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CWLA 2008 Children's Legislative Agenda
Child Care and Head Start
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Action
- Support a substantial increase in child care appropriations
for FY 2009.
- Increase funding for Head Start to $7.6 billion in FY 2009,
as included in the 2007 Head Start reauthorization.
The Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)
Spending and Trends
- The 1996 welfare reform law fundamentally changed the
way the federal government provides funding to states for
child care. The law created the Child Care Development
Fund (CCDF) by combining child care funds previously available
from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC) program with the annually appropriated Child Care
and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). After rapid expansion
in the late 1990s, child care services have essentially
plateaued this decade and are going down. When children
and families receiving child care through all federal sources
including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) block grant are added in, the Administration indicates
that child care services decreased from 2.45 million
children in 2000 to 2.3 million children in 2006. They further
project this trend to continue with child care services
decreasing to 2 million children by 2012. In other words, a
loss of 450,000 child care slots through 2012. 1
In FY 2008, the CCDF provided states with approximately
$5 billion for child care. Just under $2.1 billion of
this total is provided through the annual appropriation
process, with the remaining provided as mandatory funds
written into the law.
States receive the same amount of mandatory funds each
year. In addition, if states spend an additional amount of
their own funds to match the federal dollars, states can draw
on federal matching funds. Between FY 1997 and FY 2002,
matching funds for states increased each year but no
increases occurred in 2003, 2004, or 2005. The reauthorization
of the TANF block grant in 2006 extended the mandatory
and matching funds through 2010, with a slight $200
million increase in matching funds in 2006. Mandatory and
matching funding is frozen for the remainder of the decade.
States also receive CCDBG discretionary funds that do
not require a state match. CCDBG funding increased from
$1 billion to $2.1 billion between FY 1997 and FY 2002, but
has since decreased, with Congress continually freezing
funding or enacting across-the-board spending cuts for all
social service programs, including child care. In FY 2008,
child care discretionary funding was set at $2.09 billion.
The total amount of CCDF funding has remained at nearly
the same rate since FY 2002 due to White House opposition
to funding increases and the lack of congressional support.
In addition to these CCDF dollars, states can transfer
the federal TANF block grant into CCDF, or spend funds for
child care directly out of TANF. With TANF funding remaining
at the same level as in 1996, states are left with a dwindling
reserve of TANF funds to use for child care. Federal
TANF funds used for child care peaked in 2000 when states
spent $4 billion in TANF funds on child care. Funding fell to
$3.3 billion in 2004, then to $3.2 billion in 2005, and finally
to $3.1 billion in 2006. 2
Child Care Structure at the State and Local Levels
States have flexibility in setting child care eligibility standards
and allocating funds. A state can designate any family
earning up to 85% of the state median income (SMI) as eligible
for a child care subsidy. In 2005, 48 states had eligibility
levels below 85% of SMI. In fact, in three-quarters of
the states, families earning 200% of poverty (i.e., $32,180)
did not qualify for assistance. 3 In the past, this 85% ceiling
has been used to determine all of the children potentially
eligible for child care and then that number is compared to
the number of children who do receive child care. Based on
such calculations in FY 2000, only 1 in 7 children were
receiving a child care subsidy.
To be eligible for child care assistance, children must be
younger than 13, and their parents must be working, receiving
training, or in school. Children in the protective services
system or in need of protective services are eligible, regardless
of their parents' eligibility (work status). A child in foster
care, however, qualifies only if a state indicates in its
child care plan that the foster care system is considered part
of its child protection system. At the local program level, this
can create confusion and result in a lack of services for foster
parents who are actually eligible for child care services.
Child Care Workforce
High turnover within the child care workforce affects the
quality of services. Many states report difficulty with retaining
workers in the child care field due to extremely low
wages. Despite the great need to address child care workforce
issues by providing reimbursement rates and better
quality, the congressional child care debate has been limited
to funding levels. The child care workforce faces a serious
challenge. A 2001 study found that 75% of all teaching staff
and 40% of all directors working at certain centers in 1996
were no longer on the job when those centers were revisited
in 2000. 4 Because the child care workforce and the quality
of services draws funding from the same block grant and
that funding has been frozen, states are forced to choose
between services, quality initiatives, and reimbursement
rates-all of which, of course, are fundamental components.
