Research Considerations When Using Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plans and Quality Progress Reports (QPR)

• In Event: Federal Agency Poster Session

Abstract

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program provides resources to state, territory, and tribal grantees that enable low-income parents to work or pursue education and training so that they can better support their families while at the same time promoting the learning and development of their children. The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 reauthorized and significantly revised the purposes of the CCDF program and requirements for grantees. The Final Rule of 2016 made regulatory changes to the CCDF program based on the CCDBG Act of 2014. These changes strengthen requirements to protect the health and safety of children in child care; help parents make informed consumer choices and access information to support child development; provide equal access to stable, child care for low-income children; and enhance the quality of child care and the early childhood workforce. The CCDF plan is the application states, territories, and tribes use to apply for their block grant funding by providing a description of, and assurances about, their CCDF program and services and provides a wealth of information. The plan is the primary mechanism that the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) uses to determine state and territory compliance with the requirements of the law and rule.

The CCDF program also provides funding to enhance the quality of child care for all children, and the CCDF plan requires states and territories to report on proposed quality improvement investments and to invest in at least one of 10 allowable quality activities included in the CCDBG Act of 2014. States and territories are required to spend nine percent of total expenditures on quality activities and three percent on activities to improve the supply and quality of care for infants and toddlers. In order to ensure that states and territories are meeting these requirements, the CCDBG Act and the CCDF Final Rule require Lead Agencies to submit an annual report, the Quality Progress Report (QPR), that describes how quality funds were expended, including what types of activities were funded and measures used to evaluate progress in improving the quality of child care programs and services. Along with the required ACF-696 financial report (which collects quarterly expenditure data on quality activities) and other data reporting requirements (i.e., ACF-801, ACF-800, ACF-700), the CCDF plan and the QPR paint a picture of how states and territories serve low-income families through child care subsidy.

These rich sources of data can be of interest to researchers wishing to understand policy questions related to child care subsidy. However, based on the original intent of these data (e.g., certification and compliance requirements), researchers need to be aware of limitations of this administrative data. When analyzing and drawing conclusions across these data sources, care must be taken to interpret the findings through the lens in which the information was intended to be used. This poster will walk researchers through appropriate ways in which to use the CCDF plan and QPR and limitations of these data.

Author

• Francesca Longo, United States Administration for Children and Families
  Presenting Author