Subject to the availability of appropriations, CCDF discretionary funds are distributed as follows: [1]

• Each fiscal year, the HHS Secretary (“Secretary”) shall reserve an amount not to exceed 0.5 percent of the CCDF Funds appropriated for payments to the territories.
• Each fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not less than 2 percent (with limitations specified in the statute) for payments to Indian tribes and tribal organizations.
• The Secretary shall reserve up to $1.5 million of the appropriation for each fiscal year for the operation of a national toll-free hotline and website.
• Each fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve up to 0.5 percent of the CCDF funds for that fiscal year to support technical assistance and dissemination activities to grantees.
• The Secretary may reserve 0.5 percent of CCDF funds for each fiscal year to conduct research and demonstration activities, as well as periodic external, independent evaluations of the program’s impact on increasing access to child care services and improving the safety and quality of child care services, using scientifically valid research methodologies, and to disseminate the key findings of those evaluations widely and on a timely basis.
• States receive the remaining funds out of the discretionary fund.

Of the matching and mandatory funds, states receive about 98 percent of the mandatory funds and are eligible to receive up to 98 percent of the matching funds. Indian tribes receive 2 percent, which is composed entirely of federal funds. Grantees must apply for funds and have an Administration for Children and Families (ACF)-approved triennial CCDF Plan.

[1] CCDBG Act of 2014 658O(a).