Child Care

The categorical nature of child care subsidy programs creates service gaps that diminish the likelihood that low-income mothers will work. The fragmented nature of the child care funding, with entitlements to some client categories, time limits on others, and activity limits on still others, produces unintended gaps in services, which limit the ability of low-income families to become self-sufficient. Moreover, as states deplete funds for welfare recipients, they turn to funds originally targeted for the child care needs of the working poor, putting them at greater risk of welfare dependency. In considering consolidation of these programs as a remedy for the service gaps that trouble mothers, child care providers, and program administrators alike, some important issues need to be considered. For example, trade-offs must be weighed between state flexibility to determine whom to serve with subsidies and congressional interest in accountability for how federal money is spent and for positive program outcomes.