Developing healthy eating habits and providing opportunities for active play and exploration early in a child’s life is crucial to creating a foundation for their physical health for years to come. Eating patterns, or choices regarding the amount and quality of food and nutrition, begin developing in children as young as seven months, so starting children on the right track early is important.

Child Care Aware^® of America, the nation’s leading voice for child care, announced the release of the 2016 State Fact Sheets, which profile child care indicators across all 50 states. This annual report compiles data from local and state child care resource and referral agencies (CCR&Rs), other state agencies, and other federal and national data sets to report on the use, supply, and cost of child care, the child care workforce, and the services provided by CCR&Rs.

Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee released the draft FY 2017 Labor, Health, and Human Services, and Education spending bill. This appropriations bill is the source of funding for the vast majority of federal child care and early child development programs. The Committee is expected to consider, and likely pass, this bill late next week.

Child Care Aware® of America is pleased to announce the release of the Web Services Application Programming Interface (API) module for the National Data System (NDS) for Child Care suite of applications.

Summer has arrived, and with it comes beautiful weather and longer days. This month we celebrated fathers, who play an important role in the early education and development of children. We also concluded Faces of Child Care, our eight-week series of stories from individuals who are transforming the child care system in inspiring ways. Learn more about our series and how you can make an investment in our nation’s future.

Following the expiration of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 last fall, Congress has the opportunity to expand child nutrition programs to address the growing needs of families as well as extend access nationwide.