Start your week with a phone call for child care!

We are certainly in for some changes in the next session of Congress. But let's not let the sitting Congress off the hook just yet. They're in their offices today, making decisions about what is important enough to move before they leave for the holidays. I think child care rises to that level of importance - don't you?! Here's the call to action from the National Women's Law Center , the Early Care and Education Consortium, NAEYC, the Center for Law and Social Policy, and other national organizations:

300,000 children could lose child care and Head Start if you don't call today!

Congress is back in Washington today and has limited time to do some important work: ensure that funding is not cut for child care and Head Start before the end of the year. Watch this video and share it with your friends and coworkers! Then, call Congress!! As many as to 300,000 children shouldn't be dropped from child care and Head Start, and we need to create the Early Learning Challenge Fund to encourage states to do even better for young children and families.
Congress is considering appropriations bills that could go backwards in spending for child care and Head Start, and would lose the Early Learning Challenge Fund. Tell Congress to move forward and fund the Child Care and Development Block Grant, Head Start, and the Early Learning Challenge Fund.

Quick Tips for your Call to Congress!
1. Call 1-888-460-0813

2. The first person to answer the phone will be an operator who will ask how you want to be connected. Tell the operator the name of your Member of Congress. (Not sure? Look it up here.)

3. Once you are connected to the office of your Member of Congress, a staff person will answer the phone. Tell the staff person:

• My name is (name) and I am calling from (city, state) and I am (your role - a parent, a voter, a child care director, a Head Start teacher, etc.).
• Don’t drop 300,000 children from child care and Head Start. Make sure that continued funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start is NOT REDUCED in the appropriations bill and that the Early Learning Challenge Fund is included.
• We are counting on you here in (state). Thank you.

4. Then, hang up and ask five friends or coworkers to make a call as well.

Thank you for taking five minutes to do this! It will make a world of difference to 300,000 kids and their working families!

Update on Federal Early Childhood Funding

Hi everyone! Got this great news yesterday from Danielle Ewen at the Center for Law and Social Policy, so I thought I would share!

Earlier today, the Senate Labor, Health, and Human Services Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations presented their plan for FY 2011 funding for agencies under their jurisdiction. The Committee made significant investments in early childhood programs, including $1 billion in new funds for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, an increase of $990.3 million for Head Start and Early Head Start, and $300 million for a new Early Learning Challenge Fund. These amounts exceed the House Subcommittee allocations earlier this month, and are higher than the President’s request.

Chairman Harkin highlighted the importance of these programs even in these difficult times in his opening statement:

“This is a period of great economic uncertainty for our nation,” said Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee. “Although the economy is expanding again, far too many Americans still can’t find a job, and the threat of a double-dip recession looms large. In the longer term, the national debt continues to rise to dangerous levels. As the largest nondefense Appropriations bill that Congress will consider this year, the Labor-HHS bill must respond to both of these challenges, addressing today’s hard economic realities while taking every possible opportunity to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse so as to reduce the deficit in the long run.

“Three priorities permeate this bill,” Harkin continued. “First, it invests in critical programs that help the neediest Americans—programs that offer job training, protect workers from safety and health hazards, and provide a safety net for those struggling just to make ends meet. Second, this bill recognizes that every taxpayer dollar must be used wisely. And the third priority is reform. This bill includes several initiatives that will leverage systemic changes in the areas of education, health and labor.”

This incredible victory is just the first step in a long Appropriations process. Later this week the full Committee will vote, followed by an eventual vote by the full Senate and a conference process with the House.

An Update on Economic Recovery from NWLC

From the National Women's Law Center:

The House just released its proposal for the economic recovery package, and it provides funding for many important child care, early education, and related programs, including:

-$2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant to provide child care services for an additional 300,000 children in low-income families while their parents go to work.

-$2.1 billion for Head Start to provide comprehensive development services to help 110,000 additional children succeed in school.

-$600 million for IDEA Infants and Families for formula grants to help states serve children with disabilities age 2 and younger.

-$726 million for Afterschool Meals to increase the number of states that provide free dinners to children and to encourage participation by new institutions by increasing snack reimbursement rates

-$2.5 billion for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for block grants to help States deal with the surge in families needing help during the recession and to prevent them from cutting work programs and services for abused and neglected children.

A more detailed description of the proposal can be found here: http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/PressSummary01-15-09.pdf.