Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) today announced that Mario Cardona is joining CCAoA on January 4, 2021, as its new Chief of Policy and Practice.  

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) welcomes five new Board members and four new Board officers who will assume their positions in January 2021.    

This week, President-elect Joe Biden announced the nomination of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., CEO of Child Care Aware® of America—the nation’s leading voice for child care—released the following statement: 

Child Care Aware® of America is pleased to see California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a leader with a track record in support of child care and early learning, nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. If confirmed, he would be the first Latino to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We look forward to more closely examining his record and urge the Senate to quickly consider his nomination to ensure that the country has a leader at the helm of one of our most critical agencies during this time of crisis. 

Report finds that 35% of centers and 21% of family child care programs remain closed nationwide

Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) today released a new report and interactive website on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on child care access, affordability and quality.  

The report, titled Picking Up the Pieces: Building a Better Child Care System Post COVID-19, combines CCAoA’s annual High Price of Child Care report and State Fact Sheets for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., into one report along with additional data gathered from Child Care Resource and Referral agencies and other sources as recently as July 2020. 

The report features information about CCAoA’s new Child Care Data Center that includes additional child care data and stories for six pilot states: Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. 

As states begin to reopen and parents start heading back to work, many are wondering if it’s safe to send their child to a child care program. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidelines for reopening child care, schools, and businesses, but child care providers need personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies, guidance from Child Care Resource and Referral agencies, and financial support to be able to implement these guidelines.  
 
To help parents make child care decisions during the pandemic, we created a Top 5 list of questions for parents to ask about child care health and safety, based in part on the CDC’s guidelines. For more details, see our blog post and fact sheet.  

1. What happens if an enrolled child or staff member gets sick with COVID-19? How will you communicate with families if this happens and will the program close?  
2. What social/physical distancing measures are you taking in your child care program to mitigate the spread of COVID-19? 
3. Will my child need to wear a face covering when he/she is in child care? 
4. How will drop off and pick up procedures change? 
5. Under what circumstances will I be able to enter the child care program? 
   

Child Care Aware® of America is pleased to announce a partnership with the international humanitarian organization CARE® USA to bring CARE Packages® to child care providers who are caring for the children of those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. At this time, the effort is focused on 10 states that are especially hard hit. We know that providers are having a difficult time right now finding supplies and keeping their doors open.

National poll from Save the Children Action Network and Child Care Aware® of America shows 87 percent of Americans support federal funding to help child care centers pay staff and rent

Today, Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) and Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) announced the results of a national survey that identified registered voters’ overwhelming support for federal funding to address the worsening child care crisis as a result of COVID-19. This groundbreaking poll, commissioned by SCAN and CCAoA, highlights the child care industry’s vital importance to American families and the American economy. 

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.”

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.