The cost of raising a child in America, now higher than most state college tuition fees, has been a bone of contention for years now. The costs now eat up 30% of a minimum wage earner’s pay.

Child care has become the source of thoughtful discussions around dinner tables, with the search for a solution still ongoing.

That said, America’s child care crisis is more profound than its unaffordability. A combination of the lack of awareness, standards, regulations, and frameworks come together to make childcare in America the problem that it is today.

The government, as a result, has created several initiatives to lessen the burden on your back as a parent, guardian, or caregiver. Unfortunately, many parents are oblivious of these programs and initiatives that were explicitly designed to help them.

What are Childcare Initiatives?

In November 2014, a bipartisan effort saw the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG) of 1990. This reauthorization would mandate changes to the federal child care program and was the first significant change since 1996.
A child care initiative is a drive by the federal government with the help of state governments together with private grants. It aims to make childcare and information about childcare affordable and available to more Americans.
These initiatives go beyond affordability, taking a more holistic approach. This approach includes initiatives such as raising awareness, public education, and preparedness.

1. Childcare.gov

Largely due to the difficulty of finding information and due to the complexity of the programs, only 15% of eligible mothers receive subsidies from government programs. This means that 85% of kids are missing out, and the lack of a centralized point of information is partly to blame.

One of the main aims of the CCDBG was to develop a child care website that would serve as a source for the dissemination of reliable information on childcare.

This website is called Childcare.gov and is one of the main channels for communication between federal and state agencies and the general public.

From the website, you can access:

Child Care Assistance Programs

Child care costs $11,000 a year per child, and not many parents can afford that for one, let alone multiple kids. This website provides you with information about your state and federal-based programs that can help alleviate the burden of child care.

Some of the programs you can access from this page include state-funded pre-kindergarten, Head Start and Early Head Start, child care subsidies, and military fee assistance programs.

Financial Assistance for families

Issues with child care always go in hand with other financial issues that affect these families. From this page, you can get information about your state and federal financial assistance programs.

Some of the assistance programs on this page include Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Child protective services

This page helps you report child abuse or neglect. It contains information about the toll-free lines in each state and the national abuse hotline (1-800-422-2253), which is available 24/7.

Child support enforcement

Child support issues are a significant cause of child care difficulties in America. If one parent doesn’t hold their end, chances of the other parent affording health care reduce significantly.

From the Childcare.gov website, you get contact information about family law in your state from where you can get further assistance.

Childcare.gov is a partnership between the Office of Childcare and state childcare agencies. The website will help link you to your local and state childcare services and find safe, quality services by zip code.

2. Emergency Preparedness

Children make the most vulnerable group during disasters and emergencies. That said, if we’ve learned anything from the covid pandemic, preparedness is more important than ever.

That said, states cannot afford first to have a childcare emergency for them to start planning and taking action.

Some of the actions the CCDBDG mandates states to take include developing a statewide child care disaster plan with key partners. Some of the issues this state plan should solve include:

• Evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, and lockdown procedures
• Procedures that deal with communication and unification of separated families
• Guidelines on the continuity of operations
• Policies dealing with the accommodation of infants, toddlers, and kids coping with disability

Beyond that, states must also develop protocols and guidelines for preparedness training and practice drills.

True to this, the 2014 reauthorization of the 1990 CCDBG set out to create precautionary measures to protect children in case of an emergency.

This initiative led to the creation of a library with resources that help caregivers and grantees with emergency preparedness knowledge and insight.

3. Consumer Education

Unfortunately, the focus on the quantity of childcare and its availability risks ignoring another potential issue — its affordability.

The temptation to loosen standards, regulations, and compensation of preschool teachers to increase the number of caregivers has been strong. On that premise, the government set standards and frameworks to ensure that this expansion doesn’t compromise on quality.

CCDBG, Consumer Education and Standards Control

The 2014 reauthorization of the CCDBG mandated a consumer education initiative to empower parents, guardians, and caregivers and bring them on the same page.

As a result, this led to the creation of a consumer education website for early education that equips states with a framework that they can use to enforce and improve consumer education.

Some of the requirements that the reauthorization requires states to take include:

• Contact information for referrals to local child care resources and referral organization
• Aggregate reporting of deaths, serious injuries, and instances of child abuse that occurred in child care settings
• Date of the last inspection
• Three years monitoring data of all licensed childcare providers
• Every state should run a website and a localized searchable list of all licensed child care providers by Zip-code.

Consumer education is designed to help parents access information that helps them make informed childcare choices and to strengthen requirements to protect the health and safety of children in childcare.

By empowering the consumer, they are in a better position to choose better childcare providers, hence creating incentives and competition for providers to do better/

4. Early Childhood Health

The Abecedarian Project, one of the most critical studies on the effect of early childhood education, finds that attending preschool has a long-lasting impact on a child’s life. This ranges from aspects such as academic performance, career development, and most importantly, health outcomes.

Respecting the impact of early childhood health on a child’s life, the reauthorization doubled down on making early childhood education affordable and reachable.

It does this by providing funding to states that subsidize childcare for low-income families and children below 13.

The CCDBG focuses on this because:

• Many states are underfunded, having enough infant-toddler childcare for only 1 in 5 children. The act requires states to spend a minimum of 3% of their budgets on childcare.
• Mandates that states implement early learning guidelines that describe growth expectations for children in different levels of development
• Includes provision on socio-emotional health of kids, including reasons for permanent suspension
• Stronger regulations and rules on how to open a daycare center

It’s important to note that the experience that kids have in their early days impact them for the rest of their lives.

5. Native Tribes

Due to the diversity of our nation, a one-size-fits-all approach is not sufficient to assure all American children of access to quality childcare.

The reauthorization of the 1990 CCBDG in 2012 embraced the diversity of children in America and optimized a funding channel for native American tribes.

Statistics show that Native American tribes have:

• 8.4% higher poverty rates for youth under the age of 18
• The highest national rate of child abuse and neglect
• A four-point higher infant mortality rate than the national average
• A 12 % higher food insecurity rate for households with children
• A 1.5% higher teenage birth rate compared to the national average

The CCDBG mandate that states should reserve at least 2% of their allocation for native tribes. This includes more than 450 recognized native tribes that will access these funds directly through a consortium.

6. Provider Payment Practices

The happier and satisfied childcare providers are, the better the quality of childcare overall. Overworked, underpaid, and unmotivated child care providers are unable to provide children with the love and care they need.

Recognizing this, the CCDBG reauthorization mandates that states establish policies that protect providers from exploitation. These policies include mandating absence days and timely reimbursement.

Above that, states must also work to increase the accessibility of childcare facilities and employees in underserved communities.

FIND CHILD CARE NEAR ME

Need Help With Childcare?

Juggling between jobs and taking care of children can be an overwhelming experience. Here at Wonderschool, we’ve spent the last decades developing systems and building the capacity to help parents with their childcare.

We, like you, believe that children deserve the best we can give them. Many times, that “best” is Wonderschool. Contact us today to make us part of your story, and our teams will be more than willing to help.