This is a message on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care (OCC).
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted. The CARES Act provides $3.5 billion and various flexibilities for state, territory, and tribal lead agencies to operate their Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) programs to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency and to ensure the supply of child care after the emergency subsides.
The CARES Act includes additional provisions that, although not specific to child care, address the needs of child care providers and child care workers, as does the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Families First Act”), which was enacted on March 18, 2020. State, territory, and tribal governments now face the complexities of blending COVID-19 funding programs across multiple agencies to best support children, families, and child care providers. To aid with these decisions, the OCC has prepared guidance listing the funding programs outside of the CCDF program that affect child care providers and staff. The information can be accessed, along with updates reflecting ongoing legislation, on the OCC COVID-19 Legislation Guide for CCDF Administrators web page at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/resource/covid-19-legislation-guide-for-ccdf-administrators.
