January 2017

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) is the major federal funding stream for states to help low-income families afford child care and increase the quality of child care for all. CCDBG gives states flexibility in setting many child care policies within federal parameters. Over the past decade, the CCDBG program has been shrinking due to insufficient federal and state investments. States also have discretion to use funds from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant/program to support child care for low-income families. In 2014, the latest year data are available, combined TANF and CCDBG spending on child care fell to $11.3 billion, the lowest level since 2002.1 As a result, fewer children are getting help. Most recently, in 2015, fewer than 1.4 million children received CCDBG-funded child care in an average month, the smallest number of children served in the program since 1998. From 2006 to 2015, over 373,000 children have lost assistance—a decline of 21 percent.2 Within this context of declining investments and shrinking access, this factsheet explores trends among the child care providers receiving CCDBG funds and implications for the families served by this program.

Source: CLASP

Available at: http://www.clasp.org/resources-and-publications/publication-1/CCDBG-Provider-Factsheet-2006-2015.pdf