Children and Families
Rep. John Larson has always prioritized support and funding for the programs that set children on the right path and make it more affordable to raise a family.
Head Start and Early Childhood Education
Throughout his career, Rep. Larson has supported educational programs to help children succeed while protecting families’ wallets. That’s why the Congressman was selected as a fellow at the Yale Center for Child Development alongside Dr. Edward Zigler, considered the “father of Head Start,” to better understand, advocate for, and improve our nation’s support systems for working families and children.
Research clearly shows that low-income children benefit greatly from enrollment in early educational childcare, and programs like Head Start are significant in closing the achievement gap between them and peers from middle-and high-income families. Rep. Larson has been an avid supporter of support Connecticut Head Start programs. In Congress, he has consistently advocated that Congress fully fund Head Start in the annual appropriations process. Since 2020, he has delivered nearly $40 million for Bristol, Manchester, and CREC Head Start.
Family Resource Centers
Since his time working with Dr. Zigler, Rep. Larson has championed the Family Resource Center (FRC) model, an approach to pairing education with social services and family support that has been replicated across the country. Based on Dr. Zigler’s “Schools of the 21st Century” concept, Family Resource Centers, located in public school buildings, provide low-income parents with in-person assistance finding and enrolling in a multitude of family support programs, including federal benefits like SNAP, parenting classes, substance abuse support, early childhood education services, and much more. Many FRCs even provide direct childcare for working parents.
In 1988 while in the state Senate, Rep. Larson helped pass legislation to establish the first Family Resource Center (FRC) pilot program in the country, establishing three FRCs around the state. Former Senator Chris Dodd would help bring the FRC model to the federal level, and today, our country hosts over 3,000 centers nationwide. Last year, Rep. Larson introduced the Promoting Community-Based Prevention Services Act, which provides a pathway for FRCs to receive funding directly from the federal government. His bill was signed into law by President Biden in January of 2025.
Family and Medical Leave Act Advocacy
Rep. Larson has always understood that supporting working families goes beyond childcare, it means supporting the labor rights of parents. He has always believed that support for families is critical to our communities and economy and knows people shouldn’t be forced to choose between paying their bills and starting a family.
That’s why as President Pro Tempore of the Connecticut State Senate in 1987, Larson authored and passed the nation’s first Family and Medical Leave Act. This law guaranteed 16 weeks of leave for Connecticut workers at companies with at least 75 employees. This legislation served as a model when then-Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd authored the national Family and Medical Leave Act, enacted into federal law in 1993.
Now, Rep. Larson is continuing to advocate for families by pushing for paid leave. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over these policies, he is continually working to advance paid leave priorities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rep. Larson helped write and pass the nation’s first paid family and sick leave, included in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. This policy included twelve weeks of paid leave for workers who needed to quarantine and enhanced unemployment insurance for furloughed workers, but expired on December 30, 2020.
Undeterred, Rep. Larson successfully ensured the inclusion of parental, serious medical condition, or caregiving leave in the Build Back Better Act. Thanks to this effort, comprehensive leave passed out of the House of Representatives for the first time, a major legislative milestone. Rep. Larson will continue his career-long push to ensure that all Americans have access to paid time off to care for themselves and their families. He is a longtime supporter of Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s FAMILY Act, which would do just that.
Supporting Parents and Families
While programs like Head Start and services like Family Resource Centers provide benefits for low-income families, Rep. Larson understands that the childcare affordability crisis extends to all middle-class families. That’s why the Congressman used his position on the Ways and Means Committee to sponsor legislation to fund universal Pre-K across the country as part of Build Back Better. Thanks to this effort, Universal Pre-K passed out of the House of Representatives for the first time. Rep. Larson is continuing to champion increased access to early childhood education.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, childcare facilities across the state faced the prospect of closing down, threatening to eliminate nearly all options and causing costs to skyrocket as parents went back to working in person. In response, Rep. Larson helped pass the American Rescue Plan, which gave Connecticut $275 million to ensure providers were able to stay open and directly support low-income families in need of care.
Tax Cuts for Families
As a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, responsible for tax policy, Rep. Larson is working to ensure the tax code works for low-income and middle-class families, not the wealthy and corporations. He is committed to restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit.
Under the American Rescue Plan, the Child Tax Credit was reimagined. Instead of $2,000 at the end of the year, families received up to $3,600 spread out monthly, ensuring that they got the help they need, when they needed it. This expanded CTC was life changing; every single state across the country saw their child poverty rates drop below 10%, and childhood food insecurity dropped by 26% nationwide
Rep. Larson is an original cosponsor of the American Family Actto reinstate the expanded Child Tax Credit increase its value to 6,360 for newborns, $4,320 for children ages one through six, and $3,600 for children age six through 17.
Unfortunately, instead of renewing this expanded credit President Trump and Congressional Republicans instead chose to pass a budget bill that gives the most benefits to the wealthiest Americans, paid for by cutting health insurance and food benefits. Rep. Larson will continue fighting to repeal tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% and replace it with the expanded Child Tax Credit and other initiatives to help families.