The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a proposed set of rules seeking to improve families' access to child care and increase support for childcare providers. The rules will strengthen financial security for providers and reduce costs and paperwork for families attempting to receive subsidies, HHS said in a press release.
Announced through the HHS Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the proposed rule seeks to strengthen essential policies of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which covers the costs of child care for 1.5 million children and provides subsidies to 230,000 childcare providers, the press release said. If implemented, the proposed rule would increase parental choice for child care, reduce costs for families receiving child care subsidies and ensure that childcare providers receive more timely and consistent payments while promoting better payment rates, the press release said.
“Our country cannot function without a strong child care system,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in the press release. “Child care is vital to the health and well-being of our nation’s families, our businesses, and our economy. With today’s announcement, we are taking important steps to ensure that parents, children, and the childcare providers who care for them have the support they need to thrive."
HHS is proposing the following changes:
Co-payments for all families would be limited to 7% of family income. States could waive co-payments for families at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.
Parents' childcare options would be increased by stabilizing operations for participating providers and encouraging more providers to participate in CCDF, making sure payments are timely and stable, and encouraging higher payment rates to better cover the cost of care.
CCDF Lead Agencies would be encouraged to simplify eligibility and enrollment procedures and paperwork to make it simpler for families to receive childcare assistance more quickly and make program bureaucracy less likely to restrict access to care or interfere with parent employment, training, and education. States could grant families presumptive eligibility and would be encouraged to provide online CCDF enrollment for all families, HHS said.
Public comment on the proposed rules will be open for 45 days after publication on July 13, 2023.
