ARPA Frequently Asked Questions

Center-based child care providers, family child care home providers, and license-exempt providers who were licensed, regulated, or registered under applicable state and local law on or before March 11, 2021, or at the time of application for an ARPA stabilization-funded investment, and who meet all currently required Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) health and safety requirements including the completion of comprehensive background checks are eligible for ARPA stabilization-funded investments. In California, no person may operate a child care facility without a current valid license issued by the CDSS in accordance with the Child Day Care Facilities Act (Health and Safety Code section 1596.70 – 1597.622), unless such person is exempt from licensure pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 1596.792. Child care providers who were licensed by CDSS or who were license-exempt and approved by local agencies to provide subsidized child care as of March 11, 2021, are therefore considered “licensed, regulated, or registered as of March 11, 2021.” For additional information about ARPA stabilization requirements, please see the ACF Information Memorandum No. CCDF-ACF-IM-2021-02.

In California, no person may operate a child care facility without a current valid license issued by the CDSS in accordance with the Child Day Care Facilities Act (Health and Safety Code section 1596.70 – 1597.622), unless such person is exempt from licensure pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 1596.792. Child care providers who were licensed by CDSS or who were license-exempt and approved by local agencies to provide subsidized child care as of March 11, 2021, are therefore considered “licensed, regulated, or registered as of March 11, 2021.”

Surveys should be completed by the following individuals who are in receipt of ARPA stabilization-funded investments, or whose centers or programs are in receipt of ARPA stabilization-funded investments:

• License-exempt providers (i.e., family, friend, and neighbor providers),
• All licensees
  1. Licensed family child care homes,
  2. Licensed child care center directors, site supervisors, and/or administrators, and
• License-exempt child care center directors, site supervisors, and/or administrators.

If the program is temporarily closed due to lack of qualified staff as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the program is eligible to receive ARPA funds. In this instance, the program would choose the option “Temporarily closed due to a public health order, financial hardship, or other reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Providers and contractors must be either licensed, registered, certified, and/or regulated on or before March 11, 2021, OR must meet CCDF health and safety requirements, including the completion of comprehensive background checks at the time of application to qualify for ARPA funding.

No, a program that permanently closed after March 11, 2021, is not eligible. In order to be eligible, a child care provider must be open to provide child care services or temporarily closed due to public health, financial hardship, or other reasons relating to the COVID-19 public health emergency on the date of application.

In order to be qualified the provider must either be open to provide services or temporarily closed due to public health, financial hardship, or other reasons relating to the COVID-19 public health emergency at the time of application. As this requirement applies to the date of application, a school-age program that is closed during the summer would be eligible for a subgrant if the program applied for the subgrant when it opened again (or if it subsequently closed for reasons related to the COVID-19 public health emergency).

In order to be qualified, the provider must either be open to provide services or temporarily closed due to public health, financial hardship, or other reasons relating to the COVID-19 public health emergency at the time of application. As this requirement applies to the date of application, a program that is temporarily closed due to reasons unrelated to the COVID-19 public health emergency would be eligible for a subgrant if the program applied for the subgrant when it opened again (or if it subsequently closed for reasons related to the COVID-19 public health emergency).

There is no specific timeframe for when a provider, who is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 at the time of application, must reopen. Rather, CDSS has the discretion to place reasonable conditions or timelines with regard to reopening on child care providers who receive a subgrant. (See section 2202(d)(B)(i) and (ii) of the ARPA.)

If you entered your license number incorrectly, please retake the survey. If you are license-exempt and you made a mistake entering your home address, email or phone number please retake the survey.

If you made any other mistake, you do not need to do anything. The most important piece of this survey is your certification. All other details, excluding your license number, will be aggregated to paint a large-scale portrait of how ARPA funding supported child care providers throughout the United States.

Yes, please complete one survey for each license held by your organization.

No, the Administration for Children and Families Office of Child Care (ACF-OCC) requires site- and provider-level data be collected, even where multiple sites share the same administrator. Please complete one survey per each licensed site (center or family child care home). For sites with multiple license numbers, please complete one survey per each license number.

Please contact your local Child Care Licensing Regional Office to update any of the following information:

• Licensee Name
• Licensee/facility mailing address
• Licensee/facility landline phone number and/or cellular phone number (NOTE: inform the office if your primary phone contact is a cellular phone)
• Licensee/facility email address

Yes, please do.

The survey will be translated into Spanish, Traditional Chinese and English. You may request the survey be translated into additional languages by emailing ccpb@dss.ca.gov.

ACF requires child care providers to certify that they will follow certain health and safety guidelines, continue to pay full compensation to staff, and, to the extent possible, provide relief from copayments and tuition for parents struggling to afford child care. The certification section of the survey contains these requirements, which are provided below:

To receive a stabilization grant, I agree to use the funds only for the categories and purposes indicated on this survey and have marked above which categories I plan to fund. I also understand that it is my responsibility to maintain records and other documentation to support the use of funds I receive as well as to document my compliance with the requirements described in A, B, and C.

By signing this attestation, I am certifying that I will meet requirements throughout the period of the subgrant, including the following:

1. When open and providing services, I will implement policies in line with guidance and orders from corresponding state, territorial, Tribal, and local authorities and, to the greatest extent possible, implement policies in line with guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Guidance for Child Care Providers and Programs to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and to ensure the safety of children, providers, and families. If there are differing requirements between the most current CDSS, CDPH, Cal/OSHA, and local health department guidance or health orders, licensees and providers should follow the strictest requirements.
2. For each employee (including lead teachers, aides, and any other staff who are employed by the child care provider to work in transportation, food preparation, or other type of service), I must continue paying at least the same amount of weekly wages and maintain the same benefits (such as health insurance and retirement) for the duration of the subgrant. I understand that I may not involuntarily furlough employees from the date of application submission through the duration of the subgrant period.
3. I will provide relief from copayments and tuition payments for the families enrolled in the child care program, to the extent possible, and prioritize such relief for families struggling to make either type of payment.

