Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)

Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2002 and Fiscal Year 2003

The entire Report to Congress is available in PDF format. (File size is 3.8 Megabytes.)

Table of Contents

Introduction

This report to Congress is required by Section 658L of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act as amended by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 (P.L. 104–193) and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105–33). The report describes and analyzes current information about the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) from a variety of sources, including State plans, expenditure reports, administrative data reports, and research. The report also includes information about training and technical assistance that is provided to States, Territories, and Tribes.

CCDF is a significant source of Federal support to improve the affordability, supply, and quality of child care in the United States. CCDF assists low-income families, including families receiving or transitioning from temporary public assistance, in obtaining child care so they can work, or at State option, attend training or education.

For both fiscal years (FY) 2002 and 2003, $4.8 billion in CCDF was available through block grants to all 50 States, the District of Columbia, 5 Territories, and 262 Tribal grantees in FY 2002 and 259 Tribal grantees in FY 2003 (representing approximately 500 Indian Tribes). Through CCDF and other funding streams available for child care – including State Matching and Maintenance of Effort (MOE) funds, Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) funds, and TANF dollars transferred to CCDF or spent directly by States on child care services – an estimated $11.8 billion in FY 2002 and $11.5 billion in FY 2003 was available for child care.

CCDF is administered at the Federal level by the Child Care Bureau (CCB), Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), in collaboration with ACF Regional Offices in the Department of Health and Human Services. States, Territories, and Tribes are responsible for ensuring that their CCDF grants are administered in compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. In administering CCDF, States have significant discretion in how funds are used and where emphasis is placed in achieving the overall goals of CCDF.

CCDF funds are used primarily to provide subsidized child care services through vouchers or certificates to low-income working families with children under age 13. Parents may select any legally operating child care provider, including child care centers, family members, neighbors, family child care homes, after-school programs, and faith-based programs.

Providers serving children funded by CCDF must meet basic health and safety requirements set by States, Territories, and Tribes. Within general Federal rules, States decide how their subsidy system will be administered and determine payment rates for providers, the co-payment amounts that parents pay, specific eligibility requirements that a family must meet to receive a subsidy, and how CCDF services will be prioritized.

CCDF Lead Agencies must use a minimum of 4 percent of CCDF funds to improve the quality of child care. CCDF also includes earmarks for specific purposes: quality enhancement, improving the quality of care for infants and toddlers, improving school-age care, and child care resource and referral services. Quality activities include provider staff training, grants and loans to providers, health and safety improvements, monitoring of licensing requirements, and other initiatives.

Overview of the Report

This report consists of eight parts:

• Part I provides background on the CCDF program including funding, eligibility requirements, a description of how funds may be used, information about program administration, and key child care and CCDF terms.
• Part II provides information from aggregate and case-level data reported by States for FY 2002 and FY 2003 (October 1 through September 30), including information about children receiving subsidized care and the providers who cared for them.
• Part III summarizes expenditure data obtained from State quarterly financial reports on expenditures in FY 2002 and FY 2003.
• Part IV summarizes information reported by States in their CCDF plans for FY 2002 and FY 2003. States are required to submit plans every 2 years that describe how they will implement CCDF policies and services.
• Part V describes child care services provided by Indian Tribes that receive CCDF funding.
• Part VI describes ongoing research efforts, highlighting projects funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and summarizing some of the latest research findings about child care.
• Part VII describes training and technical assistance provided by CCB to assist States, Territories, and Tribes in administering CCDF, including the Bureau's efforts with the President's Good Start, Grow Smart initiative.
• Part VIII, the Appendix, provides detailed information about services provided as reported in the FY 2002 and FY 2003 State aggregate and case-level reports, State policies and practices from Biennial State Plans for FY 2002 and FY 2003, and CCB-funded research initiatives.

To receive a paper copy of the CCDF Report to Congress, please contact:
National Child Care Information Center
Telephone: 800-616-2242
Fax: 800-716-2242
TTY: 800-516-2242
info@nccic.org
Website: http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/

Table of Contents