Emergency Preparedness in CCDBG Reauthorization

By Abby Cohen, Supervisory Program Specialist; Amy Spates, Program Specialist; Amanda Guarino, Management and Program Analyst; Office of Child Care

On Nov. 19, 2014, President Obama signed the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 into law. This act reauthorizes the child care program for the first time since 1996 and represents an historic re-envisioning of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program. The new law makes significant advancements by defining health and safety requirements for child care providers, outlining family-friendly eligibility policies, and ensuring parents and the general public have transparent information about the child care choices available to them. Maintaining the safety of children in child care programs requires advance planning by child care providers and CCDF Agencies.

Since September is National Preparedness Month it is important to look into the changes related to Disaster Preparedness in the new law, which include:

• Health and safety requirements related to emergency preparedness
• Statewide Child Care Disaster Plan
  • Disaster Plans Components
    • Requirements that child care providers have in place evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, and lock-down procedures, and procedures for communication and reunification with families, continuity of operations, and accommodation of infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, and children with chronic medical conditions.
    • Guidelines for the continuation of child care services in the period following the emergency or disaster, which may include the provision of emergency and temporary child care services, and temporary operating standards for child care providers during that period.
    • Requirements that child care providers have in place procedures for staff and volunteer emergency preparedness training and practice drills.

The Office of Child Care has created a helpful resource page related to the new CCDBG Act of 2014. Please check it out to stay up-to-date on the latest news. Other emergency preparedness resources can be found at https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/emergency-preparedness-0.