Updated Resource Shows How States Are Running Out of Child Care Funds
Washington, DC – Today, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Early Childhood Initiative has updated its tracking of how states are depleting their supplemental Child Care and Development Block Grant funds from the CARES Act and pulling from other resources to support child care and school-age care providers through the fall.
Over five months have passed since the CARES Act, which included $3.5 billion in supplemental appropriations for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, was signed into law on March 27, 2020. This supplemental assistance was intended to last for a few months and has dried out in most states. Yet, the pandemic persists and providers continue to struggle as additional assistance has not arrived.
BPC’s updated 50-state map and new state policy table indicate that due to the lack of further federal relief:
- 20 states have dedicated additional non-CCDBG funds to offer continued support for child care providers
- 13 of these used dollars from the Coronavirus Relief Fund and three used funds from Preschool Development Grants
- 24 states are distributing these and remaining funds via grant programs this fall, of which, eight are simultaneously reverting to attendance-based subsidy payments
- 13 of the 34 states that paid subsidies based on pre-pandemic enrollment throughout the summer have reverted to attendance-based subsidy payments
New to this analysis is information on how each state is responding to the need for school-aged care, given our recent BPC/Morning Consult survey which found 70% of parents say their child’s public school will offer instruction either entirely online or in a hybrid format this fall.
“As this crisis continues, the situation only looks bleaker for child care providers and parents,” says Linda Smith, director of BPC’s Early Childhood Initiative. “While some states are pulling together pieces of funding to help keep the child care system afloat, it is clear that more federal funding is desperately needed to prevent more permanent closures and additional parents from pulling out of the workforce all together.”