View source for Office of Child Care

[[File:Office of Child Care logo.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Office of Child Care logo, as of 2018]]
The '''Office of Child Care''' (OCC) is a division of the [[Federal government of the United States#Executive branch|US Executive Branch]] under the [[Administration for Children and Families]] and the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|Department of Health and Human Services]].<ref name="Press2013">{{cite book|author=[[CQ Press]]|title=Federal Regulatory Directory: The Essential Guide to the History, Organization, and Impact of U.S. Federal Regulation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pihzAwAAQBAJ|date=4 November 2013|publisher=CQ Press|isbn=9781452290188|access-date=May 5, 2018}}</ref>{{rp|597}} It was officially formed in 2010 and replaced the former Child Care Bureau, which was itself established under the [[Administration on Children, Youth and Families]] in 1995 by the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton Administration]].<ref name="about">{{cite web|title=About|url=https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/about|website=Office of Child Care|accessdate=5 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="ZiglerStyfco2010">{{cite book|last1=Zigler|first1=Edward|authorlink1=Edward Zigler|last2=Styfco|first2=Sally J. |title=The Hidden History of Head Start|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yG8SDAAAQBAJ|accessdate=5 May 2018|date=7 May 2010|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780195393767}}</ref>{{rp|275}} The OCC had been previously established as an unofficial organization within the Child Care Bureau by psychologist [[Edward Zigler]], composed initially of only two staff members.<ref name="ZiglerStyfco2010"/>{{rp|275}}

The OCC administers the [[Child Care and Development Block Grant|Child Care Development Fund]] (CCDF), to "subsidize the child care expenses of working families with children under age 13", in addition to coordinating with state, territory, and [[tribal governments]] on matters relating to [[child care]], supporting [[child care licensing]], and providing guidance and technical assistance.<ref name="fact"/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Lynch|first1=Karen E.|title=The Child Care and Development Block Grant: Background and Funding|url=https://greenbook-waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/greenbook.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/RL30785_gb.pdf|website=[[United States House Committee on Ways and Means]]|accessdate=5 May 2018|date=September 17, 2014}}</ref> {{As of|2015}} it administered $10 million in funding for research, demonstration and evaluation related to child care, and supports the online archive, Child Care and Early Education Research Connections.<ref name="fact">{{cite web|title=OCC Fact Sheet|url=https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/fact-sheet-occ|website=Office of Child Care|accessdate=5 May 2018}}</ref> As a requirement of the 2014 reauthorization of the CCDF, the OCC also operates the website ChildCare.gov, which provides [[consumer education]] to parents, and operates a parental [[hotline]], to report health and safety violations.<ref>{{cite web|title=Office of Child Care Initiatives|url=https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/initiatives|website=Office of Child Care|accessdate=5 May 2018}}</ref>

{{As of|2018}} the OCC was headed by Director Shannon Christian, and employed 67 full time staff.<ref name="about"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Department for Health and Human Services: Fiscal Year 2019|url=https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/olab/acf_master_cj_acf_final_3_19_0.pdf|website=[[Administration for Children and Families]]|accessdate=5 May 2018}}</ref>{{rp|366}}

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Politics}}
* [[Corporate child care]]
* [[Foster care in the United States]]
* [[List of federal agencies in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ}}
* [https://www.researchconnections.org/childcare/welcome Child Care & Early Education Resource Connections], funded by the Office of Child Care

{{United States Department of Health and Human Services}}

[[Category:Administration for Children and Families programs]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 2010]]
[[Category:2010 establishments in the United States]]


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