The evidence is clear - children who participate in high-quality programs during their early years demonstrate lasting effects in IQ, boosted academic and economic achievement, and lower incidences of childhood obesity and chronic illness. With nearly 15 million children under 6 who may need child care each day, the stakes have never been higher for families across the United States and for our economy. Economists have shown that investing in high-quality child care has proven to result in a 13 percent return on that investment, per child. Families without access to quality child care due to high cost, irregular work hours, or inadequate supply, are at an extreme disadvantage; their children and our society lose out. Help for families struggling to pay for quality child care is pivotal to supporting quality child care across the country.

If you’re like most CCR&R professionals out there, you’ve likely heard about the Power to the Profession initiative, but you might not know much about it. Maybe you know the initiative was started to transform the early childhood field but aren’t sure what that really means or entails. Maybe you’re already excited about Power to the Profession but you’re still unclear what it has to do with you as a CCR&R or what you can do to get involved.  

The Problem 

Many different adults can impact the way a baby or child eats, including parents/caregivers and providers. However, those important adults may not understand or practice responsive feeding – the process of recognizing an infant's cues for hunger or fullness and responding appropriately.  

On July 11, the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy hosted a hearing examining the importance of paid family leave. Subcommittee Chairman, Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sponsored the hearing and witnesses included Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with Dr. Andrew Biggs from the American Enterprise Institute, Vicki Shabo of the National Partnership for Women and Families, and Carolyn Boyle from Deloitte Services, LLP.

For more than 10 years, Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) has reported on the unaffordability of child care for parents in states across the country. We’ve been expanding that reporting by diving deeper into county-level costs and exploring national, state-and community-level financing solutions to provide working families with some relief. Even as we’ve kept discussions on the unaffordability of child care going strong, we are often asked, “If parents are paying too much of their household budgets on child care, why are child care providers still struggling to make ends meet?” It’s a good question – one that I’ve had since I started CCAoA!

What can Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&Rs) agencies do and how can they most effectively share information about Power to the Profession with the field? Join us for a webinar, "What can your CCR&R do to prepare for the evolution of the ECE profession?," on July 10 from 2:30-3:30 pm EST as we talk with our colleagues at Child Care Answers, a child care resource and referral agency in Indiana, to learn about innovative strategies they are using to help engage and inform their staff and child care providers in their area about Power to the Profession.