Landrieu Lauds Senate Passage of Child Care Bill that Will Help Working Families
Based on lessons learned from Katrina & Rita, bill will protect children in disasters
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WASHINGTON — Legislation aimed at helping working families afford quality child care that included several amendments authored by U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., was approved today by the U.S. Senate. The Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2013, which passed the House in September, passed the Senate by a vote of 88-1. The CCDBG Act of 2013 represents a comprehensive, bipartisan reauthorization of a law that was last revised in 1996. “This bill we passed today includes many important updates that will help working families afford and provide quality and safe child care for their children,” said Sen. Landrieu. “I’m proud to have successfully included several amendments in the final bill that will protect children during disasters and remove obstacles faced by foster children when enrolling in child care. The Senate’s smart action in reauthorizing this vital program will continue to allow millions of parents care for their children while they earn an education.” One of Sen. Landrieu’s key amendments to the bill directs states to develop disaster plans for child care centers. The amendment incorporates lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “We vividly remember when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita displaced more than 160,000 children in Louisiana and Mississippi with no mandated emergency preparedness for child care in place. It is crucial that every child care facility be prepared to protect our nation’s children. The devastation a storm brings—whether it is a tornado in North Louisiana or hurricane along our coast—is terrible enough without having to worry about your children’s safety. In the toughest of times, this solution will bring families a little peace of mind to know their children are safe and cared for,” Sen. Landrieu said. “Today, we ensured that our children will be properly cared for during a disaster. Kids can’t take care of themselves and when disasters strike, we must have plans in place to keep them safe." According to Save the Children, 28 states still fail to meet basic emergency preparedness standards for children recommended by the National Commission on Children and Disasters. While progress has been made, more than half of our states are not ensuring that children are protected in the event of an emergency or disaster. It’s crucial that we ask states to create plans that keep our children safe.
This amendment will ensure that a state not only has a plan for emergencies and disasters, but outlines the necessary components of such a plan in order to best protect children. The plan should include the following components:
In March, Sen. Landrieu met with Victoria Johnson, a Shreveport veteran and a beneficiary of the CCDBG program. Despite having her daughter at 18, Johnson was able to earn an associate’s degree because of the child care assistance the program provided. Now, Johnson’s daughter Veyoncé, age 9, excels in school and recently won the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials’ What Home Means to Me calendar artwork contest. During their visit to Washington, D.C., they met with Senator Landrieu and shared their story. Click here to watch a video of Johnson’s visit with Sen. Landrieu. Other Landrieu-authored amendments included in the final bill are:
Established by Congress in 1990, the CCDBG is the primary federal law that funds child care for low-income families and their children. In FY 2014, it is funded at $2.36 billion in discretionary funding and $2.9 billion in mandatory funding. States are required to contribute a match, which totals about $1.28 billion in FY 2014. Children under age 13 from working families earning below 85 percent of the State Median Income are eligible. In FY13, Louisiana received $40M. CCDBG impacts 1.5 million children nationwide, including 28,000 in Louisiana.
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