The state of Connecticut is getting about $66 million in child care support as part of the latest COVID-19 relief package. That money is expected to go to everything from staff to tuition assistance at the state’s child care centers.
Merrill Gay is the executive director of Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance. He said the pandemic has pushed the child care industry into a crisis.
“This pandemic has really exposed how fragile our childcare industry was before the pandemic. We are treating something that is a public good as a private service and expecting that it gets paid for the same way that services like going to a restaurant are paid for,” Gay said.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal is one supporter of a $50 billion federal child care package that has passed the House but is still in the Senate.
