[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 74 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3794-S3795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CASEY:
  S. 2980. A bill to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant 
Act of 1990 to improve access to high quality early learning and child 
care for low income children and working families, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about our children 
and, more specifically, children from low-income and working families 
across the United States who need a good start in life and who need 
high-quality childcare each and every day while their parents must earn 
a living.
  I believe that here in America every child is born with a bright 
light shining inside them, and it is our job as Senators to do 
everything we can, everything we can, to keep that light shining ever 
brightly.
  A child's potential may be limited or boundless, but whatever it is, 
every child deserves the opportunity to become the person they were 
born to be. Here in America, every child deserves high-quality 
childcare and early education.
  High-quality childcare gives low-income working families peace of 
mind while they work. Unfortunately, for the last 7 years, Federal 
funding for childcare has been essentially frozen. The neglect of 
Federal funding for childcare during this administration has been 
unconscionable. What this means is families have been locked out of 
access to high-quality providers. It means hundreds of thousands of 
children across the country have been put on waiting lists for 
childcare because there simply is not enough funding to provide enough 
slots.
  Working parents struggle to find childcare that will be healthy, 
safe, and affordable. They worry every day about finding quality care. 
For so many families, this is a very personal issue, especially, of 
course, for mothers. I remember a mother to whom I spoke in 
Pennsylvania 10 years ago who was worried about being able to afford 
childcare for her children. She said something I will never forget. She 
said because of the worry about childcare, she had a knot in her 
stomach. I think a lot of families closely identify with and understand 
what she was talking about.
  These are parents who must work. They must therefore leave their 
children in care that often does not meet all their needs because it is 
the only choice they can afford.
  Here are the facts. The facts show an enormous unmet need in America 
when it comes to childcare. A couple of points: 365,000 children in 
America are on waiting lists. In my home State of Pennsylvania, almost 
8,000 children are on waiting lists. Across the country, 13.5 million 
children who are eligible, eligible for Federal childcare assistance, 
do not get it. That is an abomination. That is an embarrassment. It is 
a black mark on America.
  Let me say that number again: 13.5 million children who are eligible 
for childcare assistance are not getting it. The population of my home 
State of Pennsylvania is a little less than 12.5 million. So if that 
group of children who are eligible but not getting the childcare 
assistance, if that were considered a State, it would be about the 
fifth largest State in the country.
  So 13.5 million children who should be getting help are not getting 
it through our childcare system.
  Childcare providers working hard every day caring for and educating 
our children are barely paid above the poverty level, with little or no 
benefits. The average wage for a childcare worker is $9.05 an hour, 
which on an annual basis works out to $18,820, barely above the poverty 
level. Yet we charge them with the responsibility of caring for and 
nurturing and educating so many of our children.
  Finally, the last fact: parents must struggle to afford childcare and 
face impossible choices between losing their jobs or leaving their 
children in less-than-ideal care. I believe the price for holding down 
a good-paying job should not be problems with and worries about 
childcare.
  Low-income families also spend much higher percentages of their 
income on childcare, often bringing that family to the breaking point. 
This is all wrong. Our priorities are literally upside down.
  That is why I am announcing today a bill I introduced today, the 
Starting Early, Starting Right Act. The Starting Early, Starting Right 
Act. I will go through a couple of the provisions.
  In summary. First of all, my bill on childcare will move hundreds of 
thousands of children on State waiting lists into high-quality 
childcare. The bill will meet the needs of underserved children such as 
English language learners, children with developmental disabilities and 
other special needs, children living in very poor communities, and 
children in rural areas, to ensure we reach children most in need of 
high-quality childcare.
  Next, our bill will ensure States will visit and monitor childcare 
providers on an announced as well as unannounced basis every year. 
Fourth, our bill will require childcare providers who are licensed or 
registered to participate in 40 hours of training before they work with 
children as well as 24 hours on an ongoing annual basis.
  Next we will expand parents' access to high quality childcare 
opportunities by requiring States to pay childcare providers rates 
based upon the actual and current cost of care, what advocates know to 
be the 75th percentile level.
  Finally, it encourages States to exceed this rate for special 
populations of children with greater needs. This bill will improve 
access to high quality care for infants and toddlers by setting aside 
30 percent of the bill's funding for this underserved group of 
children. Finally, this bill will provide greater funding for quality 
initiatives and encourage more States to adopt quality rating 
provisions to improve the quality of their programs. Quality rating 
improvement systems, known by the acronym QRIS, such as the successful 
program in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania STARS program, give providers 
benchmarks as well as resources to continually improve the quality of 
care.
  I wanted to share one story before I conclude, a story about the 
powerful impact of high quality childcare on children and families. 
This story was shared with our office by a childcare provider from 
southeastern Pennsylvania about a family I will not identify to respect 
their privacy. One of the children was a 3-year-old boy. I will call 
him, for purposes of this presentation, Sammy. Sammy started in 
childcare along with his older sister and younger brother when his 
mother was evicted from her house following divorce. Sammy's father did 
not pay child support but, luckily, Sammy's grandmother took them in. 
They all lived in a tiny two-bedroom apartment.

