The Trump administration has frozen $138 million in federal child care funding to Colorado, threatening to shut down programs that serve about 27,000 children from 18,000 low-income families by the end of January.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the funding freeze on Jan. 7, targeting Colorado along with four other Democratic-led states: California, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.
The federal agency cited concerns about widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer money, though it has not identified any specific fraud cases related to child care programs in Colorado.
Child Care Crisis
The frozen funds come from the Child Care and Development Fund, which provides the majority of funding for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, known as CCCAP, according to CPR News.
This program helps low-income working parents pay for licensed child care so they can maintain employment or attend school. The state has already received about $71 million of its expected $138 million allocation for the current fiscal year, leaving roughly $67 million frozen.
State officials warn that funding for child care subsidies could run out by Jan. 31 without federal intervention. More than 2,500 child care providers across Colorado accept CCCAP payments, representing over half of all licensed providers in the state. Many providers say they cannot afford to keep their doors open without these federal subsidies, Chalkbeat reported.
Mero Kaya, who operates four child care centers in the Denver metro area serving nearly 300 children from low-income families, told the Colorado Sun that all of his centers would be forced to close if the funding freeze continues.
The funding freeze adds to existing challenges facing Colorado's child care system. About one-third of Colorado counties had already implemented enrollment freezes for CCCAP before the federal funding halt due to rising costs and the expiration of pandemic relief funds.
Freezing of Funds
Five states, including Colorado, filed a federal lawsuit on Jan. 8 challenging the funding freeze as unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian temporarily blocked the Trump administration from withholding the funds on Jan. 9, ordering that payments continue while the legal case proceeds.
The freeze also affects two other federal programs administered by the Colorado Department of Human Services: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which provides $150 million annually to help 15,000 families with basic needs, and the Social Services Block Grant, which supports at-risk youth and vulnerable adults with $27 million annually, as per CNN.
