Provider Perceptions of the Child Care Assistance Program in Minnesota

Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) provides financial assistance to help families with low incomes pay for child care and to support children’s development. Consistent with the goals of the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program, CCAP aims to support families’ choice of providers that meet their child care needs. Participation of child care providers in CCAP is therefore vital to supporting family choice. However, child care providers are not required to accept CCAP as a form of payment for services they provide to families.[i] Data collected by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) indicates that 68 percent of licensed centers and 27 percent of licensed family child care providers in Minnesota are willing to accept CCAP.[ii] With this variation, it is important to understand providers’ perceptions of and experiences with the program, regardless of whether they are currently accepting CCAP as a form of payment. These perceptions and experiences can inform changes to CCAP processes that address providers’ concerns and barriers to participating in CCAP. This brief describes the results of a survey administered to child care providers to explore their perceptions of CCAP among other topics.