Dear Chair Murray, Chair Cole, Ranking Member Collins, and Ranking Member DeLauro:

As you work to finalize Congress’s disaster relief package, we urge you to include at least $100 million in funding for early care and education as a starting point in aiding child care programs in this time of crisis in light of Hurricanes Helene, Milton, and Beryl; the Maui fires; and other recent natural disasters. We are grateful that the administration’s disaster aid request includes funding for the Office of Head Start.

Child care is a vital service to the community and essential to recovery and rebuilding efforts—first responders, business owners, and working families all need it to keep these local economies going. The speed at which child care can recover after a disaster may also affect the overall pace of the community’s recovery, and recovering quickly can provide continuity of care to children and families. Recovery of child care services can minimize the psychological impact of disaster and promote resiliency in children and adults.

We respectfully request that Congress include at least $100 million for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). CCDBG is the most effective and efficient way to distribute funds following the improvements made during the disbursement of American Rescue Plan Act funds.

We saw at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic how essential it is to adopt a streamlined process for child care providers to access funds quickly and easily and should adopt lessons learned, including that:

It must include both licensed and license-exempt home-based child care providers.

  • Include funding for trusted, local organizations in direct contact with caregivers and providers.
  • Providers will have maximum flexibility to use these funds as they see fit, including facilities’ repair and replacement, continuing to pay educators, and covering additional operating costs.
  • Funds should do no harm: ideally, they should not negatively impact tax or benefits status or be burdensome to access.
  • Timing matters – the needs shift, so when and with what rules funds are delivered will matter, and this supports maximum flexibility.

Child care programs need funds to repair or replace facilities, continue to pay early educators, and meet operating costs on the path to reopening and stabilizing. With a shortage of early educators already, we must prioritize preserving this existing workforce.

The severe shortage of affordable, accessible child care in affected states—compounded by the devastating impacts of recent disasters—is too significant for any one family or employer to address on their own. A crisis of this scale needs sustained investments that meet the needs of our children, families, and communities.

Congress must immediately provide at least $100 million in disaster relief child care dollars to address the current crisis. Additionally, we continue to urge Congress to pass emergency supplemental funding for child care and early learning to stave off the impacts of the American Rescue Plan Act funding expiration, increase funding for child care and early learning programs in the FY25 budget, and continue to lay the groundwork for the sustained and transformative funding needed to ensure high-quality, affordable child care is accessible for all families.