History of Federal Child Care and Early Learning Efforts

History of Federal Child Care and Early Learning Efforts

CARE Fellowship Class 6

Child Care Works

Alicia Frosch

Child Care Works / CARE Fellowship Class 6 - 2011

Main Programs that Fund Child Care, Early Education and School-

age Care in the United States• Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)• TANF• Head Start• Early Head Start• Child and Adult Care Food Program• IDEA Section 619• IDEA Part C• DCTC (Federal and State)• 21st Century Community Learning Centers• State Prekindergarten Initiatives


Why are there so many different programs?

• Lanham Act dismantled after WWII

• Comprehensive 1971 bill vetoed by President Nixon

• Right wing opposition to child care after veto

• Need to move piecemeal


Head Start

• Created in 1965 as a comprehensive program for children living in poverty

• Subsequent reauthorizations allowed for initiatives to improve quality, expand training and education, increase provider compensation, focus on more collaboration with states

• Early Head Start created in 1993


Child Care in the 1980s

• Title XX: Social Services Block Grant used for child care

• Small programs created– Child Care for Parents in School– Dependent Care Block Grant (R&R and

school-age)

• Select Committee on Children considers child care as first issue


Family Support Act

• Enacted in 1988

• Created an entitlement to child care assistance for mothers receiving welfare and mothers transitioning off welfare

• Required market rate for providers


Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)

• Enacted in 1990 because of changing demographics and growing Congressional interest (i.e., child care was a campaign issue during the 1988 election)

• Provided for child care assistance for low-income working families (discretionary funds)

• Included a quality set-aside• Set eligibility at 85% of state median income for low-

income • Allowed states to set eligibility, rates, and co-payments• At-Risk Child Care also created• Included an expansion of the EITC


Child Care and Adult Food Program

• Made healthy food available to children as an entitlement – Through Head Start programs, child care

centers, family child care homes, prekindergarten programs

• Program includes an important quality component which is critical as many states do not have the resources to visit programs regularly or do not require training for child care providers


Dependent Care Tax Credit

• Enacted in 1978 to make funds available to help defray some child care expenses

• In 1981, a sliding scale was created

• In 2001, the credit was further improved to increase allowable amounts for child care expenses


TANF in 1996

• 1995: Extremely negative changes were proposed to child care

• Child care entitlement lost• Advocates were able to make changes and

convince policymakers of the need for new investments and for investments in quality

• Four programs combined into one• Child care seen as critical to the success of

welfare reform


Obama’s Early Childhood Agenda

• Invest $10 billion per year for 5 years in early childhood education.

• Create Early Learning Challenge Grants to help fund state Zero to Five efforts and move toward voluntary, universal preschool

• Quadruple the number of eligible children participating in Early Head Start, increase Head Start funding, and improve quality for both programs

• Expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit• Provide affordable and high-quality child care that will

promote child development and ease the burden on working families.

• Create a Presidential Early Learning Council to increase collaboration and program coordination across federal, state, and local levels.


American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Early Childhood Provisions

• $2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)– $255,186,000 set aside for quality improvement

(beyond the required 4 percent), $93,587,000 of which is targeted for improving infant and toddler care

• $2.1 billion for Head Start– $1.1 billion for expansion of Early Head Start

programs

• $100 million is available for State Early Learning Advisory Councils


American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Early Childhood Provisions

• $400 million for IDEA Preschool (section 619) Grants and $500 million for formula grants under IDEA Part C to help states serve infants and toddlers with disabilities and special needs.


State Early Learning Challenge Fund

• Bill marked up by the House Education and Labor Committee

• Provides $1 billion a year for eight years using savings obtained through streamlining the federal student loan program

• Competitive grants to states to build comprehensive, high-quality early learning programs

• Increase disadvantaged children’s access to high-quality early learning settings


State Early Learning Challenge Fund, cont.

• The Fund would establish two types of competitive grants:– Quality Pathways Grants would be available

to states that already have made significant progress towards establishing systems for improving the quality of early learning

– Development Grants would be available to states with some elements of an early learning system to support planning efforts


State Early Learning Challenge Fund, cont.

• Priority will be given to states that: – Use CCDBG Challenge Grant quality funds

for activities;– Commit to significantly increasing state early

learning expenditures; and– Demonstrate efforts to build public-private

partnerships.


Unmet Needs

• Only one in seven children eligible for federal child care assistance receives help.

• Only eight states pay rates at the 75th percentile of current market rate.

• Less than half of eligible preschoolers participate in Head Start.

• Only about 6 percent of infants and toddlers receive Early Head Start.

• Many states have licensing laws that do not adequately protect children in child care.

• State prekindergarten programs are part-day, part-year.


Self Improvement

History of Federal Child Care and Early Learning Efforts