Network News: August 2023

The latest updates on our united movement for universal child care

8/21/2023

We kicked off August with Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tina Smith (D-MN),  Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and others calling on President Joe Biden to provide needed funding to prevent a national wave of child care closures when American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) relief dollars expire on September 30. Seeing such strong support in the House and Senate for child care funding is a victory made possible by YOU and years of organizing. A moment to celebrate!

A recent report from our partners at The Century Foundation (TCF) estimates that more than 70,000 child care programs could close. If you haven’t checked out TCF’s state fact sheets, you can see what impact could look like for you here. 

TAKE ACTION: Sign on to this letter and share it widely with your networks. This is a letter to Congress that lays out the case, the urgency, and the widespread support for a $16 billion ask for child care. The deadline to sign on is August 31, 2023.

As we meet this urgent moment and fight to prevent closures that will impact families, kids, providers, and our larger economy, we’re holding our long-term plans to build a movement and win the nation-wide universal child care program that families, kids, and our communities need. We hope to see you at our events this August!

In community,

Erica Gallegos & Andrea Paluso

Co-Directors

Child Care for Every Family Network


P.S. If you have anything you’d like to contribute for next month, please email danielle@childcareforeveryfamily.org.

Upcoming Network Events

*All of our events are offered with Spanish translation and closed captioning.*

Workshop: How Parent Voices California Won Big on Tuesday, August 22 from 11:00am-12:00pm Pacific / 2:00-3:00pm Eastern 

Want affordable child care? Organize parents and win! Come learn from Parent Voices in California about how they turned a radical idea around parent co-pays into reality. Join us on August 22 to learn more about the California campaign to extend zero copays for 370,000 families and cap fees at 1% for those earning above 75% of state median income. The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) will also be there to share more on efforts to address parent fees in other legislative efforts. Register here: childcareforeveryfamily.org/events

Give Congress your feedback on CCDBG by Monday, August 28

Thanks to your advocacy and feedback, President Biden’s administration is prioritizing child care in a way no other administration has done before. Earlier this summer, the President issued an Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care & Supporting Caregivers.

In order to meet the expectations of the President’s executive order, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will need to change the way that our country’s child care subsidy program (the Child Care & Development Block Grant or “CCDBG”) is administered so that it better serves children, families, and providers. On July 13, DHS issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which is a fancy way to say “proposed changes to a program.”

HHS is seeking comments on their proposed changes, which they will consider and potentially incorporate. Network partner organizations—The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)—have led an effort to jointly review the rules and have developed some shared suggestions for how HHS can increase racial, gender, and economic justice for families and providers here, which you are encouraged to sign on to if you agree! 

They have also developed tools to help organizations and individuals to submit their own comments! A template for doing so is below, as well as instructions. 

Partner Events & Important Dates

UPLAN is hosting a virtual public comment party where they will provide information about the proposed changes to the Child Care & Development Fund and share sample comments that can be personalized. They will also walk you through the public comment submission process. Interpretation in Spanish will be provided.

  • Date: Thursday, August 24th
  • Time: 4:00 pm (ET) / 3:00 pm (CT) / 2:00 pm (MT) / 1 pm (PT) for an hour

