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1 1 (November 22, 2016)

handle is hein.crs/govcdyt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF.ri E~$~ & Updated November 22, 2016 CCDBG Act of 2014: Key Provisions and Implementation Status The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-186) was signed into law on November 19, 2014. This law reauthorized and amended the CCDBG Act for the first time since 1996. The CCDBG Act is the main federal law governing state child care programs for low-income working families. It is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This In Focus reviews key provisions and the law's implementation status. Before 2014, the goals of the CCDBG Act mainly focused on giving states flexibility in designing child care programs and giving parents flexibility in selecting the right care for their family. The 2014 law expanded these purposes to include a focus on child development and high-quality care. The 2014 law authorized CCDBG annual appropriations for FY2015-FY2020. As Table 1 shows, appropriations exceeded the authorization levels in FY2015 and FY2016. Table I. Authorized and Enacted Funding, in Billions Fiscal Year Authorization Appropriation FY2015 $2.360 $2.435 FY2016 $2.478 $2.761 FY2017 $2.540 TBD FY2018 $2.603 TBD FY2019 $2.669 TBD FY2020 $2.748 TBD The 2014 law generally retained existing eligibility criteria for the CCDBG. To be eligible, children must be under age 13 (or older in certain circumstances) and reside with a parent or parents who are working or attending job training (unless the child needs or is receiving protective services). The family's income may not exceed 85% of state median income (SMI) under federal law, but states may set income limits below the federal maximum (and generally do). The 2014 law added one new eligibility requirement: family assets may not exceed $1 million. The 2014 law also established a 12-month eligibility period. This means that once a child is deemed eligible, the child should generally continue to receive CCDBG support for a full year. (Almost half of states and territories were using eligibility periods of less than 12 months as of October 2014.) Under the 2014 law, children are to retain eligibility for 12 months regardless of any temporary change in parental work status or family income, as long as family income has not increased above the federal threshold of 85% SMI. The 2014 law requires a graduated phaseout of CCDBG assistance when incomes rise. State plans must explain how the state will continue assistance to children whose family income at the time of eligibility redetermination has increased above the state's initial income threshold, but remains below the federal income threshold of 85% SMI. A proposed rule issued by HHS would have required states that set initial income eligibility limits below 85% SMI to increase their limits to 85% SMI for at least 12 months if, at the end of the 12-month eligibility period, family income had increased above the state's initial income threshold. (As of October 2014, all but two states set continuing eligibility limits below 85% SMI for a family of three.) However, the final rule revised this provision, requiring only that states establish a two-tier eligibility system that is sufficient to accommodate increases in family income over time. Under prior law, states were required to establish health and safety requirements in three broad areas: (1) prevention and control of infectious diseases (including immunizations); (2) building and physical premises safety; and (3) minimum health and safety training for child care providers. The 2014 law expanded these requirements to include new topics such as first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), emergency preparedness, and the prevention of sudden infant death syndrome, among others. The 2014 law also requires states to set age-specific standards for group size limits and child-to-provider ratios. In addition, states must now certify that all CCDBG providers will receive pre- service and ongoing training on specified health and safety topics, as well as other topics selected by the state. Prior law did not require states to conduct inspections of child care providers. The 2014 law requires states to conduct the following inspections for compliance with health, safety, and fire standards: * Pre-licensure and annual unannounced inspections of licensed child care providers receiving CCDBG funds (the final rule encourages states to inspect all licensed providers, not just those receiving CCDBG); and * Annual inspections of license-exempt providers receiving CCDBG funds. (States must also explain how any proposed licensing exemptions would not endanger the health, safety, or development of children.) The 2014 law requires licensing inspectors to be trained in the state's health and safety standards and licensing rules. Further, the law specifies that the ratio of licensing inspectors to child care providers must be sufficient to ensure that inspections occur in a timely manner. .O 'T p\w -- , gn'a', goo mppm qq\ M , q 'M I 11LULANJILiM,

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