Indianapolis, Indiana – Indiana’s child care voucher waitlist is less than a quarter of the size it was in May, giving thousands of families a shorter line to financial help with care.
The decline follows a $200 million investment announced by Gov. Mike Braun in April. By the end of October, 9,006 children remained on the waiting list, down from 41,175 in May, a reduction of 32,169 children, or about 78%.
Braun announced the figures this week, pointing to expanded access to Child Care and Development Fund vouchers as a major step in his effort to make life more affordable for Hoosier families. Nearly 48,000 children now receive the vouchers, which help families pay for child care.
“Making life more affordable for Hoosiers is a top priority of mine,” said Gov. Braun.
“These results reflect focused efforts to deliver immediate relief to families and accelerate access to affordable child care.”
The money came from the Financial Responsibility and Opportunity Growth, or FROG, Fund. Braun directed the $200 million investment toward expanding access to CCDF vouchers, with enrollment priorities covering several groups of children.
Those priorities included siblings of children already receiving vouchers, along with infants, toddlers and children ages 3, 4 and 5. The approach put younger children and siblings of existing voucher holders among those prioritized as the additional funding expanded access.
The expansion also included a set of exemptions for children in foster and kinship families, children with special needs and children experiencing homelessness. Children of child care workers and Ivy Tech students were included in those exemptions as well.
For Braun, the significance extends beyond the household child care bill. He described the voucher program as a way to give families more room to pursue work and training opportunities while supporting Indiana’s workforce.
“And, beyond that, the child care voucher system is not only beneficial to Hoosiers from an affordability standpoint, but it is an economic engine creating lasting change. Today, with nearly 48,000 children now receiving child care vouchers, families have the flexibility to strengthen the state’s workforce by pursuing better jobs, gaining new skills, and building stronger futures.”
The October figures show substantial progress since the investment was announced, though the waiting list has not disappeared. Just over 9,000 children were still awaiting access at the end of the month.
That remaining need sits alongside a sharp change over five months: a list that once exceeded 41,000 children has fallen below 10,000, while nearly 48,000 children statewide now receive voucher support.
