Written by Leila Habayeb

There have been numerous OP-ED’s written and published in support of the additional funding ($50B) desperately needed by child care providers to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. One that NCCA received recently really hit home and we would like to share it with all of you.

It was written by Leila Habayeb, a nursing student at the University of Pennsylvania. We hope you will read it, act upon it, and share it on behalf of #SAVECHILDCARE. 

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Raise your kids or provide for them. Choose one.

How do you make the decision between caring for your children and bringing home a paycheck? The answer? You should not have to. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic though, parents are being forced to make this impossible decision.

Parents must provide for their families and that cannot come at the cost of their children’s safety or development. Child care centers must re-open and they must do so in a way that makes everyone feel protected.

The Child Care is Essential Act is working to do exactly that. This bill would provide $50 billion in grants to child care providers that are currently open and/or temporarily closed due to Covid-19. The grants would help support increased costs associated with providing child care safely during the pandemic.

We must support The Child Care is Essential Act. Supporting this bill means supporting women employment.

Women have been disproportionately impacted by the loss of jobs as a result of Covid-19. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, today women have a higher unemployment rate than men. More specifically, Hispanic and Black women have higher unemployment rates than White women. Women have taken on more of the childcare responsibilities during this pandemic, so supporting safe places where mothers can drop off their children for care, means more of them can get back into the workforce.

We must support The Child Care is Essential Act. Supporting this bill means saving the child care industry.

Child care centers must re-open soon or the entire industry is at risk of collapse. They need proper funding to re-open their services while guaranteeing safety and quality measures. Centers are not able survive if they can’t accept students. They need help to ensure that staff feel safe going to work. They need support to create an environment where families know they are not putting their children at risk.

We must support The Child Care is Essential Act. Supporting this bill means supporting the economy.

Funding safe re-opening of child care programs allows parents to return to work and seek out jobs that do not require them to stay home. New York Democrat Nita Lowey explains that, “every single industry counts on child care. In order to save our economy, we need to save child care.”

Critics of the bill argue that $50 billion is too costly during these times, especially on an industry that usually gets less than that amount in support, in a whole year. Critics of the bill argue that the process of applying for these funds is too complicated. They say people would spend more time filling out the application than actually providing child care. In reality – without this funding, there may be no time spent on providing child care at all, and those in need of this funding are willing to put in all the effort necessary.

We all have a responsibility to take action, and it is so simple.

Take action by bringing attention to this bill. Take action by reaching out to your Representatives and Senators to support it. This link through the “National Women’s Law Center” and this link through “A Better Balance”provide drafted messages to state legislators in a call for action in support of this bill. All you have to do is click on the hyperlink above, input your address, and a message will be directed to the appropriate recipients based on the state and county you live in.

Let it be known that The Child Care is Essential Act must go through. Our families and our livelihoods depend on it.

Our next webinar will be on Tuesday, October 20 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST. Join us and Tony DAgostino, Founder and CEO of Inspire Care 360, a leader in ECE Management Support. Tony will be discussing “Walk the Line” What companies need to do to recruit and retain top talent. This will also allow him to showcase several elements of what IC360 does to help members and how to become one if it offers you value.

REGISTER NOW!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

As always, our resources are open to all; however, members receive discounts, tools and much more so if you’re currently not a member, please visit HERE for more info.

Thank you to all who participated in our first Webinar that focused on “Accreditation & Marketing Your Center” last week!

We have uploaded the presentation on the NCCA YouTube channel. Take a look at your convenience and be sure to check out our other videos! 

For those who attended and/or registered, please take a moment to offer feedback, as we are always looking at ways to improve and provide you with resources that are of value.

Cindy Lehnhoff, Director of the National Child Care Association (NCCA), is celebrating her one year anniversary with our organization. This has been quite the past 12 months and there were few people that could have accomplished what Lehnhoff did this year. The volunteer Board of Directors would like to take this time to thank her for her passionate service, attention to detail, her business acumen and her apparent desire for providing quality child care to the masses.

“I know, without a doubt that this past year wouldn’t look the same from an organizational perspective if we hadn’t made the decision, as a board, to hire Cindy to be the Director,” stated Missy Webb, Board President and owner of Teddy Bear Day Care and Preschool. “She has the experience and dedication that was needed to address child care nationally through multiple television interviews and webinars and also provided new ways to communicate with our members.”