Register now! https://bit.ly/3QypRjG

Resources, Tools, and Opportunities

  • Job openings: The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center is hiring for various roles. Keep an eye on their job postings page and sign up for their career email list for the latest job updates. Currently, they are hiring for the following positions:
  • Job board: Alliance for Early Success’ Early Childhood Policy Job Board
  • Funding opportunity: Caring Across Generations and Fair Play are proud to announce the 2023 Care Catalyst Award! The Care Catalyst Award will be granted to three care influencers who share their care experiences through authentic and accessible content on their social media platforms. The winners will be announced on November 2 at Caring Across Generations’ first-ever CareFest in Los Angeles, California, and will each receive a $2,500 cash prize and a $1,000 ad budget to use at their discretion. Nominate someone by Sept. 1 at midnight: https://caringacross.org/carecatalystaward/
  • Feedback from tribal communities: The Office of Child Care (OCC), Administration for Children and Families, announced the publication of a formal request for information (RFI) on the child care requirements, regulations, and processes for Tribal Nations that administer the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program. You can view the RFI on this Federal Register webpage. They have heard requests for the opportunity to improve CCDF program rules to better meet the individual needs of Tribal Nations and to properly account for Tribal sovereignty. They will be using the RFI to seek public comment and to facilitate in depth feedback on all aspects of the Tribal CCDF program. This RFI process is separate from the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which was published on July 13, 2023.
    • OCC will also host an in-person Tribal consultation on November 29–30, 2023, at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Additional details will be shared soon. Prior to that consultation, OCC will host several webinars and virtual listening sessions for those affected by Tribal CCDF policies outlined in the Tribal RFI, including those listed below.
      • A national webinar will be held on August 22, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time). Please register for the webinar via this Web link.
      • A virtual listening session will be held on September 12, 2023, for Tribal lead agencies. More information, including registration details and the webinar time, will be sent out at a later date.
      • A virtual listening session will be held on October 25, 2023, for families and providers. More information, including registration details and the webinar time, will be sent out at a later date.
    • The national webinar recording will be posted on the Tribal RFI resource page for those unable to participate. OCC will post additional resources related to the Tribal RFI and encourages you to check the resource page regularly. The public comment period for the Tribal RFI began on July 27, 2023, and will remain open through January 2, 2024. Tribal CCDF lead agencies are strongly encouraged to review the RFI and to submit comments. 
    • Instructions for Submitting a Comment(s): To be considered, written comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before January 2, 2024. Public comments must be submitted online at https://www.regulations.gov or by email to OCCTribal@acf.hhs.gov. All submissions received must include the docket number ACF-2023-0004 for “Request for Information: Meeting the Child Care Needs in Tribal Nations.” All comments received are a part of the public record and will be posted for public viewing on https://www.regulations.gov without change. Note: All personal identifying information (such as name or address) will be publicly accessible. Please do not submit confidential information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. We accept anonymous comments. If you wish to remain anonymous, enter “N/A” in the required fields.

Recent Data & Research

  • The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) released new data that analyzed the changes in wage growth for child care workers and other low-paid occupations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data reveals that between 2019 and 2022, median real hourly wages for child care workers grew by only 3.1%, which is lower than the wage growth rate for food and beverage serving workers (8.7%), retail sales workers (5.6 %), recreation workers (5.3%), and many other low-wage service occupations.
  • The Century Foundation (TCF) report projected that 3.2 million children could lose child care due to the looming funding cliff, including state by state fact sheets and a map visualizing the data. TCF also released new polling from Morning Consult that shows 2 in 3 Americans are concerned about federal child care funds expiring in September.

What’s happening in Congress?

You can see all proposed federal legislation related to child care here.  We’ll be releasing our thoughts on which bills align with our values as a Network soon!

President Biden released his emergency supplemental spending priorities. Unfortunately, it did not include money for child care and early learning. While the Administration did include a mention of the importance of congressional action on funding for child care and early learning,without dedicated funding in the request it will not meet the needs of families, educators, and communities.

It’s even more urgent that we get as many signatures as possible on our joint sign-on letter to ensure supplemental/emergency spending packages include money to support child care.  

Sign on to this letter and  share widely with your networks. This letter to Congress lays out the case, the urgency, and the widespread support for the $16 billion ask. The deadline to sign on is August 31, 2023.

What’s happening in the states?

Across the country, state advocates, parents, and providers are continuing to raise the alarm on what will happen to child care infrastructure when ARPA dollars run out this fall. 

Is there something in your state that we missed? Please email danielle@childcareforeveryfamily.org. 

Child Care in the News

Specific to home-based providers (via HomeGrown):

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