WNPR - Where we Live: Untangling the 'predictable calamity' of Connecticut's child care industry to find solutions

[Lee Cruz]

Where We Live

Untangling the 'predictable calamity' of Connecticut's child care industry to find solutions

By Katie Pellico, 

Catherine Shen

Published September 21, 2023

Tony Spinelli / Connecticut Public

Teachers, Childcare workers, families and Stamford residents gather to rally for early educators at the Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County in Stamford, CT. March 8, 2023.

Local advocates and experts in early childcare education say funding and staffing shortfalls were only deepened during the pandemic. With federal relief funding set to expire at the end of the month, posing another short-term hurdle, or "cliff," what are the long-term solutions?

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal is pushing Congress for $16 billion in federal funding through the Child Care Stabilization Act. "Childcare was in crisis even before the pandemic," said Senator Blumenthal on Monday. "But the pandemic has brought it to the brink of collapse." He also highlighted the Child Care for Every Community Act, and the Child Care for Working Families Act.

At the same press...