

Messaging and Communications To Promote Early Childhood Education

This webpage offers guidance on messaging and communications to promote child care and early childhood education in states.

Early Childhood Education in U.S. States

This toolkit provides information and resources to help state policymakers advocate for increased investments in their state child care and early learning systems.

2023 CAP IDEAS Conference

Join the Center for American Progress as we celebrate 20 years of innovative policy solutions and look boldly forward to a progressive future.

The Child Care Sector Is Still Struggling To Hire Workers

Amid a tight labor market and lack of sustainable funding, the child care sector’s shortage of good jobs persists, exacerbating its challenge to attract and retain workers.

CAP Comments on the EPA’s Proposed Rule on Lead Dust Levels in Child-Occupied Facilities

The Center for American Progress submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in response to the agency’s proposed lower lead dust hazard standards and clearance levels for child-occupied homes and child care facilities.

Health Equity in Early Childhood Policy

Policymakers Must Understand How Education, Health Care, and Economic Security Shape Early Child Development

Policymaking that considers the unique developmental needs of young children, as well as their lived experiences and that of their families, can set the foundation for health and well-being throughout life.

Strengthening Early Childhood Health, Housing, Education, and Economic Well-Being Through Holistic Public Policy

The preschool years present a critical developmental period sensitive to changes in public health and social policy, for which robust investments in programs that support families can improve intergenerational outcomes.

Federal Child Care Legislation Over the Past Decade

The past decade of child care legislation illustrates an increase in bipartisan action on the child care crisis and highlights the need for Congress to enact legislation to support a federally funded comprehensive child care system.

5 Things To Know About the Child Care for Working Families Act

The Child Care for Working Families Act aims to expand access to and lower the cost of care for families, support child care workers, and address racial and gender disparities in the child care system.

5 Actions the FDA Can Take To Reduce Heavy Metal Toxins in Baby Food

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revises guidance for allowable levels of lead in baby food, further federal action is needed to protect all young children from environmental toxins in food products.

CAP’s Comments on FDA Draft Guidance for Lead Levels in Foods Marketed to Babies and Young Children

The Center for American Progress submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in response to the agency’s proposed draft guidance intended to reduce lead in foods marketed for infants and young children.

3 Ways States Can Expand and Sustain the Infrastructure Workforce by Meeting Child Care Needs

To improve recruitment, training, and retention in the construction industry, states should utilize infrastructure funds to address workers’ child care needs.

States Can Improve Child Care Assistance Programs Through Cost Modeling

The current process states use for setting child care subsidy reimbursement rates only looks backward, building low wages and scarce resources into the future of child care.

Top 5 Actions Governors Can Take To Address the Child Care Shortage

Governors must take the lead in instituting policies that fairly compensate early childhood providers for the skilled work they perform, incentivize the creation of programs in child care deserts, and relieve families of the high cost of care.

Governors Demonstrate Bipartisan Support for Child Care and Early Education

Both Democratic and Republican governors are taking bold action to support young children and their families.

Strengthening Home Visiting To Promote the Health and Well-Being of Indigenous Families

The reauthorization and expansion of a key home visiting program could support better outcomes for Indigenous parents and young children.

Disparities in Housing, Health Care, Child Care, and Economic Security Affect Babies for Life

Social determinants of health, such as access to secure housing, family employment and economic stability, education, and child care, must be the focus of federal policies to support infant and toddler health.

Congress Should Guarantee Medicaid Continuous Coverage for Pregnant Women and Children

Congress has a narrow window to help preserve insurance coverage and improve both postpartum care and children’s health outcomes when the public health emergency ends.

The Child Care Sector Will Continue To Struggle Hiring Staff Unless It Creates Good Jobs

Child care sites across the country are facing immense challenges hiring and retaining staff amid a shortage of good jobs, leaving parents struggling to find care and placing increasing stress on the workers that remain.