EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:
Childcare is difficult for many families to afford, and experts say programs meant to help cover the expense have long lacked enough funding to reach every parent in need. Now, in many states, the problem has grown even more acute, thanks to the expiration of pandemic-era relief dollars and the rising cost of providing care.
Every state and Washington, D.C., runs a childcare assistance program (CCAP) supported and governed primarily by the federal Child Care and Development Fund. These programs, which were designed to help low-wage parents return to the workforce or further their education, typically provide vouchers that lower the cost of childcare. During the pandemic, an infusion of federal funding enabled states to expand their CCAPs, reaching more families. But as that funding has expired, many states have struggled to meet the demand for childcare assistance. Some have enacted new waitlists or added thousands of children and families to existing backlogs. Some states have changed eligibility criteria, further restricting who can access the assistance. Hundreds of thousands of children were sitting on childcare assistance waitlists in 23 states and the District of Columbia as of this spring, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
Families’ unmet needs for childcare assistance are likely even more significant than these figures suggest, childcare policy experts say. For starters, some states don’t maintain waitlists, in a few cases because they simply stop accepting voucher applications when they are in danger of running out of funding. And not all eligible families know about or apply for state assistance.
AP requested childcare assistance enrollment and waitlist figures for March 2020, March 2023 and March 2026, to show change over time. Some states provided data for different timeframes, and we detail those and other caveats in the spreadsheet provided below. AP’s analysis found waitlists have grown substantially in most of the states that maintain them. This data offers a glimpse at how access to childcare subsidies has changed over the past six years — and signals a significant rise in qualifying families who are unable to benefit from assistance.
This guide explains how local reporters can use AP’s data to examine childcare assistance trends in their state and cover the implications for children, families and providers.
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READ AP’S LATEST COVERAGE
AP Exclusive: Hundreds of thousands of eligible kids are waiting for childcare assistance
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WHAT DATA IS INCLUDED IN AP’S ANALYSIS?
AP collected childcare assistance program enrollment and waitlist data from nearly every state. The data came from state agencies that oversee or administer these programs, including departments of family and children, education and health and human services. Three states — Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia — did not respond to our requests.
AP asked states for the number of children enrolled in their childcare assistance programs in March 2020, March 2023 and March 2026, along with corresponding waitlist figures. Some provided figures for different timeframes or used different metrics than we requested — the total number of families or childcare providers rather than individual children, for example. States also define and maintain waitlists differently: Some first determine whether a child or family is eligible for assistance before adding them to a waitlist, while others add applicants as soon as they apply. Some do not maintain a waitlist at all. Where these differences exist, AP’s data makes that clear. Because waitlist parameters vary, reporters should focus on changes within their state and overall trends nationwide, rather than comparing the data across states. Before using the data, review the state-specific notes and definitions in the spreadsheet. Figures that require additional context or qualification are marked with an asterisk and explained in the “Other notes” column. AP’s spreadsheet also includes contact information for state-specific communications staff or other administrators. These contacts can help reporters verify figures, track down additional data and connect with officials as they cover the topic in their communities.
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WHERE TO FIND THE DATA
Find AP’s exclusive childcare assistance data here. The spreadsheet includes state-level enrollment and waitlist figures for March 2020, March 2023 and March 2026 or the closest available timeframes. It also includes a data dictionary, state-specific criteria and caveats and contacts to further your reporting.
You can also view this AP map showing which states had waitlists or enrollment freezes as of March 2026. An embed code for the map can be found at the end of the guide.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR STANDOUT STATES The following are publishable lines for states that stood out in the analysis because of their data trends or recent policy changes.
Feel free to include these takeaways in your stories. — Alabama: Alabama established a waitlist for childcare assistance in May of this year.
— Arizona: Arizona’s waitlist, which had zero children in both 2020 and 2023, had grown to more than 11,000 children by 2026.
— Arkansas: The state established a waitlist this February that, as of July, includes 3,000 children.
