# Plain Language Summary: Increasing Parent Choice and Preventing the Child Care Cliff Act of 2021

This bill tackles a real problem many working families face: the sudden loss of child care assistance when their income increases slightly. Right now, when a parent's earnings go up just enough to exceed their state's income limit for child care help, they lose all their assistance at once. This creates what's called the "child care cliff"—families suddenly face the full cost of child care, which can be thousands of dollars per month, making it financially impossible to keep working. This bill requires states to phase out child care assistance gradually instead of cutting it off abruptly, so families don't face this cliff.

Under this bill, states must allow parents who are working or in job training programs to keep receiving some child care assistance even after their income rises above the initial qualification limit—as long as their income stays below 85 percent of their state's median income. Instead of losing all help overnight, families would see their assistance decrease slowly as they earn more money. This gives working parents a real chance to improve their financial situation without suddenly being unable to afford childcare and having to leave their jobs.

The bill also increases flexibility in how states can use their child care funding for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, giving them more options in how they structure their assistance programs. The practical effect is that low-income working families would have more breathing room as they climb out of poverty, making it actually possible to earn more without becoming worse off financially. This encourages parents to work and pursue education or training without fear of losing critical support.

Increasing Parent Choice and Preventing the Child Care Cliff Act of 2021

Increasing Parent Choice and Preventing the Child Care Cliff Act of 2021 This bill requires states receiving funds for child care assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to provide for the graduated phaseout of such assistance for parents whose family income exceeds the initial threshold to qualify for assistance but does not exceed 85% of the state median income for a family of the same size.