PHOTO RELEASE: Rep. McBride, Lt. Governor Gay Convene Delaware Childcare Roundtable on Access and Affordability

DOVER, Del. - Today, U.S. Representative Sarah McBride and Lt. Governor Kyle Evans Gay (both D-Del.) brought together advocates, childcare providers, and local leaders for a conversation at Delaware State University on lowering childcare costs, expanding access to care, and strengthening Delaware's childcare workforce.

Rep. McBride was recently selected by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to co-lead the House Democratic Caregiving Working Group, which is charged with helping develop the House Democratic Caucus's legislative agenda on caregiving. Today's discussion further informs that work, bringing the experiences and priorities of Delaware families and childcare providers directly into creating bold federal solutions to caregiving challenges facing families in the First State and across the country.

"Childcare costs are increasingly unaffordable for working families in Delaware and across the country," said Rep. McBride. "Access to affordable, reliable childcare must be at the center of our economic agenda at both the federal and state levels. Today's conversation brought together providers, advocates, and local leaders to talk about what it will take to lower costs for families, expand access to care, and recruit and retain the childcare workers our communities need. As we develop a caregiving agenda for the next Congress, I'm going to make sure the voices and experiences of Delawareans are front and center."

The discussion focused on four key challenges facing Delaware families and childcare providers: affordability for families; access to and availability of care; financial, operational, and workforce pressures facing providers; as well as state and federal policies that could help address those challenges. Participants also discussed gaps in infant care, care during nontraditional hours, rural childcare, and care for children with disabilities, as well as barriers providers face in recruiting and retaining workers and expanding capacity to meet demand.

"For too long, we have approached early childhood education in Delaware as a collection of individual programs - each with its own funding stream, requirements, eligibility rules, and priorities. But parents don't experience government that way. Educators don't. And children certainly don't," said Lt. Governor Kyle Evans Gay. "We have an opportunity right now to think differently - to move from fragmented programs toward an aligned and coordinated system with sustainable investments. We have the opportunity to design a system around the people that we serve. As Chair of the IRMC, I am committed to that work-and to making sure the we have the honest conversations about governance, financing, coordination, and accountability that this moment requires so that our youngest Delawareans have access to the education and care they need."

Affordability was a central focus throughout the conversation as families continue to face high childcare costs. According to a recent report, the national average annual price of center-based infant care was $15,570. In Delaware, families are paying approximately $17,252 per year for center-based infant care.

Joining Rep. McBride and Lt. Governor Gay were representatives from:

• Child Care for Every Family Network
• Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children
• YMCA of Delaware
• Delaware State Education Association
• Delaware State University's Early Childhood Center
• Delaware Department of Education
• Delaware Department of Health and Social Services

Representatives shared concerns about workforce infrastructure and the increasing costs of providing care, as well as squeezed bottom lines across the board. Each spoke about challenges facing the affordability of childcare - reinforcing the broad effects across every aspect of the economy and workforce - and shared invaluable perspectives about the way families are navigating childcare access and costs across Delaware.

Rep. McBride has long worked to strengthen support for working families. In Congress, she is a cosponsor of the Child Care for Every Community Act, which would create a universal childcare program, and the American Family Act, which would increase the value of a monthly Child Tax Credit.

While serving as a Delaware State Senator, Rep. McBride passed the Healthy Delaware Families Act with bipartisan support, providing paid family and medical leave to workers across the state. In Congress, she has continued to lead on strengthening the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and expanding paid leave nationwide. She has introduced legislation including the FAIR Leave Act, the Flexible Leave Act, and is an original cosponsor of the FAMILY Act, helping ensure workers and their families can access leave when they need it most.

Photos from the event can be found here.

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