Child care assistance programs may provide payments to low income families or to children
            with special needs. Such payments may be made for certain child care activities such
            as early childhood development, before- and after-school services, and services designed
            to permit a parent to continue working.
         
         Since 1990, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBGA) has provided Federal
            funds for a variety of child care payments and assistance. The Personal Responsibility
            and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 consolidated various child care funding
            under the CCDBGA. In 7/98, the Agency for Children and Families published regulations
            announcing that the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) would administer the payments
            authorized under CCDBGA.