The Federal Funding Process has begun! 

(for previous updates, please click here: http://highqualitychildcare.org/naccrra/fedbudgetupdate.html)

The House and Senate Appropriations (budgeting) Committees have begun working on the 12 bills that will fund programs during the next fiscal year (which begins on October 1). Most important for child care is the Labor, Health & Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill. This bill includes funding for child care, Head Start, infants and toddlers with disabilities, teacher and school improvement, and many other programs that matter to families.

Where are we now?

The House Appropriations Committee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved its bill on July 11, and the full House approved the bill on July 19. The bill includes a $75 million increase for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which is funded at a total of $2.1 billion.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved its bill on June 21. The Senate bill does not increase funding for child care. While child care funding is not cut, it is frozen, which in real terms means there will be less funding to improve the quality of child care (as you know, like the cost of college, the cost of child care increases every year).

Funding for CCDBG is used to improve the quality and safety of child care for all children. Check out this map http://www.naccrra.org/policy/map.php to see how your state ranks in child care health and safety standards. Once you see, you’ll know we can do better! But, to do it, child care funding needs to be increased—at least to the level approved in the House bill. 

What happens next?

There are still many steps for Congress to take before final funding decisions are made. The House and Senate will produce separate fiscal year 2008 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bills (each chamber will approve a similar but not identical bill). Once both chambers have approved their bills, a joint House-Senate conference committee will meet to work out the differences. You can also click here for a more detailed explanation of the process: http://www.naccrra.org/policy/docs/budgetAppropsprocessgp.doc

Tell us your story!

Act today! We need your stories to tell your Members of Congress how crucial child care is to American families. Please click here http://highqualitychildcare.org/campaign/parent_stories to tell them how important child care is – and we will share your stories with Congress, along with our research and data from local Child Care Resource & Referral agencies.

Parent Central, a project of NACCRRA, is here to support all parents and provide you with all the latest information. We want you to know about your role in strengthening the quality of child care and helping as many children as possible enter kindergarten with the skills to succeed—your voice counts.