Womenstake

A Step in the Right Direction for Wisconsin’s Children

by Stephanie Robinson, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

Another state has taken an important step towards high-quality child care through the creation of a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). On June 23, the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee voted to approve appropriations for YoungStar, a QRIS that will rank child care programs on a scale of one to five stars based on a 40-point quality indicator system. These points will be awarded based on education qualifications, learning environment and curriculum, professional practices, and health and well-being. Wisconsin will be the twenty-fourth state with a statewide QRIS.

On the surface, YoungStar might seem just like a restaurant or hotel rating system, serving mainly as an indicator of what to expect from your experience. If this were the case, with a one-star program, you might get a center comparable to a diner or a motel, and if a five-star child care center were a restaurant, you would eat the finest, rarest foods available prepared by the best chefs in the world and served by the best waiters around. However, YoungStar, though it does indicate the quality of the program, is actually a vehicle for improvement, rather than just an indication of status.

Gone in Oregon: Child Care Assistance for Thousands of Families

by Stephanie Robinson, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

A decision made in Oregon on Tuesday will leave over 4,600 low-income parents struggling to afford child care for their children. In a drastic effort to reduce the 2009-2011 state budget deficit, Governor Kulongoski announced that general fund spending will be cut across the board by $577 million. This cut, which will affect child care and other essential programs, will have a very real impact for many families in Oregon trying to make ends meet in this economy.

Until now, Oregon has been able to avoid cuts to its child care assistance program due to state revenue measures and funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Oregon used its ARRA child care funds to maintain child care assistance for low-income families and to retain recent improvements in its policies on parent copayments and reimbursement rates paid to child care providers. However, with ARRA funds expiring and Oregon facing continued budget shortfalls, the state is no longer able to hold off cuts to its child care program. 

More Nutritious Meals Could Be In Store for Young Children

by Stephanie Robinson, Intern,
National Women's Law Center

Over 3 million young children get the majority of their daily nutrition in a child care setting through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). CACFP provides funding to child care centers, family child care homes, Head Start and after-school programs allowing them to offer healthy meals and snacks. Study after study attests to the fact that children who participate in CACFP receive more nutritious food and are healthier. On June 10, Rep. George Miller introduced "The Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act" which includes provisions that would make CACFP an even stronger program.

The bill would do so by revising the nutrition standards for meals and snacks served through CACFP. It would help to reduce paperwork and make it easier for centers and family child care homes to participate and ensure that the children in their programs receive the benefits of CACFP. Finally, it would begin a process of supporting all the meals and snacks that young children need during the day by funding five states to offer a second snack or a dinner to children in child care settings.

In order to make these improvements possible as well as improvements to other critical child nutrition programs, the House of Representatives needs to invest an additional $1 billion a year for the next ten years. Let your Representative know that you support "The Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act" and urge them to provide the funding to ensure that young children receive the sound nutrition they need to grow and thrive.

The ABCs of This Economy: Able Bodied and Child Careless

by Helen Blank, Director, Leadership and Public Policy, 
National Women's Law Center 

It is a simple message: if there is no one to care for their children, parents cannot go to work. A New York Times article recently highlighted the difficult choice many mothers in America are facing. As the recession persists and states make steep budget cuts, child care assistance programs may be among the many crucial programs affected.

Without help in paying for child care, many women—ready and very willing to work—may have no choice but to turn to welfare. Yet welfare is not always a viable option either, given that changes made to the welfare program in 1996 set a lifetime limit of five years for welfare. Those 1996 welfare changes also came with a promise that if women tried to move from welfare to work, they would receive the supports, including child care, they needed to achieve that goal. This promise remains unfulfilled for many women. For those lucky to have found jobs, their paychecks are often smaller than their child care bills. And with states pulling back funding, it is a frightening financial lottery for families needing help with their child care costs.

Lasting Impacts of High-Quality Child Care

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst, 
National Women's Law Center

The latest results from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which has been following 1,364 children since their birth in 1991, show the long-term positive impact of high-quality child care. The study found that at age 15 those who had been in high-quality quality care before age 4 ½ were performing better on academic and cognitive assessments and were less likely to display problem behavior. 

The differences in teens' academic performance and behavior associated with the quality of care they had in their preschool years were relatively small. And the influence of parents and other family members and other factors outweighed the impact of child care. Yet the persistence of those differences related to child care is striking, and children and youth need every extra boost they can get.

