CDF-MN Child Care Assistance Program

Minnesota provides subsidies through the Child Care Assistance Program to low-income, working families with children ages 0-13. However, funding for the Basic Sliding Fee component of the Child Care Assistance Program has decreased by 28 percent (adjusted for inflation) over the past decade, leaving thousands of families on the program waitlist. Child care provider reimbursement rates have also eroded. Only a third of provider rates statewide are covered in-full by CCAP reimbursements, forcing many providers to absorb the difference or pass it on to families.

Over the past three years, CDF-MN has successfully advocated for increased funding for the program and for family-friendly policy changes required under the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant.

We support strengthening the Child Care Assistance Program in the following ways: fully fund the Basic Sliding Fee so that every eligible family can access it, increase provider reimbursement rates so that families can afford child care that meets their needs, and implement family-friendly policies to improve the child care experience for children and their parents.