Media Contact:
Gina Davis, [email protected], 202-864-2934
Morgan Brill, [email protected] 845-596-5328
WASHINGTON, D.C. – ZERO TO THREE, a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life, warns that Congress’s failure to deliver on lifesaving programs will be disastrous for America’s babies and families. Melissa Boteach, the organization’s chief policy officer, issued this statement outlining what a government shutdown means for babies and their families:
“Families need solutions, not more chaos and cuts. Congress’s failure to pass a spending bill leaves parents, providers and babies caught in yet another storm of uncertainty. Without congressional action, millions of people will see their monthly health care costs rise, and millions of babies and toddlers could lose health services, nutrition assistance, early education and other vital supports.
“This shutdown comes on top of the largest cuts in our nation’s history to programs that support basic needs and comes at a time when families are struggling to cover the rising costs of food, health care and other essentials.
“Congress must stop playing politics with children’s lives. They must pass a spending bill that invests in children, maintains health coverage and puts protections in place to ensure funding reaches families. Babies and families need stability and investment, not cuts and uncertainty.”
