Human Services News

From Urban Institute:

Vouchers play an important role in federal efforts to help low-income families obtain both housing and child care.

These programs constitute essential components of the promise of welfare reform to encourage and support work among low-income families.

And both types of vouchers have the potential to enhance long-term outcomes for children.

Although federal housing and child care voucher programs differ in important respects, they also face common challenges, and innovations in one area can potentially inform efforts in the other.

In the mid-1970s, the federal government began offering vouchers to help low income families pay for rental housing in the private market.

Beginning in 1988, the federal government required states to offer parents the choice of receiving a voucher rather than enrolling with a contracted care provider2.

The Child Care and Development Fund is a block grant to states, allowing substantial variability in design and implementation, which essentially leads to a different voucher program in each state (and sometimes within states).

This pattern is thought to be related to the tight link between subsidy eligibility and work, the dynamic work patterns of low-income families, what families must do to retain subsidies, and the changing nature of the child care needs of low-income families.

First, the success of both programs in helping families access high-quality services depends upon the supply of these services in the private market and the willingness of providers to accept voucher families.

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