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OCC encourages Tribal Lead Agencies to prioritize CCDF funds for the child care and early learning workforce. However, OCC has heard it is often difficult to raise staff wages in Tribally Operated Centers, to keep qualified staff, and to significantly increase provider payment rates for child care subsidies.

Every three years, CCDF Tribal Lead Agencies submit a self-certified count of Indian children in their service area, which OCC uses as the basis for their CCDF funding. The number of children included in the child count is used to determine the amount of CCDF funding a Tribal Nation receives for three fiscal years, and it cannot be changed within that three-year period after the triennial submission is approved by the Office of Child Care.

The purpose of the annual QPR is to capture state and territory progress on how CCDF quality funds were expended, including the activities funded and the measures used by states and territories to evaluate progress in improving the quality of child care programs and services for children from birth to age 13.  The annual data provided will be used to describe state and territory priorities and strategies to key stakeholders, including Congress, Federal, state and territory administrators, providers, parents, and the public. 

This Program Instruction (PI) informs Tribes, Tribal Organizations, and Tribal Lead Agencies (TLAs) of process to submit the triennial child count declaration form and demonstration letter, and for direct-funded Tribes, to submit their definition of Indian Reservation or Service Area and Indian Child. In order for eligible tribes to receive CCDF funds, tribes are required to submit every three years the information necessary to determine the number of children to be used in funding formulas (otherwise referred to as the “child count” (45 CFR 98.81 (b)(4)).

This PI also provides instructions for submitting the Tribal Early Learning Initiative (TELI) Appendix along with the child count and service area information.

This Program Instruction is to inform Tribal Lead Agencies that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved changes to the annual reporting requirements (i.e., ACF-700 Report), consistent with the terms and conditions of the CCDF program. The revised ACF-700 form is attached.

This Program Instruction distributes the revised Form ACF-696 CCDF Financial Report, which was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under OMB Control Number.

This Program Instruction (PI):

• Provides clarification about the use of CCDF funds for research and evaluation; and
• Encourages States, Territories and Tribes to evaluate subsidy policies and quality initiatives as a means to improve program performance, inform policy decisions, and effectively target available child care funds.

Program Instruction CCDF-ACF-PI-2011-03: Program Instruction guidance for the Revised State/Territory required Plan Preprint (ACF-118) for the CCDF program for the Fiscal Year 2012-2013 biennium.

Program Instruction: ACYF-PI-CC-98-08: Clarification of Interpretation of "Federal Public Benefit" Regarding CCDF Services

This Program Instruction (PI) transmits the revised state/territory Plan Preprint (ACF-118) for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program for the Fiscal Year 2025-2027 triennium and provides guidance for submitting the Plan. This Plan is required by section 658E of the CCDBG Act.