March 31, 2026
Senator Cassidy Invites Public Feedback on Significant Proposed Changes to the Child Care and Development Fund
This resource, Senator Cassidy Invites Public Feedback on Significant Proposed Changes to the Child Care and Development Fund, summarizes a proposed discussion draft—open for public feedback until 4/8/26—of new legislation that would make significant changes to CCDF and how federal child care subsidy funds are implemented by states, tribes, and territories.
On 3/18/26, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) announced a proposed discussion draft that would make significant changes to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act. The CCDBG Act is the underlying statute that dictates how federal child care subsidy funds are implemented by states, tribes, and territories to defray costs for low-income, working families and to make quality improvements to child care for all children. The proposal comes after several hearings on allegations of fraud in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and other public benefit programs, as well as an announcement from Senator Cassidy that he has transmitted letters to three states (Michigan, New York, and Oregon) to investigate fraud. Senator Cassidy has referenced widespread reports of fraud in the CCDF program in several states, but he has not provided evidence of fraud in these or other states in the letters or in statements during hearings.
The discussion draft proposes substantial changes to CCDF, including:
- Eligibility criteria, duration, and documentation requirements for children and parents including proposed changes that would impact the duration of child care subsidies, paperwork requirements for families, and who can receive a subsidy based on a new approach to determining income eligibility and immigration status;
- Provider payment policies and verification requirements such as a new prohibition on payments based on enrollment, changes to when providers are paid in relation to service delivery, and new electronic verification requirements for parents;
- HHS authority to withhold funds and oversight authority including new provisions to allow the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to impose sanctions and withhold CCDF funds for states with improper payments; and
- New reports from oversight agencies, including new directives to the HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Across the country, approximately 1.6 million children access child care through subsidies funded by CCDF. Program changes could have a major impact on children and families participating in subsidies as well as the child care providers who accept subsidies. These changes impose additional burdens on families, providers, and states to document and verify eligibility for subsidy receipt and reduce provider payments. The proposal provides new authority to HHS to withhold CCDF funding without due process and task HHS with new monitoring and oversight requirements with fewer resources due to recent federal staffing reductions.
Senators Cassidy and Tuberville are accepting public feedback on the discussion draft until 4/8/26. Comments should be sent via email to GOPchildcare@help.senate.gov. The proposed changes are detailed further in the full resource available here.