The National Child Care Association has 7,000+ members and is growing. With a new focus on digital media, providing dozens of added benefits and partnering with national affiliate’s positions the organization for solid growth and continued support for the Centers and Educators that are in their membership.

To learn more about NCCA, please visit our website at or follow us on one or all of our social platforms below. 

We would like to take a minute to ask you to please respond to the 2020 Census. Among many other benefits, the Census helps your local community thrive and receive proper assistance.

What is the Census? A census aims to count the entire population of a country, and at the location where each person usually lives. The census asks questions of people in homes and group living situations, including how many people live or stay in each home, and the sex, age and race of each person. The framers of the Constitution of the United States chose the population to be the basis for sharing political power, not wealth or land.

How does the Census benefit community? Federal funds, grants and support to states, counties and communities are based on population totals and breakdowns by sex, age, race and other factors. When you respond to the census, you help your community gets its fair share of the more than $675 billion per year in federal funds spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works and other vital programs. Additionally, businesses use census data to decide where to build factories, offices and stores, and this creates jobs.

Many 911 emergency systems are based on maps developed for the last census. Census information helps health providers predict the spread of disease through communities with children or elderly people. When floods, tornadoes or earthquakes hit, the census tells rescuers how many people will need their help.

Perhaps most importantly, filling out the Census helps to gain funding in your area for early quality child care.

37% of households still need to respond. The 2020 Census can be filled out online at 2020census.gov or by phone 844-330-2020. Please share this blog with your parents, with your friends, and with your coworkers. Show them how important the Census is for the community and make the government work for you! 

Thank you to census.gov for additional information. 

Thank you for your contact with us regarding the article you are writing. Please note that we are a bipartisan non-profit organization that does not take one political side over another. I have attached for your reference a copy of our Mission and Vision Statement. I am also prepared to say that the licensed private child care providers, many with 50+ years of experience, would very much appreciate a voice at any political table that is truly committed to working towards a solution to make high quality child care and early education more affordable, available, and equitable to all families.

Pre-Covid-19 our country had approximately 129,000 licensed child care centers with over 90% of them being women led small businesses. There were another 115,000 licensed or registered family child care homes nation wide. Unfortunately the majority of young children in the United States are not in any kind of licensed or regulated child care or early learning environment. Historically we only see this issue being discussed during a campaign year. Additionally neither political party has ever put any significant effort or dollars towards children’s needs as a whole when it comes to the annual budget.  In other words there is a lot of talk but no one really walks the talk. 

Those of us that have worked in child care and ran businesses have survived in spite of it all. That is until COViD-19 which has revealed the fragility of our nation’s child care infrastructure. In order to fix what is broken and desperately needed for the families needing child care there has to be a desire by our leaders to listen and learn from successful practitioners in this industry. While money is desperately needed as a part of this equation it is also about having a good process in place and the resources to execute it. We at the NCCA are ready and available to be a part of this solution.  

Thank you,

Cindy Lehnhoff
Director of the National Child Care Association (NCCA)
Policy Advisor for the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA)

Submitted by Cindy Lehnhoff, Director of the National Child Care Center, on behalf of and with the permission of Tracy Jost, Child Care Owner/Operator in Maryland

Stories from the field: Child Care Providers Facing Closure without Substantially MoreFederal Government Support

Tracy Jost is the owner of Kids Campus Child Care Center in Calvert County, Maryland.  She has proudly owned and operated the facility for 14 years. Tracy, along with her staff, have worked tirelessly to achieve a rating of 4 in the state Quality Rating Improvement System: Maryland EXCELS. A 4 is considered one of the top ratings awarded to early education and child care programs that are meeting nationally recognized standards and best practices.  Prior to COVID-19, Tracy’s center was at full capacity with 150 children enrolled. When the Governor announced that Maryland’s child care centers could only serve essential personnel, the attendance at Kids Campus immediately dropped to only 35 children and then over time grew to 50 children enrolled.

Of the original 150 children enrolled, 100 were children to non-essential parents, therefore not eligible for care, while others were kept home by their parents to avoid any Covid-19 risk. Several families immediately withdrew while others followed as time went on. The remaining families have been paying a discounted weekly tuition fee meant to reserve a spot for their child when the Governor re-opens child care centers for all children. Tracy understands that parents are fearful and therefore will continue to keep their children at home until they are comfortable and confident that it is safe.

