Statement on Senate Passage of the 2014 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act

WASHINGTON, D.C.– The House and Senate have passed and the President is expected to sign the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014. The following statement should be attributed to Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association:

“The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 is a long overdue bipartisan effort that will protect and improve the health and safety of children in child care settings across America. We applaud the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions and the House Education and Work Committees for their continued leadership in ensuring our most vulnerable children and families have access to quality programs that put them on the path to success.

The bill builds on lessons learned from Head Start, innovative states and emerging research to further improve program quality across states and communities. The strong bipartisan effort that led to the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act’s success is something we can build on as we move in to the next Congress. Head Start and Child Care have long collaborated at the local level to ensure access to quality early learning environments for our most vulnerable infants and toddlers. The Head Start community looks forward to strengthening these partnerships as communities implement these new quality measures and offer at-risk children and families opportunities to succeed.”