What is the Child Care and Development Fund?
The Child Care and Development Fund is the federal government's main child care subsidy program. It was created by the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, reshaped by the 1996 welfare reform law that added a second funding stream, and substantially reauthorized in 2014 with new health, safety, and family-stability requirements. The program has two purposes that run through every rule: to help low-income parents afford child care while they work or prepare for work, and to improve the quality of child care so children are safe and learning while their parents are away.
Two funding streams, one program
CCDF money reaches states through two streams. The Child Care and Development Block Grant provides discretionary funds that Congress appropriates each year. The Child Care Entitlement to States provides mandatory and matching funds: states receive a base amount and can draw additional federal matching funds by spending state money of their own. States may also transfer some Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds into CCDF. The mix matters to families only in one practical way: because the program is a block grant with a fixed federal appropriation, it is not an entitlement for families. A state can run out of subsidy money and maintain a waiting list, even for families that meet every eligibility rule.
Who runs it?
The Office of Child Care, part of the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, administers CCDF at the federal level. It approves each state, territory, and Tribal plan, monitors compliance, and publishes national data. Day-to-day administration belongs to the lead agency each state designates, usually a state department of human services, social services, or education. Your lead agency is the office that takes your application, decides your copayment, pays your provider, and answers your questions. The federal government does not take applications from families.
A short history
| Year | What changed |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Child Care and Development Block Grant Act creates the program |
| 1996 | Welfare reform adds the Child Care Entitlement to States alongside the block grant |
| 2014 | Bipartisan reauthorization: 12-month eligibility, health and safety standards, background checks, consumer education websites, priority for children experiencing homelessness |
| 2016 | Final rule implements the 2014 law, including the 12-month eligibility period |
| 2024 | Final rule caps required family copayments at 7% of family income and requires prospective, enrollment-based provider payments |
| 2026 | Final rule rescinds the 7% copayment cap, the enrollment-based payment requirement, and the prospective payment requirement, effective July 13, 2026 |
The 2026 rollback is the reason older articles can mislead you: an article written in 2024 or 2025 may present the 7% copayment cap as current law, but it no longer is. The copayments page explains what replaced it.
What the money is spent on
Most CCDF money pays for direct child care services: subsidies for eligible children. Federal rules also require states to spend at least 9% of their aggregate CCDF expenditures on activities that improve child care quality generally, plus an additional 3% on quality and supply for infants and toddlers, and cap administration at 5%. Quality spending pays for things like provider training, tiered quality rating systems, child care resource and referral services, and help for providers to meet health and safety standards. At least 70% of mandatory and matching funds must go to direct services for families receiving, transitioning off, or at risk of receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and 70% of what remains of discretionary funds after the quality and administration set-asides must also go to direct services.
Sources: Administration for Children and Families, CCDF program guidance; Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, plain-language summary (ACF); 45 CFR Part 98; Bipartisan Policy Center, CCDF federal guidelines for states.