Leadership
Ruth Friedman, Ph.D., is the director of ACF’s Office of Child Care. Dr. Friedman helped lead the early childhood agenda in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than a decade, writing and negotiating many federal laws and legislation, including bills on child care, Head Start, pre-k, and home visiting. She also helped lead efforts to improve laws on child abuse prevention and juvenile justice. She strived to improve child and family well-being through her work as a senior advisor and child and family policy consultant to dozens of policy and research organizations.
Prior to working for Congress, Friedman was a researcher and therapist, focusing on resiliency in children and families. She earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and an M.A. in public policy.
She is married to Pete Weber, and they have a son, Dylan.
History
The Office of Child Care (OCC) was established in 2010 and replaces the former Child Care Bureau. OCC partners with states, territories, and tribes to administer the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program. Since the enactment of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act more than 30 years ago, the CCDF program has been helping low-income working families pay for child care and to improve the quality of child care for all children.
The Child Care and Development Fund is authorized under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG) which was enacted under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. The CCDBG Act was amended and reauthorized by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, and again by the CCDBG Act of 2014. CCDF made $9.5 billion in regular CCDF funds and $49 billion in supplemental funds available to states, territories, and tribes in fiscal year 2021.