High quality child care can foster gains in IQ and school achievement and decrease the likelihood of grade repetition and special education placement. The competition for experienced early childhood staff has intensified in recent years due to recruitment from the K-12 education system to meet class size reduction goals. However, Congress passed a Budget Resolution Report reducing funding for important programs serving children and their families by over 10 percent. These cuts are the result of a congressional decision to apply a budget cap mechanism intended as a safeguard during times of budget deficits, not during a period of surplus. Job Corps - provides disadvantaged youth with training designed to prepare them for the workplace.
Program provides food to infants, children and pregnant or lactating women nationwide.
Children participating in the WIC program show lower incidence of low birth weight, infant mortality and child anemia. However, the House Appropriations Committee approved funding that would serve 200,000 fewer individuals. California Senator Dianne Feinstein is on the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Agriculture, which decides WIC funding. Their children, when tested later at ages 4 and 5, have better vocabulary test scores. Nationally, nearly half of all infants, one in five pregnant women and one in five children younger than age 5 receive WIC benefits.