The number of children in low-income working families participating in child care has dropped from more than 29,000 in 2009 to fewer than 7,500 in 2013. Increasing state funding for child care assistance will reach the children who are most vulnerable to abuse and neglect -- children who are living in homeless and domestic violence shelters and children with parents who have physical or mental illnesses that keep them from consistent parenting. The appropriation will also increase participation in child care subsidies for children with the lowest incomes and allow new children to enroll when slots open up. This funding will pay off in healthier children, a more stable work force, and reduced chances for abuse and neglect. (author abstract)