CCDF Reauthorization

On November 19, 2014, the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 was signed into law. The law reauthorized the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program to improve the health and safety of children in child care and improve the overall quality of early care and education settings. Below are some of the new federal guidelines for child care providers that provide care for working families through the CCDF child care subsidy program, including exempt child care programs in Alabama. 

Monitoring of Licensing and Regulatory Requirements:

States must have in place policies relating to licensing or regulating child care providers that serve children receiving CCDF subsidies, including:

  • For licensed CCDF programs, there must be one pre-licensure visit and an annual, unannounced inspection for compliance with fire, health, and safety standards.
  • For license-exempt CCDF programs, there must be an annual announced inspection for compliance with fire, health, and safety standards.

Criminal Background Checks:

States must have policies and procedures in place to conduct comprehensive criminal background checks for child care providers and all child care staff members, including staff who don’t care directly for children but have unsupervised access to children.

Results of Monitoring and Inspection Reports:

States must provide the monitoring and inspection reports to the public by electronic means.

CCDF Resources

CCDF Final Rule Frequently Asked Questions 

CCDF Health and Safety Requirements Briefs: The National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (ECQA Center) has developed nine briefs addressing the health and safety topics specified in the law.

ACF Video: The Benefits of Monitoring Child Care Setting