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Legislation Introduced by Congresswoman DeLauro

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Children who get off to a good start in life, with access to health care, appropriate child development and pre-school activities, and good nutrition are more likely to be ready for school, and become productive, contributing adults. Every child deserves the quality child care and early education he or she needs to succeed in life and be safe and secure while their parents work – even when economic troubles exist.

Far too many American children and families are not getting the services they need because good programs are often unaffordable and difficult to find. Because learning begins in infancy, and is accumulated over a lifetime, students of all ages need opportunities to learn starting in early childhood, extending through grade school, secondary school, college or technical school, and beyond. Providing a quality early learning experience will help produce a well-educated workforce – an essential element for a strong economy, a strong democracy, and a secure homeland.

HR 2363, the Right Start for Children Act, would; 1) fully fund Head Start for four and five year-olds, and double funding for infants and toddlers; 2) increase funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) by $11.25 billion to make child care more affordable for one million additional children and increase the quality set-aside from four to ten percent to help states improve child care quality; 3) improve child nutrition programs to reduce child hunger, encourage healthy eating, and reduce childhood obesity; 4) increase funding for the Social services Block grant (SSBG) so states have additional resources to address the needs of low-income children; and 5) extend job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

Research confirms that age-appropriate stimulation can have a beneficial effect on child development. Unfortunately, some children start out behind, both in learning and in access to health care, nutrition, and other areas that are essential in making sure that every child is ready for school. Since 1965, head Start has provided comprehensive pre-kindergarten experiences including education, health care, nutrition, and social services to millions of the nations poorest children. Despite over 35 years of investment and a proven track record in helping children and families succeed, Head Start only reaches about three out of five eligible preschool-aged children.

HR2363 would help ensure that children have access to quality early learning programs by placing Head Start back on track to full-funding by 2007. Currently, Head Start serves less than half of the population of eligible children. HR 2363 would increase authorization levels to $7.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2004; $8.2 billion in Fiscal year 2005; $9 billion in Fiscal Year 2006; $9.8 billion in Fiscal Year 2007; and $10.8 billion in Fiscal Year 2008. The bill would provide full funding for Head Start preschoolers and more than double the number of infants and toddlers that could be served by Early Head Start.

Increasing quality and availability of child care helps achieve two important goals: allowing low-income parents on welfare and parents trying to stay off welfare to work and support their families; and providing the early learning experiences that children need to be ready for school. Studies show that when childcare is available and families receive help paying for care, parents are more likely to work. Children in high-quality care score higher on reading and mathematics tests, are more likely to complete high school and go on to college, and are less likely to repeat a grade or get charged in juvenile court.

HR 2363 would help low-income families work and help prepare our children to succeed by increasing funding for the CCDBG by $11.25 billion over five years. With these funds, states would be able to serve approximately one million more children nationally. In addition, HR 2363 would more than double the current quality set-aside in the CCDBG from four percent to ten percent of total funding to allow states to make critical care providers; improve the compensation, education and training of child care providers; educate parents about the importance of high-quality care; and ensure the availability of care for children with special health care needs, infant care, and child care during non-standard hours.

The legislation would also promote common sense changes to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that support work by enabling states to increase the availability and improve the quality of child care. HR 2363 would also include a two percent Indian reservation and Puerto Rico set-aside, further enhancing the quality of childcare for these under-served groups.

An estimated 61 percent of adults in the United States and 13 percent of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. HR 2363 would establish a $10 million grant program to provide training for health profession students on how to identify, treat, and prevent obesity; a $40 million grant program to help communities implement programs to promote good nutrition and physical activities to prevent overweight and obesity; a $0 million grant program to develop and disseminate school-based curricula or programs that focus on healthy lifestyle; and require a study of federal food and nutrition assistance programs.

Since the enactment of the family and Medical leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, more than 35 million Americans have taken leave for family or medical reasons. While the leave provided by FMLA has proven to be a critical resource for millions of Americans, too many people are left behind because the Act provides only unpaid leave. HR 2363 would provide five-year demonstration grants to a state or local government to carry out projects that assist families by providing wage replacements for eligible individuals caring for a newborn or newly-adopted child or attending to other family care giving needs.

HR 2363 would extend the FMLA to workers in businesses with 25 to 50 employees. The legislation also works toward making family and medical leave more affordable by funding demonstration projects that test different mechanisms for giving parents full or partial wage replacement after the birth or adoption of a child. Today, more than three-quarters of employees who do not take family or medical leave, but need to, do not because they cannot afford to do so. A leave from work often causes financial hardship for families, causing almost 40 percent to delay paying bills and nine percent to join the welfare rolls

HR 2363 also would allow parents to take 24 hours of leave in a 12-month period to participate in academic activities at their children’s school or attend literacy training activities. In addition, the bill would allow individuals to take leave to deal with the effects of domestic violence, such as going to court or finding shelter.

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