Free Child Care for Student Parents and Higher Wages for Early Educators.
This bill authorizes $9 billion in grants to community colleges and minority-serving institutions to provide free, high-quality infant and toddler child care for student parents, aiming to reduce financial burdens and increase graduation rates. The legislation also focuses on expanding and diversifying the early childhood workforce by funding training programs and ensuring child care staff receive comparable, living wages. It also simplifies eligibility for federal child care assistance programs for students.
Key points
Provides free, high-quality child care for up to 500,000 infants and toddlers of student parents at participating colleges.
Mandates that child care staff at supported on-campus centers receive wages comparable to elementary educators (at least a living wage).
Establishes grants to train new early childhood educators and expand child care supply in underserved communities.
Expands eligibility for the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program to include students in higher education and requires better outreach regarding dependent care financial aid allowances.
Expired
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