Child Care Assistance under Welfare Reform: Early Responses by the States. Occasional Paper Number 15. Assessing the New Federalism: An Urban Institute Program To Assess Changing Social Policies.

When the demand for child care assistance exceeds the available federal and state child care funds, the group most likely to be left without assistance is low-income working families with no connection to the welfare system. Despite a $600 million increase in federal funds for child care, there is only enough money to serve half of the low-income families needing child care assistance. This paper also examines who receives child care assistance and who pays for it.