Summary: Federal grants to states to help subsidize child care centers and promote quality care require assurances that providers are meeting minimum health and safety standards, but tight fiscal conditions have weakened the ability of many states to enforce standards and improve the quality of care. In particular, tight budgets in several states have reduced on-site monitoring, a key oversight activity. Many states are looking into less costly ways of ensuring compliance with standards and influencing the quality of care, but little is known about their effectiveness. The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 seeks to help states subsidize child care services for low-income families and to improve the overall quality of child care. Because the legislation is still in the early stages of implementation, however, it is too soon to know how it will affect the quality of child care. Yet many states are already concerned that funds for quality improvement may fall short. Moreover, they expect an influx of new child care providers under the program that could boost their caseloads and undermine their ability to regulate providers. Most state officials believe that their own enforcement efforts could be improved with technical assistance and more information about promising approaches in other states. HHS could help states evaluate their enforcement of child care standards. In addition, HHS should assess how well states expand the amount of service--and improve quality--given the states' current resources. If necessary, HHS should modify its regulations to prevent states from expanding quantity at the expense of quality.
