December 2020 Monthly Update
Membership
We are pleased to welcome the following organization as a new NCFN member!
Center for Cities + Schools, University of California-Berkeley
The full list of NCFN Members is available on the NCFN website.
RESEARCH & REPORTS
BPC Report Quantifies Child Care Supply Gaps Across the Country
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) recently released a research report, Child Care in 25 States: What we know and don’t know, that seeks to answer a question central to our nation’s education and economic future: “how much additional child care does the country need?” Using data from 25 states – encompassing 129 different facility types across states – BPC prepared a comprehensive dataset of each provider’s location and capacity. The study concluded that in 25 states in 2019 – prior to the COVID-19 pandemic – more than 2.6 million children below the age of six with all available parents in the workforce did not have access to formal child care. The COVID-19 pandemic shortened the original research plan to conduct a complete 50-state analysis, although BPC does intend to conduct a post-COVID-19 analysis to measure changes in child care access from before and after the crisis.
New Resource Hub Features State-Based Tax Credit Approaches for Child Care
The Committee for Economic Development (CED) has created a new resource hub featuring state-based tax credit approaches for child care, including individual state profiles that can help inform alternative financing approaches in support of affordable and accessible child care.
California Releases a 10-year Master Plan for Early Learning and Care
On December 1st, California released the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care, a long-awaited comprehensive roadmap to reshape early childhood care and education in the state. One of the plan's main strategies includes expanding the supply of Early Learning and Care facilities, which will be accomplished by 1) expanding the Early Learning and Care Facilities Infrastructure Grant Fund, and 2) creating data-informed plans and technical assistance capacity. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, all involved in creating the roadmap had to balance the goal to expand services with the reality that thousands of existing child care providers are closing their doors.
Build Up California is hosting a Policy Roundtable about the facilities data and recommendations in the Master Plan this Friday, December 11th, from 11:00am to 12:00pm PT.
POLICY UPDATE
Congress Works to Reach Government Funding Agreement Prior to December 11 Deadline
The continuing resolution funding all government operations and keeping federal agencies running is set to expire on Friday, December 11. Congressional leaders are working diligently to reach bipartisan consensus to avoid a shutdown and will likely vote on a one-week continuing resolution sometime the week of December 7, pushing the funding deadline back to December 18.
Simultaneously, a bipartisan contingent of House and Senate congressional leaders are working on a $908 billion pandemic relief package with hopes of passing a bill before the end of 2020. We expect to see additional details about their proposal in the coming days.
President-Elect Biden Begins Nominating Senior Administration Personnel
President-elect Joe Biden has been announcing top picks for cabinet appointments and other senior positions in his administration.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): President-elect Biden will nominate California Attorney General (and former Congressman) Xavier Becerra as HHS Secretary. HHS houses the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the agency responsible for many important child care and early learning programs.
Department of the Treasury: President-elect Biden will nominate Janet Yellen, former Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, to serve as Treasury Secretary. The Treasury Department houses the CDFI Fund and other important tax programs impacting child care.
Council of Economic Advisers: Cecilia Rouse will be nominated to chair the Council of Economic Advisers.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB): Neera Tanden has been nominated to become OMB Director.
NEWS & RESOURCES
Member News
NCFN Member First Children’s Finance Receives $150,000 Award to Provide TA and Training in Rural Iowa Read the article >
NCFN Members IFF, Capital Impact Partners, and Cinnaire recently closed on financing for a new early childhood education (ECE) center on the Marygrove campus in Detroit Read the article >
NCFN Member Children's Investment Fund offers grants for early education programs to make improvements and emergency repairs that address health and safety issues Read the article >
Other News
Melinda Gates: This pandemic has exposed our nation’s broken caregiving system in The Washington Post Read the article >
Upcoming Events
December 11
Policy Roundtable: Facilities Data and Recommendations in the California Master Plan for Early Learning and Care Register here >
NCFN COMMITTEES
As NCFN prepares for a robust agenda in the new year, we hope you will consider joining one of our three active committees:
Policy Committee: Contact Nicole Barcliff, nbarcliff@lisc.org.
Membership Committee: Contact Bevin Parker-Cerkez, BParkerCerkez@lisc.org.
Communications Committee: Contact Angie Garling, agarling@liifund.org.