Sponsors (4)
The bill shifts child-care subsidy payments to attendance-based, which improves payment accuracy and program integrity for families and agencies but increases financial strain and administrative burden on small providers.
Parents and children (families using subsidized child care) will have payments tied to actual attendance, reducing fraudulent or improper payments and helping ensure subsidy dollars fund real care.
State and local lead agencies gain clearer authority and flexibility to pay providers after services are delivered, which helps align payment timing with actual service delivery and state fiscal controls.
Child-care providers who accurately document attendance can expect payments to reflect services actually provided, improving accountability and program integrity.
Small child-care providers face greater financial risk because payments after services and attendance-based reductions for absences can cause cash-flow problems and revenue losses, threatening provider stability.
Providers and state agencies will need to track and verify daily attendance, increasing administrative and compliance burdens and raising operational costs or diverting time from care.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires CCDBG-funded payments be based on verified attendance (records or reasonable verification) not enrollment; clarifies payment timing may be before or after services.
Official title: Amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require States to make payments to child care providers based on verified attendance in child care programs, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Rafael Edward Cruz · Last progress February 12, 2026
Requires State CCDBG plans to ensure child care providers are paid based on verified attendance (attendance records or other reasonable verification) rather than enrollment alone, and clarifies lead agencies may pay either before or after services are provided. The change affects how lead agencies calculate payments and how providers bill for child care services, while affirming flexibility on payment timing.