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The HEROES Act and What It Means for Child Care

May 14, 2020

girl in mask plays on playground

Yesterday, the House of Representatives unveiled their version of the latest round of stimulus relief: The HEROES Act. 

While we are happy to see some movement on relief for the American people coming out of Washington, this bill falls woefully short of where we need to be to ensure the survival of our child care system.

Most alarmingly for child care: This bill provides just $7 billion in dedicated funding, of the $50 billion our child care system urgently needs right now, and the consequences for half measures could be severe.

Americans cannot go to work without child care. It’s an essential part of our economy. 

While we must be responsive to the best public health advice when making decisions about reopening businesses, support for child care will ensure that providers are there, so that families are able to get back to work when it is safe to do so.

So while there are good things in this bill—like support for nutrition programs, additional improvements to paid sick leave, and an influx of fiscal relief for state and local governments—the dedicated funding for child care falls dangerously short.

We have a very small window to act. But the good news is our voices matter as this legislation makes its way through Congress. The House could vote on the HEROES Act as soon as Friday afternoon, so our advocacy must begin right away. CCAoA has already joined coalition partners (PDF download) in urging the House to reconsider and increase funding for child care.

We’ll have more ways for you to get involved as this bill moves to the Senate, but for now, please take a moment and share these posts on social media with your family, friends, and networks:

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At least $50 billion dollars in dedicated child care funding. 

That’s what our system needs to survive this crisis and prevent our entire economy from grinding to a halt. Read @Child Care Aware of America’s latest blog post on the HEROES Act, and what we can do to make sure Congress gets there. 

 

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Topics: Policy & Advocacy, Coronavirus

Anne Hedgepeth

Written by Anne Hedgepeth

Anne is a government relations and grassroots advocacy strategist, with experience motivating policy change at all levels of government. As Child Care Aware® of America’s Chief of Policy and Advocacy, she guides the organization’s public policy work, as well as supports the advocacy and awareness efforts of child care resource and referral agencies and other early learning stakeholders across the country. During her time at CCAoA, she successfully pushed Congress to invest over $50 billion in COVID-19 relief funding in child care and early learning and provided technical assistance and guidance to numerous state initiatives to advance a high-quality, affordable, and accessible child care system. Anne previously worked with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) where she helped to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and to update and implement Title IX regulations and guidance in schools across the country. Anne earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Gender Studies from Davidson College and a master’s degree in public policy from George Mason University where she was a member of Pi Alpha Alpha. Anne joined CCAoA in September 2019.

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