There are 78,000 more young children who are ready to learn and grow and still need access to high-quality early care and education. By investing in Louisiana’s children today, we secure a tremendous return on investment (ROI) for Louisiana’s families, workforce, and economy.

When we create a strong ECE system, working parents at all income levels can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with safe and stable care for their children, which leads to a more constant and productive workforce for Louisiana’s economy. Children who attend high-quality ECE programs are more likely to meet or exceed standards for third grade literacy.

💡 Our Asks for Louisiana Legislators:
✅ Restore state funding for Louisiana’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) to the FY24 level ($87.7 million). This will result in another 720 young children accessing quality ECE, and protect access for the more than 13,000 young children currently in high-quality birth-3-year-old CCAP programs.

✅ Appropriate at least $30 million to the Early Childhood Education Fund (ECE Fund) to ensure revenue-generating local parishes receive their promised state match in 2025-2026. This will ensure the state does not default on its promise to parishes as well as incentivize local parishes to continue local investment.

✅ Invest an additional $110 million of state funds annually for the next 10 years to gradually grow and sustain total state investment each year. This “laddering up” approach will provide high-quality ECE for an additional 7,800 children each year until all children in need are served.

📌 Without action, families will be left without options. There is no economy without child care. Child care keeps Louisiana working. Nearly one-third of the workforce in Louisiana are parents who need quality, reliable care for their young children in order to succeed at work. More than a quarter of parents who are not currently working cite lack of available or affordable child care as the reason they are not working. As a result, child care issues are forcing Louisiana to leave $1.3 billion on the table in potential revenue for the state’s economy early year.

Investing in Louisiana’s youngest residents is a proven investment in the state’s stability, health, and economic prosperity. Every dollar invested in supporting the early years of critical brain development delivers a 13% return in terms of educational attainment, which leads to a more skilled workforce, and improved health and social outcomes that contribute to greater self-reliance and stronger communities. It also delivers significant cost savings due to reduced demands on remedial education and social safety net programs, as well as reductions in crime.

High-qualtiy, affordable early childhood education is one of the most important investments Louisiana can make in its economy and its citizens - now and for the future. A broad landscape of high quality early childhood education sites means that more parents can work and contribute to the economy, more businesses can grow our economy, and more children will grow up with the abilities and skills necessary to continue that participation and growth and keep our state’s economy robust far into the future..

The ECE fund offers a dollar-for-dollar state match for non-federal and non-state funds secured by local entities. The current balance is $32.8 million, and projections estimate that local funding will generate the need to match more than $31 million from 14 parishes in 2024-2025. The state must continue to increase robust local investment by ensuring there are sufficient funds available to motivated communities.

🔗 Join the Movement → Providers CLOSE your Early Child Care Center on May 12, 2025, click here to commit!

Parents Join us in and Stand with Early Child Care Centers on May 12, 2025, click here to commit!

Business support for Day Without Child Care on May 12, 2025, click here to commit!