The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) provides federal funding to states for child care subsidies for low-income families with children under the age of 13. Most of this funding goes to families with children under the age of five, so parents can work or attend school. States also have the flexibility to invest some of this grant towards improving the overall quality and supply of child care. 

Head Start and Early Head Start are federal programs that provide comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent engagement services to children from low-income families. Early Head Start serves pregnant women and children birth to three, and Head Start serves children ages three through five. Decades of research show that these programs improve school readiness, strengthen families, and support local communities – particularly in rural areas where Head Start may be the only child care option. 

The enacted FY26 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill included $8.831 billion for CCDBG and $12.356 billion for Head Start—both slight increases from FY25. Ask your Member of Congress to at least maintain enacted funding levels in FY27, helping set up our children and their families for success in school, in work, and in life.