Obama's Child Care Plans

01/28/2009

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.
Lao Tzu

President Barack Obama is wasting no time addressing the nation's economic woes. His economic recovery plans address boosting the economy in a variety of ways including additional support for child care services. The National Women's Law Center reports that the House of Representatives has introduced a bill — the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — that will help women and families through these tough times, and preserve and create jobs for women and men. The Act will help low-income parents obtain the child care they need to get and keep jobs and help children get the early learning they need to succeed. It provides:

$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. Of these funds, $1 billion will become available when the bill is enacted and $1 billion will be available on October 1, 2009.
$2.1 billion for Head Start to provide comprehensive development services to help 110,000 additional children succeed in school.

$1.1 billion is designated for Early Head Start, with $550 million available when the bill is enacted and $550 million on October 1, 2009. Up to 10 percent of the funds are targeted for training and technical assistance and up to 3 percent for monitoring.
$1 billion is designated for Head Start, with $500 million available when the bill is enacted and $500 million on October 1, 2009.

$600 million for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Infants and Families formula grants to help states serve children with disabilities age 2 and younger. $300 million will be available when the bill is enacted and $300 million on October 1, 2009.
$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.
$360 million for the Department of Defense to construct new child development centers.

Of course, this is simply the starting point. The bill will be modified considerably as it goes through Congress. You are encouraged to be in touch with your representatives in Washington to express your views on this package.

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