With the implementation of H.R.1 is underway, states will encounter new barriers in helping families with young children cover their basic needs and avoid material hardship. In addition to shifting administrative cost-sharing requirements, stricter access restrictions on access, and broad federal funding reductions, state governments risk new financial penalties if their payment error rates breach established thresholds. To manage these financial pressures, states may be forced to scale back SNAP funding, which in turn threatens eligibility and support for related nutrition services like the free and reduced-price lunch (FRPL) program.
These cuts to the number of students who receive FRPL have considerable, if overlooked, consequences for a range of federal programs which use FRPL data in their state funding allocation formulas, including the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).
This new brief, authored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), in partnership with the Center for American Progress (CAP), details the timeline of H.R.1 changes to the SNAP program, the consequences they pose for these funding formulas, and what this might mean for child care funding at a time when families are already straining under the high cost of care. The brief also includes recommendations for state policymakers to navigate these downstream effects.
Read the report.