Child Care Services Association Starts COVID-19 Relief Fund

CCSA Covid-19 relief fund graphic

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT
Savion Thorne
919-967-3727
saviont@childcareservices.org

Child Care Services Association starts COVID-19 Relief Fund for families and child care programs in North Carolina.

Chapel Hill, N.C., March 25, 2020: Child Care Services Association (CCSA) established the COVID-19 Relief Fund to help families and child care programs in North Carolina with urgent and long-term expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Families who have lost their jobs or have had their hours cut are struggling to stay afloat and pay for child care, and child care programs that are still open are struggling to make ends meet and pay staff. The effects of COVID-19 on families and child care programs will be felt for years to come.

The CCSA COVID-19 Relief Fund will retain flexibility to respond to any evolving and emerging needs. The initial priority is to address the needs of families and child care programs in local communities in North Carolina. Learn more about how you can help support high quality child care in North Carolina at www.childcareservices.org/ccsa-covid-19-relief-fund.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, we are experiencing now what the early childhood field has always known – child care is the backbone of our nation’s economy.

“For decades, we have failed to invest the public dollars needed to ensure that all families have access to high quality, affordable child care and that providers and their educators are well compensated and supported for their critical work,” CCSA President Marsha Basloe said. “We must act swiftly to protect our families and the child care programs on which they depend.”

What we do now to protect and support the backbone of our nation’s economy will have an enduring impact on our future. Without immediate action, many children will miss the early education that is vital to their early development, families may never recover financially from this pandemic and hundreds of child care programs are at risk of going out of business permanently.

That is why Child Care Services Association established the CCSA COVID-19 Relief Fund. CCSA also administers the Ramsey Tremalgia Fund, which provides child care scholarships to families, along with scholarship programs for UNC-Chapel Hill, Durham’s Partnership for Children, Durham Children’s Initiative, United Way and other organizations to ensure that all children have access to high quality child care. Donate now to help our young children, their families and the child care programs that mean so much to their future success.

Child Care Services Association
Founded in 1974, the mission of Child Care Services Association (CCSA) is to ensure affordable, accessible, high-quality child care for all young children and their families. Using a holistic approach, CCSA supports children and families, helps child care professionals improve the quality of early education children receive and ensures all families can afford and access the high-quality early care and education that is so important for a child’s early development. Through its Meal Services Program, CCSA also provides nutritious meals to children at child care centers, where they may eat 50-100 percent of their meals. Our T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood®, Child Care WAGE$® and Infant-Toddler Educator AWARD$ Plus® programs give child care professionals the means to obtain an education and supplement their salary based on that education. CCSA also licenses T.E.A.C.H. and WAGE$ across the U.S. and conducts early childhood systems research and policy development statewide and nationally. For more information, visit www.childcareservices.org.

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