Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Triennial Child Count for FFY 2026 - 2028

1. Log No: CCDF-ACF-PI-2024-04
2. Issuance Date: 7/2/2024
3. Originating Office: Office of Child Care (OCC)
4. Key Words: Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Fiscal Year 2026 Funding; Fiscal Year 2026 — 2028 CCDF Plan and Plan Preprint; Indian Tribes and Tribal Consortia, Tribal

To

Federally Recognized Tribes, Tribal Consortia, and Tribal Lead Agencies administering child care programs under the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program, as amended, including those that have consolidated their CCDF program into an approved P.L. 102-477 Plan and other interested parties.

Purpose

The Office of Child Care (OCC) collaborates with Tribes as nation-to-nation partners to administer the CCDF program. This Program Instruction (PI) provides information to all current and future (both direct funded and those that have consolidated their Plan into an approved P.L. 102-477 Plan) Tribal Lead Agencies of the process to submit the triennial child count declaration for federal fiscal years (FFY) 2026-2028. The Child Count is a critical step to ensure that Tribal Lead Agencies receive funds that reflect the needs and population of their Tribal Nation and community, and OCC looks forward to partnering with Tribes to complete this process. The PI also includes information for consortia to submit their demonstration, and for direct funded Tribes, to submit their definition of Service Area and Indian Child. In order for eligible Tribes to receive CCDF funds, Tribes must submit the information necessary to determine the number of children to be used in funding formulas (otherwise referred to as the “child count” (45 CFR 98.81 (b)(4)) every three years. This submission is due by July 1, 2025.

References

The CCDBG Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. § 9858 et seq.), as amended by the CCDBG Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-186); Section 418 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 618); and 45 CFR Parts 98 and 99.

Deadline and Effective Period

All Tribal Lead Agencies who intend to receive CCDF funding for FFY 2026-2028, regardless of whether they currently receive CCDF funds, including those that have consolidated their CCDF program into an approved P.L. 102-477 Plan, must submit the triennial child count by July 1, 2025. Tribal Lead Agencies are encouraged to select data sources that provide the most valid, reliable, and timely counts. 

The Child Care Automated Reporting System (CARS) will be open for submission in early 2025 and OCC will notify Tribal Lead Agencies when it opens. The new child count numbers will take effect in FFY 2026, starting on October 1, 2025. 

During non-Plan submission years (e.g., FY 2026 and FY 2027) child count data may be changed only for the following reasons:

• The Tribe is a new CCDF applicant.
• A Tribal Consortia gains or loses one or more of its member Tribes.

Tribal Eligibility for CCDF Funds

Pursuant to 45 CFR 98.80, a Tribe is eligible to apply for and receive CCDF funds if the Tribe is federally recognized, and the Tribal population includes at least 50 children under age 13.

CCDF Funding Calculation

ACF will calculate grant awards based on Tribal Lead Agency’s self-certified Child Count Declaration for the number of children under age 13 who reside in the defined service area.

Tribal Consortia

A Tribe with fewer than 50 children under age 13 may participate in consortium of eligible Tribes. In order to be eligible to receive CCDF funds on behalf of its member Tribes, a consortium must:

• Consist of member Tribes that meet the eligibility requirements for the CCDF program or that would meet the eligibility requirements if the Tribe had at least 50 children under age 13;
• Provide a demonstration for the consortium Lead Agency that shows the member Tribe has authorized the consortium Lead Agency to act on its behalf (98.80I(1-4); 98.81(b)(8)(i)); and
• Demonstrate the Lead Agency has the managerial, technical, and administrative staff with the ability to administer funds, manage a CCDF program, and comply with the provisions of the CCDBG Act and regulations.

Consortium Membership Changes — It is the responsibility of a Tribal consortium to notify ACF in a timely manner of any changes in its membership for CCDF funding purposes during the approved Plan period. For example, if a new Tribe joins a Tribal consortium to receive grant year (GY) 2026 funds, or if a current Tribal consortium member elects not to receive GY 2026 funds through that Tribal consortium, these changes must be conveyed to ACF in writing by the Tribal consortium.

Triennial Child Count Declaration Preparation and Submission

All Tribal Lead Agencies applying for CCDF funds must submit by July 1, 2025 a self-certified count of Indian Children under age 13 (i.e., up through age 12) who reside on the service area in CARS. 

The Tribal Lead Agency may not count any children included in the child count of another CCDF Tribal Lead Agency. To ensure unduplicated child counts, a Tribal Lead Agency is required to confer with all other CCDF Tribal Lead Agencies that have overlapping or neighboring CCDF service areas.