The study also found that teens who had spent more time in child care were slightly more likely to display impulsive and risk-taking behavior. This only reinforces the importance of high-quality child care, particularly for children who are in care for long hours.

Child Care: Supporting Moms on Mother’s Day and All Year Round

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst, 
National Women's Law Center

I'm looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day by getting together with my mom and dad and my sister and brother and their families and trying to get my mom to do as little as possible other than enjoying spending time with the family. But I'd like to think that Mother's Day isn't just about taking one day of the year to show appreciation for all our moms do. It should also be a day to think about ways to make it a little easier for our moms, as they try to juggle their uncountable responsibilities, all of the other days of the year.

There’s nothing we can do to make being a mom completely carefree. There are just too many things for them to worry about as they try to make sure their children are safe and happy and support their families in multiple ways, including financially—a particularly challenging task in today’s economy. Yet we can try to lend moms a hand in managing everything. One way to do this is by giving working moms the tools they need to find and afford reliable child care and early education for their children. Dependable child care is essential for enabling a mom to get and keep a job—and, once she's gotten a job, for enabling her to concentrate on her work secure in the knowledge that her children are in good hands.

This Mother's Day, Send More Than Flowers

by Helen Blank, Director, Leadership and Public Policy, 
National Women's Law Center 

Mothers know best. And in this challenging economy, mothers (and non-mothers alike) know that it’s key to keep families earning, and children learning.

On Mother’s Day, send more than flowers ― send a strong message to Congress to support working mothers and families by increasing funds for child care and other early childhood programs.

The Obama Administration’s budget proposal for next year includes important increases in funding for child care, Head Start, and child nutrition programs. These programs serve our most disadvantaged children, enable parents to get and keep a job, and promote good nutrition early in life. (Want to learn more about the importance of these programs? Check out our letter to the Administration.)

Congress must fully fund the President’s budget proposal to ensure that our children, families, and nation reach their full potential. Write to Congress today to make clear the importance of a $1.6 billion increase for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, a $989 million increase for Head Start and Early Head Start, and a $1 billion increase for child nutrition programs.

Hard-working mothers across the country can’t wait. Support moms this Mother’s Day by speaking up for child care and other early childhood programs.

Follow the Child Care Money

by Karen Schulman, Senior Policy Analyst, 
National Women's Law Center

A new report from NWLC highlights the ways in which states are using $2 billion in additional child care funds available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to make a difference for children and families. 

NWLC’s report, Supporting State Child Care Efforts with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds, offers numerous examples of how these funds are enabling many states to maintain and expand families’ access to child care assistance as well as to invest in initiatives to improve the quality of care. In these tough economic times, the additional funding for child care has also helped save and create jobs—for the parents who have been able to work because they have reliable child care, for the child care providers who have been able to maintain enrollment in their programs, and for the trainers, specialists, and other individuals employed to help improve the availability and quality of child care.

Update on the Early Learning Challenge Fund

by Helen Blank, Director, Leadership and Public Policy, 
National Women's Law Center 

Over 30 years ago, I started advocating for child care, determined to make a difference in the lives of low-income children and women. Like all advocates, I've seen wins — and I've seen losses. We had one of the latter this week.

But I'm not giving up. And neither should you. 

Unfortunately, the Early Learning Challenge Fund, an initiative that would have challenged states to create a new framework for our early childhood system, has been dropped from a bill that would make major changes in the student loan system. The student loan legislation will be attached to the health reform bill likely to be voted on by Congress in the next few days.

So what happened?

Make it a Point to March Forth for Child Care and Head Start!

by Rio Romero, Program Assistant,
National Women's Law Center

From California all the way to Vermont, advocates across the nation will band together today to March Forth for Child Care and Head Start by contacting their Members of Congress and encouraging them to support increased investments in early childhood programs. In these challenging times, such investments are more crucial than ever in helping families gain stability in their work and everyday lives. 

Early childhood advocates, child care providers, and community leaders are uniting their voices to let Congress know that supporting key early childhood programs such as the Child Care and Development Block Grant, Head Start/Early Head Start, and child nutrition, keeps families earning and children learning. The President’s FY 2011 budget proposal includes a $1.6 billion increase in funding for CCDBG, the largest increase in the program’s history, and a $989 million increase in funding for Head Start/Early Head Start, which would enable 65,000 more children to be served in Head Start and almost double the number of children enrolled in Early Head Start. The budget proposal also calls for a $1 billion increase in funding for child nutrition.