Letter cites 7% co-payment cap removal, Head Start ratio proposals
Seven Democratic senators, led by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have asked the Administration for Children and Families to disclose by Oct. 14 how many childcare centers have closed and how much family costs have risen since January 2025, according to a letter reviewed by The Guardian. The letter, addressed to ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams, argues that federal cuts and regulatory changes are destabilizing a system already stretched by rising costs.
The letter asks ACF to provide a series of data points by the deadline, including the number of childcare centers that have closed since January 2025, changes in average childcare costs, monthly data on Head Start and Child Care and Development Fund grants, and details of support provided to centers facing closure. The senators also want ACF’s analysis of how recent regulatory changes could affect costs and provider numbers, and specifically whether the agency has calculated how much family costs would rise after the 7% co-payment cap was removed, and how many centers could close as a result.
The senators cite state-level evidence of provider distress to support their case. More than 400 daycare centers have closed in Oklahoma since November 2025, the letter states, and more than 300 programs have shut in Indiana since September 2025. The senators attribute the closures to rising prices for food, supplies, insurance, rent and utilities, which they say are forcing providers to choose between raising tuition and shutting down.
On costs, the senators wrote that childcare costs rose faster than overall inflation in 2025, and that the cost of daycare and preschool increased by 3.5% in the year ending May 2026. The letter does not specify a source for either figure.
The letter criticizes a May 2026 ACF rule that rescinded several Biden-era requirements. Among them: a federal rule that states cap eligible families’ childcare co-payments at 7% of income, and a provision requiring states to pay providers based on enrollment rather than attendance. The senators argue the changes “risk making childcare more expensive and could push providers out of business.”
The senators also raise concerns about Head Start, the federal early-education program for low-income children. They criticize the Department of Health and Human Services for what they describe as an unlawful freeze on Head Start funding for grantees “mere weeks after President Trump took office,” which they say forced some programs to temporarily close and left thousands of vulnerable families without stable care. The letter also criticizes the withholding of funding from grantees until they complied with what the senators call the administration’s “rigid requirements.”
The letter flags proposed regulatory changes to Head Start that would loosen or eliminate rules governing child-to-teacher ratios and roll back wage and benefits requirements for staff. The senators argue such changes risk worsening staff turnover and reducing access to “high-quality, affordable care.”
The senators also highlight an ACF decision in January 2026 to freeze $2.4 billion in Child Care and Development Fund grants for five states. The freeze was rescinded after legal challenges, the letter notes, but the senators warn that a similar move “could happen again.”
The letter is signed by Warren and six other Democratic senators: Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Jeffrey Merkley of Oregon, Andy Kim of New Jersey, Peter Welch of Vermont, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland.