The federal government has a long history of investing in early childhood care and education. As early as the 1930s, the government was supporting nursery schools for low-income children. Over time, the federal role in early childhood care and education has evolved, and today's federal investments in this area come in many forms. This report begins with information on current and historical funding levels for a selection of early childhood care and education programs and tax provisions. Table 1 presents information on the FY2017 Obama Administration's budget request for such programs, while Table 2 provides a seven-year funding history (FY2010-FY2016) for these early childhood care and education programs and tax provisions. The funding section is followed by a series of program summaries (Table 3 has a comparison of basic characteristics for selected programs). The program summaries have been organized into three categories: (1) targeted programs that exclusively or primarily provide early childhood services; (2) tax provisions that support the child care expenses of working families; and (3) certain broad-based and flexible programs that may be used to support early childhood care and education. Appendix A of this report provides some additional information on early childhood programs that do not currently receive federal funding. Appendix B presents a list of abbreviations and acronyms used throughout the report.