Durbin Slams Trump’s Child Care Funding Freeze At Rockford YWCA

Durbin Slams Trump's Child Care Funding Freeze At Rockford YWCA

ROCKFORD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today held a press conference at the YWCA of Northwestern Illinois in Rockford to call out the Trump Administration's heartless decision to freeze $10 billion in funding for child care, community programs, and financial support for families in five Democratic-led states-including $1 billion for Illinois.

The YWCA of Northwestern Illinois serves families who qualify for the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program, which is partially funded by federal funding. The YWCA of Northwestern Illinois receives $1.6 million in federal funding through this program to support referral services, which helps low-income families apply and qualify for $17 million in federal child care subsidies that go to child care providers. Illinois mandates that families can only receive a child care subsidy if the parent is employed or in school, despite President Trump's unsubstantiated claims of fraud.

"Two weeks ago, the Trump Administration announced that it would cut off $1 billion in child care funding for Illinois," said Durbin. "This federal funding supports high quality, accessible child care for families here in Rockford and across Illinois. I will always stand on the side of Illinois' families, even if the President and this Administration refuses to."

"We appreciated the opportunity to speak with Senator Durbin about the real-world impact of the CCDBG funding freeze on Illinois families and child care providers. Child care is essential infrastructure for our workforce and economy, and we look forward to working together to ensure working families continue to have access to safe, affordable, high-quality care," said Kris Machajewski, President and CEO, YWCA of Northwestern Illinois.

Last week, Durbin joined an Illinois Congressional delegation letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urging the Trump Administration to release the funding. On January 8, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a lawsuit challenging the funding freeze. On January 9, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration. While the order allows federal child care funding to continue flowing to families and child care providers, it expires on Friday.

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