ACF Banner
[NCCIC header image][NCCIC Header Image]

Introduction

Child care assistance supports low-income families by enabling them to work or participate in education or training. In addition, it advances efforts to improve the quality and supply of child care nationwide. The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) provides $5 billion in block grants to States, Territories and Tribes to subsidize the cost of child care for low-income families. This funding helps deliver early care and education services to more than 1.7 million children in the United States each month, enhancing their potential to enter school ready to learn.1

Although States and Territories have a great deal of flexibility under CCDF to develop child care policies and programs that best suit the needs of children and parents, States and Territories must spend a percentage of their CCDF funds to improve the quality of care through activities such as consumer education, technical assistance and training and grants and loans to providers. In addition, CCDF stipulates specially earmarked funds for school-age care, resource and referral services and services to infants and toddlers.

Purpose of This Report

States and Territories must submit a biennial plan as part of the process of applying for CCDF funds.2 Lead Agencies submitted Fiscal Year (FY) 2006-2007 CCDF Plans on July 1, 2005, which were approved to take effect October 1, 2005. The Child Care and Development Fund Report of State and Territory Plans FY 2006-2007 summarizes CCDF Plans as approved by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and provides an overview of State and Territory efforts at the beginning of FY 2006. 3The report also identifies trends in policies and activities funded through CCDF, making it a valuable resource for understanding this important block grant program.

Report Development

The Child Care and Development Fund Report of State and Territory Plans FY 2006-2007 was prepared by the National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC) under the supervision of program, policy and administration experts from the Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NCCIC reviewed copies of approved CCDF Plans and relevant attachments submitted by Lead Agencies and, in some instances, conducted follow-up queries of Lead Agencies via the Child Care Bureau.

Throughout the report, the number of States and Territories reporting particular information in the CCDF Plans is identified. Information is provided from 51 States and five Territories, as identified in the chart below. The District of Columbia is categorized as a State. The five Territories included in this report are American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Charts and tables present combined data from States and Territories, rather than separate counts for each. In previous reports, Territories were not fully incorporated into summary data, although Puerto Rico was included and counted as a State in summary data. In this report, when comparisons are made to data in earlier CCDF Plans, counts have been revised to reflect current State and Territory designations.

The report uses the following abbreviations to identify States and Territories:

State/Territory Abbreviation
Alabama AL
Alaska AK
American Samoa AS
Arizona AZ
Arkansas AR
California CA
Colorado CO
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands CNMI
Connecticut CT
Delaware DE
District of Columbia DC
Florida FL
Georgia GA
Guam GU
Hawaii HI
Idaho ID
Illinois IL
Indiana IN
Iowa IA
Kansas KS
Kentucky KY
Louisiana LA
Maine ME
Maryland MD
Massachusetts MA
Michigan MI
Minnesota MN
Mississippi MS
Missouri MO
Montana MT
Nebraska NE
Nevada NV
New Hampshire NH
New Jersey NJ
New Mexico NM
New York NY
North Carolina NC
North Dakota ND
Ohio OH
Oklahoma OK
Oregon OR
Pennsylvania PA
Puerto Rico PR
Rhode Island RI
South Carolina SC
South Dakota SD
Tennessee TN
Texas TX
Utah UT
Vermont VT
Virgin Islands VI
Virginia VA
Washington WA
West Virginia WV
Wisconsin WI
Wyoming WY

The information presented in the report reflects some of the activities and strategies planned to be undertaken by States and Territories that were presented in the approved CCDF Plans. The report is not a catalog of all activities undertaken by Lead Agencies using CCDF funds since States and Territories might not have included all activities in their CCDF Plans, which also may be amended during the biennial period.

To highlight the variety of activities undertaken by Lead Agencies, the report includes examples that have been excerpted from the CCDF Plans. The examples are cited for illustrative purposes only.

Report Format

The Child Care and Development Fund Report of State and Territory Plans FY 2006-2007 is organized into seven parts, which correspond to the format established in the CCDF Plan Preprint4 (Form ACF-118):

  • Part 1: Administration
  • Part 2: Developing the Child Care Program
  • Part 3: Child Care Services Offered
  • Part 4: Processes with Parents
  • Part 5: Activities and Services to Improve the Quality and Availability of Child Care
  • Part 6: Health and Safety Requirements for Providers
  • Part 7: Health and Safety Requirements in the Territories

The parts are divided into sections that cover information provided by Lead Agencies to comply with CCDF statute and Federal regulations. Lead Agencies are required to respond to questions based on guidance that accompanies the preprint (ACYF-PI-CC-05-05). The preprint and guidance are available on the Child Care Bureau's web site at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/policy1/current/pi0505/pi0505.htm.

In addition, a list of common acronyms and a glossary of key terms appear at the end of the report. CCDF Lead Agency contact information is listed in Appendix 1, page 311, and a summary of terms specifically related to eligibility and priority for child care services is provided in Appendix 2, page 319.

For Additional Information

CCDF Plans are public information and are part of the public record. Current Plans, including amendments, are available from CCDF Lead Agencies. In addition, NCCIC provides links to CCDF Plans on the Web at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/pubs/stateplan/state-urls.html.

NCCIC also provides the following:

1 After including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Direct, Social Services Block Grant and excess Maintenance of Effort (State dollars), 2.3 million children are served each month (based on CCDF administrative data [ACF-801] and financial data from CCDF [ACF-696], TANF and Social Services Block Grant programs ).Back
2 CCDF Final Rule, 45 CFR Section Parts 98 and 99. Federal Register 63:142 (24 July 1998).Back
3 For this report, data from FY 2004-2005 CCDF Plans are used for the following States and Territories: American Samoa, Massachusetts and the Virgin Islands.Back
4 Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2005, July). CCDF state and territories plan preprint, FFY 2006-2007. Retrieved November 23, 2005, from
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/policy1/current/ACF118/preprint_2006_final.htm.Back

Return to CCDF Report of State Plans