Washington, D.C. – On Sept. 30, federal relief funding for child care expired. In recent years, several states expanded eligibility, improved affordability, and made other changes to their child care policies, funded in part by COVID-19 relief dollars.  

Child Care Aware of America applauds Senate increase in annual appropriations for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), urges Congress to act.  

Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed a $2.3 billion increase for early learning programs. The increase is part of the Fiscal Year 2025 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. As part of the early learning increase, the Act provides $10.35 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) - a $1.6 billion or 18% increase over fiscal year 2024. This funding will help more working families find and afford quality child care programs.  

Child Care Aware® of America applauds the White House for calling on Congress to invest an additional $16 billion in child care stabilization grants over the next year. Proposed funding would bolster the nation’s fragile child care system as current American Rescue Plan Act stabilization grant funding expired at the end of September. Stabilization grants have been critical to helping families return to work and rebuilding the supply of child care to pre-pandemic levels. Grants helped offset fixed costs and raise the wages of the child care workforce beyond the average $14 per hour in what remains a tight labor market.  

Perry joins cohort building intergenerational family prosperity and well-being 

On behalf of the entire Child Care Aware of America team, we offer our sympathies to those who have lost family and friends and wish those who were injured a quick recovery. Our thoughts are with the people of Maui and all of Hawai’i. It is hard to grasp how so many lost their lives, their homes, their livelihoods and so much more.