The Family and Social Services Administration's (FSSA) Bureau of Child Care (BCC) has enrolled 3,000 additional children in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) voucher program since receiving stimulus funds in April. The BCC received $35 million to spend on direct services. In Tippecanoe County, 382 children were moved from the wait list and are now receiving assistance.

"We are thrilled that we were able to enroll 3,000 more children on child care vouchers with the assistance of the stimulus," said Child Care Administrator Melanie Brizzi. "We know the recession has and continues to be a huge burden on families and we look forward to the opportunity to offer additional assistance."

Currently, 38,777 children from 20,272 Hoosier families are receiving child care vouchers. The wait list for CCDF vouchers currently has over 9,000 applicants on it.

The BCC received a total $42 million in stimulus funds. However, a portion of the funds, $7 million, is required by a block grant to be spent on quality care initiatives. The funding for direct services will support children over the course American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which ends September 30, 2011.

The CCDF program provides financial assistance for families who are working or who are enrolled in school. To apply for the CCDF voucher program, interested applicants should contact the local Intake Agent in their region. For a map of CCDF Intake Regions, please visit http://www.in.gov/fssa/files/CCDF_Intake_Map.pdf.

For more information on FSSA, please visit www.in.gov/fssa.

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