Faith-based child care providers could soon compete on equal footing with large corporate daycare centers under a sweeping policy package the Trump administration is preparing to release.
The Administration for Children and Families, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, will issue new rules and guidance to states aimed at slashing regulations that have boxed out smaller providers, including church-run daycares and home-based operations that many working-class families prefer.
“Licensing restrictions operate as a form of regulatory capture from some of the larger center-based child care providers in ways that can box out faith-based providers that just don’t have access to the same resources, don’t have as much capital, or the same pool of labor to necessarily be able to tap,” a White House official told The Daily Signal.
The notice of proposed rulemaking will be finalized in the next week, according to the outlet’s exclusive report. Governors and state legislatures will also receive letters urging them to implement the reforms in ways that benefit local residents.
At the heart of the package is a push to reduce costs for low-income families struggling under the weight of child care expenses that can rival rent or mortgage payments.
“We want to address what is a major cost crunch for a lot of families with young children,” the official said. “Child care eats up a pretty significant chunk of a family’s budget. In some cases, it can compete with the cost of rent or a mortgage, student debt. It’s a significant payment.”
The guidance will eliminate degree and credit-hour requirements for teachers, shifting instead to competency-based standards. Mandatory staff-to-child ratios and group-size limits will also be replaced, allowing parents to make those decisions for themselves rather than having bureaucrats dictate the terms.
The administration is betting on choice and competition. Vouchers will play a central role.
“We want to encourage choice and competition for parents through the promotion of voucherization, and we want to ensure that to the maximum extent possible, faith-based and community neighborhood-based providers, including home-based providers, are able to participate in these programs on equal footing,” the official said.
Stay-at-home parents aren’t being left out. Currently, work requirements under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program are stricter for married couples than for single parents. That makes it harder for two-parent households to choose having one parent stay home with the kids.
The new guidance will clarify that married couples can share the work requirements.
“There are a lot of families, particularly low-income families, who may not necessarily want to drop their child off at a center-based child care provider, or any child care provider, and would prefer to stay at home,” the official explained. “We’re trying to increase the amount of flexibility that low-income families can receive to have a part- or full-time stay-at-home parent to watch their child within the home.”
Additional changes include eliminating the 7% co-payment requirement on federal child care programs. States will also be encouraged to maximize lawful transfers from TANF and Social Services Block Grants into the Child Care and Development Fund. The goal: expand access to vouchers and reduce waitlists that have kept families waiting for help.
