STAM Conference

The Office of Child Care (OCC) is pleased to announce that the 2024 State and Territory CCDF Administrators Meeting (STAM 2024) will be an in-person event, and it will take place from Tuesday, July 30th, through Thursday, August 1st, at the Hyatt Regency Reston, 1800 Presidents Street, Reston, Virginia 20190. Virtual participation options will be available as well.

This year’s meeting will focus on leading and implementing the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) program, including an emphasis on strategies for implementing provisions of the 2024 CCDF Final Rule.

Meeting Schedule
STAM 2024 proceedings will begin at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time [EDT]) on Tuesday, July 30th, and will conclude by 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, August 1st. There will be meeting and engagement opportunities for all attendees on all 3 meeting days.

The proceedings on Tuesday, July 30th, will focus on Federal updates and discussions among OCC leaders, CCDF administrators, and lead agency staff members. Those on Wednesday, July 31st, and Thursday, August 1st, will include a mix of plenary sessions and breakouts and will feature a significant amount of time dedicated to peer-to-peer discussions. On Friday, August 2nd, OCC will host a half-day meeting for territory CCDF administrators and staff members (by invitation only) that will begin at 9:00 a.m. (EDT) and will conclude by 1:00 p.m. (EDT).

Agenda
STAM 2024 will focus heavily on developing strategies to implement requirements for the 2024 CCDF Final Rule, with an emphasis on interstate and inter-territory discussions with subject-matter experts (SME). The Agenda will feature presentations by SMEs and technical assistance (TA) specialists, regional meetings, facilitated peer-learning discussions, networking opportunities, Federal updates, opportunities for discussions with Federal staff, and an analysis of data and information submitted by lead agencies.

The STAM 2024 Agenda includes a focus on the following topics:
• Payment practices, including paying prospectively and paying based on enrollment
• Supply-building through the use of grants and contracts
• Eligibility policies, including presumptive eligibility and 12-month eligibility
• Information technology and data system challenges and opportunities
• The lowering of co-payments
• The clarification of CCDF policies related to certain topics, including consumer education and background checks.

Discussions around these topics will include information about new and clarified policies and an extensive consideration of implementation strategies related to each policy. Breakout plans for STAM 2024 include such elements as (1) an explanation and a clarification of new policies, (2) discussions with and among state representatives about strategies they have used to implement new and existing CCDF policies, (3) the sharing of TA tools and resources to support implementation, and (4) an exploration of other considerations—including program integrity and coordination with partners across child care systems—relevant to the implementation of CCDF policies.