Child Care and Development Fund

CCDF Program and Plan

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is the primary source of federal funding for child care subsidies for low-income working families and funds to improve child care quality.

The Department is required to submit a CCDF Plan every three years. The CCDF Plan functions as the application for the CCDF grant, so it describes all DCYF's activities funded by the grant and how they comply with federal CCDF law and rules, such as:

Working Connections Child Care program
Early Achievers
Child care licensing

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 reauthorized the child care program for the first time since 1996 and represented an historic re-envisioning of the CCDF program. Learn more about the law.

2018 Plan Renewal

DCYF was required to submit an initial plan for federal review on August 31, 2018, and to hold a public hearing and coordinate with stakeholders and the federally recognized tribes before submitting. DCYF developed its initial plan in consultation with an Executive Steering Committee and through a process of public engagement. The submitted Plan took effect October 1, 2018.

Learn how DCYF used a racial equity lens to develop the 2018 plan

Executive Steering Committee

The CCDF Plan ESC was composed of representatives of various sectors impacted by CCDF-funded early learning programs, the Early Learning Advisory Committee (ELAC) that advises DCYF on statewide policy, and the Indian Policy Early Learning (IPEL) committee that discusses implications of policy on the Tribes.

See the full membership list

Public Engagement

DCYF held a series of public meetings and a webinar to gather input from the public on the CCDF Plan and how we can improve policy and DCYF program operations it describes. DCYF further made the draft Plan available on this page, along with a link to a section of this site where the public could submit comments on the draft.

The following Concise Explanatory Statement (CES) and Table lists comments received at these meetings, on DCYF’s site, and through email, and DCYF’s response. Comments received in Spanish, an DCYF’s responses to them, are recorded both in Spanish and English. Some comments resulted in changes to the draft CCDF Plan, and others will require future consideration by DCYF program staff.

CES

CES Table