Washington Post

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced Thursday that New Mexico will cover the costs of child care for most residents through June 2023. The benefit, which covers families earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, makes New Mexico the first state to offer no-cost care to such a broad range of incomes, officials said.

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) will lead Provider Appreciation Day® on May 6 to recognize and celebrate the efforts of child care providers across the country. 

Provider Appreciation Day® is celebrated the Friday before Mother’s Day every year to recognize child care providers, teachers and other educators of young children everywhere. CCAoA convenes Provider Appreciation Day® each year to amplify our nation’s collective gratitude for those who support the social, emotional and physical care of our youngest children. 

 “Child care providers were ‘essential’ long before the pandemic. They keep our children safe, nurture their curiosity and prepare them for a lifetime of learning and growth,” said Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., CEO of CCAoA. “Together with our network of Child Care Resource and Referral agencies, nonprofit and business partners, we invite you to join us in thanking and celebrating child care providers across the nation.” 

Early Learning Nation

Child Care Aware of America’s Symposium brings together individuals from across the country to discuss research, policy and practices related to the early child care and education community. Taking place May 1-4 in Arlington, Va., this year’s four-day event offers opportunities to connect with thought leaders, Congressional staff and early education professionals from across the nation.

Early Learning Nation asked participants and speakers, What does the symposium theme Unite/Disrupt/Transform mean to you? 

Read the full article.

The American Prospect

Clark’s grant is part of $39 billion in funding that the ARP sent to the child care sector in stabilization grants to keep programs from going under. The money has done precisely what it promised, keeping providers’ doors open and children enrolled. But it also did something else: It served as a test run for what it would look like if the federal government decided to make a substantial, ongoing investment in child care and early-childhood education. And it proved that such an investment would work.

On top of that, many states, controlled by both Democrats and Republicans, are putting the ARP child care funds toward the kinds of investments that Democrats had envisioned in the original Build Back Better package.

“That tells us there is an opening for additional resources that support those kind of policy changes,” said Anne Hedgepeth, deputy chief of policy at Child Care Aware of America.

Many states and providers put the grants toward higher compensation to try to solve the staffing issue, but when the money dries up, providers will once again be strapped to pay their teachers competitively. That will mean the return of wait lists and classroom closures. “We’ll see programs having to shutter their doors,” Hedgepeth said. Providers will have no choice but to keep increasing prices on already-stretched families.

“Every state will have now managed a robust grant program in their child care systems where they reached thousands of programs and providers,” Hedgepeth said. The kind of investment that would have been made through Build Back Better “really lends itself to leveraging the systems that have been built under the American Rescue Plan Act funding.”

Read the full article.

U.S. News & World Report

Child care is one of the biggest expenses for working parents. In over half of states, full-time care for an infant costs more than college tuition, according to Child Care Aware of America, an organization that advocates for more affordable child care. But costs vary hugely depending on where you are in the country, from around $5,400 a year to take care of a 4-year-old in Mississippi to almost $17,000 a year in Massachusetts.

uh-PARENT-ly podcast (WGN Radio/Chicago)

Dr. Lynette Fraga, CEO of Child Care Aware, joins uh-PARENT-ly hosts Tracy Weiner and Anne Johnsos to talk about what quality childcare looks like and why everyone should care about quality of and access to services.

Listen to the podcast

The Hill

Op-ed by Mario Cardona, Chief of Policy & Practice at Child Care Aware of America and Denise Forte, interim CEO at The Education Trust, an advocate for the high academic achievement of all students, particularly those of color or living in poverty. 

The truth is that our system of child care has historically overlooked and marginalized people of color, indigenous communities, rural communities, shift workers, differently-abled children, infants and toddlers and immigrant families.

It is past time that those of us involved in justice work strive with a common purpose to build a more affordable, accessible, high-quality system of early learning. That effort is inexorably bound to making advancements toward, at minimum, racial justice, gender equity and disability rights. The principles released by the Leadership Conference are an important step, as it guides advocacy on federal activity. 

Read the full op-ed. 

 Child Care Aware^® of America’s 2022 Symposium on May 1-4 in Arlington, Virginia, will bring together Child Care Resource and Referral professionals, child care providers, parents, policymakers, funders and the business community to tackle complex issues and strategize ways to transform the child care system during this pivotal moment. 

Featured speakers will include Indra K. Nooyi, who served as CEO and chairman of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2019 and is one of the world’s most sought-after advisors to entrepreneurs, executives and governments. She is also revered as a role model for women and immigrants, and celebrated for her empowering messages on inclusivity. 

The symposium will also feature Ai-jen Poo, a next-generation labor leader, award-winning organizer, author and a leading voice in the women’s movement. She is the Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Director of Caring Across Generations, Co-Founder of SuperMajority and a Trustee of the Ford Foundation. 

The symposium will include tracks on:  

• Innovative Programs and Practices 
• Transforming Child Care Through Data, Research and Policy 
• The Business of Child Care 
• Transforming Child Care Into an Equitable System 

It will also include an Advocacy Day, giving participants an opportunity to meet with their elected officials’ offices to share critical on-the-ground perspectives from the child care field that will help inform long-term investments in federal child care funding. 

For more information and to register: https://hubs.li/Q016TVdB0 

The Hechinger Report

Op-ed by CCAoA CEO Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D. and Dr. Renée Boynton-Jarrett, a pediatrician and social epidemiologist, an associate professor at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, and Vice President of CCAoA's Board of Directors.

Who will care for our nation’s children as we seek to recover economically?

Our parents, early learning providers and program administrators are overwhelmed, overburdened and under-resourced, and our kids are feeling the impact. Cumulatively, this puts the mental health of all at stake.

Too many parents also struggle to pay for child care. Children get the care their parents can afford, and the costs rival those of in-state college tuition. All the while, early educators manage the costs of providing care through low wages and strained working conditions. Quality suffers.

We must transform our approach to child care and early childhood education.

Read the full op-ed.

Child Care Aware of America joined the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, along with 45 civil rights and education organizations, to release Civil Rights Principles for Early Care and Education on March 9. The principles outline how decision makers at all levels can ensure an education system that offers meaningful equal opportunity and success for all children, especially those who have been historically marginalized.

"CCAoA is proud to have contributed to the development of these Civil Rights Principles for Early Care and Education," said Mario Cardona, CCAoA Chief of Policy and Practice. "They identify fundamental elements of early learning that protect civil rights and advance equity for children, families, staff and providers."

CCAoA is the first organization focused on child care to become a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. 

Learn more about the Civil Rights Principles for Early Care and Education.