Data & Funding

The core of a strong, effective child care program is data and research, so the Office of Child Care (OCC) works to collect data from our grantees about their CCDF programs and also information from the child care research community related to the best ways to run high quality child care programs.

Research

ACF has a long history of child care research, with child care studies that date back to the 1970s. The reauthorized Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 allows for up to one-half of one percent of CCDF funding to be reserved to conduct research and demonstration activities and to conduct periodic, external, independent evaluations of the CCDF program on increasing access to child care services and improving the quality and safety of child care services. ACF-funded child care research focuses on topics that respond to the information needs of the Office of Child Care and early care and education policy-makers and stakeholders at the state and national levels. These projects are overseen by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, the research arm of ACF. The Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Consortium (CCEEPRC) , Child Care and Early Education Research Connections, and the large portfolio of ongoing contract- and grant-funded child care research projects form the core of child care research at ACF.

Report to Congress

Every two years the OCC reports to Congress on the current state of the CCDF program. The report is a comprehensive picture of CCDF, including information about the program, data collected, plans for using CCDF funds and child care research.

Priorities Report

The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act requires an annual report on whether States use CCDF funding in accordance with provisions related to priority for services. The law requires priority for children of families with very low incomes and children with special needs. CCDF regulations add a priority for services for children who are experiencing homelessness.

Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Policies Database, 2008-2018

The CCDF Policies Database is a source of information on the detailed policies used to operate child care subsidy programs under the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).