Quality Activities

A minimum of four percent of CCDF funds must be used to improve the quality of child care and other additional services to parents, such as resource and referral counseling regarding the selection of child care providers. Consistent with prior years, the fiscal year 2012 appropriation includes additional funding for targeted purposes: (1) approximately $291 million for quality expansion activities, of which almost $107 million is to improve the quality of care for infants and toddlers; and (2) $19 million to improve school-age care and Child Care Resource and Referral Services, of which almost $1 million is for a national toll free hotline and website for consumer education.

To improve the quality of available child care, CCDF Lead Agencies provide training, grants and loans to providers, improved monitoring, compensation projects, and other innovative programs. Many Lead Agencies are making systemic investments, such as developing quality rating and improvement systems and professional development systems.