Dear Colleague,
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141) included an increase of $2.37 billion to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). With this increase, the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) will make approximately $8.1 billion available to states, territories, and tribes in fiscal year 2018. The House Appropriations Committee' s Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 stated that "it is expected that this increase will support the full implementation of the CCDBG Act as reauthorized in 2014," as well as "meeting the needs of families with non-traditional work hours," and "[increasing] access to affordable, high-quality child care to more low-income, working families."
In Executive Order 13828, President Trump called for ''[addressing] the challenges of populations that may particularly struggle to find and maintain employment (including single parents)..." Access to child care is crucial for helping the low-income families we serve obtain and retain employment.
ACF expects states, territories, and tribes to fulfill the intent of Congress by using the additional CCDBG funds to increase their total investment in quality improvement and the provision of child care for low-income working families, and not using the additional funds to displace other investments in child care. We will continue to track and publish all federal investments in child care, including from the TANF program to assess whether this commitment is being realized.
In the coming weeks, ACF' s Office of Child Care will provide further information about the statutory requirements, and recommendations for the use of the increased CCDBG funding, to your CCDF Administrator. As always, we encourage CCDF, TANF, and other program directors to consult with their respective Regional Program Managers in the ACF Regional Offices for help implementing child care programs that promote employment, self-sufficiency, and families that are strong and thriving.
Sincerely,
/s/
Steven Wagner
Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families
Files
- PDF Letter to Human Service Commissioners (141.06 KB)