Child care received $52.5 billion in temporary federal relief funding to help the sector recover and rebuild in the wake of the pandemic. Research shows that the investments have made a difference in lowering prices for families and increasing child care employment and wages, which helped stabilize the market in a time of turmoil. This funding, especially stabilization grants made available under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), gave each state an opportunity to make much-needed improvements to their child care system. States are required to spend any remaining amounts by September 2024 and, unfortunately, further federal investments have not been made.
To underscore the effects this monumental funding had for the sector, Child Care Aware® of America provided subgrants, through the generous support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to twelve Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) agencies. The goal of this project was to strengthen each CCR&R’s capacity to conduct outreach and educational activity that demonstrates the impact these public investments made for families, providers, and communities across the country. While the individual approaches of each CCR&R differed, common themes appeared across projects to inform decisions and investments to build a child care system that is affordable, accessible, and high quality for all.
With this additional capacity, CCR&Rs met the moment to ensure their stories were heard, amplified the experiences of families and providers, and took stories, data, messages and recommendations directly to policymakers to demonstrate the significant impact this funding had.