1. Leadership and Coordination – Introduction
  2. Leadership and Coordination – Introduction

Leadership and Coordination – Introduction

[1]

Administration of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) requires leadership and coordination between child care programs and other agencies, services, and supports at the state and local levels that serve children and families. Each grantee must identify the most appropriate entities and individuals to lead and participate in implementation based on the context within its state. [1] These entities include those that manage various components of CCDF-funded activities and requirements (fiscal, subsidy, health and safety monitoring, and continuous quality improvement), as well as other public and private partners.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 provides new opportunities and includes additional requirements for Lead Agencies. As mentioned in the introduction, the governor may designate an agency, collaborative agency, or establish a joint interagency office as Lead Agency. Within the Lead Agency, a CCDF Administrator is then identified as the day-to-day contact with responsibility for administering the CCDF program. The Administrator’s role is sometimes shared by two Lead Agency staff, with both individuals receiving communication from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), such as program announcements, program instructions, and data collection instructions.

Reminders
Responsibilities of the Lead Agency: Refer to Responsibilities of the Lead Agency for additional guidance.
CCDF Administrators Checklist summarizes key tasks of the role.
Download a printable version of the checklist.

The CCDBG Act of 2014 specified dates when certain provisions were effective and allowed time to implement the new requirements:

  • Monitoring, including annual inspections of CCDF providers, became effective on November 19, 2016.
  • Posting results of monitoring and inspection reports became effective on November 19, 2017.
  • Comprehensive background checks became effective on September 30, 2017 (further clarification provided in Section 6).
  • Where the Act did not specify a date, the statutory requirements became effective upon the date of enactment (November 19, 2014), and States had until September 30, 2016 to implement them.

 

[1] CCDF regulations define state as follows: “any of the states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, and includes tribes unless otherwise specified” [Child Care and Development Fund, 45 C.F.R. § 98.2 (2016)]. For ease of reading, the term state is used inclusively throughout this resource unless otherwise specified.