| Child Care Bureau
| Final Regulations |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, July 28, 1998
Contact: Michael Kharfen, (202) 401-9215
HHS ISSUES FINAL REGULATIONS PROMOTING
AFFORDABLE, QUALITY CHILD CARE
HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced final child care
regulations to promote affordable, accessible and quality care
for children. These final regulations will help guide states in
the implementation of the new unified child care program included
in the 1996 welfare reform law.
"I'm proud to announce that we're issuing new child care
regulations that will help make child care more accessible and
trustworthy," said Secretary Shalala. "Parents need
to have the peace of mind that when their children are in child
care, they are in safe and caring hands."
The regulations require states to ensure that children receiving
services under the block grant be immunized; that child care premises
be safe; and that staff receive health and safety training. The
regulations also make requirements for providing information to
parents on payment rates; maintenance of effort; and minimum funding
levels for quality. And to better inform parents about choices,
the final rule requires states to provide consumer education to
all parents on a full range of available providers.
In the regulations, states must also have payment rates that provide
equal access to parents to make it easier for them to choose the
care appropriate for their child. In addition, family co-payments
must be based on an affordable sliding fee scale and payment rates
to providers cannot be set based on whether a family receives
welfare or not.
"Affordable, accessible, high-quality child care is critical
to low-and middle-income working parents," said Olivia Golden,
HHS assistant secretary for children and families. "Too many
children are in care that isn't good enough to help them grow
and develop to their full potential. We're proud that these regulations
strive for excellence in care to children."
States can provide subsidies to families with incomes up to 85
percent of the state median income. Yet, a recent report by HHS
showed that most states have income caps far below that level.
In 37 states, a family of three with an income of $28,000 is not
eligible for any support. Of the 10 million children eligible
for federal assistance, only 1 million receive aid. This need
to help low income working families prompted the President to
propose increased funds to states.
The Clinton Administration has put special emphasis on early childhood
development, with increases proposed each year in child care funding.
Earlier this year, the President proposed an investment of over
$20 billion over 5 years for improving and expanding child care.
The 1996 new welfare law folded several federal child care funding
programs into the Child Care and Development Block Grant. The
rule was published in today's Federal Register.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
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