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Page 7 | December 9, 2025 Health and Human Services: Childcare Assistance rise in aggression, anxiety, and hyperactivity, as well as a fall in motor and social skills in children who participated in the program. iv The same researchers followed up a decade later when the children were enrolled in high school and found that children who participated in universal childcare assistance were not any more likely to have improved test scores or cognitive skills.v As the case of Finland points out, childcare can provide quality care, it just has to be implemented in an intentional and methodological way. This research indicates that rapid expansion may not lead to high-quality care and can even lead to adverse effects when implemented quickly and poorly.

Moving Forward

ECECD’s Implementation Plan. In a memo sent to LFC staff by ECECD, the department recognized barriers to capacity but did not have a specific plan to address capacity issues. Importantly, ECECD is prioritizing 1,500 slots for infant and toddlers—including children with developmental delays and low-income families in underserved communities. ECECD could consider having set capacity and enrollment targets for both age and income to ensure the most in-need families are being served. For example, ECECD could set a “percent of all families with income under 100 percent of the FPL” target for children participating in Childcare Assistance that could be considered universal uptake. Additionally, ECECD could update their four-year finance plan.

Prioritization. Because fewer low-income families and children under the age of 2 are being served in both number and proportion, the state could consider policy measures to prioritize these families. Administrative rule requires ECECD to first prioritize Childcare Assistance for children with special needs and disabilities, families experiencing homelessness, and teen parents. From there, ECECD is statutorily required to prioritize (1) clients receiving Temporary 16.0% 16.3% 16.1% 13.3% 15.4% 21.3% 17.9% 14.1% 15.5% 11.3% 11.6% 12.6% 13.1% 13.4% 12.6% 12.8% 14.3% 12.8% 11.6% 13.4% 13.6% 13.0% 32.8% 32.0% 32.5% 33.8% 33.3% 27.0% 26.9% 33.1% 32.3% 42.0% 41.7% 38.5% 38.6% 38.0% 40.3% 38.5% 37.4% 42.4% 41.2% 38.9% 33.2% 33.6% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% January January January January January January January January January January January FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 Enrollment in Childcare Assistance By Age, FY15-FY25 Less than 2 2 years old 3-5 years old school age Note: children who turned 5 by August of the fiscal year are included as school age for the entire fiscal year. Black line indicates when an expnsion occurred. Source: LFC Files