Early Care and Education Programming Overview
four, when they apply to the program. Beyond the financial eligibility criteria, families must also meet other eligibility criteria, including: • A child in care must be a U.S. citizen or an immigrant lawfully admitted for permanent residency and live in Pennsylvania. • E ach adult family member in the household must work 20 or more hours a week or 10 hours and go to school or training for 10 hours per week. If the parent is a teenager, they must attend an education program. • T he hours the child receives subsidized care must coincide with the caregiver’s work, education, or training hours. • C hildren can receive child care subsidies from birth until the day before the child’s 13th birthday. Children with disabilities may be eligible through age 18. Child Care Funding In Pennsylvania’s state budget, two appropriations under DHS support child care programming—child care assistance and child care services. The child care assistance appropriation includes funding for child care subsidies only for families eligible and receiving TANF or SNAP benefits and former TANF families. The child care services line item supports child care subsidies for families eligible who are not receiving TANF, SNAP, or former TANF recipients. This line also includes funding for child care quality and improvement initiatives. While some state funding is appropriated for the child care system, most of the funding is provided federally, with a 77/23 percent split between federal and state appropriations. A combination of funding between the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), Social Services Block
Grant, TANF Block Grant, and SNAP make up Pennsylvania’s federal appropriations for child care programming. The child care services appropriation is $181.5 million, and the child care assistance line stands at $109.9 million, for a total investment in the system of $291.4 million. This is approximately $16.9 million less than the total investment in the 2014-15 fiscal year budget. Child Care Pandemic Stimulus Funding Pennsylvania received significant one-time child care funding through federal pandemic relief funds, which expire in 2024, leaving the state with a $1.5 billion cliff to overcome. 11 • CARES Act—$106.4 million • Discretionary Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds dedicated to child care through CARES— $116 million • Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act of 2021—$303.9 million • American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Child Care Funds—$1.2 billion • American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Discretionary Funds—$90 million
2023 State of Early Care and Education
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