Care About Childcare

The mission of Care About Childcare is to promote quality environments for all children through education and support. Child care is much more than simply caring for children. Child care is a family issue, a business issue, an employment issue, an education issue, and a community issue.

Care About Childcare is an online system designed in partnership with the Office of Child Care. It is intended to promote quality child care and helps parents locate licensed caregivers in their area. For more information visit Care About Childcare.

All Care About Childcare programs are funded from the Department of Workforce Services, Office of Child Care through the Child Care and Development Block Grant.

 


  • 90% of a child’s brain development happens by the age of 5.
  • $3 billion is the annual cost of employee absences due to lack of child care.
  • 32% of children under 5 receive at least some supervision from grandparents during a typical week.
  • Each day, nearly 6 million children under 3 spend some or all of their day being cared for by someone other than their parents.
  • More than 12 million infants and toddlers live in the US. Almost half live in low-income or poor families.
  • More than 50% of mothers return to work within the first year after a baby’s birth.
  • In 1996, welfare reform legislation was passed providing almost 3 billion dollars annually in the form of block grants to the states for low-income families.
  • Across America, the average cost of child care per year is $18,000. This can be the largest annual household expense for some families. Almost half of families do not budget for child care expenses.