The proposed Fiscal Year 2026 federal budget, released on May 2, includes a sweeping rollback of investments that directly and indirectly support families and the early childhood infrastructure they rely on. While headlines focus on high-profile program eliminations, the deeper threat to family child care (FCC) lies in what the budget fails to say — and who it fails to support.
Among the most troubling elements of the proposal:
- The elimination of Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS), Preschool Development Grants (PDG), and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) — three programs that have quietly stabilized the lives, homes, and businesses of countless FCC educators and the families they serve.
- These are not abstract cuts. They are practical tools that help FCC educators keep the lights on, afford utilities, and continue providing care in their communities.
Equally concerning is what the budget does not address. Critical early childhood programs — including the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), Head Start, and Early Head Start — are not mentioned in the proposal at all. In the context of a proposed $163 billion cut to non-defense discretionary spending, and agency reductions of up to 26%, their omission likely signals flat funding rather than new investment.
In today’s environment of rising operating costs, inflation, and heightened regulatory burdens, flat funding is a functional cut. For FCC educators, this could mean:
- Fewer subsidy slots for eligible families
- No rate increases for providers already operating on razor-thin margins
- No relief for small business owners still reeling from the economic aftermath of the pandemic
Family child care educators are the most flexible, culturally responsive, and community-embedded providers in the early care and education system. They are educators, caregivers, and small business owners—often all in one day. Their homes double as classrooms, safe havens, and engines of local economic resilience.
And yet, they remain underfunded, undervalued, and under-recognized in both federal policy and funding priorities.
The proposed budget fails to acknowledge this reality. It offers no vision, no plan, and no investment in the essential role FCC educators play in supporting working families and young children.
We reject the idea that level funding is sufficient. It is not. The Fiscal Year 2026 proposal does not meet the moment and does not reflect a government committed to building a stable, inclusive, and sustainable child care system.
This is not just a funding decision — it is a values test.
We call on Congress to:
- Reject the elimination of CCAMPIS, PDG, and LIHEAP
- Prevent any erosion of support to CCDBG, Head Start, and Early Head Start
- Ensure meaningful, inflation-sensitive increases in funding for child care and FCC in particular
