Child Care Needs Funding

Decisions for annual child care funding are happening right now in Washington, D.C. Congress needs to hear from you as soon as possible. We are asking child care advocates to urge Congress to use the Senate numbers from the approved Labor-HHS- FY24 appropriations bill as a baseline for funding levels. Using this baseline to set FY24 Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funding levels will:

• Continue to build a child care system that helps families, child care providers, businesses, and our economy to succeed, and
• Provide a $1 billion increase for child care programs from FY23. 

Sustained increased CCDBG funding would allow Missouri to build upon the progress made with federal relief funds and continue to close the gap between existing supply and unmet needs. It will also help make child care more affordable for more families and help get families back to work, and be present at work because they have access to safe, quality child care in their community. Any cuts to CCDBG would be devastating for child care and early learning programs and families in Missouri and across the country. Child care has been underfunded for decades, resulting in the current inadequate supply of high-quality programs and a situation where too many families are priced out of the system and unable to return to the workforce.

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