Ccdf-2026 - child care and development fund mandatory & matching

The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families awarded the Mississippi Department of Human Services $18.25 million on October 1, 2025, under the Child Care and Development Fund Mandatory and Matching Funds program (CFDA 93.596), a formula grant supporting low-income families' access to child care and quality improvement across all children.

The funding supports child care subsidy administration and quality enhancement activities statewide throughout Mississippi from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2028. The recipient, MDHS Family and Children's Services, designated as the lead agency under the program, develops and administers a three-year Child Care and Development Fund plan, establishes sliding-fee scales, holds public hearings, and coordinates provision of services with federal, state, and local child care and early childhood programs.

MDHS passes a portion of the award to sub-recipients delivering specialized work. Mississippi State University received a sub-award effective April 1, 2026, to provide high-quality training, technical assistance, and evaluation activities developing and enhancing skills of family-home providers across the state. The Children's Foundation of Mississippi received a sub-award effective March 15, 2026, to build, expand, and deploy the Childcare Access Tracking System, including an MDHS administrative portal and public launch with integrated datasets through data-use agreement. Both sub-awards fund the administrative and quality components of their respective subgrants.