WASHINGTON — Key child care legislation has passed the Senate, but still must win approval in the U.S. House. If the bill makes it to President Barack Obama’s desk, it will mark a significant step in efforts to improve early childhood education and child care services.
The passage of the Child Care Development Block Grant Act of 2014 in the Senate earlier this month was the most recent action taken in early childhood development nationally. Other bills are also moving through Congress and state legislatures.
The Senate bill does not specify funding, but would authorize money to be distributed through 2019. Current funding for the program is $2.36 billion and new money must be appropriated.
Under the bill, states would have to conduct annual inspections of child care providers to assess quality of care, be required to explain how they would meet the needs of children with disabilities and require background checks for child care providers. The block grant also promises funding to meet nutritional and safety guidelines that would help teach children good nutritional habits early on.
Additionally, the Senate-passed bill seeks to assure that child-care options will be there for low-income families and does not penalize in cases where a parent’s income rises during the time of care.
“Now parents can… choose to work overtime and not be penalized because of a snapshot in their income where they lose a child care credit because of a bump up temporarily in income,” Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said at a recent news conference.
The importance of child care and early childhood education has been a focus of many legislators this year. Statistics of children in early care and other programs show that quality programs have positive effects on kids later in life.
According to the U.S. census, in 2011 nearly 33 percent of children under the age of five were in some kind of care, other than that offered by relatives. And more than 35 percent of children with working moms are in some kind of early child care center.
Studies such as one conducted by the Brookings Institution in 2008 found that early childhood pre-K increased the reading and math skills of the toddlers involved.
Federal block grants go to states in lump sums of money. States have some discretion on how the dollars are used — within the parameters of a few federal guidelines.
The bipartisan Senate bill was co-authored by Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn, and Sen. Burr. Those senators have all served on committee related to education and family issues.
Previous attempts to update the child care law were thwarted after being linked to other more controversial measures, including amendments to finance fatherhood initiatives and abstinence education.
This affirmative Senate vote is one of many efforts to improve childhood education and care nationally.
A few weeks ago, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a report outlining how public school principals and community-based groups are working together in a bid to create 29,000 new slots in pre-K programs for New York’s four-year-olds.
“New York City’s universal pre-k plan, at its core, is about ensuring all children across the city have access to high quality full-day pre-k,” the mayor’s report says. “Quality is essential and non-negotiable.”
Congress is also looking at other childhood education legislation and President Barack Obama talked about the issue in his State of the Union address.
The Strong Start For America’s Children Act, co-authored by Sen. Harkin, and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif, is a focus of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The panel plans to have the bill ready for action by Memorial Day.
This bill would create preschool programs for low-income families, expand Early Head Start to more child care facilities and provide money for training for child care providers.
In a February committee meeting, Harkin stressed that improved teacher education and early education programs would cost more money.
This renewed focus on kids’ issues comes a month after Congress passed a spending bill that outlines the funding for the rest of fiscal year 2014. Early Head Start programs were allotted $500 million dollars alone.
In February, a Government Accountability Office report questioned how early childhood education and care funds were being spent. The report highlighted that of the 45 child care and education programs currently being funded through the federal government, only 12 have the explicit purpose of focusing on education. The other programs offered education as an extension of the care they provided.
