The Prichard Committee Calls for Child Care Stability
Jan. 6, 2026
Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee
(cell) 859-475-7202
lisa@prichardcommittee.org
The Prichard Committee Calls for Child Care Stability
Federal Funding Freeze Threatens Family & Workforce Strength
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Full federal child care funding must continue without interruption. Stable child care is essential to children’s healthy development, parents’ ability to work and the strength of Kentucky’s economy. We are therefore deeply concerned by reports last week from the Trump administration that federal child care payments to states may be frozen.
Any delay in child care assistance could jeopardize access to care for more than 30,000 Kentucky children who currently rely on this support. It could also place significant strain on child care providers, most of which are locally-owned small businesses, making it difficult or impossible for them to meet payroll and remain open. The resulting disruptions would ripple quickly through communities, affecting working families and the employers who depend on them.
The Prichard Committee does not oppose reasonable improvements to child care safeguards and verification processes. However, any changes must be implemented through transparent notice-and-comment procedures, with clear final rules and realistic timelines. Child care is too critical to families and the economy to withstand abrupt or poorly communicated disruptions.
Accordingly, we urge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to release all appropriated child care funding to states on schedule. We also call on Kentucky’s Congressional delegation to advocate for timely and uninterrupted funding. Finally, we encourage all Kentuckians to speak out in support of a stable child care system that children, families, businesses, and communities can depend on.
The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.