Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Policies Database, 2015

USER NOTE: This database no longer contains the most up-to-date information. Some errors and missing data from the previous years have been fixed in the most recent data release in the CCDF Policies Database Series. The most recent release is a cumulative file which includes the most accurate version of this and all past years' data. Please do not use this study's data unless you are attempting to replicate the analysis of someone who specifically used this version of the CCDF Policies Database. For any other type of analysis, please use the most recent release in the CCDF Policies Database Series. The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) provides federal money to States and Territories to provide assistance to low-income families receiving or in transition from temporary public assistance, to obtain quality child care so they can work, attend training, or receive education. Within the broad federal parameters, states and territories set the detailed policies. Those details determine whether a particular family will or will not be eligible for subsidies, how much the family will have to pay for the care, how families apply for and retain subsidies, the maximum amounts that child care providers will be reimbursed, and the administrative procedures that providers must follow. Thus, while CCDF is a single program from the perspective of federal law, it is in practice a different program in every state and territory. The CCDF Policies Database project is a comprehensive, up-to-date database of inter-related sources of CCDF policy information that support the needs of a variety of audiences through (1) Analytic Data Files and (2) a Book of Tables. These are made available to researchers, administrators, and policymakers with the goal of addressing important questions concerning the effects of alternative child care subsidy policies and practices on the children and families served, specifically parental employment and self-sufficiency, the availability and quality of care, and children's development. A description of the Data Files and Book of Tables is provided below: 1. Detailed, longitudinal Analytic Data Files of CCDF policy information for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and United States Territories that capture the policies actually in effect at a point in time, rather than proposals or legislation. They focus on the policies in place at the start of each fiscal year, but also capture changes during that fiscal year. The data are organized into 32 categories with each category of variables separated into its own dataset. The categories span five general areas of policy including: Eligibility Requirements for Families and Children (Datasets 1-5) Family Application, Terms of Authorization, and Redetermination (Datasets 6-13) Family Payments (Datasets 14-18) Policies for Providers, Including Maximum Reimbursement Rates (Datasets 19-27) Overall Administrative and Quality Information Plans (Datasets 28-32) The information in the Data Files is based primarily on the documents that caseworkers use as they work with families and providers (often termed "caseworker manuals"). The caseworker manuals generally provide much more detailed information on eligibility, family payments, and provider-related policies than the documents submitted by states and territories to the federal government. The caseworker manuals also provide ongoing detail for periods in between submission dates. Each dataset contains a series of variables designed to capture the intricacies of the rules covered in the category. The variables include a mix of categorical, numeric, and text variables. Every variable has a corresponding notes field to capture additional details related to that particular variable. In addition, each category has an additional notes field to capture any information regarding the rules that is not already outlined in the category's variables. 2. The Book of Tables is available as seven datasets (Datasets 33-39) and they present key aspects of the differences in CCDF funded programs across all states and territories as of October 1, 2015. The Book of Tables includes variables that are calculated using several variables from the Data Files (Datasets 1-32). The Book of Tables summarizes a subset of the information available in the Data Files, and includes information about eligibility requirements for families; application,

用户须知：本数据库已不再包含最新信息。CCDF 政策数据库系列最新发布的数据中已修复了部分年份的错误和缺失数据。最新发布的文件为累积文件，其中包含了本年度及所有过往年度数据的最新准确版本。除非您试图复制使用此版本 CCDF 政策数据库的特定分析者的分析，否则请勿使用本研究的任何数据。对于任何其他类型的分析，请使用 CCDF 政策数据库系列的最新发布版本。儿童护理与发展基金（Child Care and Development Fund，简称 CCDF）向各州和领地提供联邦资金，以帮助低收入家庭获得或过渡到临时公共援助，以便他们能够工作、参加培训或接受教育。在广泛的联邦参数范围内，各州和领地制定了详细的政策。这些细节决定了特定家庭是否有资格获得补贴，家庭需要支付多少护理费用，家庭如何申请和保留补贴，护理提供者将获得的最大报销金额，以及提供者必须遵循的行政程序。因此，虽然从联邦法律的角度来看 CCDF 是一个单一的项目，但在实践中，每个州和领地都有不同的项目。CCDF 政策数据库项目是一个全面、最新的数据库，它汇集了与 CCDF 政策信息相关的多种来源，通过（1）分析数据文件和（2）表格手册为不同受众提供支持。这些资源提供给研究人员、管理人员和政策制定者，旨在探讨不同儿童护理补贴政策和实践对服务对象（特别是父母的就业和自给自足、护理的可用性和质量以及儿童发展）的影响。以下是对数据文件和表格手册的描述：1. 详细、纵向的 CCDF 政策信息分析数据文件，涵盖美国所有50个州、哥伦比亚特区和美国领地，这些文件记录了某一时间点实际生效的政策，而非提案或立法。它们专注于每个财政年度开始时的政策，但也捕捉了该财政年度的变化。数据被组织成32个类别，每个类别的变量都被单独分离到自己的数据集中。这些类别涵盖了政策五大一般领域：家庭和儿童的资格要求（数据集1-5）、家庭申请、授权条款和重新确定（数据集6-13）、家庭支付（数据集14-18）、包括最大报销率的护理提供者政策（数据集19-27）以及整体行政和质量信息计划（数据集28-32）。数据文件中的信息主要基于工作者在与家庭和提供者合作时使用的文件（通常称为“工作者手册”）。工作者手册通常比州和领地向联邦政府提交的文件提供更详细的家庭资格、家庭支付和与提供者相关的政策信息。工作者手册还提供了提交日期之间的持续细节。每个数据集包含一系列变量，旨在捕捉该类别规则中的复杂性。这些变量包括类别、数值和文本变量。每个变量都有一个相应的注释字段，用于捕捉与该特定变量相关的额外细节。此外，每个类别还有一个额外的注释字段，用于捕捉该类别变量中未详细说明的任何规则信息。2. 表格手册作为七个数据集（数据集33-39）提供，它们展示了截至2015年10月1日所有州和领地 CCDF 资助项目的关键差异。表格手册包含使用数据文件（数据集1-32）中的多个变量计算得出的变量。表格手册总结了数据文件中的一部分信息，并包括有关家庭资格要求、申请、授权、支付、提供者资格、行政程序、质量标准、儿童发展以及与政策相关的其他信息。