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EYE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD
September 2025
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In the Wake of Reconciliation: Impacts and Advocacy
Earlier this summer, Congress passed a reconciliation package that has severe consequences for children and families. The package includes the largest cuts in history to Medicaid and SNAP, which are lifelines for many people across the country. These cuts come on top of the administration’s ongoing attacks on child care, Head Start, and immigrant rights. Attempts from both the White House and Congress to restrict immigrant families’ access to federal benefits and limit the scope of federal programs have compounded the mounting attacks on families of color and those with low incomes. This week Congress is considering appropriations for important programs that are essential for children and families.
These federal cuts and the potential for more directly harm children and families, and they also add a new pressure to state governments to absorb the financial burden created by the rollback of federal funds. For the child care sector, which was already navigating the expiration of COVID relief funds, the impacts could be dire. Multiple states have already had to pause enrollment in their child care assistance programs to offset stagnating federal funds. Families will also be forced to make financial tradeoffs because these legislative actions—made in service of tax breaks for the wealthy—have worsened the ongoing child care affordability crisis and broader financial challenges many families are facing in this economy.
We are working to analyze, document, and fight back against the damage this administration is enacting in defense of the programs that keep children safe and families afloat. These attacks will not stop us from fighting for a brighter and better future for children and families.
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Featured Update
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The Impact of Anti-immigrant Policies on Children, Families & the Child Care and Early Education Workforce
Rachel Wilensky, Karla Coleman-Castillo from the National Women’s Law Center, and Wendy Cervantes detail how anti-immigrant policies harm children, limit access to care, and destabilize the child care workforce.
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Recent Publications
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House Proposed Level Funding for CCDBG Would Mean Nearly 50,000 Children Lose Access Since Last Increase
Rachel Wilensky and Stephanie Schmit analyze how the flat funding proposed in the House fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations bill leaves fewer children able to access child care assistance. This comes on top of cuts from the previous FY.
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When Hunger Speaks a Different Language: Food Insecurity, Immigrant Families, and the Invisible Barriers that Keep Kids Hungry
Parthenia Tawfik explores how immigrant families face distinct and often invisible barriers to food access, even when eligible for benefits like SNAP. The blog sheds light on how language access, misinformation, cultural stigma, and systemic exclusions leave families unsupported.
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CLASP Opposes Interpretation of “Federal public benefit” Under PRWORA
CLASP writes in opposition to the harmful new interpretation that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is taking on the definition of a “federal public benefit” under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which would cause further harm to the health and well-being of immigrant families who already have limited access to essential programs and services.
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CLASP Responds to RFI: Ensuring Lawful Regulation and Unleashing Innovation To Make America Healthy Again
CLASP submitted a public comment in response to the HHS Request for Information (RFI): Ensuring Lawful Regulation and Unleashing Innovation To Make America Healthy Again. We offered our perspective and insights based on our work on programs administered by HHS, including child care and early education programs run by the Office of Child Care and the Office of Head Start, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act Marketplaces, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
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Child Care Assistance 101
Alyssa Fortner and Shira Small break down the fundamentals of child care assistance policy, looking at federal and state funding; who qualifies; how subsidies are distributed; and why access remains limited, especially for families of color.
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FY25 Continuing Resolution Means Fewer Children Have Access to Child Care Through CCDBG
Rachel Wilensky and Stephanie Schmit analyze how flat funding in the fiscal year (FY) 2025 continuing resolution leaves fewer children able to access child care assistance.
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The Senate’s Budget Reconciliation Bill is Bad for Children and Families
Juan Carlos Gomez outlines how Senate budget cuts would hurt millions of families, especially those with low incomes and immigrant households, while prioritizing tax breaks for the wealthy.
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The Real-World Costs of Eliminating Head Start
Stephanie Schmit outlines how proposals to eliminate or defund Head Start would harm families with low incomes in this op-ed for OtherWords. The piece was also republished in the Utah News Dispatch.
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Recent Events
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What Care Advocates Need to Know About Centering and Supporting Immigrant Children, Families, and Early Educators
On June 4, Rachel Wilensky and Priya Pandey presented to the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health, speaking to an audience of 180 child care providers, home visitors, and early childhood advocates. The session explored the current immigration policy context and its implications for early childhood settings, including an overview of relevant constitutional rights, best practices for creating safe spaces, and how to prepare for and respond to potential immigration enforcement.
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Maine Early Childhood Funders Network: 2025 Federal Landscape
On May 15, Rachel Wilensky spoke to the Maine Early Childhood Funders Network, offering an overview of emerging federal threats to families with low incomes and the child care and early education sector.
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Webinar: How Medicaid Supports the Child Care Workforce
On May 1, Suzanne Wikle presented about the ways Medicaid supports the child care workforce for a webinar co-hosted by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, National Association for the Education of Young Children, and CLASP.
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Did you Know?
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Approximately 50,000 fewer children will have access to child care and early education through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) through the combined impact of the FY25 stagnant funding and the House proposed flat funding in FY26.
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Media Mentions
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SALON
“Who's going to take care of your child?”: Parents reel from Trump ICE crackdown
“Good nutrition, regular health care, a stable and healthy living environment, and nurturing care are necessities for children to grow and learn and ultimately do well in school, in their jobs, and throughout their lives,” Wilensky said. “When children don’t have their basic needs met—or when they experience hardship and distress—it undercuts their growth and development and can have enduring effects. Immigrants have been central throughout our nation’s history, and their experiences matter for our future. The success of the United States is tied to the health and well-being of immigrants, as well as their success in school and later careers."
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THE 74
Some States Are Seeking to Deregulate Child Care. Advocates Are Fighting Back
So, [state] advocates marshalled research, with the help of national groups including the National Association for the Education of Young Children and Center for Law and Social Policy... lower ratios support better health and safety for children.
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ASHLAND SOURCE
Michigan’s Tri Share program brings state, employers to the table
Fortner has researched Tri-Share... “What I think is really necessary... is investment at a level that we’ve never seen before from public dollars...” Schmit said.
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Social Media Highlights
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Federal Cuts to Child Care and Head Start are an Attack on Families with Low Incomes
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CLASP Proudly Endorses Sen. Murray, Sen. Scott, and Colleagues as they reintroduce Child Care for Working Families Act
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Meet The Team
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Meet Mikayla Slaydon
Meet Mikayla Slaydon, the Child Care and Early Education team’s newest policy analyst. Mikayla joins CLASP from Equal Justice Works, where she worked most recently as a program specialist on the housing justice fellowship program. She will work at the intersection of immigration and child care policy, and we are glad to welcome her to the team.
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