On October 4, 2010 the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced a reorganization that established an Office of Child Care (OCC) to support low-income working families through childcare financial assistance and promotes children’s learning by improving the quality of early care and education and afterschool programs.
OCC replaced the former Child Care Bureau in September 2010 is charged to elevate childcare issues within ACF and facilitate direct collaboration with the Office of Head Start and other key agencies on a wide range of intersecting program and policy matters.
A key responsibility of OCC is administering the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) which provides childcare assistance to families through subsidies for 1.6 million children from low-income families each month and which works to improve the quality of childcare in states, territories, and tribes nationwide. OCC will work to expand the number of high quality early learning and school-age care choices for working families, and continue to provide funding for states, territories and tribes to provide childcare assistance to low-income families and improve the quality of childcare.
