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FFYF’s 2022 Child Care & Early Learning State Fact Sheets
Our analysis of all 50 states and Washington, D.C. shows that the existing patchwork of federal and state early learning and care programs only reaches a fraction of income-eligible families. Federal …

ZERO TO THREE Releases State of Babies 2022 Yearbook
ZERO TO THREE released the State of Babies Yearbook: 2022, an in-depth report on how state and federal policies, along with the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, have impacted …
Federal Legislation Impacting Early Childhood Education Due for Reauthorization
The table that follows outlines federal early childhood programs that have expired or will expire during the 117th Congress (2021-2022), and that fall within the jurisdiction of the Senate Health, …

Administration Expands Eligibility Criteria for Head Start Programs
Big news for young children and their families! On April 21st, the Office of Head Start (OHS) announced it would expand categorical eligibility to include children who qualify for the …

FFYF Co-Hosts Congressional Briefing Highlighting Importance of Federal ECE Funding
On Thursday, First Five Years Fund (FFYF), together with the National Head Start Association (NHSA), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and Child Care Aware of …

Appropriations and Budget Reconciliation: Understanding Federal Early Learning & Care Funding Opportunities
Updated March 15, 2022 Each year, millions of low-income children from birth through age five benefit from the array of federal early learning and care programs, including the Child Care …

FY2022 Appropriations Omnibus Includes Increases for Existing Early Learning & Care Programs
Congressional leaders have unveiled a bipartisan FY2022 omnibus government spending package, which includes an increase in critical funding for the core federal early learning and care programs. Each year, millions …

1 in 3 Child Care Workers is Experiencing Food Insecurity
With many of our nation’s child care providers trying to survive on poverty-level salaries, a new analysis has found that 31.2% of a million child care workers – 1 out of every …

On Capitol Hill, Secretaries Cardona & Becerra Emphasize the Long-Term Value of Early Learning Investments
This week, members of Congress on capitol hill elevated the importance of investments in high-quality early learning and care in two hearings featuring Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Health and …

New Guidance Released for Use of ARP Act Supplemental CCDBG Funding
On Friday, the Office of Child Care (OCC) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released guidance on the use of $14.99 billion in supplemental Child Care and …

Advocates Call for Increased FY2022 Appropriations for Early Learning and Care Programs
This week, FFYF and other national early care and education advocacy organizations sent a letter calling on Congress to provide increased funding for federal early learning and care programs, including the Child …