Washington, D.C. -- Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), along with Casey (D-PA), Hirono (D-HI), Franken (D-MN), Markey (D-MA), et al on Tuesday, introduced the Strong Start for America’s Children Act of 2015 in the Senate. The legislation would follow much of the ideas set forth in President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address, creating a new program providing enhanced access to prekindergarten for low- and moderate-income families, expanding partnerships between Early Head Start and child care programs, and providing funding for the education of children with disabilities.

The bi-partisan Strong Start for America’s Children Act of 2015, was introduced today by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Congressmen Bobby Scott (D-VA), and Richard Hanna (R-NY).

Washington, D.C. – Thanks to a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) will expand its technical assistance activities in targeted states emphasizing health, nutrition, and obesity prevention, key components of Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) implementation. This two-year grant will leverage this unique opportunity to work with 6 – 8 states to integrate healthy eating, nutrition, and obesity prevention best practices in their state plans and priorities. To accomplish this, CCAoA will partner with and provide tools, resources, and on-site training and technical assistance to Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies and their community-based partners in early care and education focused on moving the needle on healthy communities. Ultimately, this grant will encourage states to incorporate health and nutrition as key components of quality child care.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently reviewing proposed rule updates to the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP): Meal Pattern Revisions Related to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The CACFP is a federal program serving more than 3 million children in child care, Head Start and after school programs across the country. USDA hopes to update the CACFP program to be consistent with the national school lunch program, WIC and other food assistance programs administered by the agency.

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation that would extend child care and early child development programs that support millions of families.

Earlier this week, the House and Senate Budget Committees approved their FY 2016 budget resolutions, and both proposed very deep cuts for many non-defense programs over the next ten years, including ones that millions of children and families depend on.