[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 115 (Thursday, July 28, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S5019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. Franken):
  S. 1435. A bill to amend part A of title IV of the Security Act to 
exclude child care from the determination of the 5-year limit on 
assistance under the temporary assistance for needy families program, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today too many families are at risk of 
losing the child care assistance that helps maintain their financial 
stability and ensure the well-being of their children. That is why I am 
introducing the Children First Act to address the growing unmet need 
for affordable and safe child care.
  Until now, most states were able to maintain their child care 
assistance programs through the recession due to the additional $2 
billion in Federal Child Care and Development Block Grant, CCDBG, 
funding for 2009 and 2010 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment 
Act, ARRA.
  However, with only a portion of these ARRA funds being continued, and 
with persistent state budget gaps, many states are forced to scale back 
child care assistance for families. Some states' waiting lists for 
subsidized child care are beginning to rise and a few states have 
stopped or plan to stop providing child care assistance to families who 
are not receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, TANF, 
together.
  Cuts and restrictions in the availability of child care assistance 
make it harder for parents to afford child care and have forced some 
parents to leave their jobs and turn to welfare programs for support. 
Children lose access to the stable, good-quality child care that 
encourages their learning and development and prepares them for school 
success. And child care programs can find difficulty filling their 
classrooms, leading them to lay off staff or close their doors 
entirely. That is wrong and we can do better.
  Child care consumes a large portion of family budgets, and can cost 
up to $18,773 annually for full-time care depending on where the family 
lives, the type of care, and the age of the child. Child care prices 
are higher than other household expenses and typically exceed the 
average amount families spend on food. In 39 States and the District of 
Columbia, the average annual price for child care for an infant in a 
child care center was higher than even a year's tuition at some 4-year 
public colleges.
  Without assistance, many low-income families can find it impossible 
to secure child care. For example, in 2007, the median monthly income 
of families receiving child care assistance was just $16,680 a year. 
Nearly half, 49 percent, of families receiving child care assistance 
live below the poverty line and 86 percent of these families were 
single parent households. In these challenging economic times, it is 
especially important to help low and moderate-income families with 
their child care costs.
  The Children First Act which I am introducing today will help address 
the growing unmet need for affordable and safe child care. It will 
help--States meet the significant demand for child care assistance by 
increasing funding for mandatory child care by $500 million for fiscal 
year 2012, $700 million in 2013, and $750 million in 2014 thru 2021, 
resulting in an increase of $3.45 billion over 5 years and $7.2 billion 
over 10 years.
  This increase is necessary because only about one in six children 
eligible for Federal child care assistance receives help and there have 
been no increases in mandatory' child care funding since 2007. This 
increased funding will be used to provide approximately 212,000 
additional children access to safe and affordable child care as 
compared to current funding levels.
  The Children First Act would exclude child care from the definition 
of TANF assistance so that unemployed families who receive child care 
assistance will not have it count towards the 5-year time limit for 
Federal TANF assistance. The legislation would also ensure that the 
minimum child care health and safety standards required for providers 
receiving Child Care Development Block Grant, CCDBG, funding also apply 
to providers who receive funding through TANF. In Massachusetts, all 
licensed providers are required to the same health and safety standards 
regardless of subsidy type received.
  This legislation would increase the availability of child care for 
parents who are required to work. States are currently prohibited from 
withholding or reducing assistance to a single parent with children 
under 6 who does not meet work requirements for reasons related to the 
unavailability or unsuitability of appropriate, affordable child care 
arrangements. The Children First Act would prevent States from 
withholding or reducing cash assistance to parents of a child with 
children under age thirteen.
  Enactment of this legislation is incredibly important for my home 
State of Massachusetts which currently has approximately 24,000 
children on a waitlist for child care subsidies. The high cost of child 
care is the most significant issue facing families currently on the 
waitlist in Massachusetts. Massachusetts families pay more on average 
than families in all other states for child care, with the average 
price of full time care in center based settings totaling $18,773 for 
an infant and $13,158 for a preschooler. This legislation will help 
lower the waitlist and help our children become more productive 
citizens.
  I would like to thank a number of organizations who have been 
integral to the development of the Children First Act and who have 
endorsed it today, including the including the American Federation of 
State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFSCME, the Children's Defense 
Fund, CLASP, the National Women's Law Center, and the Service Employees 
International Union, SEIU.
  These reforms would significantly increase access to stable and 
affordable child care to low-income families and would make our 
Nation's children more prepared for school and success later in life. I 
look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to pass this 
legislation.
                                 ______