We’re building a nationwide movement, a campaign to expand access to affordable, quality child care. Every week, nearly 11 million children are in some type of child care setting – on average for about 35 hours. Our studies show that the quality of child care varies greatly, not just between states but also within states—among different types of child care settings. Children should be safe while their parents work. Child care should offer an environment that promotes the healthy development of children. Policymakers at the state and federal levels call for all children to start school ready to learn. They call for reducing the achievement gap among low income and other children as well as between children of different races. They call for strategies to better meet the challenges faced by children with special needs. Most also call for increasing the high school graduation rate.

Nearly 11 million children under age 5 are in some type of child care setting every week – on average for 35 hours.  The recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, is a reminder that we need to review our nation’s child care policies and practices to ensure that children are safe in child care settings.

Child Care Aware®of America’s quality child care campaign kicks off another year today on the journey for affordable, safe, quality child care for all children. How are we doing? What markers have we achieved to date?

Congressional leaders are currently negotiating a new budget framework to avoid the fiscal cliff (i.e, the across-the-board cuts scheduled to occur on January 2 combined with the expiration of a number of tax breaks scheduled to expire later this month).  

Child Care Aware® of America is partnering with Parents magazine to urge Congress to focus on the child care crisis. Click here to see the article in the December issue of Parents. The federal law that allocates funds to states for child care is the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). It has very few rules to ensure that children are safe in child care and that the settings that children are in promote their healthy development. The law has not been updated since 1996.

If you’re a parent with a young child in child care, chances are you’ve had a call to pick up your child due to some type of illness. Nearly 11 million children under age six are in some type of child care every week. As every parent knows, colds happen. Other illnesses happen too, but recognizing when a child should be excluded from child care and when it’s okay for them to stay in group care, varies by state and by program.