Courts and communities must speak up to rollback punitive, political attack on child care.
Media Contact: John Henry, JHenry@childrensdefense.org, CDF Media Relations Manager, @johnhenrydc, 708-646-7679
WASHINGTON, D.C.— The U.S Department of Health and Human Services has frozen funding for childcare services in all fifty states pending additional reviews. But, children in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York could be especially affected. Last week, the Administration for Children and Families informed these states that it will restrict their access to more than $10 billion in funding from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, the Child Care and Development Fund, and Social Services Block Grants, pending further review. While federal judge Arun Subramanian has issued a temporary restraining order that blocks this action, a victory for children by ruling against the administration’s actions is not guaranteed.
Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), the nation’s leading multi-issue children’s advocacy organization, condemns the Trump administration’s arbitrary, burdensome federal verification and review process to release federal funds that states use for childcare services. Further CDF, which has state offices in three of the five targeted states, urges the courts to permanently halt this action, to ensure that our children are not further harmed.
Child care is a necessity, not a luxury. If allowed to move forward, this policy attack would negatively impact countless families, disregarding America’s children and crippling the systems that care for them.
“We need reliable childcare supports that do not shift on the whims of partisan or cultural attacks,” said the Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, CDF’s president and CEO. “Care for children is not a political weapon. This intervention has serious consequences for families already struggling to cover day-to-day expenses and meeting children’s needs.”
The administration’s actions represent a potentially illegal impoundment of federal funds allocated to the states. It will create additional administrative burdens and deepen the financial strain states already endured during this fall’s historic government shutdown. Freezing funds will also worsen the childcare cliff that too many families already face as they seek care for their children in America’s strained economy. Many childcare facilities have been forced to shut down, and this ongoing chaos will put more businesses in jeopardy of not being able to pay staff or rent to ensure children have safe and secure places of care.
Small businesses and the childcare industry were profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fewer child care options mean fewer adults can work, and more small businesses will struggle. America’s economy and families can’t endure the uncertainty and disruption caused by the administration’s consistently harmful decisions.
The administration’s intervention for all states follows claims of fraud in childcare centers in Minnesota and scapegoating of Somali immigrants. While the state was already investigating this issue and any fraud harming children is unacceptable, this punitive measure wreaks of blatant partisanship and racism. The burdensome verification process resulting from the administration’s decision will disproportionately affect Black and brown children and children in immigrant and mixed-status families who rely on this federal funding for their daily care.
CDF’s National, Minnesota, California, and New York state offices will continue to organize and advocate to ensure access to care for children in the face of this policy change.
###
About Children’s Defense Fund
Founded in 1973, Children’s Defense Fund envisions a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being, and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive. The only national, multi-issue advocacy organization working at the intersection of child well-being and racial justice, CDF advances the well-being of America’s most diverse generation, the 74 million children and youth under the age of 18 and 30 million young adults under the age of 25. CDF’s grassroots movements in marginalized communities build power for child-centered public policy, informed by racial equity and the lived experience of children and youth. Its renowned CDF Freedom Schools® program is conducted in nearly 100 cities across 30 states and territories. Learn more at www.childrensdefense.org.