Van Hollen, Senate Democrats Fight for Every Parents’ Right to Affordable Child Care

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen joined Senate Democrats in introducing the Child Care for Working Families Act, a comprehensive early learning and child care package. This legislation would give hardworking American families the peace of mind to know they can afford quality care for their kids. The bill makes sweeping improvements to current child care legislation and will help more children succeed from the start.

"No parent should lose sleep over whether or not they can afford to take care of their child," said Senator Van Hollen. "With the costs of child care and early education skyrocketing, Congress must act to ensure that every family has access to quality care. This legislation will give every child the opportunity to grow and excel."

Affordable child care can be a significant barrier not only to working families' financial stability, but also to their children's success. The Child Care for Working Families Act would expand access to high-quality child care for working families and ensure theycan afford this care. The bill's goal is to ensure that no low- to moderate-income family pays more than 7 percent of its household income on child care, and it would achieve this goal by expanding programs like the widely supported Child Care Development Block Grant.

Text of the Child Care for Working Families Act can be found HERE.

Fact sheet on the Child Care for Working Families Act can be found HERE.

Over 100 Organizations have endorsed the Child Care for Working Families Act: Organizations Supporting the Child Care for Working Families Act AASA: The School Superintendents Association, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, American Federation of Teachers, ASCD, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Center for American Progress, Caring Across Generations, Center for Community Change Action, Center for Frontline Retail, Child Care Aware® of America, Child Care Law Center, Child Welfare League of America, Children's Defense Fund, Children's Leadership Council (CLC), CLASP, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), Committee for Children, Common Sense Media, Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Education Task Force, Council for Exceptional Children, Council of Administrators of Special Education, Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Democrats for Education Reform, Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC), Easterseals, Economic Opportunity Institute, Every Child Matters, Family Focused Treatment Association, Family Values at Work, First Five Years Fund, First Focus Campaign for Children, IDEA Infant Toddler Coordinators Association, International Literacy Association, Learning Disabilities Association of America, Make it Work Campaign, MomsRising, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association for the Education of Young Children, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association for Family Child Care, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, National Black Child Development Institute, National Center for Families Learning, National Council of Jewish Women, National Council of Teachers of English, National Disability Rights Network, National Education Association, National Indian Head Start Directors Association, National Organization for Women, National PTA, National Writing Project, National Council on Learning Disabilities, National Women's Law Center, Parents as Teachers, People's Action, RESULTS: The Power to End Poverty, Save the Children, Schoolhouse Connection, Social Work Association of America, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Teach Plus, The Arc of the United States, The Education Trust, ZERO TO THREE, California Association for the Education of Young Children, Child Care Aware of Washington, Children's Alliance (WA), Children's Home Society of Washington, First 5 Association of California, First 5 California, First 5 LA, League of Education Voters (WA), Maine Association for the Education of Young Children, Maryland Working Families, Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children, Missouri Association for the Education of Young Children, New York State Association for the Education of Young Children, Northern Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children, Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children, OneAmerica (WA), Orange County Association for the Education of Young Children, Puerto Rico Association for the Education of Young Children, Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children, Schools Out Washington, Strategies for Children (MA), The YMCA of Greater Seattle (WA), Utah Association for the Education of Young Children, Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP, Wellspring Family Services (WA), and the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association.