The CARES Act: Strengthened Federal Investments in Child Care to Support Workers and Families During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Led by efforts from U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Congress recently passed the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help support workers, families, businesses, communities and more struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic and response. The CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, 2020, and includes $3.5 billion for child care — $58 million of which will go to Washington state.
This federal funding will go to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and support Washington state’s efforts to:
🔘 Expand Access to Child Care Assistance: Extends eligibility for child care assistance to frontline workers, including health care workers, sanitation workers, emergency personnel, and other workers deemed essential by public officials to address the pandemic
🔘 Support Early Childhood Educators: Provides funding to support continued wages and salaries for child care providers and staff who have been hard-hit by the current economic downturn
🔘 Support Child Care Providers: Provides funding to support cleaning and sanitation activities to prevent and respond to the spread of the virus in child care settings that remain open, and continued payments to child care providers facing closure or decreased enrollment due to the coronavirus.
A longtime champion for child care and early childhood education, Senator Murray is committed to building on the steps taken in the CARES Act to strengthen federal investments in our nation’s child care system and to support workers and families across Washington state who are navigating the direct impacts of the coronavirus crisis.
