Federal grant programs / Department of Health and Human Services

Child Care Mandatory and Matching Funds of the Child Care and Development Fund (93.596)

Also known as Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$23 billion
• Grant awards1,462
• Typical award$289,381
• Awarded in FY 2025$2.2 billion
• Size rank25 of 1824
• Type of assistanceFormula grants

Key findings

• Annual funding fell from $10 billion in fiscal 2021 to $2.2 billion in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 25th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 68% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 56 states and territories.

What the program funds

The Mandatory and Matching portion (or Child Care Entitlement or CCE) of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program consists of two formula grant opportunities. The purpose of the two formula grants funds is to help certain families with low incomes access child care and to improve the quality of child care for all children.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Eligibility: All 50 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and Federally recognized Tribal Governments, including Alaskan Native Corporations. Eligibility for non-formula awards for technical assistance, research, demonstration, and evaluation projects can be found in the NOFOs or contract solicitations. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from competitive review and funding under this funding opportunity.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Title IV of the Social Security Act appropriates funds (Mandatory and Matching Funds) for the purpose of providing child care assistance. Lead agencies must use Mandatory and Matching Funds for child care services on a sliding fee scale basis, activities that improve the quality or availability of such services, and other activities that realize the goals of the CCDBG Act. Lead agencies must ensure that not less than 70% of the total amount of Mandatory and Matching Funds are used to provide child care assistance to families who are receiving assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, families who are attempting through work activities to transition off of temporary assistance programs, and families who are at risk of becoming dependent on temporary assistance programs. Not more than 5% of the aggregate amount of CCDF Funds expended by the State (15% for Tribes or tribal organizations) may be expended for administrative costs incurred by the State to carry-out all of its functions and duties. The term "administrative costs" does not include the costs of providing direct services.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Statutory/Regulatory Formula: Section 418 of the Social Security Act; Title 45 CFR, Part 98.55. Matching requirements are mandatory. States must match these funds with state dollars at the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) rate, which is different for every state. See funding agency for further details.This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details. This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details.

Deadlines

Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines

Award range and average, in the agency's words

For States, including DC, the range of awards in FY 2025 is: $6,577,763 to $335,224,925; the average award is $65,514,706. For the five Territories, the range of awards in FY 2025 is: $1,906,143 to $63,511,574; the average award is $15,000,000. For 246 Tribal recipients, the range of awards in FY 2025 is: $6,858 to $15,012,589; the average award is $406,504. Funding for FY 2025 includes the reallocation of unused money from FY 2021, FY 2022, FY 2023, and FY 2024. These figures are not inclusive of funds received through Assistance Listing 93.575.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

State and local governments received 98% of the money, tribes 1.9% and nonprofits less than 0.1%.

By state

Each state below has its own page for this program, with its recipients and yearly totals.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.