On February 1, 2023, Democratic lawmakers marked the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) with a press conference announcing a new legislative package to establish a paid family and medical leave program and to expand and modernize FMLA. The FMLA program has successfully allowed employees to take reasonable time off to
On January 26th, 2023, Congressman Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) and his colleagues Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Joaquin Castro, Andy Kim, Jamaal Bowman, Rob Menendez, Dan Goldman, Joe Neguse, launched the Congressional Dads Caucus to bring attention to and build support for policies that benefit working families. According to the National Women’s Law Center’s (NWLC) press release, “the
On January 23, 2023, the Children’s Equity Project partnered with the Bipartisan Policy Center and Start Early to host part one of their three-part webinar series concerning the impact of the Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCPs), titled “Building Supply, Enhancing Quality, and Advancing Equity.” Shantel Meek, the Founding Director of the Children’s Equity
On January 12th, 2023, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) released a brief regarding childcare and early education (CCEE). They describe how the use of geographic maps could help lead to understanding local and community context regarding support when making decisions around improving access to the Child Care and Development Block Grants (CCDBG).
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced proposed changes to the foods available to participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to align the food packages with the latest nutrition science and support equitable access to nutritious foods during critical life stages. “Taken collectively, the changes will increase the
This past Congress has certainly had its challenges. Throughout the last Congress, CWLA has joined with national stakeholders and coalitions to increase funding levels across 44 separate funding programs – many of which received an increase in the spending omnibus, and some remained at level funding. While a notable disappointment was the failure to reauthorize
The National Women’s Law Center released a new report on December 15th, 2022: State Child Care and Early Education Updates 2022: Progress on a Long Path. The report provides state-by-state summaries highlighting key actions taken by states in the past year to expand access to affordable, high-quality child care and early education opportunities and to
Last week, Congress continued to forge ahead on negotiating an Appropriations deal. Democrats and Republicans reached a topline spending agreement for a fiscal 2023 omnibus, three of the four top appropriators on Capitol Hill said late Tuesday, December 13th, 2022. Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said in a statement that negotiators had "reached a
The First Five Years Fund (FFYF) released the findings of two new polls conducted immediately following the 2022 midterm elections by the bipartisan team of Hart Research Associates and New Bridge Strategy. The surveys found that voters and small business owners across the political spectrum overwhelmingly endorse federal government action on child care and agree
The House of Representatives passed the Jackie Walorski Maternal and Child Home Visiting Reauthorization Act of 2022 on December 2, 2022, in a 390-26 vote. The bill, named for the late Representative from Indiana, would reauthorize the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, which was due to expire in September of this