Biden-Harris administration supports working families, child care programs in North Carolina

Vice President Kamala Harris announces lowered child care costs for working families in North Carolina, building on prior federal funding for child care programs and promising more.

Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced more federal funding for child care in North Carolina through the Child Care & Development Block Grant (CCDBG). 

Her newly announced economic policy agenda promises even more support for families in the near future.

She explains that these issues are personal for her … My mother was a breast cancer researcher, and she would work long days and often on weekends. And when she did, my sister and I would walk two doors down to the home of Mrs. Regina Shelton.

“Ms. Shelton ran a childcare center, and she became a second mother to my sister and me. My mother often said that but for Mrs. Shelton she would never have been able to do the work that she did. Those are the stakes of this work: bringing childcare to all families who need it.”

Harris has a long track record of supporting issues and funding impacting women and children. In her career as District Attorney of San Francisco, as Attorney General of California, and as a U.S. Senator, Harris focused on crimes against women and children; established the Bureau of Children’s Justice in California; and led a bill that aligns school and work hours, expands after-school and summer programs, and guarantees paid leave for parents and caregivers. 

CCDBG for North Carolinian Families

The CCDBG can directly reduce the financial burden of child care for low-income working families. Specifically, this program helps by:

• Capping child care copays for participating families at 7% of income;
• Encouraging states to eliminate copays for families of children with disabilities, experiencing homelessness, in foster care, in Head Start, and for families below 150% of the federal poverty level;
• Stabilizing and improving child care programs by directing states to pay child care providers fairly and on time;
• Making it easier for families to access CCDBG subsidies through online enrollment and presumptive eligibility.

Thousands of children under 6 are already served by the CCDBG in North Carolina, and even more families will benefit from this funding.

Federal Funding for Child Care Centers

In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that provided vital funding to communities and families suffering from COVID-19. Governor Roy Cooper announced $805 million of ARPA funds to Child Care Stabilization Grants in North Carolina, which helps child care programs with personnel costs and facility maintenance.

Carolyn Slade, the director of  St. Stephens Loving Daycare Center in Rocky Mount, explained that “We’ve been able to stay open, thank God, and not close like some facilities that had to close their doors – but we’ve been able to stay open because of the [ARPA] funding.”

Learn more about the Child Care Stabilization Grants in North Carolina here.