Thursday, January 8 at 5:38 a.m. | The State of Colorado confirmed to Denver7 it has received official notification from the Trump Administration it will restrict child care funding. It's working to navigate the situation.
As the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) makes plans to freeze $10 billion dollars in child care funding, Colorado child care providers and the families they serve are preparing for the potential fallout.
The Trump Administration plans to freeze over $7 billion alone for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) provides child care assistance to low-income families enrolled in TANF.
The early Childhood Education Association of Colorado told Denver7, child care providers rely heavily on enrolling children whose care is paid for through CCCP.
"The most devastating thing for me is to watch people that have given decades of service to families in their community, they expend all of their life savings trying to hold on and then have to close their doors. That's a tragedy,” Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado Executive Director Dawn Alexander said.
Denver7 also spoke with a Colorado at-home child care owner who said this freeze could have a ripple effect on working parents.
"So, if the daycare center closes, that means that they're not going to be able to go to work, and how long is their employer going to be able to support them or give them time off to deal with that situation? So, it's got that domino effect,” The Lion and His Lambs Daycare & Preschool owner Lori Haubert said.
There are about 27,000 kids in Colorado that rely on these programs, according to Colorado Congresswoman Brittany Peterson. Without the funding, parents may have to find alternative care.
Denver7 reached out to Colorado’s Human Services Department for more information on what this funding freeze could look like. The agency said it has not received official notification from the federal government about the freeze, so there are still many unknowns.
Politics
Colorado, four other blue states face federal funding freeze for social services
The Trump administration said it plans to freeze this funding to five democratic-led states, including Colorado, over accusations of widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer money. The administration, however, has not cited any specific fraud related to child care programs within Colorado.
The other states impacted are California, New York, Illinois and Minnesota.
