This bill reauthorizes and updates the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act to modernize program purposes, expand eligible activities, strengthen quality and workforce support, mandate cost-based payment rates, and establish a new grant program for expanding child care supply and facilities.
Ryan Mackenzie
Representative
PA-7
This bill, the "Child Care Modernization Act of 2026," reauthorizes and significantly updates the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. It aims to increase child care quality and access by updating eligibility definitions, strengthening state planning requirements, and establishing new grant programs for supply expansion and facility improvements. Key changes include mandating that payment rates cover the full cost of care and enhancing support for the child care workforce.
Child Care Modernization Act of 2026: States Must Cover Full Care Costs and Expand Access by 2032
The Child Care Modernization Act of 2026 is a major overhaul of the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant, the primary funding source for child care assistance in the U.S. The bill aims to fix the chronic gap between what the government pays and what child care actually costs. By September 30, 2032, states will be required to set payment rates that cover the full cost of providing care—including staff salaries and fixed operational expenses—using a data-driven cost estimation model (Section 6). For a parent, this means the 'voucher' or subsidy you receive should finally match the real-world prices charged by local providers, making it easier to find a spot in a high-quality program.
More Ways to Qualify
The bill significantly broadens who can get help. It expands 'eligible activities' to include not just traditional jobs, but also job hunting, English as a second language classes, and even taking leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (Section 3). It also creates a more inclusive definition of an 'eligible child,' raising the family asset limit to $1 million and specifically prioritizing kids in rural areas, foster care, or kinship care (Section 6). If you are a grandparent over 65 raising a grandchild, or a parent seeking health treatment that prevents you from working, this bill explicitly opens doors for you to receive child care support that didn't exist before.
Building Better Facilities
Recognizing that many neighborhoods simply don't have enough child care 'slots,' the legislation creates a new grant program starting in 2028 specifically for facilities (Section 12). These funds can be used for the 'bricks and mortar' side of the business—remodeling, repairing, or even constructing new centers. This is a game-changer for providers who have been stuck in aging buildings or lacked the capital to expand. For a family in a 'child care desert,' this provision is designed to physically bring more providers into your community, including support for family child care networks that operate out of private homes.
The Cost of Quality
To ensure the people watching our kids are actually supported, states must now spend at least 9% of their funding specifically on quality improvement and workforce retention (Section 7). This includes technical assistance for the business side of running a daycare and strategies to recruit and train staff. While the bill gives states 'maximum flexibility' to design their systems, it adds new homework: states must report exactly how much of their income families are spending on care and conduct feasibility studies on how to lower those costs over five years (Section 9). The goal is a 'mixed delivery system' where parents have a real choice between private centers, home-based care, and Head Start programs, all held to the same high safety and professional standards.