Child Care Aware of America released their 2019 report CCDBG: 2019 State Snapshots. This report analyzes each state’s use of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), one of the most important subsidies for low-income families that allows access to subsidized child care. In 2018, Congress reached a budget deal that almost doubled the block grant. However, the report reveals that while the recent 2018 increase in CCDBG has been instrumental in providing more access to quality child care and support for the child care workforce, there are still significant gaps across most states.

Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCR&Rs) assist families in finding child care and promote the overall child care field. The report reveals that states are experiencing a steady decline in family child care providers and more specifically, a decline in the number of child care providers accepting Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) subsidies. The report explains that this proves to be detrimental to children since high-quality care directly correlates with better academic achievement, improved economic outcomes, and lower childhood illness and obesity. The report details that the number of family child care providers decreased in 25 states, and the number of center-based child care providers decreased in 15 states from 2017-2018. Moreover, barriers to using CCDF are becoming more prominent: tensions between professional development and the ability to use CCDF vouchers are rising due to the very low- income threshold that must be met to qualify for the child care subsidy.