Answer: Child care funded through the Child Care and Development Fund is available to children who are citizens, regardless of the parents’ immigration status. “The final rule adds paragraph (c), clarifying that only the citizenship and immigration status of the child, the primary beneficiary of CCDF, is relevant for the purposes of determining eligibility under [the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996] and that a Lead Agency, or other administering agency, may not condition eligibility based upon the citizenship or immigration status of the child’s parent.” This regulation is available at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-09-30/pdf/2016-22986.pdf.
Child care funded under TANF or another program may have requirements related to the parent’s immigration status. More information is available at http://www.clasp.org/sites/default/files/publications/2017/04/Immigrant-Eligibility-for-ECE-Programs.pdf.