The federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) provides resources to states, territories, and Tribes to subsidize child care costs for families with low incomes. By increasing access to affordable, high-quality care, CCDF subsidies support parents’ ability to work and promote their children’s development. Many Latino^a families—who tend to have high rates of parental employment, but also low levels of income—could benefit from these subsidies, yet Latino children are underrepresented among those served by the program. The National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families’ Multi-State Study of CCDF Implementation in Local Communities seeks to identify policies and practices that can minimize administrative burdens for Latino families eligible for and seeking child care assistance.

To address this gap, we surveyed more than 700 local subsidy staff in four states with large populations of subsidy-eligible Latino children (North Carolina, California, New York, and Texas) from 2021 to 2023. While other briefs in this series report on individual state findings, this brief shares what we have learned to date from this cross-state work. We focus on staff practices and perspectives related to three aspects of CCDF implementation: 1) documentation collected from families as part of the subsidy application; 2) language accessibility of program materials and communications; and 3) outreach to help potentially eligible Latino families become more informed about child care subsidy services. In each area, we highlight potential access barriers, as well as staff recommendations for policy and practice to reduce burdens and better support access among Hispanic families.

Key Findings

Our multi-state survey asked staff in four states—North Carolina, California, New York, and Texas—to share their implementation practices, experiences, and perceptions. Together, these states are home to 6 million Latino children under age 13 (the age population served by CCDF). In two of these states, Latino children made up roughly two thirds of the state’s child population living in households with low incomes.

Despite representing diverse demographic and policy contexts (learn more about individual state findings here), several similar themes emerged across the four states in terms of staff perspectives and experiences, including considerable within-state variation. Local subsidy staff reports highlight several potential access barriers, promising practices, and actionable recommendations to improve the reach, efficiency, and equity of service delivery generally, and with Hispanic families specifically.

• Reflective of state and local discretion in how eligibility for child care subsidies is verified, program staff reported collecting different levels and types of documentation from families.
• More than half of staff in each of the four states noted documentation challenges for families applying for subsidies. Common challenges included work hour and income verification, which were described by staff as particularly difficult for parents in jobs that pay in cash and those with fluctuating hours. Many of the identified challenges may disproportionately impact Hispanic families.
• Across and within states, surveyed staff varied in the degree to which they perceived subsidy program materials and services to be accessible for families who primarily speak Spanish, and in their personal capacity to assist these families (i.e., bilingual skills, sense of preparedness). Additionally, few surveyed staff across the four states reported having resources available to assist Latino families who primarily speak one of the many languages that are indigenous to Latin America.
• According to staff across the four states, Hispanic families commonly learn about the subsidy program via relationship-based methods (word of mouth, referrals) and less often use technology-based methods (websites, social media outreach). In terms of outreach, staff reports suggest that intentional engagement of Latino communities (e.g., collaborating with community-based organizations to reach eligible families, cross-agency referrals) varies widely across local communities and states.
• Recommendations from local program staff to strengthen Latino families’ access to child care subsidies:
  • Simplify eligibility documentation and verification requirements to align with the realities of families’ lives.
  • Offer staff guidance and training to clarify eligibility and application/recertification criteria.
  • Recruit more bilingual and bicultural staff.
  • Centralize and expand language supports for families who do not primarily speak English.
  • Partner with other agencies and organizations to strengthen outreach to Latino communities.

Footnotes

^a We use “Hispanic,” “Latino,” “Latinx,” and “Latine” interchangeably throughout the brief, recognizing that these terms reflect different complex sociopolitical histories and hold different meaning across communities and individuals. The terms are used to reflect the U.S. Census definition to include individuals having origins in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, as well as other “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish” origins.

Suggested Citation

Crosby, D. A., Mendez, J., Stephens, C., & Adegbesan, I. (2024). Perspectives from local CCDF program staff in four states on improving Latino families’ access to child care subsidies. National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families. DOI: 10.59377/584z4813v