Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed technical changes to the Child Care Subsidy Program Guidance Manual.

My comments reflect Child Care Aware of Virginia’s staff and our collective experience in working with parents and child care programs throughout Virginia.

Under Section 3.5 Copayments, section “A. Copayment Scale,” it is great to see family copayments capped at 7% of gross countable income for families with a child or children receiving child care assistance. The introductory paragraph cites federal law as requiring families to make a contribution to the cost of care through a copayment. The introduction then says “Families whose household income exceeds 100% of the federal poverty guidelines are required to pay a monthly copayment based on household income according to the sliding copayment scale in Appendix B, except TANF recipients."

While the Virginia Subsidy Program guidance was drafted in May 2023, on July 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed new CCDF rules, which allow states greater flexibility in waiving co-payments for families.

The 2016 final CCDF rule under Section 98.45(k)(4) said, “(4) At Lead Agency discretion, allows for co-payments to be waived for families whose incomes are at or below the poverty level for a family of the same size, that have children who receive or need to receive protective services, or that meet other criteria established by the Lead Agency.”

The July 2023 proposed CCDF rule modifies Section 98.45(k)(4) to offer greater flexibility to states.

“(4) At Lead Agency discretion, allows for co-payments to be waived for families whose incomes are at or below 150 percent of the poverty level for a family of the same size, that have children who receive or need to receive protective services, that have children who have a disability as defined at § 98.2, or that meet other criteria established by the Lead Agency.”

The comment period for the newly proposed federal CCDF regulations ends August 28, 2023. The agency expects to issue final regulations in the spring of 2024. We urge consideration for additional flexibility under Section 3.5 Copayments Section A, to insert language that would allow Virginia to waive co-pays for families earning up to 150% of the federal poverty level and also for families with a child with a disability in the event that this additional flexibility for states is finalized in the final federal rule.

Family co-payments can be a barrier to accessing child care subsidy for low wage earning families. The most recent U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey (June 28-July 10, 2023) found that 123,667 Virginia parents were not working because they were caring for children not in school or child care. Furthermore, 36.7%  of Virginia families with children had difficulty paying their household bills in the past 7 days.  While there is not good data on the number of children who have special needs in Virginia families who might also want and need child care, we do know from talking with parents that parents of children with disabilities have a much harder time finding child care.

Allowing for this additional flexibility to support parents while the Virginia comment period for the proposed new subsidy manual is open means that families in Virginia could be supported much sooner than waiting another 8-9 months (or longer) to propose such changes at a later time.