Early Childhood Development
Investing In America’s Children
• Investing in America’s children is an
investment in America’s future
• Supplying early childhood development
programs can help break the cycle of poverty
• Parents need access to reliable child care in
order to work
• We focus our efforts on
quality early education
and child care
Early Childhood Development
Research shows that children who participated
in a quality program during their preschool years
are better prepared to learn, have
higher self-esteem, and more developed
social skills when
they start
kindergarten.
Head Start
Federally funded program, provides
comprehensive child development services to
disadvantaged preschool children (ages 3-6)
and their families. These services include:
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School readiness and cognitive development services
Frequent medical screening, immunizations, and dental
services
Healthy nutritional assistance
Referral services for a range of individual child and family
needs
An opportunity for parents to participate in school decisionmaking
Early Head Start
Federally funded program with a mission to promote
healthy prenatal outcomes for pregnant women, enhance
the development of children ages 3 and under, and
promotes healthy family functioning. These services
include:
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Quality early education both in and out of the home
Parenting education
Comprehensive health and mental health services, including
services to women before, during, and after pregnancy
Nutrition education
Family support services
Child Care
Affordable and quality child care is crucial to parent’s productivity
at work and children’s intellectual development
Vital for working families, especially low-income families who want
to move out of poverty
But, the cost of child care is often too expensive for low income
and moderate-income working families
Funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant
(CCDBG) comes from three sources:
1. CCDBG funding is included at a mandatory level specified in the
welfare law
2. Congress annually appropriates a discretionary amount
3. States may choose to use part of their federal welfare block
grant. The amount varies from year to year and has decreased
dramatically because of states’ fiscal crises.
Fiscal Year 2011 Funding Baseline
• Head Start: FY 2011 budget included an increase of $340
million for Head Start over the FY 2010 levels, this meant that all
children currently in Head Start- including those funded by
ARRA will remain enrolled. [See state-level data in CLASP’s
state fact sheets ].
• A $100 million increase in the Child Care and Development
Block Grant (CCDBG) from FY2010. This will sustain a small
number of the children served by ARRA. It includes a
proportional increase over baseline (pre-ARRA) funding levels in
the quality set-aside (from $271 million to $284 million) and the
infant/toddler set-aside (from $99.5 million to $104 million). The
bill provides $2.227 billion in total for the CCDBG. NWLC Report
What Congress Must Do This Year
• Sustain current service levels for Head Start, Early Head
Start and CCDBG in FY 2012.
• Key Players – House and Senate leadership, and:
Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations
Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Thad
Cochran (R-MS).
o House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations
Subcommittee Chairman Danny Rehberg (R-MT) and Ranking Member
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).
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Make Your Voice Heard!
TAKE ACTION: Call Senate offices and ask for the aide who
handles early childhood development programs -- specifically
Head Start and child care. Tell them (in person or in voicemail)
that you are a constituent, why you care about these
programs, and:
1. Urge them to protect funding for child care, Head Start, and Early Head
Start to help us build a smarter, healthier, and stronger America.
2. Specifically, ask that they work to sustain funding for Head Start/Early
Head Start and child care. And, urge others in your community to do
the same.
3. Tell them you want the senator to reject the House's cuts and work with
Senate leaders to make early childhood development a priority.
The Bigger Picture: SAVE For All
These proposed cuts are part of a larger battle over budget cuts and deficit
reduction.
SAVE For All (Strengthening America’s Values and Economy For All)
campaign working to protect vulnerable families. Core principles:
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Protect low- and moderate-income people in budget and deficit reduction proposals by opposing cuts
in or the elimination of effective services, while supporting expansions necessary to respond to
growing need.
Prevent multi-year appropriations caps that force harsh reductions in domestic/human needs
services.
Prevent damaging structural changes in essential programs. Such as capping or block-granting
Medicaid or converting Medicare into fixed vouchers.
Reject efforts to adopt a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget.
Support deficit reduction plans that include additional revenues drawn from equitable sources – at
least one-half (rather than one-third as included in the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction framework)
from revenue changes (i.e. taxes) rather than spending cuts.
Oppose rules and statutory changes that favor tax cuts over important domestic investments by not
allowing an investment to be paid for by a revenue increase, while permitting new tax cuts to be
adopted without any requirement that they be paid for at all.
How You Can Get Involved
1. Get involved in RESULTS!
2. Make your voice heard: lobby Congress, generate media
coverage, educate others.
3. Sign your local group on to the SAVE For All campaign and
urge others to do the same.
4. Submit your story of how federal programs have played an
important role in your life, the life of those you work with, or
in the life of your business at: www.halfinten.org.
5. Participate in the Hunger Fast (www.hungerfast.org)
The time to stand up for these programs and the people
they support is NOW.
RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund
750 First St NE, Ste 1040
Washington DC 20002
RESULTS Early Childhood Development Campaign Contacts:
Meredith Dodson, dodson@results.org, (202) 782-7100, x116
Jos Linn, jlinn@results.org, (515) 288-3622
www.results.org