INDIANA — The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) has announced that no new state childcare vouchers will be issued in 2026 due to critical funding constraints, a decision that leaves approximately 30,000 children on a growing waitlist and puts childcare programs across the state at risk of closure.
The freeze comes nearly a year after the FSSA’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning (OECOSL) reinstated a waitlist for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) vouchers. The waitlist has since swelled from roughly 3,000 children last December to its current total of 30,000.
Funding Cuts Threaten Programs
FSSA officials cited the drying up of over a billion dollars in temporary, COVID-related federal funding as the primary reason for the program freeze, stating they do not have the money to expand or resume issuing new vouchers until at least 2027.
Adam Alson, Director of OECOSL, said this year’s events underscore the fragility of Indiana’s childcare system—how quickly temporary funding can create unsustainable expectations.
The number of children enrolled in the state’s voucher programs has already dropped from a peak of approximately 70,000 in late 2024 to 55,000 as of last month…