Child Care

Head Start Is a Model for Supporting Child and Family Mental Health

Amid a pronounced youth mental health crisis in the United States, Head Start stands out as a crucial model for addressing the needs of vulnerable young children.

‘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.

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.

Why Trump’s Pronatalist Agenda Is Actually Anti-Motherhood

In an op-ed for Ms. Magazine, Sara Estep discusses how President Trump and Vice President Vance’s pronatalist agenda is actually at odds with what mothers and their families need to thrive.

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.

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.

Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Mapped by 119th Congressional Districts

Who is covered by Medicaid and CHIP in your congressional district? How many women have Medicaid? How many children, older people, or working-age adults are on Medicaid? Find out here.

The Republican House Budget Resolution’s Potential $880 Billion in Medicaid Cuts by Congressional District

The Republican House budget resolution would cost congressional districts an average of $2 billion each and could eliminate coverage for 15.9 million people.

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.

The Consequences of a Federal Funding Freeze in the States

The Trump administration’s proposed spending pause stirred confusion and uncertainty around government-funded services.

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.

Trump’s Proposed Sweeping Spending Pause Would Harm Americans

The administration’s proposed action appears to be illegal and could halt funding for programs for child care, school lunches, and rental assistance.

La propuesta de Trump para pausar la financiación federal perjudicará a los estadounidenses

La acción propuesta por la administración parece ser ilegal y podría detener la financiación de programas de cuidado infantil, almuerzos escolares y asistencia para pagar la renta.

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.

Child Care Expenses Push an Estimated 134,000 Families Into Poverty Each Year

Robust public investments can lift the weight of the child care affordability crisis off the safety net’s shoulders.

Project 2025’s Plan To Gut Checks and Balances Harms Rural America

The new authoritarian playbook would devastate rural America in many ways.

Project 2025’s Plan To Gut Checks and Balances Harms the American People

The new authoritarian playbook would devastate Americans in many ways.

Fact Sheets: The Harmful Effects of Project 2025, by State

These fact sheets provide insight into how Project 2025 would affect people in states across the country.

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.

Lowering Costs for American Families

Join CAP for a conversation with Neera Tanden, Domestic Policy Advisor to President Joe Biden.

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.

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.

Fact Sheet: Building an Economy That Delivers for Women

This fact sheet offers a brief summary of CAP’s “Playbook for the Advancement of Women in the Economy,” which provides federal and state policymakers with the tools they need to center women in their economic plans and grow the economy.

Playbook for the Advancement of Women in the Economy

This collection of policy recommendations reveals how policymakers can grow the economy by centering the changes that women need in their economic platforms.

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.

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.