Child Care and Development Block Grant by Adam Tratt

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Slide Notes

In my home state of Washington, a woman named Janelle is a single mom living in southeast Seattle. Janelle was looking for opportunities to better support her family.

But before she could go back to school or participate in a job training program to advance her career, she first needed to find affordable child care for two of her children.

Thankfully, with assistance from Child Care and Development Block Grants, she was able to get subsidies to help cover the cost.

Janelle now works part-time and is attending school to become a surgical tech.

That federal grant program expands opportunities to parents like Janelle, and many more families across the country, by helping with the cost of child care.

And that’s why today, I’m calling on all of my colleagues to support the Child Care and Development Block Grant reauthorization.

Child Care and Development Block Grant

Published on Nov 05, 2015

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT

NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT

Photo by Joint Base Lewis McChord

THE COST OF CHILDCARE HAS SOARED

The cost of child care has soared in recent decades.

The Census Bureau found that child care costs have nearly doubled since the mid-1980s.

And that high cost hits low-income families especially hard.

THE COST IS HIGH FOR WORKING FAMILIES

For working families living below the poverty line, the cost of child care can eat up more than 30 percent of their monthly income.

For single parents, with only one income, it’s an even bigger burden.

LOW-INCOME PARENTS CAN GET STUCK

When low-income parents don’t have access to reliable and affordable child care, they can’t work.

They can’t go back to school. They can’t advance their skills with job training. They are stuck.

This is particularly problematic for women.

Women are more likely than men to cut back their hours at work, or quit their jobs altogether, so they can take care of their children.

In the long run, that puts women on an uneven playing field with their male counterparts, both in terms of earnings, and opportunities to advance in the workplace.

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WE NEED TO BREAK DOWN THESE BARRIERS

We need to break down these barriers.

We need to ensure working doesn’t become cost prohibitive for parents.

We need to strengthen access for low-income families to get affordable and quality child care.

The bipartisan Child Care and Development Block Grant Act is part of that solution.

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JANELLE: ATTENDING SCHOOL TO BECOME A SURGICAL TECH

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STAR: ATTENDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE AN HOUR AWAY FROM HOME

That’s helped a single mom named Star who lives in Skagit county in Washington state.

Star wants to advance her skills to help support her family.

With this assistance, she’s able to go to community college an hour away from her home, knowing her kids have a reliable child-care program to attend.

There is nothing more important to a parent than the safety and well-being of their children.

Reauthorizing this bill will help ensure that parents like Star can feel comfortable when they have to leave their children to attend work or school.

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EDWARD AND CONSTANCE: WORKING TO IMPROVE THEIR SITUATION

In Washington, a couple named Edward and Constance are struggling to make ends meet on a very low income.

But they are working and studying to make sure that times won’t always be so tough.

Because of child care assistance with this grant money, Edward works full time. And when Constance isn’t working at her part-time job, she’s training to become a dental assistant.

Supporting these parents, and helping their kids attend a safe, quality child care program, are what these grants are all about.

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BY THE NUMBERS

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed this grant program, as we know it, into law.

And today, it helps 1.6 million kids attend child care.

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PLEASE JOIN SENATOR PATTY MURRAY AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

For this reason, I have called upon my colleagues in the Senate to support the Childcare Development and Support Block grant--for moms wanting to re-enter the labor force, for the parents studying and working hard to support their families, for children who deserve the quality care and attention they need early in life-- let’s expand opportunities to more families by ensuring they can access child care.

Photo by Bread for the World