Today Governor Josh Stein celebrated North Carolina’s child care providers and presented a proclamation honoring Child Care Provider Appreciation Day.
“Child care providers across the state provide high-quality care to kids in their most formative years and make it possible for parents to stay in the workforce,” said Governor Josh Stein. “That’s why my budget proposal invests in families, child care, and early education. No investment has a better return than an investment in our young children.”
“Child care providers are doing essential work for North Carolina families, often while facing enormous challenges themselves,” said Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt, co-chair of Governor Stein’s Task Force on Child Care and Early Education. “As our state continues to navigate a child care crisis, it’s more important than ever that we support the educators and providers who make it possible for parents to work and children to thrive. I’m grateful for all they do and honored to celebrate them."
“I would like to thank Governor Stein for his focus on child care and Lt. Governor Hunt for the time she has dedicated to the task force over the last year and a half. Strong families are the foundation of a strong North Carolina, and child care providers are essential partners in that work,” said Senator Jim Burgin, co-chair of Governor Stein’s Task Force on Child Care and Early Education. “When we invest in quality child care, we are investing in parents’ ability to work and in our children’s healthy development. Supporting child care providers is one of the most pro-family choices we can make as a state.”
“Child care providers nurture early learning and provide safe environments that are vital to a child’s overall health and wellbeing,” said Michael Leighs, NCDHHS Deputy Secretary of Opportunity and Well-Being. “We are committed to supporting this critical workforce to ensure everyone in North Carolina has access to quality care that prepares children for success in school and life.”
“I’m grateful to Governor Stein for his strong leadership on child care and for recognizing the essential role child care providers play in helping children thrive, families work, and communities succeed. This recognition is both a celebration of their extraordinary impact and a reminder that our work to build the real-world solutions and investments needed to support and sustain child care providers — and the systems that make quality child care possible for every family across North Carolina — is far from finished.” Susan Gale Perry, CEO, Child Care Aware of America.
North Carolina has almost 260,000 fewer child care slots than children ages five and younger who need them. Almost 8% of North Carolina’s child care providers have closed since 2021. Since North Carolina last passed a state budget more than two and a half years ago, the state experienced a net loss of 262 child care programs due, in part, to inadequate child care subsidy reimbursement. On average, North Carolina’s current subsidy rates pay for only about half of what it costs child care providers to provide care.
Last month, Governor Stein announced his recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 that expands child care access by stabilizing child care programs, lowering costs for families, and improving retention of early childhood education professionals. The proposal increases child care subsidy rates, establishes a statewide subsidy reimbursement rate floor, and invests in NC Pre-K to help programs remain sustainable, educators earn competitive wages, and families access affordable care.
In April, Governor Stein joined educators, students, and leaders from Forsyth Technical Community College and host Guilford Technical Community College to learn more about the colleges’ child care pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, Building Bright Futures and Child Care Academies. Governor Stein has long supported apprenticeship models that create more pathways to high-demand careers. In February, he announced that NC Career Launch would expand high-quality youth apprenticeship programs in high-demand sectors like child care.
Earlier this year, the Governor’s Task Force on Child Care and Early Education released its 2025 year-end report, outlining six key recommendations to make child care accessible and affordable across North Carolina. Click here to read the Task Force’s December 2025 report. Recent research estimates that inadequate access to child care causes work disruptions that cost North Carolina’s economy $5.65 billion each year, affecting each of the state’s 100 counties. Last month, the Task Force members and business community leaders urged the General Assembly to prioritize investments in North Carolina’s child care and early education systems.