The 109 th Congress adjourned with the FY2007 appropriations process still under way. A third continuing resolution (CR), P.L. 109-383 , signed into law December 9, 2006, provided funding for government operations (including the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education) through February 15, 2007, based on the FY2006 rate. For information on FY2007 Labor-HHS-Education the appropriations bills that were approved by House and Senate committees, but did not receive floor action, see the section " FY2007 Appropriations Process ," later in this report. On October 4, 2006, a final rule was published in the Federal Register authorizing, effective November 1, 2006, the Department of Health and Human Services to issue waivers to Head Start grantees from two of the provisions of the Head Start Transportation Regulation (45 CFR Part 1310). These two requirements are that children be secured in age- and weight-appropriate child restraint systems, and that there be at least one monitor onboard any bus transporting Head Start children. Several federal programs support child care or related services, primarily for low-income working families. In addition, the tax code includes provisions specifically targeted to assist families with child care expenses. Descriptions of those programs and tax provisions follow, as does Table 1 , which shows funding (or estimated revenue loss or obligations where applicable) for the programs and tax provisions for the past five years. In many cases, other Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports are referenced as sources for more detailed information about individual programs. Several programs were due for reauthorization in the 109 th Congress (i.e., Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start), but remained unauthorized at the end of the 109 th Congress, whereas others (TANF and mandatory child care funding) were reauthorized in the second session. Readers should be aware that this report does not attempt to cover all issues connected with each of those reauthorizations. The primary federal grant program funding child care is the CCDBG, which was created in 1990, and reauthorized and substantially expanded in 1996, as part of welfare reform. The CCDBG has been due to be reauthorized since the end of FY2002, and remained an incomplete agenda item at the close of the 109 th Congress. (See the " Legislative Activity in the 109 th Congress " section of this report for more on the unsuccessful reauthorization efforts.) The CCDBG is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and provides formula block grants to states, which use the grants to subsidize the child care expenses of families with children under age 13, if the parents are working or in school and family income is less than 85% of the state median. (In practice, many states establish income eligibility levels that are lower than this federal threshold.) Child care services are provided on a sliding fee scale basis, and parents may choose to receive assistance through vouchers or certificates, which can be used with a provider of the parents' choice, including sectarian providers and relatives. States receiving CCDBG funds must establish child care licensing standards, although federal law does not dictate what these standards should be or what types of providers must be covered. In addition, states must have health and safety requirements applicable to all providers receiving CCDBG subsidies that address prevention and control of infectious diseases, building and physical premises safety, and health and safety training for care givers. However, federal law does not dictate the specific contents of these requirements. The CCDBG is funded through both discretionary and capped entitlement grants (referred to in combination as the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)), and state maintenance-of-effort (MOE) and matching requirements apply to part of the entitlement funds. States must use at least 4% of their total funds to improve the quality and availability of child care, and according to statute, must target 70% of entitlement funds on welfare recipients working toward self-sufficiency or families at risk of welfare dependency. However, because all families falling below the 85% of state median income requirement can be categorized as "at risk," the 70% targeting of the welfare or at-risk population does not necessarily mean welfare families must be served. In theory, all funds may be used for low-income, non-welfare, working families. However, state plans indicate that many states guarantee child care to welfare families. No more than 5% of state allotments may be used for state administrative costs. The FY2006 Appropriations Act for the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Education ( P.L. 109-149 ) included roughly $2.1 billion in discretionary funding for the CCDBG. (An across-the-board rescission of 1% brought the precise total to $2.062 billion.) For FY2005, the Consolidated Appropriations Act ( P.L. 108-447 ) provided $2.083 billion. Mandatory (or "entitlement") CCDBG funding beginning in FY2003 through FY2005 was provided at the FY2002 rate ($2.717 billion for the year), under a series of funding extensions. Ultimately, funding for a longer, five-year period (FY2006-FY2010) was included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, a budget spending reconciliation bill ( S. 1932 ), which was signed into law ( P.L. 109-171 ) on February 8, 2006. This law provides $2.917 billion annually for each of FY2006-2010. TANF, created in the 1996 welfare reform law ( P.L. 104-193 ), provides fixed block grants for state-designed programs of time-limited and work-conditioned aid to needy families with children. The original legislation provided $16.5 billion annually through FY2002, and after a series of twelve temporary extensions, Congress included several welfare provisions (and mandatory child care funding) in its spending budget reconciliation bill ( S. 1932 ) which was signed into law ( P.L. 109-171 ) on February 8, 2006. The law maintains the TANF block grant at $16.5 billion for FY2006-2010. Child care is one of many services for which states may use TANF funding. In FY2005, HHS reports that states spent $1.3 billion in federal TANF funds for child care within the TANF program, and $1.92 billion in state TANF and separate state program (SSP) MOE funds. (Of that $1.92 billion in state spending, approximately $858 million could be "double counted" as state spending toward the CCDF MOE requirement.) In addition, states may transfer up to 30% of their TANF allotments to the CCDBG (CCDF), to be spent according to the rules of that program (as opposed to TANF rules). The transfer from the FY2005 TANF allotment to the CCDBG totaled $2.0 billion (representing 12% of the FY2005 TANF allotment). The CACFP provides federal funds (in some cases commodities) for meals and snacks served in licensed child care centers, family and group day care homes, and Head Start centers. Child care providers that are exempt from state licensing requirements must comply with alternative state or federal standards. Children under 12, migrant children under 15, and children with disabilities of any age may participate, although most are preschoolers. Eligible providers are usually public and private nonprofit organizations. The CACFP is an open-ended entitlement, administered by the Department of Agriculture. For FY2005, obligations are estimated to have been $2.066 billion, increasing to $2.174 billion in FY2006. Title XX of the Social Security Act authorizes Social Services Block Grants, which may be used for social services at the states' discretion. There are no federal income eligibility requirements, targeting provisions, service mandates, or matching requirements. The most recently published HHS analysis of state expenditures indicates that 10% of total SSBG expenditures made in FY2004 ($254 million) were for child care in that year, an increase from those made for child care in FY2003 ($165 million). Title XX is a capped entitlement, and state allocations are based on relative population size. It should be noted that although the SSBG has an entitlement ceiling, appropriations may not always abide by it. For example, the ceiling in FY2001 was $1.7 billion; however, Congress appropriated $1.725 billion for that year, despite the ceiling. The FY2006 Appropriations Act for the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Education ( P.L. 109-149 ) included identical provisions to the FY2005 appropriations: $1.7 billion for the SSBG and states' authority to transfer up to 10% of their TANF block grants to the SSBG. (Note: the SSBG is not a discretionary program, and thus was not affected by the across-the-board rescission.) In addition to the regular SSBG funding, an additional $550 million was provided in the Defense Appropriations Act ( P.L. 109-148 ), targeted for needs arising from the Gulf Coast Hurricanes ofÂ 2005. Head Start provides comprehensive early childhood education and development services to low-income preschool children, typically (but not always) on a part-time basis. The Head Start Act has been due to be reauthorized since the end of FY2003, but remained an unfinished legislative agenda item at the close of the 109 th Congress. Funding has nevertheless been provided through the appropriations process. Under current law, Head Start funds are provided directly by HHS to local grantees, which must comply with detailed federal performance standards.