INDIANAPOLIS — Due to a lack of funding, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) announced this week that no new childcare vouchers would be issued in 2026.
The decision comes almost a year after the agency reinstated a waitlist for childcare vouchers. Last December, roughly 3,000 children were on the waitlist—now, it’s up to 30,000. According to Jacqueline Strong with Little Duckling Early Learning, the move puts childcare programs statewide in jeopardy.
“A lot of programs won’t survive,” Strong said. “With a lot of the families not having access to the vouchers, they’ve not been able to enroll their students.”
Adam Alson, Director of the FSSA’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning (OECOSL), said the state simply doesn’t have the money to expand childcare voucher programs at least until 2027.
“We cannot be so far off from what we enroll versus what our funding is,” Alson said. “It just cannot happen again.”
In late 2024, roughly 70,000 kids were enrolled in a state childcare voucher program. That number has since dropped to 55,000 as of last month. According to Alson, more than a billion dollars in COVID funding that Indiana had relied on for childcare voucher programs has dried up.
“This year’s events underscore the fragility of Indiana’s childcare system—how quickly temporary funding can create unsustainable expectations,” Alson said.
“How did we go from having a clear understanding of you know, these families really need adequate childcare and good programming to, ‘yeah, they may need it, but we’re not going to pay for it’?” Strong said.
According to the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, a lack of affordable and accessible childcare options costs Indiana’s economy $4.2 billion in 2024.
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