“Children Learning, Parents Earning, Communities Growing"

The content on this page is to serve as a resource of pending federal legislation, information from national partners and relevant updates to the Child Care Development & Block Grant (CCDBG) law and to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) updated as of July 25, 2023. 

Click here to go to Federal Code of Regulations PART 98 - CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND

Click here to see Child Care Aware's one-pager on the CCDBG

Click here to watch live US Senate Floor proceedings. 

Click here to watch US House of Representatives hearings.

Click here to see the Notice of Proposed Rule Changes for CCDF

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Child Care and Development (CCDF) Plan for California (Updated 2/11/2024)

The federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is an aggregate of several funding sources that is distributed in block grants by the federal government to the states and territories. The majority of the funds are to be used to provide child care services to families who meet certain income and need criteria. A portion of the funding is to be used for activities to improve the quality of child care. Another portion is to be used to pay for costs of administering the CCDF.

The Plan Preprint for States and Territories is now available for public comment through 2/21/2024. The focus of the Plan Preprint (formatted in a Google document for you to add your comments) for FY 2025-2027 is to reduce burden, prioritize key policy areas, and facilitate communication of implementation action plans to address non-compliance. Click here to read ACF Overview of FY 2025-27 CCDF Plan Preprint.

UPDATED: February 12, 2024

Federal Update

Federal Government Update:

This week, Senators Kaine (D-VA), Casey (D-PA), Sanders (I-VT), Smith (D-MN), and Warren (D-MA), along with Representatives Bonamici (D-OR-1), Castro (D-TX-20), Jacobs (D-CA-51), and Sherrill (D-NJ-11) led a bicameral group of their colleagues in urging congressional leadership to renew expired funding for child care. The lawmakers’ letter follows a similar push by Kaine and Bonamici last November and President Biden’s supplemental funding request to Congress, which included $16 billion to address the child care crisis.

Over three dozen senators and over 130 House lawmakers said they “support robust funding for child care in the Fiscal Year 2024 funding legislation and in any future supplemental funding package.” 

It is critical that we continue to make the case that FY24 appropriations and any additional funding considered by Congress includes our ECE priorities. 

⇒ Please urge your Members of Congress to protect and expand funding for child care and early learning programs.

Our country needs Congress to push past the chaos and focus on the basics: keeping the government running and passing funding bills that place the needs of women, families, and children first. 

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Child Tax Credit

As previously reported, the House passed the bipartisan Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act―the tax package that includes an expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC)―and now it’s on to the Senate. More: NWLC Statement on House Passage of Bipartisan Tax Bill

⇒ Pleaseurge your Senators to protect and expand funding for child care and early learning programs.

We know how to end child poverty. That is why we are fighting for this expansion right now, and why we will keep fighting to further improve the CTC.  

Supplemental Federal Child Care Funding Update:

As the timeline for passing the national security supplemental request continues to draw out, we are now focused on ensuring that any future domestic supplemental that is considered includes $16 billion for child care and early learning.

⇒ Please urge your Members of Congress to support the $16 billion proposal supported by President Biden and manycongressional Democrats

As previously shared,

$472 Billion in American Rescue Plan Funds Expire Soon

Urgency is mounting as states and localities must designate the final round of American Rescue Plan funding within the next 11 months. September 30, 2024, is the deadline for allocating the $122 billion in funds from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund and December 21, 2024, is the deadline for allocating the $350 billion in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund dollars. 

Learn more about the upcoming deadlines and what communities can do to set themselves up for long-term success. Then, check out how four localities have invested these funds to support their children, youth, and families. Also, be sure to check out our upcoming webinar below for strategies for sustaining funding moving

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Federal News Spotlight:

Do Child Care Solutions Stand a Chance in Congress?

From EdSurge:

In September, when billions of dollars in child care funding were about to expire, a Senate subcommittee convened to discuss solutions. It was there that Sen. John Kennedy laid out the partisan tension at the heart of what’s billed as a bipartisan issue.

He agreed that child care was an investment in the current and future workforce. Being opposed to affordable child care, the Louisiana Republican said, “is like being opposed to golden retrievers — no fair-minded person can be opposed to it.”

What he wanted to know was how the United States would pay for it...

Read the entire article here.

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Federal Organizations Tracking Child Care and Early Education:

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Click here to find and contact your representative in congress.

For information on child care in the President's budget, click below:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Office of Early Childhood Development 

The Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD) oversees early care and education programs in the Administration of Children and Families (ACF). ECD provides leadership to support a national agenda focused on young children, their families, and the early care and education workforce. ECD works on administration priorities, interagency projects, budget proposals, and various policy strategies related to early childhood programs and services. 

Taxes

We encourage you to visit the following sources:

ChildTaxCredit.Gov

IRS: 2022 Child Tax Credit General Information

IRS: Child Tax Credit: Manage Payment, Check Eligibility, Application for Non-filers

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