Congresswoman Trahan Highlights Historic Child Care Investments at Little Sprouts in Methuen

Press Release

Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of Early Education and Care William Eddy visited Little Sprouts Early Education & Child Care in Methuen to highlight the need for the historic child care investments included in the Build Back Better Act. These investments will bolster working families' efforts to get back on their feet and aid early education centers like Little Sprouts in their recovery from the pandemic.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated in the clearest possible way the need for public investments in child care and early education. The challenges over the past year and a half have forced many facilities to close their doors or lay off their essential workers, limiting the services families depend on to get back on their feet. We need to change that," said Congresswoman Trahan. "Working parents need increased access to quality, affordable child care to return to work, and child care and early education workers need to be brought back into the workforce and compensated for the critically important work they do during some of our children's most important years. The Build Back Better Act will deliver both, and conversations like the one today at Little Sprouts in Methuen have only made me more confident that we're going to get it done."

During the visit, Trahan met with staff for a discussion on early education and the facilities' response to the COVID-19 pandemic before touring the facility and visiting a classroom. The discussion centered around access to child care facilities like theirs and the need for strong federal support that increases access for families and strengthens the child care workforce.

Child care has emerged as a major strain for Massachusetts families who face an average annual cost of $19,616 for child care for just one toddler. Further, less than 1 in 5 three- and four-year-olds in Massachusetts have access to publicly funded preschool, and non-publicly funded Pre-K costs parents an average of $8,600 per year. To address these issues facing working families, the Build Back Better Act:

Limits child care costs to no more than 7% of income for families earning up to 250% of state median income;

Establishes universal preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds, expanding access to free, high-quality Pre-K for more than 6 million children;

Extends the American Rescue Plan's wildly successful expanded Child Tax Credit through 2022, ensuring that 35 million American households will continue receiving monthly payments that have overwhelmingly been used for child care, school expenses, food, and other necessities.

The child care provision will enable Massachusetts to provide care for 367,530 young children under the age of five from families earning less than 2.5 times the state median income (approximately $313,300 for a family of four). The universal Pre-K provision will expand access to free, publicly funded preschool to more than 139,529 3- and 4-year-olds in the Commonwealth and increase the quality of preschool for children who are already enrolled. Finally, the extension of the Child Tax Credit payments will ensure that the 665,000 Massachusetts families who received payments in October, including 83,000 in the Third District alone, will continue receiving that monthly boost through 2022.

Little Sprouts Early Education & Child Care operates 22 locations in Massachusetts. In Methuen, Little Sprouts serves infants and toddlers, provides preschool year-round, and hosts summer camps for school-age children. Families from Methuen, Dracut, southern New Hampshire, and surrounding communities utilize the services offered at this facility.

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