U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), the top Republican on the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support, at a hearing Tuesday emphasized the importance of access to affordable, high-quality child care for working families as America’s economy safely reopens.
“Millions of Americans want to return to work, and in order to do so they must be able to rely on child care providers to keep their children safe and healthy throughout the work day,” Congresswoman Walorski said. “With states safely reopening, child care providers now face many new challenges. These include restrictions on group and class sizes, social distancing guidelines, and other health and safety protocols that are necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These new requirements and ongoing concerns the pandemic presents are making it hard for providers to recover and maintain a thriving business. I hope we can work together to find ways to support and strengthen child care for working families.”
Secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Jennifer Sullivan, M.D., M.P.H., testified at the subcommittee hearing on child care and the coronavirus pandemic.
“High quality, affordable childcare is a key component of achieving well-being for our kids and opportunity for their parents, and that is even more true during our comprehensive response to COVID-19,” Dr. Sullivan said. “Our nation’s long-term well-being depends on a child care infrastructure that works for every family. This committee has a unique opportunity to help reset the future of child care by providing funding to states to take what they have learned through this pandemic to build a more robust child care infrastructure that can stand future disasters and create a workforce that supports large scale economic growth.”
