Federal Public Policy

in March 2024, while Congress is still working to wrap up appropriations for FFY 2024. Acknowledging the domestic funding caps that artificially constrain much-needed investments in child care and early learning, the child care and early learning highlights in the President's FFY 2025 budget include:

• Child Care and Development Block Grant: $8.52B ($230M decrease below FY24 level)
• Head Start: $12.54B ($270M increase above the FY24 level)
• Preschool Development Grant Birth-5: $250M ($65M decrease from the FY24 level)
• IDEA Part B Preschool Grants: $425M ($5M increase above the FY24 level)
• Idea Part C Grants for Infants and Toddlers: $545M ($5M increase above the FY24 level)

• Affordable Child Care for America: $400B in mandatory funding over 10 years for the creation of a new program to guarantee access to affordable high-quality child care for children from birth to Kindergarten for families with incomes up to $200,000 per year. ($9.9B increase in mandatory funding above the FY23 level)
• Universal Preschool: $200 billion in mandatory funding over 10 years to fund universal, voluntary preschool for all 4-year-olds while expanding access to 3-year-olds. Importantly, this proposal supports expanding access to high-quality preschool in a diversity of settings, including public schools and community-based child care programs. ($5B increase in mandatory funding above the FY23 level)