Indiana Restores $200 Million to Child Care Voucher Program

On April 14, 2026, Governor Mike Braun announced a $200 million investment to restore and expand Indiana’s Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) voucher program. The funding will be directed through the state’s Financial Responsibility and Opportunity Growth (FROG) Fund and is pending review by the State Budget Committee.

The announcement comes after a difficult stretch for Indiana families and child care providers. When temporary federal COVID-19 relief funding expired in late 2024, care for more than 55,000 children was put in jeopardy, creating serious challenges for families, providers, and employers. Enrollment in the CCDF voucher program was frozen, leaving many providers struggling to stay open and families without options.

With this new funding, the state will resume enrolling CCDF voucher-eligible children and increase total enrollments by 14,000, bringing the projected total to 57,000. Enrollment will prioritize:

• Siblings of current voucher holders
• Infants, toddlers, and children ages 3 to 5
• Children of foster and kinship families
• Children with special needs
• Homeless children
• Children of child care workers
• Children of Ivy Tech students

A Provider’s Story

The human cost of the previous enrollment freeze is real. Holly Maxwell, an early learning provider from Lebanon, Indiana, was among those forced to close her doors because of earlier state funding cuts. WTHR recently sat down with her to talk about what that experience was like and what this new investment means for providers and families. Her story is worth your time.

For the full details of the Governor’s announcement, including statements from business and child care leaders across the state, read the official press release.