— Colorado: While enrollment in the state’s childcare assistance program has remained relatively steady, its waitlist has skyrocketed from 84 children in April 2020 — and just four children in 2023 — to more than 13,000 in 2026.
— Connecticut: Connecticut has seen a modest increase in enrollment in its childcare assistance program. Even so, its waitlist has grown from zero children in 2020 to roughly 4,000 in 2026. Children are only placed on the waitlist if the state determines they qualify for assistance.
— Indiana: After running low on funds, Indiana waitlisted virtually all new applicants to its program after December 2024. Its waitlist grew to 36,000 children within 16 months, prompting Republican Gov. Mike Braun to shift an emergency $200 million to the program. By July of this year, the number of children on the waitlist had dropped below 30,000.
— Maryland: Enrollment in Maryland’s childcare assistance program more than doubled from 2020 to 2026, now totaling over 40,000 children. Its waitlist for assistance grew from zero children to more than 5,000 over the same time period.
— Massachusetts: Massachusetts has seen large increases in both children receiving childcare assistance and its waitlist. The waitlist more than doubled between 2020 and 2026, from 14,000 children to over 31,000. Massachusetts’ waitlist ballooned even as the state tightened criteria for adding kids to the list. The 2026 figure reflects children who have completed the eligibility process, while in previous years, the list included children who were simply considered likely to be eligible. Some children can bypass the waitlist entirely, including those referred by the foster care or welfare systems and those whose siblings are already enrolled in the program.
— Mississippi: The state has seen one of the largest drops in children receiving childcare assistance, slipping from roughly 23,000 children in 2020 to less than 15,000 in 2026. Meanwhile, its waitlist grew from zero families in both 2020 and 2023 to over 11,000 in 2026.
— New Mexico: Lauded for launching a universal childcare program in November 2025, the state has seen program enrollment more than double from 2023 to 2026, totaling over 45,000 children.
— Nevada: Nevada saw enrollment in its childcare assistance program decline while its waitlist grew. The state’s waitlist increased from 155 families in 2020 to 1,600 in 2026.
— New York: New York’s data is broken down by county, and each county has its own way of tracking the numbers. Some counties have frozen waitlists so that new kids can’t join. However, starting in October, any county that doesn’t have enough funding to enroll a child in its childcare assistance program will be required to add them to a waitlist. — North Carolina: Enrollment in North Carolina’s childcare assistance program dropped by more than 10,000 children between 2020 and 2026. Its waitlist numbers also declined, from more than 16,000 children in 2020 to roughly 6,000 in 2026.
— North Dakota: North Dakota’s waitlist was relatively small in March, totaling 783 children. But by July, the waitlist had reached 1,450, nearly doubling in four months, said Rachel Iverson Schafer, who directs the childcare assistance program. — Oregon: Enrollment in Oregon’s childcare assistance program more than doubled, from roughly 13,000 children in 2020 to more than 28,000 in 2026. The state enacted a waitlist in November 2023, which had grown to more than 21,000 children by March 2026.
— South Carolina: The state is among a handful across the nation that froze enrollment in its childcare subsidy program, and new families cannot join a waitlist. The state does not want to “create artificial hope that the issue will resolve itself” and did not want to “lead parents on that there may be a chance for funding,” said Tiffiney Paschal, a spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services.
— Texas: While enrollment in the state’s childcare assistance program stayed relatively steady, its waitlist numbers have soared. Between 2020 to 2023, it grew from over 31,000 children to over 66,000, and by December 2024 the waitlist totaled more than 94,000 children.
— Virginia: Virginia used its pandemic relief money to eliminate its childcare subsidies waitlist temporarily, reducing it from 2,833 children in 2020 to zero in 2023. However, the state once again has a growing waitlist, sitting at 4,855 in March of this year.