With less children attending and therefore less families paying tuition costs, Tracy’s revenue has dropped substantially.  Fortunately, Kids Campus qualified for the PPP loan/grant that was extended to small businesses under the CARES Act.  This has helped her cover her labor cost and a few other expenses for an 8-week period.  With the funds from the loan running out in a few short weeks, Tracy will struggle like so many other providers with covering the expenses of running a high quality child care center. Unless Congress passes another bill that includes substantial support for licensed child care, Tracy is not sure how long she can stay in business if her enrollment does not increase in the near future.

There are other obstacles that make it difficult for Tracy, other providers in Maryland as well as families to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic:

● In order to meet social distancing guidelines throughout the day, child care providers have to lower their operational capacity to keep children further apart. As a result of this, more qualified staff must be present in the center to ensure that the minimal licensing standard of keeping all children within sight and sound at all times is maintained. Reducing the operational capacity decreases a center’s weekly revenue while having to provide additional staff increases operational costs.

● Middle class working parents spend on average 10-14% of their income for child care. Therefore, they cannot bear the burden of an increase to the cost of care. We know from experience that when child care cost increases, families are often forced to choose cheaper unsafe options which do not include a high-quality early education program like the one offered at Kids Campus Child Care Center.

● Operational cost has also increased to allow for additional cleaning and sanitizing throughout the day.While high quality child care providers have always been extremely mindful and attentive to preventing the spread of illness, the COVID-19 pandemic has required staff to triple their daily cleaning routines which, of course, has increased their expenses.Locating cleaning and sanitation supplies has been exceedingly difficult.

Tracy and many other licensed centers that have remained opened in Maryland are struggling to remain in business due to the impact of Covid-19. It is well-known that prior to COVID-19, child care centers were already operating on thin margins. This is why owners and operators like Tracy cannot afford to stay in business and offer quality early care and education at the highest level if the current situation persists without additional financial support by our Federal Government.  With the money from the CARES Act running out in June, many providers are uncertain about their ability to remain open or as many centers have closed, their ability to reopen their facilities. Knowing this, Congress must act now to SAVE child care so that America’s economy can recover.  Without a solid child care infrastructure in place working parents will not be able to return to work.  An additional $50B dollars is needed to ensure that centers like Tracy’s can remain open and operating safely now and long into the future.   

Thank you for taking the necessary action to SAVE the ESSENTIAL CHILD CARE INFRASTRUCTURE of the United States!

Cindy Lehnhoff

NCCA Director
NECPA Policy Advisor

Now more than ever before, is the time that your support is needed from The National Child Care Association! We need to show our Legislators that we have a strong voice of thousands of early childcare educators and centers. 

We also have more to offer than ever before to our members. You may not have known but your $30 annual support (individuals) and $100 (centers) gives you ALL the following resources and benefits – https://www.nccanet.org/page/Benefits.

This is the time to stay together and advocate for our children while growing your own personal professionalism and showcasing to your parents why your center is different from the rest! 

We are here to answer any questions you have. Give us a call at 877-537-NCCA (6222) if you have questions about renewing or joining. And, please forward this to your circle of influence, encouraging them to join, too. Thank you!

Check and see if your membership is still active HERE.

If you need to renew, want to refer a colleague or join please click HERE.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to consumers and health care providers about hand sanitizer products that are labeled as containing ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) but that have tested positive for methanol contamination. Methanol (i.e., methyl alcohol or wood alcohol) is a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested and can be life-threatening when ingested. As per the FDA news update hyperlinked below, “Methanol is not an acceptable active ingredient for hand sanitizers and must not be used due to its toxic effects. FDA’s investigation of methanol in certain hand sanitizers is ongoing. The agency will provide additional information as it becomes available.”

Consumers who have been exposed to a hand sanitizer containing methanol and are experiencing symptoms should seek immediate treatment for the potential toxic effects of methanol poisoning, which can include nausea, vomiting, headaches, blurred vision, permanent blindness, and seizures. Although people of all ages are at risk for methanol poisoning, “young children who accidentally ingest these products and adolescents and adults who drink these products as an alcohol (ethanol) substitute are most at risk.”

Please see the full FDA news update on hand sanitizers with methanol for further information.

Office of Child Care

Administration for Children and Families

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

We STILL NEED $50 billion for child care!

Our Legislators are still discussing The Child Care is Essential Act. Contact your Senators now and let them know we need more funding! 

Thank you for using your voice!

Here is our Executive Director, Cindy reminding us how important YOUR VOICE IS! Watch the video.