Last week the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) released a new report, The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014: Uneven State Implementation of Key Policies.
The report follows and analysis how states have attempted to implement new requirements under the federal child care programs. The NWLC report examines policy changes in four areas altered by the 2015 CCDBG reauthorization: improving the health and safety of child care, the supply, the quality of child care, and families’ access to child care assistance.
In a statement with the release, the NWLC said, “Overall, we found that while many states have taken steps forward to meet specific requirements of the law, states still need to take further steps to comply with the law’s provisions as well as achieve the law’s broader goal of expanding families’ access to stable, affordable, high-quality child care that meets their needs.”
Some positive highlights:
- 21 states hired additional licensing staff to help implement the health and safety requirements that are detailed in the reauthorization law.
- 19 states expanded to a 12-month continuous eligibility period for assistance for some or all families (as of June 2017 a total of 41 states had 12-month eligibility for all families).
The report also offers some concerns possibly because of insufficient funds needed to comply with aspects of the law. Click here to read the full report.