Yes, the ARPA requires CDSS to “make available on the lead agency’s website an application for qualified providers that includes certifications” the child provider, for the duration of the subgrant, will implement certain health and safety requirements and guidance, pay full compensation to staff, and, to the extent possible, provide relief from copayments and tuition for families in their care (section 2202(d)(2)(D)(i)). Therefore, the survey must include a way for child care providers to certify they will meet these requirements.

To be eligible for ARPA stabilization subgrant funds, providers must certify that they will provide relief from copayments and tuition payments for the families enrolled in the provider’s program, to the extent possible, and prioritize such relief for families struggling to make either type of payment. If a provider is unable to provide relief from copayments and tuition payments for all families enrolled in the program, they should prioritize doing so for families most in need of relief and target families earning below 85 percent of the State Median Income. If a provider is not able to provide relief from copayments and tuition payments for any families enrolled in the program, they must utilize funds for one or more of the purposes below:

• Personnel costs, benefits, premium pay, or recruitment and retention
• Rent or mortgage payments, utilities, facilities maintenance and improvements, or insurance
• Personal protective equipment, cleaning and sanitization supplies and services
• Training and professional development related to health and safety practices
• Purchases of or updates to equipment and supplies to respond to COVID-19
• Goods and services necessary to maintain or resume child care services
• Mental health supports for children and employees

No, as long as child care providers are able to meet the certification by using funds from other sources, they are not required to use ARPA stabilization subgrant funds for personnel costs, including staff wages and benefits. Providers are allowed to use the subgrant funds to continue to pay full compensation and benefits in order to meet the certification requirements. While lead agencies were strongly encouraged to make subgrants available to address personnel costs, personnel costs are just one of the allowable uses of the subgrant funds, and child care providers have discretion in deciding how they use the funds.

Qualified child care providers must certify that they will meet the three certifications for the duration of their ARPA stabilization subgrant (i.e., however long it takes for the child care provider to spend their ARPA stabilization subgrant).

The ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) does not exempt child care stabilization subgrant funding from taxation. State tax rules apply. Regarding federal tax rules, please contact the Internal Revenue Service for guidance.

If license-exempt or Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) providers are no longer providing subsidized care, they are not eligible for stipends for the reimbursement rate supplement.

In order to be eligible to receive a subgrant, a child care provider must either be open to provide child care services or temporarily closed due to public health, financial hardship, or other reasons relating to the COVID-19 public health emergency at the time of application. Stipends may be used to support subsidized child care providers with COVID-19 pandemic relief, and, in the case of decreased enrollment or closures, to support child care providers to remain open or to reopen. Providers who are permanently closed are not eligible for the $1,442 per-child stipend and the $440 per child reimbursement rate supplements.

If the new owner is open to provide child care services or temporarily closed due to public health, financial hardship, or other reasons relating to the COVID-19 public health emergency, they will be eligible for the $1,442 per-child stipend and reimbursement rate supplement. A program that is permanently closed is not eligible to receive an ARPA stabilization subgrant. This funding was intended to stabilize the child care sector and is not intended for closed child care businesses.

Please complete the survey for the following ARPA-funded investments and check off the ones you have received, as well as the ones that you are interested in receiving:

• AB 179 Stipend
• Spring 2021 Stipend:
  1. $525 per child who received a subsidy based on November 2020 enrollment data
• Summer 2021 Stipend:
  1. $600 per child who received a subsidy based on March 2021 enrollment data
• 2021 Licensed Stipend:
  1. $3,500 per family child care home;
  2. $3,500 per child care center with a licensed capacity of 14 children or fewer;
  3. $4,000 per child care center with a licensed capacity of 15 to 24;
  4. $5,000 per child care center with a licensed capacity of 25 to 60;
  5. $6,500 per child care center with a licensed capacity of 61 or more
• Secondary provider payments when a family’s primary provider was paid for nonoperational days due to COVID-19-related closures
• Reimbursement based on the maximum certified hours of care rather than attendance
• Supplemental Rate Payments (including rate increases effective January 1, 2022)
• New Family Child Care Home License Incentive:
  1. $500 when a family child care home license has been obtained on or after June 28, 2021, and maintained for 12 months

This survey is separate from the eligibility and application process to receive the New Family Child Care Home License Incentive. You can find out more information about the License Incentive on our License Incentive Webpage.

APP Agencies should help providers complete the survey. Providers must complete the survey in order to receive AB 179 stipends and forthcoming reimbursement rate supplements.

No, as the CCIP funding was not funded directly by ARPA stabilization funds, surveys are not required of CCIP contractors.

ARPA Stabilization subgrant funds may only be used for one or more of the following purposes and as indicated on the survey:

• Personnel costs, benefits, premium pay, and recruitment and retention
• Rent or mortgage payments, utilities, facilities maintenance and improvements, or insurance
• Personal protective equipment, cleaning and sanitation supplies and services, or training
• Professional development related to health and safety practices
• Purchases of or updates to equipment and supplies to respond to COVID-19
• Goods and services necessary to maintain or resume child care services
• Mental health supports for children and employees

LEAs and COEs will use SACS code 5163 and report to CDE using Resource 5160.