Congressional Dads Caucus Launches with Roundtable Discussion

On March 29, 2023 the Congressional Dad’s Caucus had its kickoff meeting with a panel of lived experience. Representative Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), the Chair and Founder of the Dad’s Caucus, opened the discussion by highlighting the importance of “family friendly” policy. Several other congressmen offered their support, including Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), founder of the

Agency Leaders Respond About Impact of Budget Cuts

In January, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro sent letters to Federal agency heads asking for information about how the agencies would be impacted by the House Republicans’ proposal to cap spending at the FY 2022 funding levels. “The American people and Members of Congress deserve to know the real impact this policy would

Impact of Cash Assistance: Brief

Child Trends released a brief on the impact of cash assistance, like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, for families with infants and toddlers that have low incomes. Cash assistance is one way to supplement incomes and address the economic burdens these families face. The brief contained evidence-based conclusions on the

“Care Can’t Wait” Day of Action on Child Care and Paid Leave

On February 28, 2023, the Care Can’t Wait Coalition hosted a Day of Action on Columbus Circle. The coalition advocates for the trifecta of aging and disability care, paid leave, and childcare and is promoting the Child Care for Working Families Act and the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act. The Day of Action featured

State of Child Care Rally on the Hill

On February 7, 2023, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) held a rally to shed light on the child care crisis. Along with several other senators, representatives, and guest speakers, Murray highlighted the importance of rebuilding the infrastructure of our child care system, and the steps President Biden should take in order to mitigate and solve this

Child Care Crisis Briefing

Last Thursday, February 2, 2023, the Council for a Strong America hosted a briefing on childcare and presented findings from a study conducted by ReadyNation, a coalition advocating for public investment in early childhood. The event opened with a statement from Rep. Jeff VanDrew (R-NJ), who emphasized the importance of ReadyNation’s work and the findings

Paid Leave Legislation Introduced

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

Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships: Webinar Series

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

2022 Spending Omnibus and Legislative Recap

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

Child Care and Early Learning Improvements: Report

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

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