Meeting the Child Care Needs in Tribal Nations

On July 27, 2023 the Office of Child Care published a Request for Information (RFI) inviting public comment on the rules and regulations of the Tribally administered Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program as part of the Administration for Children and Families' (ACF) commitment to creating partnerships with Tribal Nations to identify and implement solutions that transcend traditional program boundaries. From July through December 2023, OCC sought input on the requirements, regulations, and processes for Tribal Nations that administer CCDF through two Tribal consultations and 16 listening sessions. 

Since the comment period for the RFI closed on January 2, 2024, OCC published three summary reports and held follow up listening sessions at the National Tribal Conference in April 2024. OCC continues to carefully consider Tribal feedback and requests in response to the RFI, including creating new resources that will be available soon.

Resources

• Review the Tribal RFI in the Federal Register
• Review the Tribal RFI Factsheet

Tribal Consultation and Reports

• View the OCC Albuquerque Tribal Consultation Report (PDF)
• View the OCC Anchorage Tribal Consultation Report (PDF)
• View the Listening Session report (PDF)
• View the OCC Albuquerque Tribal Consultation Slide Deck (PDF)
• View the OCC RFI Tribal Consultation Final Agenda (PDF)
• View the August 14 Dear Tribal Leader Letter (PDF)
• View the ACF Fact Sheet Tribal Consultation 2023 (PDF)
• Learn about ACF Tribal Consultations

Webinars

• OCC Tribal RFI National Webinar
• Tribal RFI Listening Session for Families and Providers slides (PDF)
• Review the OCC National RFI Webinar slides (PDF)
• Review the RFI: Meeting the Child Care Needs of Tribal Nations Listening Session for Tribal Lead Agencies Webinar Slides (PDF)

Plain Language Summaries

• Review the Tribal RFI Plain Language Summary on CCDF Funding. This document provides a plain language summary of the Tribal RFI's questions about the triennial child count, service area, allocation sizes and related requirements, the CCDF Tribal Plan, and the discretionary base amount.
• Review the RFI Plain Language Summary on CCDF Administration. This document provides a plain language summary of the RFI's questions about early childhood and related systems coordination, CCDF spending requirements, construction and major renovation, obligation and liquidation deadlines, CCDF reporting requirements and quality activities, Tribal and state coordination.
• Review the RFI Plain Language Summary on Increasing Family Access. This document provides a plain language summary of the RFI's questions about consumer education and child eligibility.
• Review the RFI Plain Language Summary on Building Child Care Supply. This document provides a plain language summary of the RFI's questions about early childhood workforce compensation and qualifications, eligible child care providers, comprehensive background checks, and other areas for comment.

Video Summaries

• Review the Request for Information: Child Care and Development Fund Funding featuring Ruth Friedman video , Director Ruth Friedman provides a brief overview of the purpose, possible impacts, and ways to provide feedback on OCC’s Tribal Request for Information.
• Review the Request for Information: Child Care and Development Fund Funding featuring Sarah Stafford video . Senior Tribal Program Specialist Sarah Stafford provides a brief overview of the topics and questions in the Tribal RFI related to CCDF funding, including the triennial child count, service area, allocation sizes and related requirements, the CCDF Tribal Plan, and the discretionary base amount.
• Review the Request for Information: CCDF Administration featuring Meryl Barofsky & Milton Bluehouse video.  Senior Tribal Program Specialist Meryl Barofsky and Senior Policy Advisor Milton Bluehouse provide a brief overview of the topics and questions in the Tribal RFI related to CCDF administration, including early childhood and related systems coordination, CCDF spending requirements, construction and major renovation, obligation and liquidation deadlines, CCDF reporting requirements and quality activities, Tribal and state coordination.
• Review the Request for Information: Child Care and Development Fund Funding featuring Lisa Fergus video. , Senior Tribal Program Specialist Lisa Fergus provides a brief overview of the topics and questions in the Tribal RFI related to building child care supply, including early childhood workforce compensation and qualifications, eligible child care providers, comprehensive background checks, and other areas for comment.
• Review the Request for Information: Child Care and Development Fund Funding featuring Carly Champagne video . Federal Policy Fellow Carly Champagne provides a brief overview of the topics and questions in the Tribal RFI related to increasing family access to child care, including consumer education and child eligibility.