Developments in this Decade
Since its establishment in l995, the Child Care Bureau has
been at the forefront of promoting quality of care as an essential
component to child and youth development. In March
2006, the Administration reorganized and consolidated the
Child Care Bureau into the Office of Family Assistance. The
final 2006 TANF reauthorization (P.L. 109-171) contained a
very limited one-year, $200 million increase in matching
child care funds. This means that the overall matching funds
increased in FY 2006 to $1.8 billion and will remain stagnant
through 2010 unless Congress acts. The same TANF reauthorization
also increased the work requirements on both
single- and two-parent families.
Head Start
Created in 1965, Head Start began as an eight-week summer
program designed to help break the cycle of poverty by
providing preschool children of low-income families with
comprehensive services that meet their emotional, social,
health, nutritional, and psychological needs. Between
1990 and 2000, Head Start experienced dramatic increases
in enrollment, from more than 540,000 children in 1990,
to 857,000 in 2000. Enrollment peaked in 2002 at
912,000 children. 5
Head Start's continued goal is to ensure that every child
enters school physically, emotionally, and educationally prepared
to begin formal learning. The program's annual selfassessment
includes indicators of each child's progress.
Studies indicate that by the spring of their kindergarten
year, children in Head Start have substantially increased
their word knowledge, letter recognition, and math and writing
skills. 6 Preliminary results from a randomly selected longitudinal
study of more than 600 Head Start graduates show
that the graduates in kindergarten also have higher final
grades in numeracy, language, literacy, social conduct, and
physical development, and were absent 4.5 fewer days than
their non-Head Start peers. 7
Head Start functions not just as a child care and education
program, but also as a comprehensive effort to promote
child development. Head Start offers services that are unique
and critical to children's development, addressing their social,
emotional, physical, and health needs. Head Start recognizes
that both families and communities are important to the program's
success; consequently, partnerships serve as an
important part of its structure. Children's wellness and health
are important concerns for Head Start programs. Head Start
also seeks to fully include children with disabilities as a way
to help all children, parents, and staff in the program.
Head Start was expanded in 1994 to include a new Early
Head Start program that extends services to pregnant
women, infants, toddlers, and their families. The 1998 reauthorization
of Head Start increased the funds set aside to
expand Early Head Start from 7.5% in 1999, to 10% by 2003.
In FY 2006, 650 programs provided Early Head Start in all 50
states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Service was
provided to more than 62,000 children under the age of 3. 8
Head Start is also an important program in Indian country
and assists in areas of high migrant populations. It does
this through a set aside of federal funding. In FY 2007,
Head Start provided $475 million for American Indian-
Alaska Native, and migrant and seasonal programs. Of the
more than 900,000 children enrolled, 4.2% were American
Indian/Alaska Native. 9
The Reauthoriaztion in 2007
In 2007, Congress passed the Improving Head Start for
School Readiness Act of 2007. It was the first time Head
Start had been reauthorized since 1998 and in effect it finished
a debate over reauthorization that began in 2003. The
initial debate and discussion in 2003 focused on controversial
Administration proposals that allowed up to eight states
to receive Head Start funding as a block grant instead of the
current structure that provides dollars directly to local Head
Start programs. The Administration also proposed moving
Head Start from the Department of Health and Human
Services to the Department of Education in an attempt to
emphasize its role in education. During the reauthorization
debate, the role of testing and accountability for Head Start
children, Head Start teacher requirements, and the role of
policy and parent councils were discussed.
When Congress passed a final reauthorization (P.L. 110-
134) in November of 2007, it preserved its role as a comprehensive
early childhood program that promotes child
development and involves the entire family. The new Head
Start law authorizes funding of $7.3 billion in 2008, $7.6
billion in 2009, $7.9 billion in 2010, and such sums as
Congress chooses to appropriate in the years 2011 and
2012. Other significant changes include collaboration
grants to better coordinate Head Start with other child care
and early childhood development programs, maintaining
parent policy councils, the creation of an incentive program
that will allow Head Start to reward Head Start Centers of
Excellence, and allowing programs to serve families up to
130% of the federal poverty level, providing that the programs
meet certain responsibilities in regard to families at
or below poverty.
