Senator Elizabeth Warren talks to a very young constituent. Source: Senator Warren’s Instagram account

“I just want to start by thanking you for all the work you’re doing to keep children safe and to support our community,” Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) said Friday when she joined a Strategies for Children Zoom call, adding:

“This is an unprecedented time for our communities, for our nation, for the entire world — and a time when it is so easy for the most vulnerable, the ones who don’t have their own lobbyists in Washington to get left behind.”

In a lively, inspiring conversation, Warren shared details about the $50 billon child care bailout bill she co-filed with Senator Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) to help the early education and care field survive the coronavirus pandemic and thrive afterwards. Warren also listened to questions and feedback from providers.

“I know that a lot of you on this call have concerns about how the childcare market is going to make it through this very challenging situation. And that is the reason why I’m fighting so hard to help every child care provider weather this crisis and come out on the other side stronger than ever before,” Warren said.

“We’re fighting in Congress to make sure that the funding is there, so that when it’s safe, every child care provider is able to reopen their doors.”

Warren has a three-part plan for the field:

• support providers who are currently offering emergency child care services

• keep providers in business and keep early educators on payroll during the coronavirus crisis, and

• make long-term investments in the nation’s early education and care infrastructure

 “We know,” Warren said, “that there just wasn’t nearly enough funding going to child care even before this crisis. Our child care providers and workers many of whom are women and women of color are paid way too little for this difficult important work, we need to think about not just making it through this crisis, but actually planning for how we come out of it with stronger, healthier childcare system than ever before. The work you do is so important. And it’s not just for helping our babies learn and grow, but also for reopening our economy.”

Laurie Smith, a family child care provider in Athol, Mass., was on the call and shared her experience as an emergency child care provider.

“We’ve been working a normal eight-to-10 hours a day with children and then spending an additional two or more hours after work cleaning, sanitizing, preparing, [and] fielding phone calls from frantic parents, angry parents, and scared parents. We are on call seven days a week for our families, whether it’s an old family who we miss dearly, and we’re trying to support, or a new family calling for care.”

Smith added that in some cases, payment for emergency child care services has been delayed for weeks. And some educators “were ready to quit because they couldn’t even afford to buy food to feed the children that they were caring for.” This shows “the instability in our field. We can’t even go one month without being in a full crisis mode financially.”

Heidi Kaufman, the executive director of education at the MetroWest YMCA, talked about ongoing financial challenges and the demands that the future will inevitably hold.

“We expect to need to decrease group sizes to support social distancing and slow down the transmission of COVID-19. This however, will not only significantly shrink access, which has already been a problem, but it will also significantly reduce program revenue, which provides the foundation for a mixed delivery system and to retain the number of educators needed for each group of children to have a high quality experience.”

Mark Reilly — the vice president of policy and government relations at Jumpstart, which trains college students and community volunteers to provide literacy support in early childhood settings – asked a question.

“No doubt our field needs and deserves at least $50 billion in support right now, but there are also competing priorities and political obstacles to obtain the bipartisan support necessary for passage in the Senate. So what is the strategy for obtaining that support for all or at least a major part of your proposal? And what can we do to support you and your team’s efforts?”

Warren’s answer: her $50 billion bailout bill is a first step. She plans to keep advocating for more support.

Her strategy is to put child care at the top of her Congressional colleagues’ agenda, but to do that she needs help.

“I need noise from you all,” Warren said, suggesting people contact her Senate colleague Ed Markey as well as Massachusetts’ representatives in the House, among them Richard Neal who is chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee. “Please, please, please raise your voices. Text. Email. Call. And get your friends around the country to join in.”

“That’s how we make this happen.”

Kim Lucas – who worked for Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and is now the senior director of civic research and innovation at MetroLab Network, an international collaborative of cities, counties, and universities – also asked a question.

“Do you see any opportunity to create partnerships and support at the federal level beyond those who are already working” in the child care sector? Likely partners, Lucas suggested, could be the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the federal Office of Science and Technology Policy.

“Yes, yes, yes, we will look for partners,” Warren said. Acknowledging that the coronavirus pandemic has sparked a great deal of competition for federal funding, Warren said that she will point out opportunities to include child care funding in federal housing efforts. She’ll also point out that child care settings can be a good place to share information about food stamps and housing opportunities.

Wrapping up the call, Warren said:

“I’m in this fight because I believe in what you do every day. It is valuable beyond measure. And it’s an honor to fight alongside you for the people who are depending on us.”

We need to make certain that resources are available so that our children truly have opportunity, not just some of our children, but all of our children, and you are in the opportunity business. So let’s keep working together.”