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.