State

Recent and Upcoming Changes to Family Benefits and Tax Credits

This Hot Topic provides an overview of Recent and Upcoming Changes to Benefits and Tax Credits for Families. We provide information and data on the Child Care Assistance Program, Child Tax Credits, Earned Income Tax Credit, Dependent Care Tax Credits, and Health Insurance Tax Credits.

Understanding the True Cost of Quality and the Promise of New Investments

This brief provides an overview of early care and education in New Orleans, including it’s cost, available public funding and an overview of the proposed millage to expand the City Seats program.

Charting a Path to Prosperity for Louisiana

The report examines what it would take to move Louisiana from the bottom of national rankings in child well-being. It builds upon the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 30-year KIDS COUNT effort to measure the well-being of children in every state, from birth through young adulthood.

Every year, KIDS COUNT Data Book ranks states on 16 different indicators of child well-being. Agenda for Children used that data to show what it would take for Louisiana to improve by one ranking, by five rankings, and what it would take to tie with the best-ranked state(s). For each measure, the Roadmap provides several evidence-based policy recommendations that state and local governments can use to fast-track Louisiana’s progress on key measures of child well-being.

Paid Leave is the Foundation of a Stronger Louisiana

We held a panel on October 1st that featuring state and national partners, including Caitlin Berni (Berni Consulting), Whitney Pesek, (Paid Leave for the United States), Stacey Roussel (Louisiana Budget Project) and Rep. Matthew Willard (Louisiana House of Representatives). Download a PDF of slides from the webinar.

Paid Leave is the Foundation of a Stronger Louisiana

Our latest policy brief provides a detailed analysis of how paid sick days and paid leave policies would benefit Louisiana’s workers, families, children, and employers. As Louisiana works to recover from the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, statewide paid leave policies could form the foundation upon which our state builds a more equitable, resilient and thriving economy.

The brief also provides recommendations on how legislators, local governments, businesses and voters can work to make paid leave and paid sick days a reality for every worker in Louisiana.

CCAP Helps Low-Income Families Pay for Child Care

The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) helps low-income families pay for child care while working or attending school or training. Eligibility is based on family size, household income and how many hours the adult caregiver(s) applying for CCAP work or attend school or job training. Families can use CCAP funds at Type III early learning centers, registered family child care providers, registered in-home providers, school-based child care centers or military child care providers. The Louisiana Department of Education administers the program in Louisiana. This overview provides information on eligibility requirements for CCAP benefits in Louisiana and the challenges for job seekers.

COVID-19 Underlines Reality: Child Care is the Foundation of the Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the reality that child care is the foundation of our economic prosperity. Without stable, quality child care, parents are unable to work outside the home. The child care industry is in a crisis due to widespread temporary closures and lower enrollment as a result of the pandemic, and maintaining a stable workforce has become a major challenge for child care centers. Providing child care workers with a temporary wage supplement of $5 per hour would help centers maintain staffing, which in turn, would help more parents return to the workforce, putting Louisiana on a strong path to recovery.

This one-page provides a snapshot of facts and figure that support this policy initiative.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the reality that child care is the foundation of our economic prosperity. Without stable, quality child care, parents are unable to work outside the home. The child care industry is in a crisis due to widespread temporary closures and lower enrollment as a result of the pandemic, and maintaining a stable workforce has become a major challenge for child care centers. Providing child care workers with a temporary wage supplement of $5 per hour would help centers maintain staffing, which in turn, would help more parents return to the workforce, putting Louisiana on a strong path to recovery. Learn more about this crucial issue in this overview.

Key Findings

The 32nd Edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT® Data Book describes how children across the United States were faring before — and during — the coronavirus pandemic. Key findings include:

• Louisiana ranked 48th in overall child well-being.
• 27% of Louisiana children lived in poverty in 2019, the same proportion as in 2010.
• According to data from the Census’ PULSE survey, 21% of households with children reported in March 2021 that they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the previous seven days.