At a time when children and providers are going hungry and federal food aid is shrinking, food costs pose a significant risk to provider sustainability and the wellbeing of children that they serve. The new brief underscores how the current increases in CACFP reimbursement fail to grapple with the broader, structural challenges facing HBCC providers: rising food costs, inadequate reimbursement rates, burdened policy systems, and shifting eligibility criteria. All of which leave puts provider sustainability at risk and impacts child wellbeing.
Brief: Revised CACFP Rates Don’t Make a Dent
Families and child care providers are being squeezed as pandemic-era supports expire and federal funding stalls. Across the country, home-based providers are struggling to stay open amid lower reimbursements and rising costs. Without stronger federal investment in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), tens of thousands of children could lose access to care.
Carmela is a family, friend and neighbor caregiver who is proud of her Hispanic heritage. Learn more about how her Hispanic heritage shapes her work as a HBCC caregiver in this blog.
Grandparents are unsung heroes of home-based child care. Millions of grandparents are stepping up all across the U.S. to provide primary care for their grandchildren. Stories like Tracy Owen, Natalie Whitesides, and Maria Buehler show how grandparents balance work, retirement, or other responsibilities while providing loving care.