In January 2026, the U.S. The Department of Health and Human Services temporarily froze access to several major funding streams that Colorado uses for childcare and family assistance. Included in this temporary freeze was the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) which pays most of the subsidies that help low-income families afford child care, including the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program for over 27,000 children.
Since this attempt in January, Colorado joined four other states (California, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York) to sue the federal administration, arguing that HHS had no legal authority to freeze the funds in this manner. The courts have ordered that the Trump administration maintain funding to Colorado and the other states while the lawsuit continues. Even with intervention from the courts, this episode created significant uncertainty for families, childcare providers, businesses, and local governments in Colorado.
Currently, 24 counties, including Jefferson County, in Colorado have either stopped or severely limited new enrollments in the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program because there is not enough funding to cover costs of the program. This current funding freeze is affecting providers and families trying to access affordable childcare. With the federal funding freeze threat, anyone either providing CCCAP childcare or attending a center that offers CCAP, would have lost access to care. This would have devastating consequences with over 600 households in Jefferson County potentially losing access to CCCAP-funded childcare.
“Our center depends on CCCAP for nearly 60% of our revenue. The ongoing state funding freeze, combined with growing federal threats, has pushed us to the brink. With CCCAP reimbursements frozen, we are operating at a loss, and I am unable to pay myself and have taken on personal debt to keep our doors open. Each month, we lose approximately $22,500 in revenue, an unsustainable gap for a small, Denver-metro provider. If CCCAP remains frozen, we will be forced to close one of our sites at the end of 2026, eliminating critical child care access for working families and further destabilizing the regional workforce.”
– Local Childcare Provider
The Greater Arvada Chamber, in collaboration with childcare partners and childcare providers, launched a federal-level advocacy effort to inform our federally elected officials about the uncertainty facing childcare funding and the need to keep funds like CCDF safe and available for families and providers in Colorado.
In partnership with childcare providers, including Family Child Care Home providers and licensed child care centers, the Chamber submitted a letter and testimonials to U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper, and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. The letter emphasized that the federal funding freeze is not just a budget issue but a direct threat to Colorado’s childcare infrastructure, local economies, and workforce stability. It underscores how quickly funds will be exhausted, the scale of providers and families at risk, especially in Jefferson County, and the cascading effects on employers who rely on parents’ ability to work. It highlights that small and home-based providers, already operating on thin margins in a shortage environment, face layoffs, closures, and difficult choices that will deepen existing gaps in access and affordability. Ultimately, it urged elected officials to take swift action to restore and safeguard childcare funding as an essential economic and workforce investment.
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