Direct-Funded Tribal Lead Agencies

Tribal Lead Agencies who receive funding directly from ACF (referred to as direct-funded) must also include their definitions of Indian Child and Service Area as part of this child count submission because those definitions are integrated into the triennial child count. Flexibilities for those definitions are described below. The Triennial Child Count is part of Section 1 of the full direct funded 2026-2028 Tribal CCDF Plan, which must be submitted by July 1, 2025, in CARS. A separate Program Instruction on Plan submission will be issued separately.

As a reminder when preparing your triennial tribal child count:

• Tribal Lead Agencies have flexibility in how they define Indian Child and may include children from, or descendants of, other federally recognized Tribes, provided that such Tribes are federally recognized, consistent with the CCDBG Act’s definition of Indian Tribe (98.2). This definition could also include children who do not have federally recognized Tribal ancestry, but who are adopted children, foster children, and stepchildren of parents who do have federally recognized Tribal ancestry.
• Tribal Lead Agencies have flexibility in whether they define their Service area as on the reservation or “on or near the reservation,” which means within a reasonably close geographic proximity to the delineated borders of a Tribe’s reservation (except Tribes in Alaska, California, and Oklahoma). Tribes that do not have reservations must establish service areas within reasonably close geographic proximity to the area where the Tribe’s population resides. In keeping with the CCDBG Act and regulations (98.81(b)(2)(ii), ACF cannot approve an entire state as a Tribe’s Service Area.

Special Instructions for Tribal Consortia

• List of Participating Tribes—A tribal consortium must provide a summary section listing the name of each participating member Tribe, its child count, and definitions for Indian child and service area, as well as the total child count for the consortium.
• Individual Child Counts Required—A tribal consortium must submit an individual Child Count Declaration/Demonstration, Appendix 1, for each participating Tribe, that includes a statement of “demonstration” that the member Tribe has authorized the consortium to act, and receive funds, on its behalf. An individual authorized to act for each Tribe must sign the Tribe’s Child Count Declaration form.

P.L. 102-477

Tribes who have consolidated their CCDF program into an approved Plan under Indian Employment, Training, and Related Services Consolidation Act of 2017 (known as P.L. 102-477) are also required to submit a child count every three years in the same year as Tribal CCDF Plans are submitted for direct-funded grantees in order to receive CCDF funds, regardless of whether or not this three year cycle aligns with their approved P.L. 102-477 Plan period. This submission is due by July 1, 2025 in CARS.

Tribes who have an approved P.L. 102-477 Plan are not required to include their definition of Indian Child and Service Area with this child count submission. Those definitions are submitted as part of the P.L. 102-477 Plan submission. The parameters for those definitions are the same as for direct funded Tribal Lead Agencies. 

Special Instructions for Tribal Consortia

• List of Participating Tribes —A tribal consortium must provide a summary section listing the name of each participating Tribe and its child count, as well as the total child count for the consortium.
• Individual Child Counts Required—A tribal consortium must submit an individual Child Count Declaration/Demonstration, Appendix 1A, for each participating Tribe, which will include a statement of “demonstration” that the member Tribe has authorized the consortium to act on its behalf. An individual authorized to act for each Tribe must sign the Tribe’s Child Count Declaration.

Special Rule for Indian Tribes in Alaska

Only the Metlakatla Indian Community of the Annette Islands Reserve and the 12 Alaska Native Regional Nonprofits are eligible to receive Tribal Mandatory Funds.

Alaska Native Regional Nonprofits must provide a separate child count certification for Discretionary Funding purposes. This count will consist of its self-certified Tribal Mandatory Funding count, minus the child count number for any Alaska tribal grantee in its Region that applies directly for Discretionary Funding. If a Regional Nonprofit has separate child counts for Discretionary and Tribal Mandatory Funds, both counts may be reported on the Child Count Declaration.

Submitting the Materials

Tribal Lead Agencies will complete and submit their Triennial Child Count in the Child Care Automated Reporting System (CARS) at https://cars.acf.hhs.gov . CARS is a paperless password-protected web-based system that streamlines submission processing and improves data quality. With electronic submission of the Child Count, Tribes do NOT need to also send a paper copy of the report via mail or fax. CARS will open to accept Child Count submissions in early 2025.

For access to CARS, contact CARS TA Team at cars@acf.hhs.gov or toll-free at 1-877-249-9117. 

Questions

Please direct any questions to your OCC Regional Program Office (see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/contact-information/office-child-care- regional-program-managers).

 /s/

________________________________

Ruth Friedman 

Director

Office of Child Care

Attachments:

Child Count Questions

Appendix 1 Triennial Child Count Declaration/Demonstration Form 

Appendix 1-A Triennial Child Count Declaration/Demonstration (P.L. 102-477)