The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) provides subsidies to assist low-income families in obtaining child care so that parents can work or participate in education or training activities. Discretionary funding for this program is authorized by the CCDBG Act, which is currently due for reauthorization. Mandatory funding for child care subsidies, authorized in Section 418 of the Social Security Act (sometimes referred to as the "Child Care Entitlement to States"), is also due for reauthorization. In combination, these two funding streams are commonly referred to as the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). While this term is not found in statute, it can serve as a useful catch-all when discussing the complex financing structure underlying federal support directly targeted to child care subsidies. For the purposes of this report, the term CCDBG will refer specifically to the discretionary funding stream, while the term CCDF will refer to the jointly administered funding streams. The CCDF is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and provides block grants to states, according to a formula, which are used to subsidize the child care expenses of working families with children under age 13. In addition to providing funding for child care services, funds are also used for activities intended to improve the overall quality and supply of child care for families in general. The CCDF is the primary source of federal funding dedicated solely to child care subsidies for low-income working and welfare families. The FY2014 funding level for the CCDF is nearly $5.3 billion, which includes about $2.4 billion in discretionary funds and $2.9 billion in mandatory funds. The current structure of federal child care programs and funding is most easily understood by tracing its evolution from the system that existed prior to 1996, when the welfare reform law ( P.L. 104-193 ) simultaneously repealed, created, and consolidated federal child care programs (see Figure 1 ). Before 1996, four separate federal programs specifically supported child care for low-income families. Three were associated with the cash welfare system, then Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). At that time, families on AFDC were entitled to free child care. In addition, families who had left the AFDC rolls with employment were entitled to 12 months of "transitional" subsidized child care. The third AFDC-related child care program targeted families who, without a child care subsidy, would be "at risk" of qualifying for AFDC. These three programs operated under three separate sets of rules, and targeted three separate populations. Critics argued that mothers navigating their way through the welfare system faced unnecessary complexity that could be alleviated with a more unified child care program. All three of the AFDC-related child care programs were funded with mandatory money, and fell under the same congressional committee jurisdiction (the Ways and Means Committee in the House, and the Finance Committee in the Senate). AFDC Child Care and Transitional Child Care were both open-ended federal entitlements (i.e., there was no limit on program funding), with the federal share of payments to states based on the state's Medicaid matching rate. The AFDC At-Risk program, on the other hand, was not open-ended, but was instead authorized as a "capped entitlement" to the states at an annual level of $300 million. The fourth pre-1996 child care program for low-income families was the CCDBG. Established in the CCDBG Act of 1990 (a component of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, P.L. 101-508 ), the CCDBG was designed to support child care for low-income families who were not connected to the AFDC welfare system. The CCDBG subsidized child care for children under age 13 whose working family income did not exceed 75% of state median income (SMI), adjusted for family size. In addition, it provided funds for activities to improve the overall quality and supply of child care. Unlike the AFDC-related programs, the CCDBG was funded with discretionary funds appropriated as part of the annual appropriations process. Authorizing legislation fell under the jurisdiction of the Education and Labor Committee in the House (later renamed the Committee on Education and the Workforce) and the Labor and Human Resources Committee in the Senate (later renamed the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions). The 1996 welfare reform law ( P.L. 104-193 ) repealed AFDC and its three associated child care programs. Like cash welfare, child care was no longer an individual entitlement to welfare families. Instead of preserving three separate programs, the new law created a consolidated block of mandatory funding under Section 418 of the Social Security Act. Like the earlier three programs, this new block of funding was largely targeted toward families on, leaving, or at risk of receiving welfare (now Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF). However, unlike the three AFDC-related child care programs, each of which was administered under its own set of rules, the 1996 law instructed that the new mandatory funding be transferred to each state's lead agency managing the CCDBG, and be administered according to CCDBG rules. The law authorized and appropriated funding for the new mandatory child care program through FY2002. In addition to creating the new block of mandatory child care funding, the 1996 welfare reform law reauthorized the CCDBG through FY2002. This law also substantially amended the CCDBG by modifying program rules such as income eligibility requirements, which were expanded from 75% of SMI (under pre-1996 law) to 85% of SMI (under the 1996 law). The child care provisions in the 1996 law were designed to achieve several purposes. As a component of welfare reform, the child care provisions were intended to support the overall goal of promoting self-sufficiency through work. However, separate from the context of welfare reform, the legislation attempted to address concerns about the effectiveness and efficiency of child care programs. The previous four separate child care programs (the original CCDBG and the three AFDC programs) had different rules regarding eligibility, time limits on the receipt of assistance, and work requirements. Consistent with other block grant proposals considered in the 104 th Congress, the child care provisions in P.L. 104-193 were intended to streamline the federal role, reduce the number of federal programs and conflicting rules, and increase the flexibility provided to states. The CCDBG Act has not been reauthorized since the 1996 welfare reform law ( P.L. 104-193 ), which authorized the program through the end of FY2002. Although the program's authorization has expired, the CCDBG has continued to receive discretionary funding in each year since FY2002 through the annual appropriations process. Over the years, Congress has undertaken a number of efforts to reauthorize the CCDBG Act (e.g., H.R. 4 and S. 880 from the 108 th Congress, and H.R. 240 and S. 525 from the 109 th Congress). More recently, both the House and Senate have approved CCDBG reauthorization bills in FY2014. For more information, see the section on " Recent CCDBG Reauthorization Efforts ." The 1996 welfare reform law ( P.L. 104-193 ) authorized and directly appropriated (or pre-appropriated) mandatory child care funding for each of FY1997 through FY2002. Temporary extensions provided mandatory child care funding into FY2006, when a spending budget reconciliation bill was enacted into law ( P.L. 109-171 ), reauthorizing and increasing mandatory child care funding by $1 billion over five years (for a total amount of $2.917 billion for each of FY2006 to FY2010). The authorization and pre-appropriations for mandatory child care funding were set to expire at the end of FY2010, but a series of short-term extensions maintained mandatory child care funding at the same level ($2.917 billion) for FY2011-FY2013. No extension legislation was enacted prior to the start of FY2014, resulting in a 16-day funding gap. However, mandatory child care funding has since been restored at the $2.917 billion level via temporary extensions, the most recent of which (in P.L. 113-76 ) provides mandatory child care funding through the end of FY2014. On September 15, 2014, the House approved the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 ( S. 1086 , as amended) by voice vote. This is an amended version of the CCDBG reauthorization bill that was agreed to in the Senate, by a vote of 96-2, on March 13, 2014 ( S. 1086 , S.Rept. 113-138 ). The Senate would need to approve the amended bill as is, in order for it to be presented to the President for signature. Both the House- and Senate-passed versions of S. 1086 would reauthorize the CCDBG through FY2020. While the Senate version would authorize appropriations at "such sums as may be necessary," the House version would authorize specific appropriations levels for each year, increasing from $2.360 billion in FY2015 to $2.759 billion in FY2020. Both versions of the bill would significantly amend the CCDBG Act, adding new requirements related to state health and safety standards, pre-licensure and annual unannounced on-site monitoring visits for certain child care providers, criminal background checks and professional development for child care providers, activities to improve the quality and availability of child care, continuity of care for participating children, and increased consumer education for parents and the public. On May 20, 2013, HHS published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register . The proposed rule would provide a comprehensive update of CCDF regulations, which were first published in 1998.