Child Care and Development Block Grant: Report of State Plans for the Period 10/01/97 to 9/30/99.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant sought to unify what was a fragmented child care system. As part of welfare reform, welfare-connected child care programs were repealed and new child care funding was placed under the aegis of the lead state agency for the Block Grant. This report provides an overview of the strategies that each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have developed to use limited resources to address the pressing needs of working families for quality, affordable child care. The report follows the approved State Plan format. Each of the six parts of the report is divided into sections. Within the sections are specific questions, based on the statute and the regulations. Lead Agencies are required to respond to each question, based on guidance in the accompanying Program Instruction. The information presented in this report reflects the actual submissions from each Lead Agency; it is not an analysis of the policies developed by the states to implement the Block Grant. The six parts of the report are: (1) Administration; (2) Developing the Child Care Program; (3) Child Care Services Offered; (4) Processes with Parents; (5) Activities and Services to Improve the Quality of Child Care; and (6) Health and Safety Requirements for Providers. An appendix contains listings of the Child Care and Development Fund Lead Agency contacts. (EV)