House hearing surfaces opportunities and challenges for school-age care

On September 1, 2026, the House Committee on Education and Workforce subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education held a hearing on “Supporting Working Families: State-Led Child Care Solutions.”

The Hearing, led by Subcommittee Chair Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) and Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-Oregon) included the testimony of four public witnesses:

• Ms. Ryan Page, Director of Child Care, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
• Ms. Kate Shanks, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce 
• Ms. Hanna Melnick, Senior Policy Advisor and Director of Early Learning Policy, Learning Policy Institute 
• Ms. Jude White, Assistant Commissioner for Child Care and Community Service, Tennessee Department of Human Services

The conversation elevated the important role of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), a federal funding stream supporting low-income working and learning families with access to child care for children 0-13, as well a multi-pronged approach to solutions for an issue that supports students in the near and long term and supports the workforce and economic development.

State approaches and models to supporting child care elevated in the conversation included:

• Universal Child Care movements in New Mexico and Vermont
• Using WAGE$ and TEACH dollars to support workforce retention and training, by offering bonuses for staff longevity at a program site, and stipends for additional education
• Investment in free child care access for child care workers
• Employer tax credit opportunities to invest in child care on-site or off-site for employees, such as 45F
• Establishing consumer data bases to inform parents of the full range of child care options, such as Iowa’s Child Care Connect

Afterschool and school-age programs, while top of mind for families during this back-to-school season and in extremely high demand in every state across the nation, were only mentioned only a few times.

In response to a question from Mark Messmer (R-Ind.), Ms. Page of Iowa explicitly mentioned the importance of supporting right-sized licensing so school-age programs operating on public school sites do not have to go through unnecessary hurdles. Onerous, excessive licensing requirements have been a long-standing concern of many afterschool programs in trying to adapt to child care licensing policies that often are initially designed mostly with 0-5 year old age-groups and stand-alone center-based settings in mind. More states are revising their child care licensing to include a track for school-age providers specifically, and/or to consider the needs of school-based programs to increase program access, while retaining important health and safety provisions for the ages served.

Depending on the state, the models mentioned in the hearing may or may not include afterschool. There is significant variance in state child care administrator and legislators’ awareness of the specific needs of school-age providers and families, and advocacy varies across the nation.

Both universal child care approaches in New Mexico and Vermont support families with children up to age 13. Kentucky’s policy for free child care applies to all staff in licensed centers. Additionally, the 45F employer tax credit opportunity is eligible to businesses up to age 13, so businesses can choose to use the tax credit for early care and school-age care. The Frontier Co-op in Eastern Iowa presents a good example of a business that has designed care across the age continuum. Tennessee’s WAGE$ program specifically mentions eligibility only for educators working with students 0-5, meanwhile TEACH grants in South Carolina and Minnesota specifically include school-age programs.

The Hearing testimony and Committee questions also surfaced a number of challenges faced by child care programs nationally and across the states, including:

• Low wages and benefits of child care workers
• Loss of COVID relief funds
• Strain on state budgets struggling with reductions in Medicaid and SNAP supports (some of which up to 23% child care workers themselves rely on)
• Significant gaps in access for eligible families in states and across the country. Currently 1 in 7 (16%) of children federally eligible for Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) dollars is able to access care.

In closing, Ranking Member Bonamici said, “Today’s hearing shows that many states are finding creative ways to expand access to child care and support child care providers. We should learn from those successes, absolutely. But again, innovation cannot replace investment. Families still struggle to afford care. Providers struggle to stay open. Child care workers remain underpaid.” She proposed additional federal legislation, including increased investment in the Early Childhood Nutrition Act and Child Care for Working Families Acts, as part of the solution.

Similarly, Chair Kiley concluded the hearing emphasizing that the federal support was an essential catalyst to state and local innovation and uplifting the bipartisan Child Care Modernization Act, a plan for the reauthorizations of the CCDBG as part of the solution. He then asked the committee to make it a priority this term.