FY 2018 Preliminary Data Table 14 - Average Monthly Hours for Children In Care By Age Group and Care Type

Data as of: 21-AUG-2019

Notes applicable to this report: 

1. The source for this table is ACF-801 data for FY 2018.
2. Nationally, 4.9% of the children served with CCDF funds were excluded from the above table because either their age was missing or invalid or their setting information was invalid, due to out-of-range or missing care type, hours, or payment.
3. Average hours per month were based on sums of hours per month in categories divided by counts of children in categories as further defined below.  
4. All percentages are based on "adjusted" numbers of families and children, unless otherwise indicated. These "adjusted" numbers represent the number funded through CCDF only (which includes Federal Discretionary, Mandatory, and Matching Funds; TANF transfers to CCDF; and State Matching and Maintenance of Effort Funds). The "adjusted" number is the raw or "unadjusted" number reported by the State multiplied by its pooling factor, as reported on the ACF-800.  This report takes this factor into consideration in calculating the "adjusted" numbers or percentages.
5. All States provide an actual unadjusted count of families served each month. For States reporting full population data, the number of child records reported each month were directly counted. However, for States that only submit samples, the ratio of children-to-families was determined each month from the samples and then multiplied by the reported number of families to obtain an estimate of the unadjusted number of children served each month. The unadjusted average number of families and children was obtained from the monthly numbers in the FY, as reported on the ACF-801 summary (header) record.
6. At the time of publication, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands had not yet reported any ACF-801 data for FY 2018. Arkansas, Guam, and Louisiana had submitted 11 months, and North Carolina had  submitted 1 month. All other States and Territories had submitted the full 12 months of data. 
7. For children served by multiple providers, the child's count is proportioned based on the ratio of the monthly hours with each provider divided by the monthly total hours of service. The average hours and payments for each State-month combination are based on the sum of hours in each category divided by the sum of proportional counts in each category. The State's annual results are determined by calculating a weighted average of the monthly results where the weight was the "adjusted" number of children served in each month. The National results shown above represent a weighted average of the State's fiscal annual results, where the weight for each State is the average monthly "adjusted" number of children served in each State for the fiscal year.
8. Some States have been reporting the maximum number of hours authorized rather than the actual number of service hours provided. 
9. CO, TX, and WA have high percentage of out of range/invalid or missing hours and payments which impact the national averages. Percent of invalid records by State are available in Table 6. States are working to correct issue.  
10. GA notified the Office of Child Care that due to their recent transition to a new eligibility system, they encountered extraction issues that is resulting in high invalid setting data and fewer number of children reported.. GA is working to resolve issue.
11. Oklahoma reported invalid month and year of birth for most children reported on the ACF-801 during the first quarter of FY2018, which is evidenced in the high percent of invalid records. OK corrected this error in subsequent FY2018 submissions. See Table 9 for details by State.