Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Child Care Assistance Ccap topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Early-childhood advocates urge restoration of $9 million cut to CCAP and more support for infant/toddler care
Summary
The Louisiana Policy Institute for Children urged the Senate to restore $9 million cut from the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and to pursue an additional $30 million to the Early Childhood Education Fund so parishes can draw matching dollars.
Sadie Becknell of the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children urged the committee to restore $9 million removed from the Child Care Assistance Program and to consider adding $30 million to the Early Childhood Education Fund to allow parishes to draw matching dollars for local programs.
Becknell said investing in early childhood education produces long-term savings: children who attend high-quality early programs are likelier to graduate, earn more and avoid criminal justice costs later. She emphasized that nearly two-thirds of children under five have at least one employed parent, making childcare a work-related expense for many families.
The witness said CCAP eligibility and subsidy availability are a core support for “asset-limited, income-constrained but employed” families (the “ALICE” population), and the missing $9 million represents seats removed from the program that affected about 720 children. She asked the committee to restore the funding and to view early-childhood investment as a preventive, cost-saving measure for future budgets.
Ending: Senators accepted the policy framing and asked staff to quantify the number of seats impacted by the cut and to compare restoration costs to downstream fiscal savings cited by witnesses.
