Platts-Miller Legislation to Increase Quality
of Early Childhood Education

FOCUS Act seeks to enhance quality by improving skills and wages of child care providers.

Washington, D.C. - Today Congressman Todd Platts (PA-19) and Congressman George Miller (CA-7) introduced the "Focused on Committed and Underpaid Staff for Children's Sake Act" (the FOCUS Act), legislation which aims to improve the overall quality of early childhood education. The FOCUS Act seeks to attract new qualified workers to the child care field, increase the skill level and reduce the turnover of current child care workers, and increase the qualifications of the child care workforce through better wages, health care coverage and continuing education funding.

The current quality of early childhood education, determined by child care program evaluations, range from mediocre to poor. One of the most critical components of quality child care is a stable, educated and qualified teaching staff, yet child care workers have little incentive to stay in their roles or to further their training.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor," says Congressman Platts, "the average wage for a child care provider is less than $17,000 per year. We must better reflect the important role child care providers play in healthy child development and school-readiness by increasing their wages and providing incentives to further develop the skills needed to do their jobs well without raising the already high cost of child care for parents."

The FOCUS Act would establish the following three provisions:

Child Care Provider Retention and Development Grant Program-to provide grants to states to supplement the wages of full-time early child care workers who have a minimum of an associate credential in child development. Payments to qualified child care workers will be between $1,000 and $3,000 annually, determined by their level of education.

Child Care Provider Scholarships-to provide grants to states for child care providers who have been employed for at least a year in the child care field. The maximum grant will be $1,500 to further staff education and training.

Health Care Coverage for Child Care Providers-to provide grants to states to provide better access to health coverage for child care workers.

High quality child care plays an important role in preparing children for later educational success. Research on early childhood development clearly demonstrates that the experiences children have early in life have a decisive and long-lasting impact on their development and learning. The FOCUS Act will provide the incentives needed to increase the quality of child care. "We owe it to our children to improve the quality of early childhood education so that all children begin school ready to succeed," says Congressman Platts.