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Update:聽The Administration for Children and Families has confirmed that all of the third quarter Child Care Development Block Grant funding was awarded to states on May 22, 2025.

The Trump administration has failed to send out an estimated hundreds of millions in discretionary funding to state child care agencies that should have gone out weeks ago, five sources in the federal government and advocacy organizations confirmed.

The (CCDBG), which states mostly use to to low-income families, were anticipated to arrive around April 1, the start of the federal fiscal year鈥檚 third quarter.

鈥淭he money hasn鈥檛 gone out, and that is extremely unusual,鈥� said Ruth Friedman, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who served as director of the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) under the Biden administration. 

Emily Adams, policy associate for child care & early childhood programs at the American Public Human Services Association, concurs. Adams works directly with state child care agency directors across the country, and one told her they were notified by their regional child care office that ACF鈥檚 Office of Grants Management said the funding has not yet been approved for awards and there was no timeframe for when the grants might be approved.

In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson at the Department of Health & Human Services, said, 鈥淎CF is working to award third quarter discretionary CCDF funding as soon as possible.鈥�

The CCDBG is part of a of federal child care funding. The largest source comes from the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which has two components: mandatory payments made through the Child Care Entitlement to States, which states have already received, and the much larger pot of discretionary CCDBG money, which they haven鈥檛. Congress determines the level of CCDBG spending annually and has allotted $8.75 billion to states for the 2025 fiscal year that ends in September. 

It usually takes two weeks for these block grants to flow to states after Congress passes a continuing resolution funding the government, which it on March 14. Officials in the Biden administration sent out the first and second quarter funding to state child care agencies on a normal schedule. But the third quarter installment hasn鈥檛 gone out under the Trump administration, Friedman, Adams and other sources confirmed.

Unlike Head Start programs, which if their funding is delayed, states typically have more cushion for child care, so they may not yet have to make hard choices. That鈥檚 in part due to the fact that they have a longer time to spend the money, so some may have past funding to keep using. Also, some states put more of their own money into the mix than is required by federal rules, creating even more runway in those places.

鈥淢ost states have about a month of funds that they can use before they鈥檙e in big trouble,鈥� Adams notes.

But if the money doesn鈥檛 arrive soon, “It is eventually going to cause a problem for states,鈥� Friedman explains. The vast majority of the funding covers subsidies that help low-income families pay for child care; if that money dries up, states will have to stop paying for those subsidies.

If that happens across all states, the parents of the children who receive them could be left to either cover the full cost themselves or pull their children out of child care. Providers, in turn, could face a wave of unpaid bills and disenrollments. 鈥淚t would be extraordinarily destabilizing,鈥� Friedman said. 

It’s unclear if the funding is delayed due to personnel challenges or is being held back for more substantive reasons. By April, the Trump administration had fired the workforce at ACF. Trump has threatened to eliminate Head Start (although officials recently walked that back) and the so-called 鈥渟kinny鈥� budget he released on May 2 eliminate that help states improve early childhood education and the , which helps low-income parents afford child care while going to college.

The Trump administration has withheld other federal funding that Congress appropriated and he legally has to disburse. In April, Congressional Democrats released that found at least $430 billion had yet to go out the door to a wide variety of programs, from Head Start to USAID. But the CCDBG funding wasn鈥檛 included in that sum.

On top of the delayed block grants, state child care agencies have also been subjected to Elon Musk鈥檚 DOGE effort dubbed 鈥淒efend the Spend鈥� without any warning and little explanation. Now, when an agency wants to draw down federal funds from the payment system 鈥� normally a 鈥渞outine and regular process,鈥� Friedman said, and one in which they鈥檙e typically reimbursed for dollars they already spent 鈥� they receive an email directing them to take a new step in which they have to justify why they need the money. 

In an email received by a state agency director on April 17 and shared with Adams, the sender wrote, 鈥淲e are requesting additional clarification regarding this payment. An ideal payment justification includes a description of the award and what you plan to do with the funds.鈥� It then directs the recipient to click on a long URL to do so. The email ends with simply, 鈥淕od Bless America.鈥� Adams noted that agency directors told her the emails 鈥渓ooked spammy and they don鈥檛 come from a known email address.鈥�

Some states have had to justify their spending as many as three times before getting it. The process has now led to delays. 鈥淲hat they typically would get in two to four business days is taking five to 10 business days,鈥� Adams said.

An ACF spokesperson said in a response to a request for comment, 鈥淲hile some states have been asked for additional clarification prior to their CCDF drawdowns being approved, no states have been denied the ability to draw down CCDF funds as the result of the Defend the Spend review. In addition, the CCDF program is being phased out of the Defend the Spend review, so CCDF grant recipients will no longer be asked for a justification to draw down CCDF funds.鈥�

In Ohio, the delay caused a scary hiccup in April, said Tamara Lunan, director of care economy organizing at the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. The week of April 14, providers who typically receive subsidy payments from the state on Tuesdays didn鈥檛 receive anything. Then those with Saturday payments didn鈥檛 get them either. Although the state technically has a 10-day window to send payments out, 鈥渦sually the only thing that throws it off is if there was some type of error in the billing or a holiday,鈥� Lunan explained. 

When Lunan, who was hearing directly from providers about the missing payments, asked the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) what happened, she said she was told 鈥渢hat they got DOGE鈥檇,鈥� and were made to give an extra explanation for the money. But in a later meeting, the state changed its tune slightly: According to meeting notes, the department said it was due to a 鈥渟ystem glitch at the federal level.鈥�

The payments went out on April 22, which falls within the 10-day window, but some providers had to wait a week longer than usual to get paid. It took a quick toll: Some had to lay off staff because they couldn鈥檛 make payroll, while others paid staff late, Lunan said.

Jodi Norton, DCY鈥檚 chief communications officer, noted that the department hasn鈥檛 strayed outside the allotted time frame, including the week of April 14. 鈥淒CY continues to work with federal partners when additional justification is needed and thus far has been successful in maintaining the 10-day window for payments,鈥� she said.

Lunan said the payments have now resumed as normal, but if more delays crop up in the future it could leave some providers to not just lose staff but go out of business entirely. 鈥淧roviders are really scared about this,鈥� she added.

States already go through a rigorous process to justify their spending long before they draw down money. Every three years they have to submit a lengthy state plan to the federal government, as required by law, that describes their child care programs and how they will follow relevant rules. Those plans, which are publicly available, are then carefully reviewed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; it鈥檚 only after they鈥檙e approved that states can get any money. 

After that, states are monitored to make sure they are following federal rules, and they must track their spending and report it back to the agency to make sure they follow all the requirements. They also undergo annual financial audits. 鈥淭here are many pieces put in place by Congress to ensure that federal funds are being spent as intended and as required,鈥� Friedman said. It is 鈥渁lready quite extensive.鈥�

The new 鈥淒efend the Spend鈥� approach 鈥渋s not an efficient process for ensuring good stewardship of federal funds,鈥� she added. 鈥淭his new process does not create new information, but it does create burden and uncertainty for state agencies.鈥� 

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