Helen Blank

2018 Patty Siegel Child Care Champion

For nearly four decades, Helen Blank has dedicated her career to early care and education, creating and facilitating government policies, and working side by side with other national leaders to bolster working families. Since 2003, she has served as Director of Child Care and Early Learning at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington.

 

In 2014, Helen led the effort to develop a road map for the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, the primary source of federal funding for child care subsidies for low-income working families and funds to improve child care quality.

 

Previously, Helen served for 24 years as the director of the Child Care and Development Division at the Children’s Defense Fund. She led the effort to improve child care provisions in TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), created the Child Care NOW Campaign and was key in child welfare reform legislation early in her career.