Kansas child care providers will have to pay licensing fees once again after President Donald Trump's administration cut funding to the state that had been authorized by Congress. Months after Gov. Laura Kelly announced that the state would no longer charge certain fees of child care providers, those fees are being reinstated. That's because the U.S. Department of Education terminated a congressionally authorized federal program. "The action that the Trump administration is forcing us to take related to this program is not a reflection of the importance we place in that work," said Janet Stanek, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, in a letter to providers. "We do apologize for the position that this has put you in and please be assured that if anything changes due to our appeal or if additional funding is secured, we will notify you immediately." The health department, which is the state agency responsible for child care licensing, informed providers in
an April 3 letter . The letter said, "The termination order was unexpected, abrupt, and takes effect immediately." "We disagree with this decision and recognize the importance of child care providers," Stanek said. "Unfortunately, without this federal funding in place, KDHE cannot sustain the costs of waiving these fees. The decision by the Trump administration to defund this initiative means that we have no choice but to reinstate the child care licensing and background check fees effective immediately."
Kansas had waived child care licensing fees
The move comes after the governor announced in September that
the state was using federal funding to cover fees for licensing, background checks and fingerprinting for new and existing child care providers. The money came from excess federal funds and was going to be used to waive fees through 2025, or until funds were used up. "I'm committed to expanding access to affordable, high-quality child care opportunities for Kansas children and families," Kelly said at the time. "These funds allow for continued support for child care providers by removing financial barriers." The state had already been covering licensing fee costs since 2021 using discretionary federal funding from pandemic relief, and the state later used reallocated funding that was also from COVID-19 aid. Stanek had said at the time the money "will go a long way in allowing potential and current child care providers to continue the important work of creating and sustaining quality child care options for Kansas families."
How much do government fees cost child care?
The state had hoped that waiving the fees would lower the start-up cost amid a child care shortage while also incentivizing unlicensed providers to get licensed. Fee amounts can vary,
depending on the type of license and who does the background check and fingerprinting. A family child care home has a $85 state licensing fee, while a child care center has a fee of $75 plus $1 for each child. Preschools have varying levels of fee with a max of $75, while school-age programs and drop-in programs have $20 fees. There may also be local fees on top of the state fees. Background checks are required by both federal rule and state law for anyone living, working or volunteering at a day care. The current fee for fingerprint background checks are $58 for most staff and $7 for supervised volunteers and certain other roles.
What governor and KDHE say about funding cut
The governor's office was critical of the federal funding cut. "The Trump Administration's decision to cut funding covering state licensing, background check, and fingerprinting fees for child care providers will directly harm Kansas children and families," said Grace Hoge, a spokesperson for the governor. "Governor Kelly championed this commonsense policy to break down financial barriers for child care providers setting up shop in Kansas. Stripping this funding places additional obstacles in front of Kansas families needing access to affordable, high-quality child care." KDHE spokesperson Jill Bronaugh told The Capital-Journal the agency had used covered fees for thousands of providers over the past three and a half years. "Child care providers are critical to Kansas families, communities, and our state's economy," Bronaugh said. "Since September 2021, KDHE has been able to cover the license application fees for 15,573 child care providers for a savings of $1.43 million through congressionally approved federal funding, as well as state funding in 2024. We have also been able to cover the cost of 39,422 background checks for a provider savings of $1.91 million through this same funding." She said the state "had no choice but to reinstate" the fees immediately. "While we plan to appeal this decision, until we hear otherwise, we must move forward with reinstating the fees," Bronaugh said. "This action, taken by the Trump administration, in no way reflects the importance we place on our child care providers throughout the state and the work that they do. We will continue to keep our child care providers informed of future changes or decisions as we become aware of them."
Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd .
