Washington, DC – U. S. Senators Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) introduced legislation last week that will help ensure America's working families have access to affordable and safe child care. The Child Care Investment Act of 2008 will boost funding for the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which helps low-income families across the nation afford quality child care.
"With American families under increasing strain in these difficult economic times, now more than ever we must do more to ensure that children are placed in safe child care settings that will encourage their development," said Smith. "By increasing funding and encouraging states to improve the quality of child care they provide, we will be able to help many more children and provide their hard-working parents with a sense of relief."
CCDBG funding has remained at the same level since 2002, significantly decreasing the number of families able to utilize the program. Current CCDBG funds are only able to assist with child care costs for about one out of every seven eligible children. By most estimates, more than 200,000 children in our nation will lose child care assistance by 2009 due to the increasing cost of care.
Smith and Lincoln's legislation would raise CCDBG mandatory funding from its current level of $2.9 billion to $4 billion.