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Federal & Child Care and Development Fund State Plan

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CCDBG Resources and Updates

CCDF Final Rule Released

Dear Colleagues,

The wait is over! The Office of Child Care is proud to announce the release of new final regulations for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). As you know, in 2014 Congress reauthorized the Child Care and Development Block Grant and made sweeping changes to the law, and this rule is necessary to address those changes.  The rule is the product of much time, research, and careful consideration of comments received on the NPRM.  When fully implemented, the provisions in the rule will:

1)            Protect the health and safety of children in child care;
2)            Help parents make informed consumer choices and access information to support child development;
3)            Support equal access to stable, high quality child care for low-income children; and
4)            Enhance the quality of child care and the early childhood workforce. 

Of course, the path to full implementation will require continued effort, and the Office of Child Care remains committed to partnering with you in this journey. Although this regulation will take effect 60 days from publication, ACF's goal is to support your successful implementation by September 30, 2018 for States and Territories, and September 30, 2019 for our Tribal partners.

I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of you who have dedicated so much of your time and energy to realizing the purposes of the CCDF program while strengthening child care systems, providers, and the early childhood workforce. Every day, you make the hours children spend in child care a little better.

We also owe much gratitude to our policy team, all Office of Child Care staff, to all our partners in HHS, and the leadership of the White House. 

You can find the new regulations by visiting our CCDF Reauthorization webpage http://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/ccdf-reauthorization. We'll be adding additional resources to our website as they become available, so check back in the coming days and weeks for more information.

Thank you for all you do each day for children and families.

Rachel Schumacher
Director, Office of Child Care
Administration for Children and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Mary E. Switzer Building
330 C ST SW
Washington DC  20201
Phone: 202-401-5308 

Click here for a copy of the final rule.

Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Reauthorization Resources

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Child Care and Development State Fund State Plan

The federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is an aggregate of several funding sources that is distributed in block grants by the federal government to the states and territories. The majority of the funds are to be used to provide child care services to families who meet certain income and need criteria. A portion of the funding is to be used for activities to improve the quality of child care. Another portion is to be used to pay for costs of administering the CCDF.

The purpose of the CCDF is to increase the availability, affordability, and quality of child care services. States and territories receiving CCDF funds must prepare and submit to the federal government a plan detailing how these funds will be allocated and expended. 

HEARING SCHEDULED:

Public Hearing for the 2019–2021 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) State Plan

As part of the 2019–2021 CCDF State Plan preparation process, federal law requires the lead agency to post the CCDF State Plan for a minimum of 30 days and to convene a public hearing. The purpose of the public hearing is to provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the provision of child care services and quality improvement activities under the State Plan before it is submitted to the federal government.

Click here to read the DRAFT CCDF PREPRINT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

The public hearing on the draft of the State Plan will take place as follows:

Tuesday, May 15, 2018
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

We will be providing satellite locations and addresses shortly. Once confirmed, the host site location along with the remote site locations will be available on the CDE’s Web site.

In addition to testimony at the public hearings, written testimony will be accepted and can be submitted by mail, fax, or e-mail.  All written comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, May 20, 2018.

By Mail: Written comments on the proposed State Plan should be addressed to:
State Plan Public Hearing Coordinator
Early Education and Support Division
California Department of Education
1430 N Street, Suite 3410
Sacramento, CA 95814
By E-Mail: Please use the following e-mail address: statepln@cde.ca.gov.
By Fax: Please use the following fax number for written comments: 916-323-6853.

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April 1, 2018 was the most recent deadline for public testimony for CCDF State Plan Fiscal Year (FY) 2019–21. The submission deadline for the final CCDF State Plan Fiscal Year (FY) 2019–21 is June 30, 2018 to the federal government. A proposed timeline of this process can be found at the CDE CCDF State Plan Timeline Web page.

CLICK HERE TO SEE CAPPA'S INPUT LETTER for fiscal year 2019 -2021. 

Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2019-21

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Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2016-18

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Federal Legislation of Relevance  

May 7, 2018

On the Hill

Get Ready for Farm Bill Floor Fight: On April 18, the House Agriculture Committee reported out a Farm Bill, H.R.2 (pdf), that could see a House floor vote as soon as mid-May.  This bill would take food out of the refrigerators and off the kitchen tables of more than 1 million households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), leading to significantly greater hunger and poverty. Meanwhile,the Senate Agriculture Committee is currently drafting its version of the Farm Bill, which is expected this spring.

Now is the Time to Act 
Members of the House and Senate will be heading home for a one-week recess from Monday, April 30, through Friday, May 4, creating an opportune time for advocates to engage with Members of Congress. See  FRAC Legislative Action Center for actions you can take during the recess to urge your representatives to vote "No" on any Farm Bill that cuts SNAP.

