States Use of ARRA Funds to Support Child Care

A report from the National Women’s Law Center, by Karen Schulman and Helen Blank, Supporting State Child Care Efforts with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds, provides information on the ways that states are using economic recovery dollars to support their child-care and early education efforts. The report provides detailed state-by-state information as well as examples of strategies that have been implemented in multiple states. For example, the report outlines that at least four states are using ARRA funds to provide child care assistance to children and families who would not have otherwise received it, by delaying or avoiding implementation of new waiting lists for child care assistance. The report goes on to include the specifics of each state’s efforts, for example; Louisiana used $3 million to delay the use of a waiting list from October to December 2009, keeping approximately 2,700 children off the waiting list.

The report includes information about the use of ARRA funds; to support parents searching for work, to provide training, education and development, for evaluation and assessment of child care, and for replacing TANF child care funds. It is a great resource for policymakers to see the individual and shared initiatives states have used to support child care and early education with ARRA funds as well as to consider strategies for supporting families in the future.

For policies to increase quality early care and education.

For more information see CSSP's Financing Community Change Blog Post: Child Care Development Block Grant Helps States Expand Child Care Efforts