Congress pushes Secretary Azar for national child care assessment

Advocacy & Communication Solutions knows all too well the importance of high-quality early learning and child care.  ACS works closely with several clients on a local, state and national level to help improve the quality of education and care for children. Recently, First Five Years Fund reported on a letter that members of Congress sent to Secretary Azar calling for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to use existing Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) research funds to conduct a national needs assessment of early learning and child care facilities.

The letter highlights the significance of hiqh-quality and developmentally appropriate child care environments in the physical, behavioral, and cognitive development of young children. In 2017, 1.32 million children were in a child care program funded by CCDBG. After extended periods of underinvestment in facilities, however, spaces where these children receive care can deteriorate over time, creating potentially low-quality and even unsafe environments. The letter urges HHS to dedicate a portion of existing federal CCDBG research funding to conduct a national assessment of the condition of child care facilities, including center-based and family child care settings, with a formal report to Congress on the results of the assessment by September 1, 2021.

To learn more about ACS successes with early childhood clients like PRE4CLE and Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services and ACS’ expertise in early childhood education, see the case studies and resources by clicking here.