Description:
On February 13, after intense negotiations and debate, both the House of Representatives and Senate gave final approval to an economic recovery package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The bill includes $2 billion for child care assistance to low-income families, which will help provide child care services for hundreds of thousands of children while their parents go to work. In addition, the Act includes $2.1 billion for Head Start as well as other funding that has implications for early childhood programs in the Department of Defense, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind programs. To view a chart (courtesy of Early Care and Education Consortium) tracking details of the early childhood portions of the Act see link above.