Recently, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), subcommittee on Children and Families heard testimony from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and experts and researchers in the field of early childhood programs on the dramatic effects of these programs on children's emotional and mental development, as well as their academic performance. Joann Lombardi, Ph.D. who serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development, ACF shared with the subcommittee the strides in policy development and funding investments made on behalf of young children. The hearing addressed the critical need for ongoing federal support to states, counties, and child care providers which could experience significant cuts through the House Budget Committee's budget recommendations for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2012. The gap between President Obama's 2012 budget and the current version of the House budget is noteworthy in the areas of Early Head Start, Head Start, Child Care and Development Block Grant and the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). While not restricted to child care services, SSBG has historically been a valuable funding resource for states to support the insufficient funding to address child care needs.
Dr. Lombardi identified some guiding principles that ACF has undertaken such as: focusing on the continuum of development from prenatal to age 8, adopting early learning and development standards, improving quality standards in early childhood programs, developing a comprehensive assessment system, coordinating uniform data collection, supporting the workforce in child care programs to deliver high-quality programs, promoting families as the critical to the child's development, and addressing the health needs of children. She also provided the subcommittee with information on the linkages that ACF has encouraged within the Children's Bureau and the Office of Head Start to ensure that foster children are afforded slots in Head Start to support the emotional and educational development. ACF has also partnered with the Department of Education to jointly administer the Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge. Another joint effort is with Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) the Maternal and Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.
The gaps of services provided to the children who need child care remains wide with an estimated one out of every six children actually receiving supported child care. Linda K. Smith, Executive Director, National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) reported that more than 11 million children under the age of 5 with working mothers are in some type of child care for an average of 35 hours per week. Ms. Smith strongly supports ongoing and increased funding for child care opportunities for the poorly paid parents who can only work because there is child care available. Other experts testified that with strong early childhood programs and investments in early childhood education the return on investment is significant for the at-risk population. Research has shown that children who have early childhood development programs do better in school, and have a higher social - emotional functioning later in life. On the contrary, without support during these early years, a child is more likely to drop out of school, depend on public assistance, and commit crimes.
