Our goal is to provide insight to policy makers on the needs of minority families with children in c
As funding gaps continue to grow, the need for providers and parents to unite becomes more apparent. Child Care Advocates United (CCAU) are a group of center and home care providers organized to increase and disseminate awareness throughout the community. CCAU was founded to defend the right of minority students to receive an uninterrupted, affordable, high quality education. CCAU works directly with elected officials to ensure the laws enacted are in alliance with the needs of the community.
03/18/2026
🚨 Join TODAY: CCAU Members Meeting!
👀 What’s next for child care in Illinois? Hear the latest budget + legislative updates from Jonathan Doster (Start Early).
⏰ Today at 2:30 PM CT
đź’» https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85768860137
Don’t miss this important conversation!
Join Us for a Community Town Hall on Early Childhood Education and Child Care!
Families, educators, and child care providers are the backbone of our communities, and your voices matter.
Congressional candidate La Shawn K. Ford invites parents, early childhood teachers, home-based providers, and child care center leaders to join an important community Town Hall focused on the future of early learning and child care in our communities.
Across Illinois and throughout the country, families are facing rising child care costs, providers are navigating funding and workforce challenges, and educators are working tirelessly to support our youngest learners. This Town Hall will create space for open dialogue, shared experiences, and meaningful solutions.
We want to hear directly from you about the challenges families face in accessing quality, affordable child care:
The challenges families face in accessing quality, affordable child care
The realities educators and providers experience every day
Ideas and policy solutions that can strengthen early childhood education
Your perspective will help shape the conversation around how we better support children, families, and the early childhood workforce.
Please complete the form below to RSVP and reserve your spot.
We look forward to hearing from you and working together to strengthen early learning opportunities for every child.
Please invite others to join us, share this RSVP link: https://forms.gle/1qF1w4bv7BAYQFjp8
– The La Shawn K. Ford for Congress Team | PUNCH #31
03/11/2026
Join Us for a Community Town Hall on Early Childhood Education and Child Care!
Wednesday, 3/11/26 - 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Families, educators, and child care providers are the backbone of our communities, and your voices matter.
Congressional candidate La Shawn K. Ford invites parents, early childhood teachers, home-based providers, and child care center leaders to join an important community Town Hall focused on the future of early learning and child care in our communities.
Across Illinois and throughout the country, families are facing rising child care costs, providers are navigating funding and workforce challenges, and educators are working tirelessly to support our youngest learners. This Town Hall will create space for open dialogue, shared experiences, and meaningful solutions.
We want to hear directly from you about the challenges families face in accessing quality, affordable child care:
The challenges families face in accessing quality, affordable child care
The realities educators and providers experience every day
Ideas and policy solutions that can strengthen early childhood education
Your perspective will help shape the conversation around how we better support children, families, and the early childhood workforce.
Please complete the form below to RSVP and reserve your spot.
We look forward to hearing from you and working together to strengthen early learning opportunities for every child.
Please invite others to join us, share this RSVP link: https://forms.gle/1qF1w4bv7BAYQFjp8
– The La Shawn K. Ford for Congress Team | PUNCH #31
Ford for Congress Town Hall - RSVP Form Join Us for a Community Town Hall on Early Childhood Education and Child Care! Families, educators, and child care providers are the backbone of our communities, and your voices matter. Congressional candidate La Shawn K. Ford invites parents, early childhood teachers, home-based providers, and chil...
03/10/2026
Join Us for a Community Town Hall on Early Childhood Education and Child Care!
Wednesday, 3/11/26 - 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Families, educators, and child care providers are the backbone of our communities, and your voices matter.
Congressional candidate La Shawn K. Ford invites parents, early childhood teachers, home-based providers, and child care center leaders to join an important community Town Hall focused on the future of early learning and child care in our communities.
Across Illinois and throughout the country, families are facing rising child care costs, providers are navigating funding and workforce challenges, and educators are working tirelessly to support our youngest learners. This Town Hall will create space for open dialogue, shared experiences, and meaningful solutions.
We want to hear directly from you about the challenges families face in accessing quality, affordable child care:
The challenges families face in accessing quality, affordable child Child Care.
The realities educators and providers experience every day
Ideas and policy solutions that can strengthen early childhood education.
Your perspective will help shape the conversation around how we better support children, families, and the early childhood workforce.
Please complete the form below to RSVP and reserve your spot.
We look forward to hearing from you and working together to strengthen early learning opportunities for every child.
Please invite others to join us, share this RSVP link: https://forms.gle/1qF1w4bv7BAYQFjp8
– The La Shawn K. Ford for Congress Team | PUNCH #31
Ford for Congress Town Hall - RSVP Form Join Us for a Community Town Hall on Early Childhood Education and Child Care! Families, educators, and child care providers are the backbone of our communities, and your voices matter. Congressional candidate La Shawn K. Ford invites parents, early childhood teachers, home-based providers, and chil...
03/10/2026
A wonderful opportunity for those looking to get their Professional Educator License (PEL).
03/09/2026
Calling all center owners, home providers, parents, teachers, and advocates: JOIN IN THE VIRTUAL TOWN HALL CONVERSATION!
🚨 Child Care in Our Community Is at a Breaking Point. 🚨
* Families are struggling to afford care.
* Providers are fighting to keep their doors open.
* Early childhood teachers are underpaid and overworked.
We can’t fix this without hearing directly from YOU.
Join La Shawn K. Ford, Candidate for U.S. Congress, for a Virtual Community Town Hall on Child Care & Early Learning where parents, educators, providers, and advocates can speak openly about the challenges our community is facing, and the solutions we need.
