President’s budget: Young children don’t count

February 4 began a new budget process, the last of President Bush’s presidency. Every Administration uses the budget to send a signal about its priorities for the coming year.  In this period of economic downturn, when our most vulnerable children and families need access to comprehensive supports, the message of this budget is simple and stark: children in low-income working families don’t matter.  The President proposes flat funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant that will cause 200,000 children to lose access to child care assistance by 2009.  This loss is in addition to thousands of children who may already have lost services due to years of flat funding.

The Administration also acknowledges that fewer children will be served in Head Start under their proposal.  While the budget provides for a small increase, the amount is barely enough to cover inflation, let alone the costs needed to implement changes in the program required by the recent Head Start reauthorization, including provisions to expand access to Head Start, strengthen and expand Early Head Start, and important quality improvements.

For an analysis of the President’s budget proposal’s impact on child care and early education programs, see President’s Budget Disregards Sound Investments for Young Children.