Proposed Rule by the Health & Human Services Department

While in Arizona earlier in July at the National Association for Family Child Care conference, I had the privilege of meeting and listening to Shannon Rudisill of the Office of Child Care. It was during this conference that I learned more about the proposed reforms to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). Below is a summary and link to make comments (comment period ends August 5, 2013) from the federal register website (www.federalregister.gov):

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) proposes to amend the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) regulations. This proposed rule makes changes to CCDF regulatory provisions in order to strengthen health and safety requirements for child care providers, reflect current State and local practices to improve the quality of child care, infuse new accountability for Federal tax dollars, and leverage the latest knowledge and research in the field of early care and education to better serve low-income children and families.

This proposed rule would provide the first comprehensive update of Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) regulations since 1998. It would make changes in four key areas: (1) Improving health and safety; (2) improving the quality of child care; (3) establishing family-friendly policies; and (4) strengthening program integrity. The rule seeks to retain much of the flexibility afforded to States, Territories, and Tribes consistent with the nature of a block grant.

The full proposed rule (all 56 pages) can be found at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-05-20/pdf/2013-11673.pdf

From the Office of Child Care's briefing powerpoint presentation:

Dr. Ellaine B. Miller, PhD, is the Managing Director for the Family Child Care Partnerships program at Auburn University. www.humsci.auburn.edu/fccp

Miller & Rudisill at NAFCC Conference 2013