Rep. Sara Jacobs Co-Leads Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Child Care for Every Community Act
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-51) joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) in introducing the Child Care for Every Community Act. The bicameral legislation 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.
Watch Rep. Sara Jacobs’ Floor Speech Here
On the House Floor, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs said:
“As a 34-year-old woman, I can tell you that affordable and accessible child care is a top priority for my generation. But the problem isn’t that millennials can’t budget or that we’re eating too much avocado toast, it’s that the cost of child care has skyrocketed… if you can even find it.
“In San Diego, the average annual cost for child care for one infant in a licensed center is more than $19,000 – which is out of reach for most middle and low-income families. And it’s not any easier for providers, who are in one of the lowest-paid professions in the country and struggle to make ends meet and keep their doors open.
“The free market hasn’t fixed the child care crisis – and small or temporary fixes just aren’t good enough.
“That’s why I’m proud to introduce the Child Care for Every Community Act today with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill. Our bicameral legislation would guarantee access to child care that’s affordable for every family. And it would support child care workers in their incredibly important work.
“We need big, wholesale changes to our social safety net to support kids and families – starting with the Child Care for Every Community Act.”
The Child Care for Every Community Act:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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