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The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is the primary federal funding source for child care assistance to help eligible working families with low-incomes access child care and to improve the quality of child care for all children. CCDF gives funding to states, territories, and tribes to provide child care subsidies through vouchers or certificates to families with low incomes, or through grants and contracts with providers. CCDF provides access to child care services for working families with low incomes, so parents can work, attend school, or enroll in training. Additionally, CCDF promotes the healthy development of children by improving the quality of early learning and school-age experiences for both subsidized and unsubsidized children. Within the federal regulations, lead agencies administering CCDF decide how to administer the CCDF subsidy programs. Lead agencies determine payment rates for child care providers, copayment amounts for families, specific eligibility requirements, and how to prioritize CCDF services.

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is the primary federal funding source dedicated to providing child care assistance to families with low-incomes.  As a block grant, CCDF gives funding to states, territories, and tribes to provide child care subsidies through vouchers or certificates to families with low incomes, and grants and contracts with providers in some states.  CCDF provides access to child care services for working families with low incomes, so parents can work, attend school, or enroll in training.  Additionally, CCDF promotes the healthy development of children by improving the quality of early learning and school-age experiences for both subsidized and unsubsidized children.  Within the federal regulations, lead agencies administering CCDF decide how to administer the CCDF subsidy programs.  States determine payment rates for child care providers, copayment amounts for families, specific eligibility requirements, and have some flexibilities on how to prioritize CCDF services.

The following reports include the initial CCDF Plan data submitted by states and territories as of July 1, 2021. The preliminary reports and information are subject to change. The Plans are currently under review and will become effective as of October 1, 2021. For more detailed information about the sections listed below, please refer to the CCDF State/Territory Plan Preprint (PDF).

ACF-218 - Annual Quality Progress Report (QPR)

Timeliness of ACF-218 Data Submissions

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is the primary federal funding source dedicated to providing child care assistance to low-income families.  As a block grant, CCDF gives funding to states, territories, and tribes to provide child care subsidies through vouchers or certificates to low-income families, and grants and contracts with providers in some states.  CCDF provides access to child care services for low-income families so parents can work, attend school, or enroll in training.  Additionally, CCDF promotes the healthy development of children by improving the quality of early learning and afterschool experiences.  In November 2014, Congress acted on a bipartisan basis to pass the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 (Public Law (Pub.L.) 113-186) into law and reauthorized the CCDF program through fiscal year (FY) 2020.  In September 2016, the Office of Child Care (OCC) within the Department of Health and Humans Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published a CCDF final rule (81 F.R. 67438) to provide clarity to states, territories, and tribes on how to implement the CCDBG Act.