III. New Community -

Child Care and Head Start

"The hardest and the most important part of welfare reform is moving people from welfare to work. You have to educate and train people. You've got to make sure that their kids aren't punished once they go to work by losing their health care or their child care."

-- President Clinton
National Association of Counties, March 7, 1995

Quality child care is critical to the millions of working families struggling to make ends meet. The Administration has been committed to expanding child care assistance through Head Start and other successful child care programs - and to improving the quality of child care.

Background

• Almost one million children of working poor families receive assistance through the At-Risk and Child Care and Development Block Grant Programs. If child care funds are capped, these hard working American families could be cut off and put at-risk for welfare dependency.

• Low-income families who pay for child care spend more than a quarter of their income on these expenses, and millions more are in need of child care assistance. In California, 225,000 children are on a waiting list for child care.

• More than 400,000 children each month receive child care assistance through AFDC and Transitional Child Care programs. Assistance for these children and their families is in jeopardy if child care funds are capped. Studies indicate that when child care arrangements break down, parents are more likely to drop out of school or leave work and go back on welfare.

The quality of child care is far from adequate. Poor quality care threatens children's development. The recent study conducted by economists and child development experts confirms that quality care is related to child outcomes. The vast majority of care in the country was found to be mediocre, with 40% of infant care considered poor.

Accomplishments

• Increased Funding for Child Care. Every budget submitted by President Clinton has included increases in child care. The President's budget for 1996 increases funding by $100 million.

• A Central Element of Welfare Reform. The Work and Responsibility Act introduced last year continued the guarantee for families moving toward self sufficiency and expanded child care assistance for working families - part of the effort to make work pay. The President's plan included a $1.5 billion increase in child care funding over five years for working poor families at-risk of welfare dependency.

• Improving Coordination. The Administration has worked to make programs more consistent and coordinated, proposing new regulations to reduce red tape, improve quality, give states more flexibility, and streamline child care operations into a single Child Care Bureau.

• Technical Assistance. The Clinton Administration revamped and strengthened technical assistance to the states, territories and tribes to ensure they have access to the best available information on quality issues, particularly health and safety. In addition, the Administration has launched a National Child Care Information Center for policy makers and the general public.

• Head Start. President Clinton's FY96 budget proposes an additional $400 million increase for this program which provides comprehensive services for disadvantaged children, ages three to five, and their families. With bipartisan support, the President appointed the Head Start Advisory Commission to examine and recommend improvements to the program after 25 years of service.

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