The House Appropriations Committee recently approved the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill for FY2020, which outlines funding for early care and learning programs critical to babies’ development. The first three years are a time in development unmatched by any other later point in life. But the recently released State of Babies Yearbook: 2019 reveals troubling early warning signs that too many young children face conditions that place their development – and our future – at risk.

About the Bill

The bill includes historic increases to key early learning and development programs that can help to reverse this path we have set for our future, including:

• • An increase of $2.4 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant;
  • $525 million increase in the set-aside for the expansion of Early Head Start, including through EHS-Child Care Partnerships;
  • Doubling of the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Grant Program, to a total of $10 million; and
  • An increase of $21.3 million for Part C Early Intervention.

By laying the foundation today for 12 million infants and toddlers living in the U.S., we are investing in our society’s future.

Learn More

To learn more, see Zero to Three’s full statement.

*Information provided by Zero to Three