Ready Louisiana Calls for Recovery of Early Care Investments to Bolster State’s Future

BATON ROUGE, LA – Members of the Ready Louisiana Coalition joined Tuesday for the 2024 Early Education Day at the Capitol to highlight the ongoing need for additional investments in early care and education (ECE) to strengthen the future of Louisiana children and working families and boost the state’s economy.

The coalition, the state’s leading bipartisan ECE advocacy organization, is urging the legislature to restore the $24.3 million cut made to the Child Care Assistance Program in HB 1 (the state’s main general funds bill). Without this funding, at least 2,000 children will lose their child care seats, and thousands of parents will be unable to reliably participate in the workforce.

Two-thirds of Louisiana’s children have both parents or their single parent in the workforce, leaving much of their crucial brain development time to the care of others. Sadly, only one in five in-need Louisiana children can access a publicly funded, high-quality early care and education program.

As of March 2024, The Louisiana Department of Education reported a waitlist of over 6,500 children for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).

“CCAP helps parents like me secure quality ECE for their children while they work, go to school, or look for new jobs,” said Dafnee Chatman, a parent from Evangeline Parish. “These families are in every community and fill key roles in society. They are your healthcare technician, teacher, retail clerk, sanitation worker, etc. These families are the backbone of our economy.”

There are two state-run programs focusing on educating and caring for children, birth to age three, in Louisiana:

• The Child Care Assistance Program serves nearly 9,000 children ages 0-3 through a combination of state & federal funds.

• The Louisiana Early Childhood Education Fund (ECE Fund) offers local entities a dollar-for-dollar match through a mix of funds, including sports betting, on ECE investments. With communities in  Ascension, Bossier, Caddo, Jefferson, Orleans and Pointe Coupee parishes investing local ECE dollars and more in the works, it is anticipated to be exhausted within one to two years.

During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers made a historic investment by allocating $52 million in new ECE funding. However, with Congress’ failure to replace relief funds for child care, more than 100,000 unserved in-need children remain in the state. Without further investment, too many Louisiana families will not have access to affordable, quality child care, and too many children will arrive at kindergarten behind.

“Early care and education are pivotal as they set the stage for lifelong success and ensure that every child starts their educational journey on an equal footing,” said Charmaine Caccioppi, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the United Way of Southeast Louisiana. “With only 30% of Louisiana children arriving at kindergarten meeting critical benchmarks, our educators face the formidable task of immediate remediation for the remaining 70% from day one.”

Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman states that “the highest rate of return in early childhood development comes from investing as early as possible, from birth through age five, in disadvantaged families.”

Louisiana spends around 1% of its state budget on early care and education despite being the area Heckman calls the best investment of public dollars.

Recent polling showed that more than 80% of likely voters from across all parties and regions of Louisiana support dedicating an additional $115 million per year for the next ten years to expand early care and education programs for working families. If elected officials delay this $115 million investment in 10 years, the state will experience a collective $14 billion economic loss. Alternatively, if the state makes the investment and continues making it, Louisiana will experience a collective $1.8 billion economic gain.

"Investing in early care and education yields significant economic gains by preparing children for future success and allowing families to fully participate in the workforce as they’re the backbone of our economy,” said Libbie Sonnier, PhD, executive director of the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children. “This not only enhances individual family stability but also drives economic growth and productivity across our communities.”

Individuals and organizations interested in learning more about Ready Louisiana, its legislative ask, and ways to advocate for increased ECE funding may visit ReadyLouisiana.org.

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About Ready Louisiana

The Ready Louisiana Coalition — a bipartisan group of over 150 organizations, including chambers of commerce, civic organizations, businesses, and advocacy organizations representing more than 1 million people in Louisiana’s workforce — exists to advocate for one issue: increased access to high-quality early care and education for the Louisiana children and families who need it. Our membership believes that investing in high-quality early care and education will enable parents to be productive in the workforce, serve as an economic engine for communities across Louisiana, and prepare our youngest children for a smart start in life. View the coalition’s 2024 legislative joint statement here.