Saying she and President Joe Biden are determined “to build a future that is worthy of the aspiration and the ambition of our children,” Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday touted the administration’s initiatives focused on child care. 


What You Need To Know

  • During a speech at an early childhood education center in Washington on Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday touted the administration’s initiatives focused on child care

  • Harris announced that June 21 with be Child Tax Credit Awareness Day, which aims to ensure everyone eligible for the newly expanded credit knows about the changes

  • The vice president also trumpeted the American Rescue Plan for its child and dependent tax credit, which allow families to recoup up to half of what they spend on care for children up to 13 years old

  • Harris said the pandemic did not create the challenges parents have experienced with child care, “but it's certainly accelerated these challenges”

Speaking at CentroNía, a bilingual early childhood education center in Washington, Harris also asked for help in making sure everyone who is eligible takes advantage of tax credits, adding that the White House is aiming to do more to ease the financial burden on families.

Moments earlier, the vice president visited a classroom of preschool-aged children, who showed her their artwork and welcomed her in a singalong.  

“Our children must be at the center of our priorities and our public policies,” Harris said. “It is a smart thing to do. And it is the right thing to do.”

Harris announced that June 21 with be Child Tax Credit Awareness Day, which aims to ensure everyone eligible for the credit — newly expanded under Biden’s COVID-19 relief package, also known as the American Rescue Plan — knows about the changes.

“We're going to join with community organizations, faith-based groups and local elected officials to get the word out about how folks can receive the credit. And we would love for you all to join us with that,” she told the audience.

The credit has been raised from $2,000 to $3,000 per child up to 17 years old — and $3,600 for kids under 6. And instead of receiving it as a year-end tax credit, it will, beginning in July, be a monthly payment through the end of the year.

Low- and no-income families are now also eligible to receive the full tax credit, rather than only those who paid enough in taxes to utilize the credit. Harris said it was “not logical” that low-income families had been left out in the past.

The vice president also trumpeted the American Rescue Plan for its child and dependent tax credit, which allow families to recoup up to half of what they spend on care for children up to 13 years old. And she said the Biden administration is instructing states, tribal nations and territories on how to spend a remaining $15 billion in COVID relief aid “in the most effective and efficient way so that these funds will actually benefit the children that were intended to benefit.”

Harris said the pandemic did not create the challenges parents have experienced with child care, “but it's certainly accelerated these challenges.”

The vice president said more work must be done on that front and noted that another one of Biden’s ambitious proposals, the American Families Plan, includes a provision that would cap the amount a middle-income family would pay on care for young children to 7% of their income and also make child care more accessible to working parents.

Harris said the administration will “lift half of America's children out of poverty,” a goal she said is the aspect she most enjoys about being VP.

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