Facts In Action

In light of recent events, Congress' primary focus has been on the response to the terrorist attacks and to the nation's economic and national security. Shortly after the September 11th attack, Congress acted immediately to passl a $40 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill to support relief and defense efforts. The Bush Administration has been given authority to determine the use of half of those funds; the remaining $20 billion are to be directed to specific uses through the congressional appropriations process. In addition, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released $126 million to the states affected to by the disasters for immediate services, including child care assistance.

After a long delay, the House of Representatives and Senate have passed their versions of the fiscal year 2002 Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education appropriations bill, which includes funding for child care, Head Start, and after-school care (the federal fiscal year 2002 began on October 1st). The funding levels of the two versions are as follows:

• The House bill allocates $2.2 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) (a $200 million increase from FY01), and $6.5 billion for Head Start (a $276 million increase from FY01).

• The Senate bill allocates $2 billion for the CCDBG (no increase from last year), and $6.6 billion for Head Start (an increase of $400 million).

Both bills include a $173 million set-aside for quality improvements (no increase from last year).

The appropriations bill next goes to conference committee, where House and Senate conferees will meet to settle the differences between the two bills. Once the House and Senate conference committee has finished its report, both the House and the Senate must pass the bill in order to make it final.

For more information:
about child care allocations in the Senate and the House appropriations bills,
contact the Children's Defense Fund at (202) 628-8787, or by email at cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org.

Facts in Action, October 2001