ECIC continues to monitor federal actions related to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) affecting families and communities in neighboring states. After the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) informed five states that their CCDF funding was temporarily frozen while they work to comply with new federal accountability requirements specific to those states, a federal judge has issued a temporary pause to stop HHS from freezing their funds.
Importantly, Michigan is not among the affected states, and there are no anticipated delays in Child Development and Care (CDC) Scholarship payments for the foreseeable future. According to MiLEAP, “Michigan has not been notified of any changes that will impact our ability to make regularly scheduled child care payments to providers.”
Michigan’s CDC Program has multiple accountability mechanisms to monitor and ensure funds are used appropriately and prevent fraud, including:
- An annual Audit by the Michigan Office of the Auditor General, which is publicly posted;
- Federal Office of Child Care (OCC) monitoring every three years — Michigan’s next monitoring visit is scheduled for March 2026);
- Ongoing billing and case reviews by program staff;
- Investigations when concerns are reported, which can be elevated by the public through the MiLEAP website; and
- Additional program audits conducted as requested.
ECIC continues to encourage constituents to contact their federal lawmakers to share concerns about the devastating impact that any potential child care funding disruption will have on working families and their children in Michigan.
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