[[Page S3795]]

Dropoffs at the childcare center were difficult for this young child. 
With all the recent changes and trauma in his life, he was scared about 
his mother leaving. His mother would apologize to the staff, saying she 
never worked before and the children were not used to childcare.
  The childcare worker always assured Sammy's mother that it was no 
problem and that no apologies were necessary. Unfortunately, a few 
weeks later, Sammy's mom showed up one day in tears. She confided to 
the childcare worker that she had not been able to find a job and was 
now so desperate she had to use food stamps. She had gone to the store 
by bus, getting there through the public transit system. The cashier 
treated her disrespectfully. Because of that, she was understandably 
humiliated, and she began to feel hopeless and afraid she would never 
find a job to support her three children. But at that moment, when that 
mother was at her greatest need and when the family was in need, the 
childcare center in southeastern Pennsylvania rallied around this 
mother and her children. Over the next 2 years the staff of the center 
encouraged and supported her while she found a job, went back to 
school, and eventually moved out of her mother's house into an 
apartment of her own.
  Her oldest daughter was very successful and attended school with the 
center through first grade. She was then evaluated for the gifted 
program when she went to public school and second grade. The youngest 
son blossomed and made it through family growing pains with little 
difficulty. Finally, Sammy had some problems, but they were able to get 
the help needed because of the generosity and commitment of the people 
who worked in this childcare center. During that time the staff, led by 
the director, helped raise money for Christmas presents, doctors' 
bills, and Sammy's mother's application to take her pharmacy 
assistant's license exam.
  When this childcare worker left the center, Sammy's mom told her what 
a profound difference the staff at the center had made in her life and 
in the lives of her children. Like so many in our country, this group 
of skilled, caring, and professional early childhood educators made it 
possible for this family to overcome so many obstacles.
  The childcare worker told our staff recently:

       [Sammy] is the kid I think about when people ask me why I 
     do what I do.

  That is what that childcare worker said about her commitment to the 
care of children and to that child and his family. This is what quality 
childcare can mean in the real world to a struggling family. It may be 
the difference between literally failure and success for countless 
families. Sometimes it can mean sheer survival. This is one example of 
childcare providers and families such as Sammy's all across the 
country. These are quiet victories we never hear much about, but they 
are literally life changing in impact.
  Increasing funding for childcare is not only the right thing to do, 
it is the smart thing, especially for at-risk children and children 
from low-income families. Research shows that high quality childcare 
helps low-income children enter school ready to succeed. One study 
found that children in high quality childcare demonstrated greater 
mathematical ability and thinking and attention skills and had fewer 
behavioral problems than any other children in second grade. I won't 
put the entire report in the Record, but the title of that first study 
is ``The Children of the Cost, Quality and Outcome Study Go to 
School.'' This is a June 1999 report by the University of North 
Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 
University of California at Los Angeles, and Yale University. Several 
others have mentioned this, but other studies have shown that low-
income children who enroll in high quality early care and education 
programs score higher on reading, vocabulary, math, and cognitive 
tests, and are less likely to be held back a grade or to be arrested as 
a youth, and are more likely to attend college than their peers who do 
not enroll in such programs.
  Although the peace of mind for parents that comes from knowing their 
children are well cared for cannot be measured, the impact on stable 
employment can. Studies show that parents who receive childcare 
assistance are much more likely to remain in the workforce. The study I 
refer to that made these findings is a briefing paper by the Economic 
Policy Institute which is entitled ``Staying Employed After Welfare.'' 
The subheading is ``Work supports and job quality vital to employment 
tenure and wage growth.''
  Finally, there is no question that starting early and right is truly 
the right thing to do. The evidence supporting high quality childcare 
is overwhelming and irrefutable. The evidence tells us we can keep that 
bright light alive in the heart and soul of every child. We can give 
them what they need to get a good, solid start in their lives, if only 
we make that choice to support high quality childcare, if only we make 
that a priority.
  I urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this bill, the Starting 
Early, Starting Right Act. As of now nearly 50 national and State 
organizations across the country have endorsed this legislation. They 
know, as so many of us do, that investing in early care for children is 
the right and the smart thing to do. It is time we put our focus and 
priorities back where they belong, on our children. In doing so, it 
will help every child become the person they were born to be.
                                 ______