July 29, 2020

Dear Members of our Congressional Delegation:

Thank you for your efforts to support the needs of the Commonwealth’s residents as we continue to confront the myriad challenges caused by the pandemic.

We write today in appreciation of your demonstrated commitment to early education and care and to request that you each do everything within your power to ensure that the final relief bill currently being debated in Congress includes $50 billion in specific, dedicated funding necessary to stabilize our vital field.

The momentum behind the child care sector—both around the country and within the halls of the Capitol—has been gaining for weeks. Finally, the people and their representatives are realizing what we have all known for years: the child care sector is the backbone of our economy, providing education and care for our children while also facilitating parent reentry into the workforce.

Operating on razor-thin margins even before the pandemic, center-based, family child care, and afterschool providers in the Commonwealth are now facing even greater and longer-lasting challenges. The sector is being decimated by pandemic-required reduced capacity and increased cleaning and PPE costs. Cutbacks in services to families and widespread layoffs of staff are also adversely impacting our economic recovery. Worse yet, the damage to the workforce has a disparate impact on women and especially women of color who overwhelmingly serve in this critical, but underappreciated and underpaid role.

Many Massachusetts providers have already shuttered their doors, while the rest are cutting into whatever limited reserves they may have had and are headed for the same outcome. In a new report issued by NAEYC this month, average enrollment is down by 67% across the country and without an infusion of funding, 50% of all programs will be closed by December and only 18% will make it through a year.

In the face of these challenges, this week’s approval in the House of Representatives of H.R. 7027, The Child Care Is Essential Act, and H.R. 7327, The Child Care for Economic Recovery Act, is extremely welcome news. H.R. 7027 provides exactly the boost in funding that our sector has been desperately seeking to stay afloat: $50 billion and a new Child Care Stabilization Fund. And H.R. 7327 provides additional funding and tax modifications to help families afford high-quality care and support providers in their efforts to improve infrastructure and provide care to children, including to those of essential workers.

We thank each of you for your votes in support of these bills and specifically acknowledge Chair Neal, Chair McGovern, and Representative Clark for their outstanding leadership in advocating for and shepherding these bills forward.

We are also encouraged that the Senate Republicans have at least included $15 billion in their recently-announced relief package. The proposal includes $5 billion in new CCDBG funds and $10 billion in new Back to Work Child Care Grants. Of course, we are even more pleased by their acknowledgement that their relief bill is an opening proposal to launch negotiations with Democrats, since so much more is needed. And we are grateful for Senator Warren’s and Representative Clark’s leadership in previously proposing $100 billion in dedicated funding to support the sector. In addition to these critical investments, $1.7 billion to support Head Start and Early Head Start programs is crucial to contribute to reopening costs that far exceed initial triage from CARES Act funding.

We know there will be competing demands as you all negotiate the bill. There may even be a moment in time when your colleagues press you to give in. In that moment, our request is this: please continue to keep the child care sector front and center and do not relent until a final package includes $50 billion.

As Chair Neal argued so persuasively in his recent Op-Ed, “Until Congress acts, the economic crisis will persist, and families and businesses will suffer. As schools navigate reopening while operating remotely, the learning opportunities and healthy development young children access in quality child care settings is made all the more crucial.”

We couldn’t agree more. Thank you for all the work you have done to shine a light on the needs of our sector and please let us know how else we can support you as you strive to deliver in the final relief bill.

For more information on the coalition’s request, please contact Amy O’Leary, Early Education for All Campaign Director, aoleary@strategiesforchildren.org and Mark Reilly, Jumpstart’s Vice President of Policy & Government Relations, mark.reilly@jstart.org.

Thank you for your leadership during this critical moment,

Acre Family Child Care

Alliance of Massachusetts YMCAs

Angier After School Program

Ayer Kiddie Depot

Boston Children’s Hospital, Government Relations

Boston Women Leaders Network

Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester

Cape & Islands Common Start Coalition Chapter

Charlestown Nursery School

Children’s Investment Fund

Clarendon Early Education Services

Commonwealth Children’s Fund

Coalition for Social Justice

East Boston Social Centers

Economic Development Council of Western Mass

Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath)

Edward Street Child Services

For Kids Only Afterschool

G3 Consulting Group

Imajine That Out of School Time Provider

Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation and UMass Boston

Jewish Community Relations Council

John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club of Newton

Jumpstart

MACCRR Network

Mason-Rice Afterschool Program

Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership

Massachusetts Association for Community Action

Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health

Massachusetts Association for the Education of Young Children

Massachusetts Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators

Massachusetts Business Roundtable

Massachusetts Head Start Association

Massachusetts Wildflower Schools

Neighborhood Villages

Nurtury

Plowshares Education Development Center, Inc

Raising A Reader MA

SEIU Local 509

Square One

Strategies for Children

Teach Plus Massachusetts

The Bonjour School

The Boston Foundation

The Coalition for Children and Families

The Community Group

The Highlands After-School Program

The Institute for Education and Professional Development, Inc.

The Somerville Partnership for Young Children

Toddler Loving Care

United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley

Violeta Montessori School

YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts