While it is difficult to find agreement on many of our nation’s priorities, one thing is for sure – There is unprecedented agreement that child care is a critical issue in the United States today. In fact, a recent poll found that 97 percent of Democrats, 89 percent of Independents, and 87 percent of Republicans, say they favor government investments to make early education and child care more affordable.
Child Care Aware® of America is proud to release A Child Care Agenda for Congress, the Administration, and States: 2018-2019 Policy Platform to strengthen early care and education systems throughout the nation. Our Policy Platform offers concrete and actionable recommendations, including a renewed emphasis on the critical role of state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) in increasing the accessibility of quality, affordable child care for all families.
Located in nearly every community across the nation, CCR&Rs offer an effective and credible mechanism upon which to invest in our nation’s child care infrastructure. CCR&Rs serve as a trusted advisor to parents searching for child care, a reliable source of professional development and technical assistance to child care providers, and a reliable and nonpartisan data resource to community leaders and government officials.
We believe that CCR&Rs are a critical community-based support, and, when well funded, CCR&Rs lay the foundation for a robust and efficient child care system that meets the needs of children, families, and communities.
Our nation has made tremendous strides in recognizing the value of high quality early care and education systems. Our nation’s leaders from both sides of the isle came together in 2014 to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). While this represented a significant bi-partisan step forward in establishing necessary infrastructure policies. much of the implementation work remains underfunded, including adequate funding to support the critical work of CCR&Rs. Now is the time for public officials to make investments that will enable states to meet today’s challenges and advance early childhood systems into the future.
