NH Delegation Applauds HHS Announcement of More than $77 Million for NH Child Care Providers from American Rescue Plan

(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Representatives Annie Kuster (NH-02) and Chris Pappas (NH-01) applauded the announcement that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will award New Hampshire $77,393,843 in grants from the American Rescue Plan to provide relief for child care providers and support working families who need access to affordable child care. This funding is an allotment of the $39 billion included in the American Rescue Plan to support the child care sector, which has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Supporting the child care industry is critical to our economic recovery and helps parents return to work and provide for their families. Over the past year, many child care providers in New Hampshire and across the country have been forced to permanently close their doors as a result of the severe economic fallout of the pandemic, and many are still on the verge of shuttering. They need relief now,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m pleased these federal dollars are on their way to providers who need them most, ensuring essential child care is available to working families. Helping our child care providers has been a top priority for me during this pandemic, and I’ll continue working in the Senate to ensure they receive these new resources without delay.”

“Families across New Hampshire must have access to safe and reliable child care, which helps our children succeed and strengthens our economy by allowing more parents to get back to work,” said Senator Hassan. “This significant federal funding from the American Rescue Plan will provide much-needed relief to child care providers across our state.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clearer than ever that child care is not simply a women’s issue or a family issue, but an economic issue that must be addressed in order to fully recover and rebuild from this crisis,” said Representative Kuster. “Child care is an essential service, and these federal dollars provided by the American Rescue Plan Act will go a long way to support New Hampshire child care providers and make high-quality care affordable and accessible for hardworking families here in the Granite State. I will continue working in Congress to ensure no one is left behind as we build back from this pandemic.”

“Access to child care is a necessity for New Hampshire families, and our economy can’t recover without it.  That’s why I am pleased that significant resources will be coming to our state to support child care providers as part of our efforts to safely reopen our state and get people back to work,” said Representative Pappas. “The child care industry was hit hard by the pandemic and needs this support to staff up, keep people safe, and fully recover. The American Rescue Plan continues to deliver the federal resources New Hampshire needs to put this pandemic in the rear view mirror, and I will work with our Congressional delegation to ensure these funds arrive as quickly as possible.”

Two types of child care grants will be made available by HHS to New Hampshire child care providers through funding included in the American Rescue Plan:

• $47,657,076 in Child Care Stabilization Grants
• $29,736,767 in supplemental Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) funds

Shaheen and Hassan have led efforts in Congress to assist the child care sector, which has been among the hardest hit the pandemic. In the emergency COVID-19 relief legislation that passed Congress and was signed into law in December, Shaheen successfully included language that provided billions of dollars in urgently needed relief for child care providers, which Hassan supported, and resulted in New Hampshire receiving nearly $20 million to support child care programs during the pandemic. During negotiations for the American Rescue Plan, Shaheen successfully worked with the White House and in the Senate to provide additional financial support to child care providers that will allow them to continue operating and support New Hampshire’s recovery. Senator Hassan recently introduced bipartisan legislation that builds on the American Rescue Plan by permanently increasing the amount of tax-free dollars working parents and their employers can set aside in a dependent care assistance plan to use toward child care expenses.

###