đź“… Wednesday, March 11, 2026
⏰ 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM (Virtual)
If you care about:
✔️ The rising cost of child care
✔️ Supporting early childhood teachers
✔️ Strengthening child care centers
✔️ Resources for home providers
✔️ Expanding access for families
Your voice belongs in this conversation.
Scan the QR code on the flyer or RSVP here:
forms.gle/mdHYHLgyp9wZbiCE9
📢 **Tag a parent, teacher, or provider who needs to be part of this conversation.
Space is limited.
03/05/2026
Join Us for the CCAU March Members Meeting
Child Care Advocates United (CCAU) invites members to join our upcoming meeting featuring Jonathan Doster, Director of Legislative Affairs at Start Early, who will share updates on what’s ahead for child care, including budget and legislative developments impacting early care and education in Illinois.
đź“… Wednesday, March 18, 2026
⏰ 2:30 PM CT
đź’» Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85768860137
About the Speaker
Jonathan Doster is the Director of Legislative Affairs at Start Early. Working with colleagues on the Illinois Policy Team, he develops and directs the ex*****on of the organization’s annual legislative agenda, working directly with the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor’s Office to increase access to and funding for early care and education programs.
Born and raised in the south suburbs, Jonathan now lives in Chicago with his wife and two sons.
We hope you’ll join us for this important conversation about the future of child care.
02/18/2026
CCAU Membership Orientation – You’re Invited!
Join Child Care Advocates United (CCAU) for a Membership Orientation open to current members and anyone interested in learning more about our work.
This is your opportunity to share what matters most to you — including the topics you’d like us to address and the concerns impacting child care providers, families, and communities.
During the meeting, we will:
Introduce the CCAU Steering Committee
Provide a brief history of CCAU
Highlight key achievements made through our collective advocacy
Open the floor for members and attendees to voice your concerns
Come connect, ask questions, and help shape our priorities for the future.
đź—“ Wednesday, 2/28
⏰ 2:30 PM
đź’» Join via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85768860137
We look forward to seeing you there!
Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.
CCAU’s Position Statement on the Federal Child Care Funding Freeze
January 2026
Child Care Advocates United (CCAU) strongly opposes the Trump Administration’s announced federal child care funding freeze and warns that, even before implementation, this action is already causing measurable harm across Illinois’ child care system. While a temporary 14-day stay is currently in place, that stay is slated to expire Friday, January 23, 2026, and providers, families, and advocates are deeply concerned about what may follow once it is lifted.
Despite this deeply harmful action targeting children and families, as of January 7, 2026, we do not anticipate an immediate interruption to funding. However, the announcement of a freeze has already created significant instability and uncertainty across the child care sector, with immediate consequences for planning, staffing, and program operations. Providers are being forced to make decisions now—without clarity, without reassurance, and without the stability that working families and businesses rely on.
On January 7th CCAU held a meeting with over 260 home, center, and license-exempt child care providers and distributed a Child Care Impact Survey to illustrate the scale of what is at stake. As of today, 192 of those child care providers have responded, representing programs operating in 91 cities and 107 ZIP codes statewide. Collectively, these providers support 3,745 child care jobs, with 1,847 positions at immediate risk of reduced hours or job loss due to funding instability. Providers estimate that in excess of 9,187 children and families would be directly impacted by disruptions to child care services.
These are not abstract projections. They reflect real programs, real workers, and real families who depend on a stable child care system to function. Respondents consistently report that many programs could not operate beyond 30 days if public funding is delayed or frozen, placing classrooms, payroll, and family access in immediate jeopardy of losing their child care and their jobs.
Child care is an essential workforce infrastructure. When providers cannot make payroll or keep classrooms open, parents cannot go to work, employers lose staff, small businesses suffer, and local economies become destabilized. The ripple effects extend far beyond early learning settings, impacting health care systems, public safety, education, and every other sector that depends on working parents.
In response to this threat, CCAU convened providers, advocates, parents, and partners to elevate the urgency of this issue and to underscore the real-world consequences of federal instability. That collective engagement reaffirmed what we know to be true: child care cannot be treated as expendable, and delayed action carries real costs.
We cannot afford to wait until the day a freeze formally takes effect to respond. Now is the time to mobilize, organize, and strategize. Remaining idle only places our families, communities, and businesses at greater risk. We must stand together—providers, families, advocates, employers, and partners—to protect the child care system that Illinois’ working families and local economies depend on.
CCAU urges policymakers, agency leaders, and community partners to continue using their voices and platforms to oppose federal actions that threaten to destabilize Illinois’ child care ecosystem and cause devastating ripple effects on jobs, small businesses, and the broader economy. We call for clear federal guidance, continuity of funding, and immediate assurances that child care providers and parents will not be left bearing the cost of political decisions beyond their control.
While many questions remain unanswered regarding this alarming federal action, CCAU is actively monitoring developments and will share updates as soon as more information becomes available. Together, we will continue to fight for our children, our workforce, and our communities—and we will not allow child care to be treated as optional infrastructure.
Child Care Advocates United (CCAU)
Standing for children, families, providers, and Illinois’ workforce.
Email: [email protected] Phone: 312.927.3478
01/23/2026
đź“Ł Good news for child care and families!
A federal judge has temporarily stopped the Trump administration from cutting off child care funding in five states, including Illinois. This means child care subsidies must continue for now, protecting families who rely on affordable care and providers who depend on these funds to stay open.
⚠️ This is not permanent, it’s a pause while the case moves forward. But it proves what we’ve been saying all along: you can’t pull the rug out from under families and small child care businesses without real consequences.
CCAU will keep fighting to make sure child care funding is protected, stable, and permanent, because working families and children deserve better.
Judge rules Trump administration must keep funding child care subsidies in 5 states for now The ruling Friday from U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick extends by two weeks a temporary one issued earlier this month that blocked the federal government from holding back the money from California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.