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Appropriations

Overview

Child care is expensive, and there’s a massive difference between what providers need to charge to keep doors open and what parents can afford. Each year, Congress allocates federal funding which serves as the foundation for early learning and child care programs in all 50 states. 

This funding increases child care and early learning options for parents and families through a variety of federal programs, including: CCDBG, Head Start and Early Head Start, PDG B-5, and more. These programs benefit families, businesses, and local economies in all 50 states. Stable federal funding is essential to keeping child care services strong while helping more parents afford the care they need to go to work.

While federal investments for early learning and care have garnered strong bipartisan support for years, current federal investments only reach a fraction of income-eligible families. Congress must continue to support working families by protecting and prioritizing federal funding for early learning and child care programs. 

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Resources

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ABCs of Federal Early Learning and Child Care Funding Streams

March 5, 2024

Every year, millions of children who range in age from birth through five benefit from an array of federal early learning and care programs. While there are different early learning …

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FFYF Capsule Collection: Appropriations and Child Care

December 1, 2023

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 …

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Funding for Key Early Learning Programs, FY2024

November 20, 2023

For FY2025 funding levels, please reference our newer “Funding for Key Early Learning Programs, FY2025” chart. Each year, Congress determines funding levels for all of the federal defense and non-defense …

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updates

News

FFYF Statement on Child Care, Early Learning in President’s FY25 Budget

March 13, 2024

WASHINGTON – Earlier this week, the White House released details of President Biden’s FY2025 budget request to Congress, which includes discretionary funding for many of the federal early learning programs …

News

STATEMENT: FFYF Executive Director Sarah Rittling on Senate Markup of FY24 Funding Levels for Child Care and Early Learning Programs

July 27, 2023

WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate Committee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a bipartisan mark up on proposed funding levels for child care and early …

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