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22 Child care services are child-centered, family-focused services that support the family goals of economic self-sufficiency and child development by providing for the supervision, protection and well-being of the child while the parent is participating in an approved activity. The purpose of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is to increase the availability, affordability, and quality of child care services.

Toward this end, guidance and service strategies are designed to meet the following goals:

1. To provide low-income and otherwise eligible families with the financial resources to find and afford quality child care. 2. To ensure that the child care program contributes to the broader objective of self- sufficiency. 3. To provide child care to children with parents who are trying to achieve independence from public assistance.

4. To promote parental choice in the selection of child care. 5. To empower working parents to make their own decisions regarding the child care that best suits their family’s needs. 6. To provide consumer education to help parents make informed choices about child care. 7. To ensure that subsidy dollars are provided to the neediest families. 8. To enhance the quality as defined by VQB5, Virginia’s new statewide quality measurement and improvement system, and increase the supply of child care for all families. 9. To improve the coordination among child care programs and early childhood development programs in partnership with Virginia’s Ready Regions. 10. To design a flexible program that provides for the changing needs of recipient families and engage families in their children's development and learning. 11. To provide uninterrupted services to families and providers, to the extent of available funding, to support parental education, training, job search, and employment and continuity of care that minimizes disruptions to children's learning and development.

C. Families and Children to Be Served

Child care services are provided for children who are under 13 years of age and who reside with a parent or person standing in loco parentis who is working, looking for work, or attending a job training or educational program. Services may also be provided for families who are receiving child protective services, and for children up to 18 years of age who are physically or mentally incapable of caring for themselves or subject to court supervision. Child care services are not to be purchased for children who are eligible to attend public school during that portion of a day when appropriate public education is available, unless there are valid and documented reasons why the children must be out of school.

E. Legal Base

The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-186), as implemented in regulation at 45 CFR Part 98.

Code of Virginia, Sections 22.1-289.035, 22.1-289.040, 22.1-289.046

Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended.