Senators asked to bridge $7.6M gap in Guam childcare

By Jayvee Vallejera

With so many uncertainties over federal funding policy, the Guam legislature's special session on a bill allocating local funds for childcare sparked questions about the sustainability of the Bureau of Child Care Services.

During a committee-of-the-whole session, officials said Guam needed a total of $29 million to run the childcare program, which benefits 2,730 children.

Of the required amount, $25 million covers payments for childcare providers, while the rest is for administrative costs. 

In fiscal 2026, the federal government provided $22 million through the Childcare Development Fund, leaving a shortfall of $7.6 million for the remainder of the fiscal year, according to Teresa Arriola, director of the Department of Public Health and Social Services, which runs the bureau.

The bureau asked the legislature for supplemental funding to tide it over until the end of the fiscal year.

The bureau typically gets $22 million in CCDF funds each year. In previous years, the bureau used unspent funds from other grants to supplement the shortfall. However, those grants have already expired, Arriola said, and their only active grant at this time is the current CCDF grant.

“There were a lot of things we had that we no longer have that were able to augment the CCDF fund. So, here we are today, and we need $7.6 million to carry us through September,” she added. 

Arriola blamed the delayed release of CCDF allotments and the unknown amounts they would receive each quarter for much of the program's uncertainty. “The way the allotments were coming in was very haphazardly compared to in the past where it was quarterly.”

She said the Trump administration’s “Defend the Spend” policy impacted the timing of the release of the funds.

“We're not getting our allotments quarterly to really see what we're getting. We need the local infusion to keep up with the current eligibility of families and children, which is about 2,700 kids in the program today,” she said. 

Sen. Therese Terlaje, who echoed concerns of childcare providers and parents about payments and the program's stability, asked the pointed question: “Do you have a potential plan for fiscal year 2027?”

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“What are we going to do here? This is really a huge stability issue, because if we pass this bill today, it takes care of the remaining months of 2026 only,” she said.

Terlaje was referring to the governor-proposed Bill 1 (9-S) to allot, among others, $11.4 million for childcare subsidy payments.

Arriola clarified that they are asking for $7.6 million only—not $11.4 million. The differing numbers were not immediately clarified at the session. The bill remains pending.

When Terlaje suggested possibly operating the childcare program based only on the $22 million in CCDF funds that Guam could expect, Arriola cited a Mississippi study that projects a 20-percent loss in the number of children benefiting from the program. That’s about 591 children in Guam who will be cut from the program.

If BCCS were to continue running at the $29 million level, BCCS would have to ask the Legislature for a supplemental budget, said Patricia Mafnas of the Bureau of Social Services Administration. If not, BCCS would have to draw back and change its eligibility criteria. That means fewer children and families will benefit from subsidized child care.

“That's the two ranges. Either we get the money supported by the Legislature to maintain where we are now, or we have to draw back the eligibility criteria to live within our federal dollars,” Mafnas added.

Terlaje said she supports passing the supplemental bill, but “I think we need a plan as soon as possible. This cannot go on like this. There must be a plan, and it must be based on all the factors that we have in front of us.”

It’s not that BCCS didn’t prepare for the anticipated shortfalls. Arriola said. She said they have been rolling back some eligibility requirements that were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, when Guam was flush with cash.

Starting last year, BCCS emergency responders and their kids were no longer covered by the program. Second, starting this year, BCCS went back to a family cost-share arrangement, where parents pay out of pocket for a small portion of the cost of childcare services.

Sen. Chris Duenas, who presided over the session, said the issue of delays in payments to Guam’s childcare providers has been ongoing since 2025.

GovGuam did manage to scrounge some money from different accounts within DPHSS to be able to partially pay for money owed “because of the urgency of the situation,” said Edward Birn, director of the Department of Administration.

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Before the pandemic, BCCS used to receive between $10 million and $13 million in CCDF funds each fiscal year before it went up to $22 million in the last two fiscal years, Arriola said.

As the Guam legislature met to discuss the fate of childcare services in Guam, the advocacy group Guam Childcare Development Advocacy Coalition gave Duenas a failing grade for allegedly not putting Guam's children first and for actions that didn’t prioritize them.

The group’s report card gave Duenas an overall “F” grade.

Among other perceived shortcomings, Duenas allegedly missed opportunities to prioritize early learning and the well-being of Guam's youngest children and their families.

Duenas allegedly failed to propose a responsible budget plan that invests in early childhood and strengthens Guam’s future.

The group also accuses him of choosing to support discretionary projects over investments in children, families, and Guam’s future. They also claim he twice approved budgets that treated early learning as nonessential.

“Our children deserve bold leadership and smart investments, not excuses. They deserve to be a priority—today and every day,” said a coalition flyer shared on social media. “We deserve better.”

The Childcare Report Card claims to evaluate Guam’s leaders based on observed actions and support for childcare policy, accountability, and the well-being of Guam’s children and families.

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