WASHINGTON — On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and 12 of his colleagues sent a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the Administration to include a tax credit to help American families pay for child care in its tax season outreach and awareness campaigns.

In the American Rescue Plan, Democrats expanded the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), providing families with a fully refundable tax credit to help offset the costs of child care for the first time. Families can now claim up to $4,000 per child, up to $8,000 per family, to reimburse child care expenses from 2021.

“As families live under the burden of rising prices, they need to know about the solutions that their government is providing them,” the senators wrote. “In this case, we have already passed a credit to alleviate one of the largest burdens families face—child care. Families just need to be equipped to take advantage of it.”

Thanks to the American Rescue Plan’s enhanced CDCTC, many millions of disproportionately low-income families can qualify for relief from child care costs for the first time. The tax credit can be used to pay for center- and home-based care, babysitters, before- and after-school care, summer camps and more.

In addition to Senator Casey, the letter was also signed by Senators Blumenthal (D-CT), Brown (D-OH), Cardin (D-MD), Duckworth (D-IL), Durbin (D-IL), Hirono (D-HI), King (I-ME), Murray (D-WA), Shaheen (D-NH), Stabenow (D-MI), Warnock (D-GA) and Wyden (D-OR).