The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the U.S. child care and early learning sector. In response, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 provides $10 billion in needed pandemic-related relief for the child care sector; this fact sheet shows an estimated breakdown by state of the Act’s additional child care relief funding. As providers have been faced with reduced enrollment and increasing costs to serve children safely, these pandemic relief funds can be used to lower family co-payments, pay salaries at child care facilities, and help providers in reopening following COVID-19 lockdowns.

Counties have expanded child care services and have offered child care providers local COVID-19 relief and support in sustaining child care after the pandemic. This National Association of Counties webinar on January 25, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET will discuss what counties can do to build the local supply of child care providers. The discussion will also include information on the Bipartisan Policy Center’s child care gap tool.

This brief summarizes potential federal funding sources and programs that can be used to address barriers facing young parents and families, such as unemployment, disruption to education, financial instability, and lack of child care access, parenting experience, or family supports. Programs listed include, but are not limited to, TANF, SNAP, SSBG, Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program, Child Care Development Block Grant, WIOA, and the Family First Prevention Services Act Prevention Funds.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report synthesizes changes that states and territories made due to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program reauthorization, including health and safety improvements at child care facilities, consumer information availability, family-friendly subsidy administration, and support for early care and education providers. The report also presents a literature review of provider and family experiences with the child care market and subsidy system and findings from a child care stakeholders roundtable held in July 2019.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation will host a webinar to examine the findings from a series of surveys conducted from June to November 2020 which addressed the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on working parents, the childcare industry, and employers. This free virtual event will be held on December 9, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.

The economic shocks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic along with social distancing and stay-at-home orders have dramatically reshaped the approach social service programs are taking to support employment for low-income populations. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) will sponsor a webinar on October 28, 2020 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET featuring leaders from three employment and training programs (Climb Wyoming, Rhode Island Works, and Community Action Organization of Scioto County). The speakers will describe their approaches to continuing training programs and other employment services during the pandemic. These programs participated in OPRE’s State TANF Case Studies project to explore different approaches to providing employment-related and supportive services to TANF recipients and other low-income populations. The panelists will discuss the operational implications of the pandemic for their programs; how participants of their services are balancing participation in employment services with competing life demands and suspension of supportive services, such as child care; and the implications of shifting labor market conditions.

The Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) National Research Conference on Early Childhood 2020 (NRCEC 2020) will be held virtually from November 30 to December 3, 2020. This biennial event will cover research on child welfare, Early Head Start, Head Start, child care, home visiting, special education, pre-kindergarten, and early elementary and other early childhood programs. Updates on the conference agenda and registration will be posted as this information becomes available.

Funded by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, the Child & Family Data Archive has released the 2017 Child Care Licensing Study. The study covers collected information about child care licensing programs and policies as well as facility requirements, including facility monitoring, enforcement of licensing regulations, and licensing program staff. Data were collected from child care centers, group child care homes, and family child care homes for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Limited data were also collected for U.S. territories.

This fact sheet defines two-generation and whole-family approaches that simultaneously provide services and opportunities to both children and the adults in their lives. The fact sheet also includes summaries and links to resources on 5 key components of the two-generation approach: Postsecondary Education and Employment Pathways; Early Childhood Education and Development; Economic Assets; Health and Well-Being; and Social Capital.

This issue brief highlights three areas to consider in developing workforce policies for young parents between the age of 18 and 24 in a post-pandemic world. These touchstones include: accelerated pathways, such as Integrated Education and Training, Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, and guided pathways to focus on skill gaps to prepare for in-demand jobs; expansion of digital inclusion programs to address disparities in broadband access, availability of digital devices, and computer literacy skills; and provision of high-quality childcare for workforce program participants.