Relative caregivers are an important part of the nation’s mixed-delivery child care system. Families may choose relative care because of trusted relationships, flexibility, cultural and linguistic continuity, affordability, and the ability to accommodate nontraditional work schedules. For 30 years, relative caregivers have been allowed to receive subsidies through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), but states differ substantially in how they incorporate relative care into their subsidy systems. This brief examines how states are implementing relative care within CCDF and highlights the policy and administrative considerations involved in supporting this child care option.

Why This Matters

Recent federal policy discussions have emphasized expanding parental choice by ensuring families have access to a full range of child care options, including relatives. Existing federal policy gives states broad flexibility to determine how relative caregivers participate in CCDF. Understanding how states use this flexibility can help policymakers consider whether and how to support or expand relative care options. At the same time, expanding relative care requires more than policy flexibility. States need resources, administrative capacity, caregiver supports, and oversight mechanisms that recognize the unique characteristics and needs of relative caregivers.

What We Found

• Relative care participation varies widely across states, demonstrating what is possible under existing federal policy. In the average month of 2023, about 93,000 children, or 5.8 percent of children receiving CCDF subsidies nationally, received care from relative providers. However, states varied in participation; 12 states reported no children receiving CCDF-funded relative care, while 7 states reported that more than 10 percent of children receiving CCDF-funded care were cared for by relatives. Relative care represented nearly one-quarter of children receiving subsidies in Hawaii and Connecticut.
• Relative caregivers represent a substantial share of CCDF providers. Nearly 67,900 relative caregivers received CCDF payments in fiscal year 2023, representing 27.5 percent of all CCDF providers. In 13 states, relative caregivers accounted for more than 20 percent of CCDF providers, and in 3 states, they accounted for more than half.
• States use federal flexibility in different ways and succeed in enrolling relative caregivers. Among 12 states with relatively high participation by relative caregivers, states used different combinations of requirements related to background checks, health and safety checklists, training, and orientation. Some states exempted relative providers from nearly all requirements, while others required several participation requirements. These differences suggest that no single policy model is associated with greater inclusion of relative caregivers in CCDF.
• Expanding relative care requires resources, administrative capacity, and tailored supports. Relative caregivers often care for only one or a small number of children and may have limited experience navigating subsidy systems or completing administrative requirements. States considering expanding relative care are likely to need additional resources and capacity for provider recruitment and onboarding, eligibility determination, reporting, case management, provider support, payment accountability, and maintaining accurate provider records. They may also need tailored approaches to communication, technical assistance, technology support, training, and health and safety requirements.

How We Did It

We analyzed 2023 CCDF administrative data from the ACF-800 and ACF-801 data files to examine the share of children receiving subsidized care from relatives and the number and proportion of CCDF providers who were relative caregivers across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. We identified 12 states in which more than 20 percent of CCDF-funded providers were relative caregivers and compared their approaches to background checks, health and safety checklists, training, and orientation using the CCDF Policies Database.