Federal child care funds flow following ruling last week

Preliminary injunction keeps funds moving as courts weigh whether feds can turn off funding entirely

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison

Minnesota and four other states were able to breathe a monetary sigh of relief last Friday as a judge, for the time being, prevented the federal government from freezing $10 billion in child care funds for the five states.

The programs affected by the freeze were the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), which subsidizes child care for low-income families; the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which provides cash assistance and job training; and the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), a smaller fund that provides money for a variety of programs.

The judge’s preliminary injunction allows funds to continue flowing while the courts weigh whether the feds can turn off funding completely for those programs. Congress had already allocated the funds, and the states contend the federal government cannot unilaterally claw back those monies.

"Today's order further protects Minnesotans from Donald Trump’s devastating and unlawful cuts to childcare services. This is a tremendous relief for parents across Minnesota, as these cuts would have devastated our childcare system and forced low-income families to choose between going to work to pay the bills and staying home to provide childcare,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a press release last Friday.

On Jan. 8, Ellison and four other states sued the Trump administration to protect those programs’ funding. 

In Minnesota, the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) administers the three funding programs at issue in the lawsuit, each of which supports different critical forms of support for low-income families with children. CCDF funding, for example, assists low-income parents who are working or in school to pay for child care at the times they need it most, and ensures money is invested in the overall safety, quality and availability of child care services for all children. TANF funding includes assistance aimed at helping low-income families with children afford essentials like gas, groceries, and rent. SSBG funding provides flexible support for a range of child welfare services implemented through the state and counties, including foster care funding. 

On Jan. 9, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the states’ motion for a temporary restraining order, blocking the implementation of the funding freeze. The court on Friday granted the states’ motion for a preliminary injunction, continuing to block the funding freeze and allowing the states to draw down funds for the three targeted programs.

Joining Attorney General Ellison in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Illinois, and New York. The funds were originally suspended in early January, with the federal government claiming it needed to ensure funds were not being used fraudulently.