Consumer Education Resources for AI/AN Grantees

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) final rule outlines regulations for implementing the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 and administering the CCDF program, including provisions regarding consumer education activities. American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) CCDF grantees with medium ($250,000 to $1 million in CCDF funds) and large (more than $1 million in CCDF funds) grant allocations are required to meet most of the consumer education requirements in the CCDF final rule, while grantees with small grant allocations (less than $250,000 in CCDF funds) are exempt from these requirements. All AI/AN CCDF grantees are exempt from the requirement to create and maintain a consumer education website.

Consumer education activities include efforts to inform parents, providers, and the general public of the CCDF program and other available services to support families, provider quality and health and safety, family engagement, and early childhood development.

This resource page provides resources from the Tribal Child Care Capacity Building Center related to the helping parents make informed consumer choices regarding child care.

Consumer Education Requirements

• Consumer Education in American Indian and Alaska Native CCDF Programs (presentation for medium- and large-allocation AI/AN CCDF grantees)

• Consumer Education Resource List (annotated resource list )

• Consumer Education for Tribal Child Care and Development Fund Programs (brief on consumer education)

• FY 2020–2022 CCDF Tribal Plan Preprint Training Resources, Section 7: Promote Family Engagement through Outreach and Consumer Education (presentation for medium- and large-allocation grantees)

Additional Tools and Resources

• Celebrating School Readiness in Tribal Early Childhood Programs across the United States: Resource List (annotated resource list)

• National Native American Heritage Month–Celebrating School Readiness in Tribal Early Childhood Programs across the United States (presentation)

• National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment’s School-Age Consumer Education Toolkit (toolkit)

• National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement’s Consumer Engagement: Strategies for Engaging Families (guide)

More from the Child Care Technical Assistance Website

The Office of Child Care's Technical Assistance website provides training, resources, and materials to stakeholders at the state, tribal, regional, and local levels to support high-quality services for children and families. The following Office of Child Care's National Centers have a variety of resources to support consumer education efforts:

• National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement (PFCE Center): The PFCE Center provides training and technical assistance to early childhood providers to support family well-being, effective family and community engagement, and children’s school readiness. PFCE Center resources can help CCDF grantees develop and implement meaningful family engagement strategies.
• National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment (NCASE): NCASE provides resources and technical assistance to expand the supply of and access to high-quality afterschool and summer learning and development opportunities for school-age children. NCASE has resources specific to consumer education and engagement efforts around the health and development of school-age children and the importance of afterschool and summer care for families.
• Child Care State Capacity Building Center (SCBC): SCBC provides resources and technical assistance focused on enhancing the effectiveness of programs implemented under the CCDF, improving the quality and supply of infant/toddler services, and advancing the development of early childhood systems. SCBC has resources on a range of consumer education topics, including stakeholder communications, consumer education around suspension and expulsion, state consumer education websites, and consumer education around infant and toddler care.
• National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (ECQA Center): The ECQA Center provides resources and technical assistance to help grantees plan and implement approaches to quality in all early care and education settings for children from birth to school age. The ECQA Center has resources to support consumer education and outreach regarding the health and safety and quality of child care.

The Tribal Child Care Capacity Building Center can help you navigate the many resources available through the Office of Child Care's Child Care Technical Assistance website.