Advocate
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2023: A Year in Review
2023 was a big year for child care and early learning! Together, we urged Congress to prioritize the funding and policies that strengthen child care and early learning with: Thank …
How States Are Using PDG B-5 Grants to Support Career Pathways
The BUILD Initiative, ZERO TO THREE, and Start Early, recently released a new brief highlighting the strategies states are using to improve career pathways in their Preschool Development Grant Birth …
Recent Bills Offer Needed Updates to Child Care Food Assistance Program
Having access to nutritious food is essential to children’s healthy growth and development, and children in full-time care need multiple meals and snacks throughout the day. With the cost of …
Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children With Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs
The Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released the strongest policy statement on the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs to date. …
Understanding the Difference Between the Child Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit — and Why We Need Both
Child care is not a luxury for American families – it’s a necessity. Yet the high costs associated with quality child care are rapidly out-pacing most other expenses faced by …
FFYF Capsule Collection: Appropriations and Child Care
What Are Appropriations? In A Nutshell Even with growing support from states, businesses and philanthropy, federal funding makes up the majority of investment in child care and early learning in …
The First Five Things to Know About: Representative Joaquin Castro
As part of an ongoing series on the Bipartisan Child Care and PreK Caucus, First Five Years Fund is chatting with each of the co-chairs about their role as a …
New Report shows Skyrocketing Cost of Child Care
A new report from Bank of America has found that parents’ average child care payments are up a whopping 32% from 2019 – higher than the rate of inflation. First …
Highlights from Senate Appropriations hearing on White House FY24 request
On Wednesday, November 8, the Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing to discuss President Biden’s FY24 supplemental funding request. As part of the three-hour hearing, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas …
New Rural Child Care Policy Framework
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) recently released a Rural Child Care Policy Framework, which outlines core challenges families living in rural areas face when accessing child care, including a lack …
Annual Roadmap Highlights State Policies to Support Infants & Toddlers
The first three years of children’s lives are a critical period for their development. State policy choices that impact young children and their families during pregnancy and these early years …
The Crucial Role of Early Educators and the Need for Increased Compensation
Early educators are underpaid and undervalued for the challenging and important work they do. When determining what factors make an early care and education (ECE) program high quality, it’s the …
