Lawmakers, DCF discuss H.248 changes to emergency childcare grants and federal CCDF requirements

Janet McLaughlin, deputy commissioner of the Child Development Division at the Department for Children and Families, told the House Human Services committee that H.248 would adjust the state's existing extraordinary financial relief (EFR) grants and add flexibility to implement federal Child Care and Development Fund rule changes.

McLaughlin said the bill does not request new funding but would alter statute language so the state can respond more quickly and direct EFR funds to the program that will continue serving children rather than, in some cases, to a closing site. "We want it to go to the people that are going to be serving the children," she said, giving examples of situations in which the statute's current wording blocked timely assistance.

The committee heard two concrete examples McLaughlin offered: a licensed site that needed to close for safety reasons while another provider agreed to accept the displaced children, and a multi-site provider with a new classroom ready to open that was delayed by sudden water damage. In both cases, McLaughlin said, the statutory language prevented the division from directing EFR funds to the receiving site or to cover immediate start-up and transition costs.

Members pressed McLaughlin on how EFR differs from the division's capacity-building grants. McLaughlin said capacity-building grants are competitive, have multiple deadlines and take longer to award. By contrast, EFR is intended as "just-in-time" assistance for urgent events that would immediately reduce childcare capacity if not addressed.

Committee members also asked what documentation providers must supply to receive EFR. McLaughlin said applicants are required to submit financial statements and documentation of any loans they have or tried to obtain, and that the division connects providers to First Children's Finance for business technical assistance. "It was like real children who believed they had a spot," she said, describing an instance where children were enrolled and a program could not open on schedule.

McLaughlin estimated the division has roughly "between $3.25 and $3.50" available for EFR grants but did not specify units in the meeting; she said the availability of other funds (referred to in the discussion as X76 money) has reduced requests for EFR in recent months. The committee asked for the EFR application and criteria; McLaughlin said the application contains the program's operational definition of "extraordinary."

The bill also seeks authority to change how some Child Care Financial Assistance Program (CCFAP) payments are made to meet new federal CCDF rules issued last spring. Under federal guidance, Vermont must develop plans to deliver some assistance through grants or contracts that reserve spaces for specific categories of need, rather than only through per-child subsidy payments. McLaughlin said the division is preparing supply-and-demand analysis and has issued an RFP for a consultant to help design models and pilot options.

The division identified three priority categories for contract- or grant-based spaces: children with disabilities, infants and toddlers, and children in underserved areas. McLaughlin said the state will likely pilot small, targeted contracts first with programs that already serve children needing accommodations.

Committee members expressed questions and cautions: whether contracts could allow double-dipping with other subsidy programs (McLaughlin said participants would receive either a contract payment or subsidy, not both), whether contract arrangements would raise total program costs, administrative workload for the state to manage grants and contracts, and whether reserving contract spaces could reduce access for other children.

On process and timing, McLaughlin said Vermont has an extension from the federal government through next August to implement CCDF changes but wants to begin design and limited piloting sooner. She said the division hopes to have a more detailed plan by fall or December after consultant work is completed.

Committee members also asked for updates on local program disruptions; McLaughlin said Turtle Island, a long-standing Montpelier child-care center, had been looking for a new location after its building was listed for sale and that staff had been meeting with First Children's Finance and site inspectors, but she did not report a confirmed new location.

The meeting produced no formal vote on H.248 in the transcript segment reviewed; the committee focused on clarifying statutory language, applicant criteria, the relationship between EFR and capacity-building grants, and how federal CCDF contract requirements would be implemented.