Our Federal Government handles many pressing issues – from foreign affairs to the environment to the economy. So where do kids fit into the picture? And what does that Washington have to do with what happens in Washington state?

The answer is a lot, which is why we sent our federal staffer to Washington D.C. last week to advocate for kids. What happens in the halls of Congress helps shape what programs are and aren’t funded in our state.

Parents, child care providers, community members, and legislators gathered last week during a series of hearings across the state with the Department of Early Learning (DEL). DEL was seeking input on a set of new rules proposed for Washington’s child care subsidy program, Working Connections (WCCC).

The proposed rules would extend the amount of time a family has before they have to re-apply for child care subsidies from up to 6 months to  12- months.  The new rule will apply to families who participate in Working Connections Child Care who have a child in Head Start, Early Head Start, or ECEAP. Currently, families are required to re-apply for their child care benefits at least every 6 months. Many families had to re-apply as often as every three months..  As we heard in Bellingham, Tacoma, Seattle, and Yakima last week, this reauthorization process is time consuming and difficult to go through– and leads to instability for kids in subsidized child care.

The change was spurred by the passage of HB 3141, successful legislation that Children’s Alliance and the Early Learning Action Alliance fought for last session. The bill extends the authorization period for a small number of the families in the program as a way to “pilot”, or test, how this change could lead to greater stability for kids, families, and child care providers. After the first year the program will be evaluated, and the longer authorization period could be extended to more families.

Working Connections subsidies make child care affordable for thousands of low-income families across Washington. But many families have to reapply several times a year to keep their kids enrolled – penalizing parents for slight changes in income that don’t make them ineligible, for losing a job, or for changing child care providers.

The result: Parents who are still eligible get mistakenly kicked off the system, and their children lose access to child care for weeks or months – disrupting their mom’s or dad’s ability to work.