Office of Child Care Initiatives

Current as of:

Child Care Stabilization Grants and Recovery

Congress awarded approximately $24 billion to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program. The goal was to provide financial relief to child care providers to help pay for costs associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and stabilize the child care market.

Child care is critical to supporting children, families, and the economy. The Office of Child Care is providing timely guidance and technical assistance to help states, territories, and Tribes quickly and effectively distribute these funds. The stabilization grants provide an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild a stronger child care system that provides equal access to high-quality child care.

States, territories, and Tribes must use the majority of these funds to provide subgrants to child care providers. They can spend the remaining funds on administrative activities, supply-building strategies, and technical assistance. Lead Agencies are particularly encouraged to build the supply of child care to meet the varying needs of families and reach a wide range of providers, including those who may not have previously participated in the child care subsidy system. Key resources include the following:

Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response and Recovery

Preparing for and responding to emergencies and disasters are important goals for the Office of Child Care. Child safety, family well-being, and the sustainability of child care are key parts of a healthy economy and nation. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has focused attention on the important role of child care and the CCDF program. CCDF Lead Agencies can create strong, effective disaster plans to help child care programs respond and recover.

The Office of Child Care created a web page of emergency preparedness resources for grantees and child care providers. Some key resources include the following:

OCC Equity Action Plan

The Office of Child Care (OCC) supports working families with low-income through child care financial assistance and promotes children's learning by improving the quality of early care and education and afterschool programs. OCC is committed to advancing equity for all children and families, especially those who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.

OCC has made steps to advance equity by:

  1. Proposing changes to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) regulations through a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to reduce child care costs, expand child care options, improve payments to providers, and streamline enrollment for families.
  2. Implementing recruitment and retention strategies with the goal of increasing the diversity of OCC’s workforce to better reflect the demographics of the national civilian workforce. These strategies included:
    • Broadening distribution of position announcements,
    • Revising hiring documents to communicate OCC’s mission and commitment to advancing equity,
    • Completing a feasibility report on implementing an internship program, and
    • Improving on-boarding and professional development opportunities to create a more inclusive workplace culture and support OCC staff advancing equity through their work.
  3. Establishing a set of guiding principles on equity in collaboration with the Office of Head Start to guide our technical assistance (TA) to CCDF grantees and other early care and education programs funded by the Administration for Children and Families such as Head Start/Early Head Start and Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting.
  4. Elevating the voices and perspectives of parents, providers, and others with lived expertise in the child care subsidy system through periodic listening sessions, nationwide roundtables, and working groups established to inform our TA activities.
  5. Encouraging OCC staff engagement in equity-focused activities, such as participation in professional development opportunities on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and culturally specific employee resource groups.
  6. Providing professional development to OCC staff to build our historical and cultural awareness of issues specific to indigenous populations that we serve and to support the implementation of trauma-informed culturally affirming and culturally responsive strategies in early care and education settings.

Moving forward OCC will:

  1. In 2022-2024 — Identify the impact on child and family outcomes in U.S. Territories of CCDF administrative requirements, with a specific focus on consumer education, state median income, and market rate surveys. Also identify potential administrative solutions to increase access to high-quality child care that meets the needs of low-income and other underserved families in the U.S. Territories.
    • Update August 2023: In partnership with the U.S. Territory CCDF Lead Agencies, OCC has developed an initial set of questions intended to identify the impact of the CCDF regulations on children and families.  OCC also developed individualized engagement plans for conducting the assessment that consider the nuances of each jurisdiction’s context, needs and preferences, and partners.
  2. In 2023 — 2024 — Conduct a formal request for information (RFI) on the child care requirements, regulations, and processes for Tribal Nations that administer the CCDF program in an effort to partner with them to build a stronger child care program that better meets the needs of children, families, and child care providers in Tribal Nations.
  3. In 2023 - 2025 — Identify new ways to incorporate the voices and perspectives of parents, providers, and others with lived experience in the child care subsidy system into our processes.
  4. In 2023 - 2025 — Actively engage with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF)’s Equity Advisory and other equity related workgroups.

OCC invites public input on the actions we are taking to advance equity. Please send any suggestions or comments on our plans to occ@acf.hhs.gov.

We will provide a semi-annual status update.

ACF is committed to making equity a central part of how we operate and deliver our mission. In 2021, every ACF office committed to equity by creating an Equity Action Plan. Please review ACF's Equity and Action page to learn more.