Our nation's leading voice for child care

Policy

Public Policy

Child care is a fact of life for millions of American families. Good quality child care helps children learn while their parents are at work. Today, nearly 12 million children under age 5 are in some type of child care arrangement every week while their parents work. On average, children of working mothers spend 36 hours every week in child care. Too often, child care is hard to find, difficult to afford, and of questionable quality. Check out NACCRRA's key legislation and background issues for information about child care and related legislation before Congress.

You can help raise the bar on quality child care throughout the United States so that parents can work and children can learn. Quality child care can play a major role in ensuring that all children start school ready to succeed. To find out more, visit NACCRRA's Action Center.

Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCR&Rs) are state and local organizations that work with parents, providers, and communities to improve access to quality child care for American families. Click here to find out more about CCR&Rs.

RECENT REPORTS

Leaving Children to Chance: 2010 Update: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Standards and Oversight of Small Family Child Care Homes

This is NACCRRA’s fourth year of ranking state child care standards and oversight affecting young children. As indicated by this report, states do not have regulations in place that protect children in small family child care homes. Only four states received 70 percent or higher of the basic requirements needed to ensure that children are in care that safeguards their health and safety and promotes development and learning. Four out of five states license child care that meets fewer than half of the most basic standards to promote child safety and healthy development.

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We CAN Do Better: 2009 Update. NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulation and Oversight

We CAN Do Better: 2009 Update examined state child care center licensing regulations and the oversight of those regulations. NACCRRA scored and ranked states, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense on 10 state child care center regulation benchmarks and 5 benchmarks for oversight of child care center licensing regulations.

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Unequal Opportunities for Preschoolers: Differing Standards for Licensed Child Care Centers and State-Funded Prekindergarten Programs

This 2009 report compares state licensing regulations for center-based child care and early learning programs with standards for state-funded prekindergarten initiatives. As a basis for comparison, it uses the quality standards checklist developed by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). The comparison also includes information about Head Start program standards and Department of Defense (DoD) regulations for military child care.

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Parents' Perceptions of Child Care in the United States: NACCRRA's National Parent Poll

With nearly 12 million children under age 5 in some type of child care setting every week, the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) conducted a poll of over 1000 parents to find out their perceptions of child care, thoughts on minimum requirements for caregivers, the kind of care they use, including information on whether family or friends and neighbors are caring for their children, and if they are juggling work hours to take care of their children. Learn about what parents are looking for, what choices parents make, and what underlying assumptions they logically make.

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News

February 24,2010 Linda K. Smith testimony before the House Census Subcommittee -- Outreach to Improve the Accuracy of the Census Count for Young Children

February 23, 2010
NACCRRA letter to Vice President Biden in Support of the Administration’s FY2011 child care budget proposals
February 01, 2010
Capitol Connection: Capitol Connection: President’s FY2011 Budget
January 08, 2010
State Budget Cuts: America’s Kids Pay the Price (January 2010)
December 02, 2009
NACCRRA & Every Child Matters released a joint call for any jobs initiative pending in Congress to work for kids.
September 14, 2009
NACCRRA’s Letter of Support for Chairman Miller’s Early Learning Bill Under Consideration on the House Floor during the week of September 14
August 01, 2007
Linda Smith, NACCRRA's Executive Director, testified before the Oklahoma State Legislature in response to the death of a two year old in a licensed family child care home.
June 01, 2007
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission strengthens protections for caregivers—Click here to read about the new enforcement guidelines prohibiting discrimination against parents in the workplace.

Resources

Take Action

Email Your Elected Official about Child Care!