Child Care Bureau: Laws, Policies, Program Instructions, and Allocations

CCDF Submission of the Case-Level Report (ACF-801)

Index: ACYF-PI-CC-98-01 | ACF-801 Form | ACF-801 Instructions | Sampling Specifications | (Collection also available in Word and PDF)

ACF-801 Case Level Sampling Specifications (also in Word)

Introduction

Guidance is provided herein to Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program administrators regarding reporting of quarterly disaggregate child care data. States have two options for submitting this case-level data: 1) they may submit a systematic random sample, or 2) they may report data for all CCDF families.

Note: for purposes of this document, the word State refers to the 50 States, the District of Columbia and the Territories receiving CCDF program funds.

States Reporting on All Families Receiving CCDF Assistance

States may submit their entire caseload, each month, instead of a monthly sample. Their caseload should include all cases described in the Sample Frame section below.

States that submit their entire caseload are not required to submit a sampling plan. In place of the plan, States should submit a statement indicating the intent to report data for the entire population and provide a description of the funding streams included in the caseload. If States use a pooled universe from both CCDF funds and non-CCDF funds, they must report the percentages of dollars that each fund (pooled into the CCDF program) contributed to the total CCDF dollars.

States that choose to submit records monthly rather than quarterly should inform the Child Care Bureau about their intention in the sampling plan.

States Reporting on a Sample of Families Receiving CCDF Assistance

1. Sample Methodology:

The sample methodology must conform to principles of probability sampling, i.e., each family in the population of interest must have a known, non-zero probability of selection and computational methods of estimation must lead to a unique estimate. A sample frame must be constructed for each month in the annual sample period. Approximately one-twelfth of the required minimum annual sample size must be selected from each monthly sample frame.

The recommended method of sample selection is systematic random sampling.

2. Systematic Random Sampling:

Systematic random sampling is the preferred method for CCDF purposes. This method provides a system for selection of an individual unit from a file, list, or computer tape at equally spaced intervals (such as every 10th, 140th, 950th, etc., to obtain the desired sample size). The starting point within the first interval is determined by random selection. The interval is determined by dividing the estimated average monthly universe by the required average monthly sample size.

3. Sample frame:

States may specify the population or universe from which they draw a sample as follows:

a. The universe for a monthly sample will include all unduplicated families served by CCDF funds during the month (this includes all CCDF Federal and State funding streams, i.e, mandatory, discretionary including funds transferred from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Federal and State matching, and State MOE funds).

b. For States that do not separate CCDF funds from non- CCDF funds, the monthly sample's universe will include all unduplicated families served by all child care funds pooled into CCDF by the States. These families may be served by funds which are not CCDF, such as Title XX or other State or private funds not used for matching or MOE. States that use this method must also report the percentage of dollars that each fund (pooled into the CCDF program) contributes to the total CCDF dollars.

4. Sample Size Requirement:

The minimum required annual sample size for families receiving assistance is 2,400. This minimum sample size will provide reasonably precise estimates, with a precision of about plus or minus 2 percentage points, for an attribute of .5 at a 95% confidence level. To assure proportional representation for the whole fiscal year, States will have to report approximately 200 cases (1/12 of the annual sample size) each reporting month.

5. Sampling Plan Submission Process:

Each State that chooses to conduct a sample of the monthly caseload must submit the following:

a. Each State must submit for ACF approval to the Regional Administrator an annual sampling plan or any changes to the currently approved sampling plan at least sixty (60) calendar days before the start of the reporting period. If the State's sampling plan is unchanged from the previous year, the State is not required to resubmit the sampling plan. The sampling plan must include:

i. Documentation of methods for constructing and maintaining the sample frame(s), including an assessment of frame completeness and any potential problems associated with using the sample frame(s);and

ii. Documentation of methods for selecting the sample cases from the sample frame(s);

b. Each State must submit with the sampling plan the estimated average monthly caseload for the annual sample period and the computed sample interval to the ACF Regional Administrator thirty (30) calendar days before the beginning of the annual sample period.

c. Each State must submit the total number of families receiving assistance under the State CCDF Program for each month in the annual sample period (size of sampling frame). This data is required for weighing the sample results in order to produce estimates for the entire caseload.

d. States that used a pooled method to construct their sampling frame (this pooled fund includes both CCDF funding streams and non-CCDF funding streams) must submit to ACF the percentage of each funding stream pooled into the fund for each reporting month.

Index: ACYF-PI-CC-98-01 | ACF-801 Form | ACF-801 Instructions | Sampling Specifications | (Collection also available in Word and PDF)