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REPORTING THREADS & QUESTIONS TO ASK
— How has childcare assistance access changed in your state? Look at the data AP gathered. Are there any jumps in enrollment and waitlist figures between 2020, 2023 and 2026 (or the most recent year for which state-level data is available)? How did enrollment trends correspond with waitlist trends? Then, talk to state officials: What’s the “why” behind the changes? Did a state’s waitlist grow because of a lack of funding or more need? Did enrollment grow so much that it outpaced funding? Did the state change eligibility criteria or other policies?
— If your state doesn’t have a waitlist, interrogate that. A waitlist of zero doesn’t mean all the childcare needs in the state are met. Some states don’t maintain a waitlist at all, even when they lack funding to provide childcare assistance to every needy family. Some states simply froze enrollment, rather than have a long waitlist. If your state says it has no waitlist, ask what happens when its CCAP reaches capacity. Did it change the eligibility rules to restrict who can access the assistance? Are families still able to apply? When was the waitlist enacted? On the flip side, interrogate waitlists that have grown a lot or are exceptionally high — that might be because the state expanded who’s eligible for assistance.
— Who goes on the waitlist? Does it include everyone who applies or just those whose eligibility has been approved? How long do families typically have to wait once they or their child goes on the waitlist? Are certain groups prioritized or able to bypass the waitlist? Are certain groups shut out of assistance? Ask your state for the latest figures — in some cases, the numbers change substantially from month to month — and talk to families that are awaiting assistance. How are families handling childcare without assistance? What other expenses have they had to cut? Ask for any correspondence they have received from state agencies.
— Who receives assistance? Ask enrolled families when they began using CCAP and how much the assistance has reduced their childcare costs. Ask about other impacts on their life. Have they been able to spend money elsewhere? What setbacks have they experienced, if any, since enrolling in the assistance program?
— Examine policy developments and how they might relate to data trends. How has program funding changed since the sunset of pandemic-era relief? Have states done anything to address growth in need for childcare assistance? What new policies are lawmakers debating, and do lawmakers feel existing funding meets the demand? Are they concerned about the current state of the program?
— Talk with childcare workers and providers. Ask what they’re seeing in states with waitlists. How are needy families who can’t get assistance paying for care? Are providers absorbing costs? Are they being paid lower reimbursement rates under CCAP? In states without waitlists, do families and providers know about the childcare assistance programs?
_____ WHERE TO FIND FAMILIES We get it! Finding families to illustrate this story can be hard to do. That’s because it’s really difficult to find people who are specifically not receiving a service or engaged with a system.
Here are some ideas to get started. — Think of other organizations that serve families who would qualify for childcare subsidies. Start with women’s shelters, homeless shelters or other organizations supporting families in poverty. Groups supporting victims of domestic violence or teen parents are good places to start, too. Try the United Way, local Head Start offices, the YMCA or YWCA, or your local Boys & Girls Club chapter.
— Federal law requires states maintain Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies to help families apply for subsidies and find childcare providers. Sometimes they are media friendly and could offer guidance on how to find families. Similarly, most states and many regions have some form of early childhood or early learning coalitions, and many have childcare advocacy groups too. You can also try local and national parent advocacy groups like Community Change, MomsRising and National Parents Union.
— Reach out to childcare providers, who are sometimes giving families steep discounts while they await subsidies. They may be able to connect you with families they know are on waitlists.
— If you find one family, you may be close to finding another: Parents on waitlists often know other parents on waitlists.
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READ ADDITIONAL AP COVERAGE
About 16,000 families waiting for child care vouchers after pandemic funds run out ' AP News
Scholarships for child care are drying up. Now families are paying the price
What to know as Trump targets child care and social service funding to 5 states led by Democrats
How Mississippi could meet the needs of more than 19,000 families waiting for child care vouchers
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EMBED THIS MAP
This map shows which states had waitlists or enrollment freezes as of March 2026, or the most recent time period for which state-level data was available.
To embed, insert this code into your CMS:
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