In response to intense support from advocates, including the Episcopal Church, legislation to increase funding for child care assistance by $6 billion over five years cleared the Senate overwhelmingly by a vote of 78-20 on March 30.
After a year and a half of delays, the U.S. Senate this week began consideration of legislation that renews the nation's most important federal programs providing assistance to the working poor, families in need, and children. The Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone (PRIDE) Act, passed by the Senate Finance Committee earlier this year, falls far short of what is needed to adequately serve those most in need, according to the Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations in Washington, D.C.
"Clearly members of the Senate understand that child care or lack of child care is one of the greatest barriers to employment for working families trying to move off of public assistance toward self-sufficiency," said Bishop Thomas Ely of Vermont. "Without further improvements--in the form of amendments that retain current work requirements, expand education and training, and reinstate assistance to legal immigrants--we would have to oppose final passage of the PRIDE Act."
The amendment offered by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) was considered to be a high priority for the Office of Government Relations and was the subject of numerous Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) "alerts" to generate support from Episcopalians to contact members of the Senate in support of working families and children. Funding for child care was one of two issues that 13 Episcopal bishops, including Ely, highlighted in visits with members of Congress as part of their College for Bishops "Public Issues--Public Figures" session in Washington in the fall of 2003.
The passage of this amendment will mean a further $50 million annual funding for child care if Congress gives final approval to the overall bill.
"Members of the EPPN have already shown their strong support for child care and we need their help to finish the ‘work God has given us to do’ by contacting their Senators now and asking them to support additional critical amendments to the legislation now being considered," said Mary Getz, grassroots coordinator for the EPPN.
Other amendments expected to be considered include: retaining current work requirements; supporting expanded education and training; reinstating assistance for legal immigrants; funding of marriage promotion; and increasing minimum wage.
The PRIDE Act would replace the 1996 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. All federal welfare programs were reorganized, streamlined or eliminated under the 1996 law--giving states broad flexibility to design their own welfare programs--in ways that strengthen families and promote work, responsibility and self-sufficiency. What existed before, in the form of federal welfare or entitlements, was converted primarily into state block grants.
According to a 2002 Economic Policy Institute study, single mothers with young children who receive child care assistance are 40 percent more likely to be employed after two years than mothers who did not receive such assistance. The study goes on to say that former welfare recipients who receive child care assistance are 82 percent more likely to be employed after two years than those who do not receive such assistance.
"If the aim of welfare reform is to move people off the welfare rolls and onto payrolls, providing support in the form of quality child care is a prerequisite to realizing that goal. Of course, as with anything else, child care comes at a price--in some states it can cost as much as a year's tuition at a public college," said Snowe in floor debate. "For a parent transitioning from welfare to work--typically earning the minimum wage--it's not hard to see how child care can be the budget-buster that forces a family to retreat back into welfare.
We need to stop forcing responsible parents to make the choice between leaving a child in an unsafe, and often unsupervised situation, or to not work--both lose-lose situations. This amendment would help ensure that doesn't happen."
More information about TANF reauthorization and child care is available at the EPPN website. The Executive Council in February 2002 passed a resolution that "support[ed] reduction of domestic poverty and call[ed] on the U.S. Congress and Administration to support federal programs that value not only reducing caseloads, but offering dignity and opportunities for the working poor to move out of poverty."
