“To be the best place to raise a child, Georgia needs to Invest in childcare like we mean it. I would start with investing heavily in early care and education (ECE) centers that play an integral role in the health and well-being for many children and families in Georgia — particularly for children from families with low incomes. ECE centers help parents engage in the workforce, provide family supportive services, and ensure children are ready for kindergarten, have access to proper nutrition, and are socially and emotionally competent.

Second, I will support proposals that build on the recent boost in child care funding by expanding access to the CAPS program. Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) leveraged additional funding to make improvements like increasing reimbursement rates for infants and toddlers, hiring more support staff for children’s social and emotional health needs, and supporting early learning workforce development. I will continue this progress by increasing the amount of child care subsidies available to low-income families through CAPS. The program is set to support about 50,000 children a year, but there are a total of 364,000 children who potentially need affordable child care due to lower family incomes.

Lastly, I will also encourage the Department of Community Health, which runs the Medicaid program, to update their reimbursement policy to allow payment for services like social-emotional screenings for infants and toddlers and dyadic treatment—where a therapist treats the child and caregiver together.” (2024 Response)