Challenges and Opportunities of Welfare Reform Impacts on Child Care Funding

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Late this summer, President Clinton signed the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996" and ended "welfare as we know it." This bill impacts child care with:

_ provisions that affect child care;
_ provisions that affect families;
_ tightening states' discretionary money for child care; and
_ changes to the general policy climate for child care.

The child care provisions:
_ Increase federal spending for child care
_ Allow states to spend less on child care and encourage them to spend more by matching it with additional federal funds
_ Require state health and safety licensing standards, and provider compliance with standards
_ Decrease what states must spend for quality, but allow states to spend more
_ Allow states to set reimbursement rates below the market rate
_ Eliminate payment for an extra meal for children spending more than 8 hours in a center enrolled in the child care food program
_ Increase paperwork for states and providers
_ Require consumer education and information to promote informed parent choice

The welfare provisions:
_ End AFDC and ...