WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Every administration uses
the budget to signal its priorities for the coming year. The message of the
budget released today is simple and stark: children in low income families
don't matter.
Instead of investing in the future through investments in young
children, the proposed budget continues a pattern of disregard for the
critical importance of our early childhood programs, ensuring a legacy that
will not include support for the country's youngest and most vulnerable
children.
"The President's budget cuts 200,000 children from child care
assistance programs in two years--a breathtaking signal of the low priority
this administration places on investments in working families," said
Danielle Ewen, Director of Child Care and Early Education Policy at CLASP.
With four out of ten children under age 6 living in low-income
households (under 200 percent of poverty) and facing multiple risk factors
that affect their chances for success in later life, investments in young
children are increasingly important.
In order to thrive, children need good health, nurturing families, and
positive early learning experiences. Yet, our nation's spending priorities
do not reflect this common sense.
In 2006, federal investments targeted to children (including spending
on education, child care, health care, and other social support
investments) comprised less than 2 percent of GDP, according to The Urban
Institute. The president's proposed budget continues this alarming trend by
disinvesting in supports for children and low-income families.
The administration's budget proposal sends a clear message that
supporting young children, and their families, is not a priority by
proposing:
-- a freeze on discretionary funding for CCDBG for the seventh
consecutive year. According to the administration's own estimates, 200,000
children are projected to lose child care assistance by 2009. This is in
addition to the thousands of children who have already lost assistance.
-- funding for Head Start that falls short of meeting even inflationary
increases, let alone provide for any new investments in quality or children
served. Head Start currently serves about half of eligible children, and
Early Head Start serves less than 3 percent of eligible infants and
toddlers.
Across the country business leaders, economists, neuroscientists,
researchers, and policy experts alike have championed the importance of
investing in quality early childhood programs for our nation's youngest
children. Research shows that when parents access child care assistance
they are more likely to be employed, to have higher incomes, and to remain
off of welfare, according to CLASP.
Research shows that the quality of a program that is most important to
a young child's development. It takes resources to ensure that all programs
have qualified staff with appropriate training who are well compensated;
important standards such as low teacher-to-child ratios and small group
sizes; developmentally appropriate curriculum and practices; and linkages
to vital health services and family supports.
Congress should take the lead and send a message that they have not
forgotten vulnerable children and families. Congress should reject
President Bush's proposals to disinvest in these important programs and, at
a minimum, make the following investments:
-- Increase funding for CCDBG by $874 million to restore the program to
2002 inflation- adjusted funding levels. This would provide child care
assistance to an additional 145,000 children, helping to restore help to
those who have lost it in years of flat funding.
-- An increased investment of $1.072 billion for Head Start will allow
programs to serve additional children in both Head Start and Early Head
Start as well as begin to make needed investments in quality as outlined in
the 2007 reauthorization.
It is time for the federal government to respond to decades of
research; investing in programs that support low-income children and their
families will payoff now and into the future.
To view the Child Care Team's full analysis, visit
http://clasp.org/publications/cc_2009_budget.pdf
The Center for Law and Social Policy is a national, nonprofit
organization working to improve the lives of low-income people through
research, policy analysis, technical assistance, and advocacy.
http://www.clasp.org
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SOURCE Center for Law and Social Policy
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Related links:
www.clasp.org
CONTACT:
Cyra Master of the Center for Law and Social
Policy, +1-202-906-8027, cmaster@clasp.org
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