Key Facts
- Considered a high point in child care services, states
served approximately 14%, or 1 in 7, of the federally
eligible children with child care needs in FY 2000. 10
- As of early 2007, an estimated 365,617 children nationwide
were on the waiting list for subsidized child care. 11
- In 2007, a family at 150% of poverty in 29 states was
charged a copayment of above $150 per month (7% of
income); in addition, in seven states a family at this income
level was not even eligible for child care assistance. 12
- In 2007, less than one-fifth of states paid child care
providers at 75% of an up-to-date market rate. In 2001,
nearly half the states did. 13
- States can spend child care quality funds on a range of
services, including teacher training, enhanced reimbursements,
safety and health measures, inspections, and
increased compensation for workers. States must spend
at least 4% of their child care funds on quality. In addition
to this set-aside, the federal government provides
$100 million for infant and toddler quality, $19 million
for school-age resource and referral, and $172 million
for general quality enhancements. Of these total funds,
20% is spent on resource and referral, 14% for
enhanced inspections, 13% for meeting state standards,
and 12% for caregiver compensation. 14
- In 1965, Head Start served 561,000 children. In 2006,
the program served more than 909,201 children. As of
2006, Head Start has served more than 24 million children
since its creation. 15
- Children in Head Start receive significantly more health
care screenings and dental examinations than do their
peers not enrolled in Head Start. 16
- Since 1972, Congress has required that at least 10% of
children whom a Head Start grantee serves be children
with disabilities. Of the total Head Start population
nationwide, nearly 13%, or more than 115,000 children,
are children with disabilities. 17
- A review of 40 early childhood programs, including Head
Start, found positive long-term effects on parent or
teacher ratings of antisocial behavior and actual delinquency
records. 18
- Head Start includes more than 50,030 classes. Staffing
for Head Start totals 218,000, including approximately
218,000 paid staff. More than 1.3 million volunteers are
involved-including 925,000 parents. 19
- Of Head Start enrollees,
- 51% are age 4;
- 35% are age 3;
- 4% are age 5 and older;
- 10% are under age 3;
- 30.7% are African American;
- 34% are Hispanic;
- 39.8% are white; and
- 4.2% are American Indian-Alaskan Native. 20
- An evaluation of state preschool services found that
Head Start usually offers a more comprehensive set of
higher quality services than states have offered through
preschool programs. 21
Sources
- Mathews, H., & Ewen, D. (2007). Families forgotten: Administration's priorities put child care low on list. Available online. Washington, DC: Center for Law and Social Policy. back
- Ewen, D., & Matthews, H. (2007). Title I and early childhood programs: A look at investments in the NCLB era. Available online. Washington, DC: Center for Law and Social Policy. back
- Schulman, K., & Blank, H. (2005). Child care assistance policies 2005: States fail to make up lost ground, families continue to lack critical supports. Available online. Washington, DC: National Women's Law Center. back
- Whitebook, M., Sakai, L., Gerber, E., & Howes, C. (2001). Then and now: Changes in child care staffing, 1994-2000. Available online. Washington, DC: Center for the Child Care Workforce. back
- Administration on Children and Families (ACF), Head Start Bureau. (2007). Head Start program fact sheet for fiscal year 2006. Available online. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. back
- Commissioner's Office of Research and Evaluation, Head Start Bureau. (2001). Head Start FACES (1997): Longitudinal findings on program performance: Third progress report. Available online. Washington, DC: Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. back
- Meier, J. (2003). Kindergarten readiness study: Head Start success, interim report. San Bernardino, CA: Preschool Services Department of San Bernardino County. back
- ACF, Head Start Bureau, Head Start program fact sheet for fiscal year 2006. back
- Ibid. back
- Mezey, J., Greenberg, M., & Schumacher, R. (2002). The vast majority of federally-eligible children did not receive child care assistance in FY 2000: Increased child care funding needed to help more families. Available online at www.clasp.org/publications/1in7full.pdf. Washington, DC: Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). back
- Schulman, K., & Blank, H. (2007). State child care assistance policies 2007: Some steps forward, more progress needed. Available online. Washington, DC: National Women's Law Center. back
- Ibid. back
- Ibid. back
- U.S. General Accounting Office. (2002). Child care: States exercise flexibility in setting reimbursement rates and providing access for low-income children. (GAO-02-894). Available online. Washington, DC: Author. back
- ACF, Head Start Bureau, Head Start program fact sheet for fiscal year 2006. back
- Marcon, R. (2002). Moving up the grades: Relationship between preschool model and later success. Early Childhood Research and Practice, 4(1). Available online. Champaign, IL: Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. back
- Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). (2003). Head Start Act (Report 108-208). Available online. back
- Yoshikawa, H. (1995). Long-term effects of early childhood programs on social outcomes and delinquency. The Future of Children, 5(3), 51-75. Available online. back
- ACF, Head Start Bureau, Head Start program fact sheet for fiscal year 2006. back
- Ibid. back
- Ripple, C., Gilliam, W., Chanana, N., & Zigler, E. (1999). Will fifty cooks spoil the broth? American Psychologist, 54(5), 327-343. back
CWLA Contact
John Sciamanna
703/412-3161
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