Federal child care and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) policies are evolving quickly, creating new responsibilities and opportunities for state administrators.

On May 7 at 2 PM (ET) the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) and PCG will be hosting, Child Care and TANF Administration: Working in a Changing Landscape. This webinar will bring Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and TANF leaders together to examine the most significant shifts shaping the field—including the extended CCDF waiver period, 2026 PDG B‑5 state activities, and the heightened national focus on child care subsidy integrity and fraud prevention. Moderated by Dr. Allison Comport, Senior Consultant at PCG, webinar panelists include:

• Michelle Hight Thomas, Vice President of Strategy and Marketing, TCC Solutions
• Tana Senn, Secretary, Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families
• Nicole Rose, Assistant Secretary, Early Learning, Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families
• Adam Alson, Director, Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
• Deborah Joffe, Manager, PCG

Through expert insights and state examples, this webinar will clarify what these changes mean for program operations, highlight strategies for maintaining access while strengthening accountability, and provide practical guidance for aligning child care and TANF funding to support family stability in a shifting policy landscape.

Register Here

Child Care Fraud in the Spotlight

Dr. Comport’s recently published brief, A Window of Opportunity on Child Care Fraud—If We Don’t Waste It, provides the policy analysis that helps explain why this webinar is so timely. It traces how child care fraud abruptly rose to national attention following a late December 2025 viral video, and how that focusing event collided with:

• Longstanding audit findings about attendance tracking weaknesses
• Existing, feasible technological solutions
• A political environment primed to act quickly

Using the multiple streams framework, the brief argues that these factors converged to open a short-lived policy window, that led to paused or restricted CCDF payments in several large states, often before audits confirmed widespread fraud.

Dr. Comport cautions against reactive responses that prioritize risk avoidance over system improvement. It shows that many payment errors stem from complex rules, outdated systems, and misalignment, not provider bad intent. The lesson is clear: freezing funds or layering punitive controls may mitigate political risk, but they do not fix the underlying problems.

Read A Window of Opportunity on Child Care Fraud—If We Don’t Waste It.

Join ASPHA and PCG on May 7 at 2 PM (ET) for Child Care and TANF Administration: Working in a Changing Landscape.