Louisiana group wants $24M put back into state early childcare budget to help families, businesses

Michael Scheidt
·2 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Ready Louisiana Coalition wants lawmakers to restore a $24.3 million cut to the Child Care Assistance Program. (It’s part of HB 1.) According to the group, almost 9,000 kids ages 0-3 get services from state and federal funding sources through the program.

Michelle Delery, chair of the Women United of the United Way of Southeast Louisiana, said the group wants “to highlight the need for our state to continue investing in early care in education.” She spoke Tuesday, May 21, at a news conference on Early Education Day held at the Louisiana State Capitol to highlight Ready Louisiana’s 2024 legislative priorities.

“We know that families need access to quality child care again to go back to work and to be able to go to school,” said Executive Director of Louisiana Policy Institute for Children Libbie Sonnier said.

The coalition said at least 2,000 children would lose their childcare seats if the money isn’t restored, and that could leave thousands of parents without childcare and unable to work with a standard schedule.

“Educational freedom expands opportunities,” said Louisiana State Superintendent Cade Brumley. He said parents deserve to have options for how their kids are educated and cared for during the day.

According to a news release from Ready Louisiana, the state Department of Education said that the Child Care Assistance Program waitlist has 6,500 eligible children on it.

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“CCAP helps parents like me secure quality ECE for their children while they work, go to school, or look for new jobs,” said Dafnee Chatman, a parent from Evangeline Parish, said in the release. “These families are in every community and fill key roles in society. They are your healthcare technician, teacher, retail clerk, sanitation worker, etc. These families are the backbone of our economy.”

Delery said, “Investing in early care and education programs helps working parents succeed today and prepares their children for success in school and in life.”

Brumley highlighted how LDOE has “created a complete office within our agency for early care and education” and is willing to provide support “in any particular way.”

“Decreasing our state investment is not what is best for our children, their parents, our business or our economy,” Sonnier said.

President of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry Will Green, Director of Ms. Ellen’s Daycare Shellie Turner, and Executive Vice President and COO of United Way of Southeast Louisiana Charmaine Caccioppi also spoke at the news conference.

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