New York Times

This guide was originally published on July 29, 2019 and republished on April 17, 2020.

Finding child care is a huge challenge for most working parents in the United States. The cost of child care, whether in day-care centers or home-based day cares, continues to rise: For a family with two working parents, the cost of a day-care center for one infant averages more than 13 percent of the household’s income, according to a 2018 report by Child Care Aware.

Consider contacting a child care resource and referral agency, which can help you decipher accreditation and licensing requirements, quality ratings and other child-care center policies. 

They are “one of the best kept secrets for selecting child care and navigating the system,” said Michelle Noth McCready, deputy executive director for Child Care Aware, a membership organization that works with local resource and referral agencies. “You can talk to a live person who is knowledgeable about the child care landscape in your community.”

Child Care Aware has checklists of questions to ask and resources to consider for parents seeking child care.

Read the full article.

WEKU (NPR/Central & Eastern Kentucky)

COVID-19 shutters child care centers. Lynette Fraga of Child Care Aware of America discusses the consequences.

Listen to the interview

Today, Senators Warren and Smith announced a $50 billion-dollar plan to save child care in America. Dr. Lynette Fraga, Ph.D., Executive Director of Child Care Aware of America--the leading voice for child care-- released the following statement:

“Child care is essential and the system needs support. We are grateful to Senators Warren and Smith for amplifying the stories and challenges we’re seeing and hearing in communities across the country. 

Their plan identifies key principles for child care relief – support for emergency and essential workers, support for providers and educators, and investment in the future of the system. All of these are critical elements, and without robust, dedicated funding toward these principles, the system will suffer even more than it already is.

As federal and state governments deliberate when and how to reopen the country, we must address the needs of our parents, children and child care workers as prerequisites to reigniting our economy.”

WDET (NPR/Detroit)

While health care workers are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19, who’s taking care of their children?

A Yale University study shows almost 3.5 million children of people who work in the American health care industry need some kind of child care while their parents are at work. The report also shows there are about 1.3 million employed child care providers, not including teachers and other education specialists.

Congress recently approved $3.5 billion dollars to shore up the child care system during the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s going to take a lot more than that, according to the nonprofit advocacy group Child Care Aware of America.

Listen to the interview with Lynette Fraga, Executive Director of CCAoA

New York Times

Despite widespread closures of just about everything because of the Covid-19 pandemic, many day care facilities remain open around the United States — either for all children or just for children of essential workers.

Regulations for child care facilities vary by state, said Dr. Lynette Fraga, Ph.D., executive director of Child Care Aware of America, a nonprofit advocacy group. And like everything else related to Covid-19, rules are evolving rapidly. “It’s really changing, sometimes hourly,” Dr. Fraga said.

Read the full article

WUSA-9 (CBS/Washington, DC)

Dr. Lynette Fraga with Child Care Aware of America shares some statistics and support for child care for essential employees.

Watch the video

Associated Press

With schools and many day care centers closed, states, local governments and philanthropists are scrambling to free up parents who are medical workers, emergency responders and others needed on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

“We have historically not had the infrastructure and supply of child care available to families at an affordable cost prior to the pandemic,” said Lynette Fraga, executive director of advocacy group Child Care Aware of America. For essential workers, she said: “The inability to find that care is exacerbated as the result of the times we find ourselves in.”

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Child Care Aware® of America Calls Federal Stimulus Support for Child Care a “Down Payment” and Urges More Funding to Serve Essential Workers   

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2020 — Child Care Aware® of America released the following statement in response to the latest federal stimulus package:  

“Congress has begun to acknowledge the essential role that child care plays during this public health emergency. This down payment of $3.5 billion, if distributed quickly, will provide much-needed help to the child care system in the short term. In particular, we know that this support can make a difference for the Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies across the country that are working overtime to support the families of emergency and essential workers, the child care providers who are dealing with decisions to close or stay open, and the rapidly adapting system. 

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) has partnered with Yale University Professors Walter Gilliam and Eli Fenichel and their colleagues to promote and disseminate a new interactive map that estimates the child care needs of essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The map shows that health care workers in the U.S. have over 3.5 million children. These children need care in order for health care workers to respond to COVID-19, but 2.3 million of these children have no obvious child care providers available in the home.   

Additionally, CCAoA will be offering technical assistance and collateral content that will support child care providers, local, state, and national entities responsible for child care planning, advocacy partners and policymakers. 

Families and field professionals shared accounts that can influence strategies for child care system professionals to meet and engage with families more effectively and efficiently.

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Child Care Aware^® of America (CCAoA) released Family Voices Driving Quality Child Care Choices, a report on findings and recommendations from a survey of families on the contemporary child care needs of diverse, vulnerable, underserved families and clarifies where they turn, both in-person and online, to meet their child care information needs. Choosing child care is one of the most difficult decisions families make. Families and field professionals shared with CCAoA in focus groups, an online parent poll and key informant interviews, accounts that can influence strategies for child care system professionals to meet and engage with families more effectively and efficiently.