Spotlight

Maranda Parker, (former) Health and Fitness Education Specialist, White Birch Community Center, Henniker, New Hampshire

Building on her plan to help working families gain access to child care and lift themselves out of poverty, the Democratic nominee for President, Hillary Clinton, proposed to expand the child tax credit for families living in poverty and families with children under the age of four who qualify. According to the Clinton campaign, up to 15 million children would benefit from this plan.

Drop! Cover! Hold On!

These three, simple steps can help you protect yourself during an earthquake. Federal, state, and local emergency management experts and other official preparedness organizations all agree that this is the appropriate action and steps to take in order to reduce injury and death during earthquakes.

Last month, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published the final rule for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) based on the 2014 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG). This final rule updates CCDF regulations for the first time since 1998.

Arlington, Va. – Child Care Aware® of Minnesota was recently awarded the Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies as Resilience Hubs grant. Grant funding from Child Care Aware® of America will support a new project designed to strengthen emergency preparedness efforts for children, parents, and child care providers, and to enhance coordination with first responder and disaster response organizations.

It is hard to believe that September is ending and we are already moving into October. And with that comes shorter days, cooler weather, and perhaps the most important thing—the final stretch in the presidential campaigns. The cost of child care has become a major issue for the 2016 elections, and we are excited to see both candidates addressing the importance of child care both during the debates and as part of their individual child care proposals. This is especially important as we continue to elevate these issues through our Child Care Works movement, designed to improve child care by shifting public opinion, generating policy solutions, and securing legislative victories. We invite you to join us and millions of others as we work together toward policy victories that will make quality, affordable child care a reality for all. Visit childcareworks.org to learn more about this exciting movement and how you can get involved.

Below are some additional highlights from September.