The CCDF is a funding programme, not a law imposing mandates or requirements like the FMLA, and as currently structured it does little to ensure or upgrade the quality of services available to families. But it could contribute to quality. According to the National Academy of Science, young children benefit from care that offers them ample verbal and cognitive stimulations, sensitive and responsive care-giving and generous amounts of attention and support. These positive experiences are most prevalent when the children are in small groups, when the child-adult ratios are low, and when caregivers are educated, well-compensated, and stable in their roles. All these features of good care for infants and toddlers contribute to its cost, however. A more flexible approach already built into the CCDF is the requirement that states use 4 per cent of their federal childcare funding for quality improvement. These funds can support activities to educate consumers about childcare, to expand supply, or to strengthen programs by providing trainings, offering stipends to encourage staff retention, or facility improvement grants. Establishing set-aside for quality is an important step, but it will take significantly more than 4 per cent of subsidy funding to have a detectable impact on the quality of care provided in the sprawling American market of diverse childcare services. The number of childcare centers nationwide expanded by 21 per cent from 1997 to till date, whereas the number of registered family childcare homes more than doubled.