Additional: Click here to read letter submitted from California anti-hunger community to California Members of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture

November 6, 2017

With the state legislature on Interim recess, our attention and focus has turned to the federal government. Of particular interest is the Child Care for Working Families Act, introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate education committee. This bill aims to be a comprehensive early learning and child care bill with the goal of increasing access and affordable, high-quality child care for working families across the country. 

The bill, S. 1806, was introduced on 9/14/17 and has been referred to Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, where it is currently at in the legislative process.

As highlighted in Senator Murray's press release, the main tenants of the bill are as follows:

  • Establish a new federal-state partnership based on Medicaid to provide high-quality, affordable child care from birth through age 13;
  • More than double the universe of children eligible for child care assistance, and increase the number of children who could receive such assistance by more than 13 times the current amount;   
  • Provide incentives and funding for states to create high-quality preschool programs for low- and moderate-income 3- and 4-year olds during the school day, while providing a higher matching rate for programs for infants and toddlers, who are often harder and more expensive to care for
  • Increase workforce training and compensation, including by ensuring that all child care workers are paid a living wage and early childhood educators are provided parity with elementary school teachers with similar credentials and experience;
  • Improve care in a variety of settings, including addressing the needs of family, friend, and neighbor care and care during nontraditional hours to help meet the needs of working families;
  • Build more inclusive, high-quality child care providers for children with disabilities, and infants and toddlers with disabilities, including by increased funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and
  • Help all Head Start programs meet the new expanded duration requirements and provide full-day, full-year programming.

Text for the bill can be found by clicking HERE.

A fact sheet can be found HERE.

A press release can be found HERE.

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Federal Updates from Partners

May 7, 2018

Child Care Aware® of America Releases Statement on SNAP

May 1, 2018 | by Lynette Fraga, Ph.D. | Child Care, Congress, Media Center, Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC - Dr. Lynette M. Fraga, executive director of Child Care Aware® of America, issued the following statement on changes the House Agriculture Committee has approved for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the current version of the House Farm Bill (H.R. 2):

"SNAP benefits are a national safety net for poor families faced with the choice of either paying rent or buying groceries. More than 42 million people each month depend on SNAP. The program does more than simply stave off hunger, it also helps families buy nutritious food and make healthy food choices on limited budgets.  

Cuts in SNAP would be felt by children in our most vulnerable families, by the caretakers and teachers who serve them, and by retailers of every size in every state. The $70 million in SNAP redemptions in 2014 (the most current year available) account for 10 percent of all food purchases nationally.

In states with the most SNAP participants, the share of beneficiaries  in small towns and rural areas is greater than in cities. That means families - and retailers - in those small towns and rural areas would be hit hardest.

We join with anti-hunger advocates nationally in urging our representatives to pass a farm bill that protects and strengthens SNAP, which is a critical program that protects our most vulnerable fellow Americans from hunger." 

April 11, 2018

Follow up resources on new Child Care & Development Block Grant Funds

These resources from CLASP may be helpful in answering your questions about the new funds:

The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) and CLASP are creating a learning community for advocates to facilitate sharing around state strategies for the new CCDBG funds. Click here to fill out the form if you're interested in joining. We will hold monthly calls where advocates can share their best practices, state developments, challenges, and opportunities. This will also be a useful place to discuss maintaining these funds in FY19 and beyond.

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April 4, 2018

A new paper released by the U.S. Partnership on Mobility from Poverty and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities proposes improvements to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to enable more children in low-income working families to qualify for the full credit.

Roughly 27 million children under 17 live in families that don’t earn enough to qualify for the full credit – or, in many cases even partial credit.

Excluding the poorest children from the full CTC runs counter to a substantial body of research showing that raising the incomes of low-income children can deliver significant benefits to children’s economic mobility and opportunity later in life.

The paper proposes several CTC improvements:
• For all families, phasing in the credit beginning with the first dollar of a family’s earnings rather than only after a family earns $2,500, as under current law.
• For all families, eliminating the $1,400-per-child cap on the amount of the credit that families can receive as a refund if their credit exceeds their federal income tax liability.
• For families with children under age 6, phasing in the credit more quickly as family earnings rise — at a rate of 50 cents per added dollar of earnings rather than the current 15 cents.

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April 2018

Omnibus Spending Bill: Clear Progress for Everyday Americans, But Much Left Undone:
CLASP is pleased with several important elements of the omnibus spending bill that lay a strong foundation for addressing major national needs—notably increasing funding for child care, education and workforce programs and protecting the tips earned by vulnerable low-wage workers. However, we are disheartened with the significant unfinished business that compromises the wellbeing of millions of everyday Americans. READ MORE.

Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign Resources:
The Protecting Immigrant Families, Advancing Our Future campaign brings together advocates to defend against threats to low-income immigrant families and support a productive national dialogue about our country’s immigrant tradition and economic future. READ MORE.

Child Care in the FY 2018 Omnibus Spending Bill:
The fiscal year 2018 omnibus spending bill includes the largest-ever single-year increase in federal funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Read this fact sheet to learn more about the state-by-state impact of these funds. READ MORE.