September 10, 2020

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Speaker Pelosi,

On behalf of our organizations and the thousands of families we partner with throughout San Francisco, we deeply appreciate your lifelong leadership for children and families in California’s 12th District, and across the country. As families struggle with the impacts of the pandemic, racial injustice, and rising economic inequality, we urge you to continue to fight for a COVID-19 relief package that prioritizes children and families and includes dedicated funding to stabilize the child care sector, that provides families with safe child care options and invests in child care for our long-term recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic is pushing child care – already fragile and fragmented—to the brink of collapse. After decades of chronic underfunding, families across the country were already facing child care shortages before the pandemic. Now, the National Association for the Education of Young Children estimates that 40% of child care providers could close permanently without additional public assistance. This would be devastating for children, families, child care providers, and businesses—including those in the Mission District.

A strong child care infrastructure fuels strong families and communities, and is essential to rebuilding the economy and protecting health, well-being, and development of our children. We know that the impacts of COVID-19 are hardest on communities of color and on women—and allowing the child care system to collapse will further exacerbate racial and gender inequality. Black and Latina mothers are more likely to be the primary source of economic support for their families, underscoring the critical importance of affordable child care. At the same time, famiies of color are the most likely to lack access to high-quality care that meets their needs.

We urge you to support at least $50 billion in funding for child care in the COVID-19 relief package to keep our child care system afloat, and lay the foundation for building an equitable system of affordable, high-quality child care for all.

Sincerely,

Thank you to our partner organizations BMAGIC, Children’s Council of San Francisco, Parent Voices of San Francisco, MEDA, and Mission Neighborhood Centers.