Senator Dodd: A Leader on Child Care & Early Education

by Helen Blank, Director, Leadership and Public Policy,
National Women's Law Center,

When Senator Chris Dodd steps down next year, the Senate and the country will lose a remarkable voice for children and families. Because of Senator Dodd’s leadership, skill, and most notably his extraordinary persistence, millions and millions of children now have access to child care that enables them to get a strong start and their parents to work. Millions of parents have access to family leave that enables them to support their loved ones.

Senator Dodd did not just lead the initial campaigns to enact comprehensive child care and family leave bills with strong bipartisan support, he then worked tirelessly to improve and expand these benefits over time. He was also central to ongoing efforts to strengthen and expand Head Start, our flagship early childhood program. His caring and strong advocacy on behalf of our nation’s most vulnerable children and families will be sorely missed.

All of us who could depend on Senator Dodd to stand up for children and their families look forward to working with him this year on additional improvements to and increased investments for the Child Care and Development Block Grant program and new early learning initiatives before we say farewell!