Press Releases

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) last week joined over three dozen lawmakers in introducing the Child Care for Every Community Act. The bicameral legislation, led by Representatives Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) and Sara Jacobs (CA-51) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), would ensure that every family has access to high-quality, affordable child care and early learning opportunities by establishing a network of federally supported, locally administered child care options.

“The nationwide child care crisis is hurting parents, families, and providers across our commonwealth — and it’s holding our entire economy back,” said Rep. Scanlon. “Investing in child care and early learning opportunities is an investment in our workforce, our kids, and our local small businesses. I’m proud to support the Child Care for Every Community Act so that every Pennsylvanian family, regardless of their income or employment, can access high-quality, affordable child care options for their children.”

The Child Care for Every Community Act:

• Ensures universal access: This legislation provides a mandatory federal investment to establish and support a network of locally-run Child Care and Early Learning Centers and Family Child Care Homes so that every family, regardless of their income or employment, can access high-quality, affordable child care options for their children from birth to school entry.

• Guarantees affordability: Half of families nationwide will pay no more than $10 a day for child care, and all families would see their child care costs capped. A sliding scale will ensure that fees are affordable based on families’ income, as in the U.S. military child care program. Higher-income families would pay no more than 7% of their income, while lower-income families making less than 75% of their state median income would be fully subsidized.

• Provides high-quality, essential developmental services: Centers and Family Child Care Homes will meet high-quality standards based on current U.S. military child care and the Head Start program standards. Providers would receive support and time to meet new requirements, which would focus on early learning and social-emotional development. Like Head Start, the program would offer a full range of comprehensive mental and physical health, dental, and other services to children who need them in a safe and nurturing environment that promotes children’s holistic growth and development.

• Is locally administered and federally supported: As originally envisioned in the Comprehensive Child Development Act of 1971, the federal government would partner with local sponsors – cities, school districts, states, counties, tribal organizations, or other nonprofit community entities – to administer the program in a way that prioritizes local community needs and coheres early childhood systems. These sponsors would act as local “hubs” by establishing networks of Child Care and Early Learning Centers and Family Child Care Homes options for families, mirroring options currently available to military families. 

• Invests in child care workers: The legislation ensures parity by requiring that wages and benefits for child care workers be comparable to those of similarly-credentialed local public school teachers and invests in worker training and professional development modeled after the military child care program.

###