Institutions
Administration for Integral Child Care and Development
Administers early-childhood care and development programs, including Child Care and programs related to Head Start and Early Head Start.
Art. 9 ↗ · Sources consulted:Administración para el Cuidado y Desarrollo Integral de la Niñez (ACUDEN) · Administration for Integral Child Care and Development · ACUDEN
Spanish legal name: Administración para el Cuidado y Desarrollo Integral de la Niñez (ACUDEN). Spanish legal names are retained. Some English names are functional translations.
- Government level
- State-level
- Branch or grouping
- Executive
- Type
- Office
- Sources consulted
- Oct 18, 2026
What it does
- Administers Puerto Rico’s Child Care program using Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) funding.Child Care program ↗ · Sources consulted:
- Provides and supports child-development programs connected with Head Start and Early Head Start.Art. 9 ↗ · Sources consulted:
- Publishes quality, training, and technical-support resources for child-care providers and families.ACUDEN Quality System; ACUDEN Academy; ACUDEN Digital ↗ · Sources consulted:
In everyday life
A parent seeking child-care assistance can consult Child Care. A provider may need quality resources or ACUDEN Digital procedures. These are different from an adoption application.Child Care; ACUDEN Digital ↗Foster care and adoption ↗ · Sources consulted:
How to distinguish it from other institutions
ACUDEN’s child-care and development work differs from ADFAN’s protective services, foster care, and adoption functions.Arts. 6, 9 ↗ · Sources consulted:
Not every Head Start center is directly operated by ACUDEN. The law recognizes municipal operators, intermunicipal consortia, and private entities with operational autonomy.Art. 9 ↗ · Sources consulted:
Official services and information
Confirm requirements, forms, and schedules on the linked official portal.
Where it fits
- Component of: Department of the Family Art. 5 ↗ · Sources consulted:
Map groupings support navigation; they do not themselves establish reporting authority.
Leadership & appointments
ACUDEN administrator
The administrator runs operations and reports to the Secretary of the Family. The Secretary appoints the administrator in consultation with the governor.Art. 9 ↗ · Sources consulted:
A name is not published without current verification of the role.
- Appointment
- Verification pending
- Confirmation
- Verification pending
- Term end
- Verification pending
An absent name does not imply a vacancy. Names from the seed report are not automatically treated as current officeholders.
Governance & composition
An administrator leads this administration under the Secretary of the Family. The cited provision does not establish a corporate governing board for it; program councils are separate bodies.Arts. 5, 9 ↗ · Sources consulted:
Sources consulted: Oct 18, 2026
Sources & method
The consultation date is not the institution’s own update date.
- PR.gov — Administración para el Cuidado y Desarrollo Integral de la Niñez (ACUDEN) ↗https://pr.gov/directorio-de-agencias/administracion-para-el-cuidado-y-desarrollo-integral-de-la-ninez-dpto-familia-6Sources consulted: Oct 17, 2026
- Plan de Reorganización 1-1995 — Departamento de la Familia (compilación OGP) ↗https://bvirtualogp.pr.gov/ogp/Bvirtual/reogGubernamental/PDF/Planes%20de%20Reorganizaci%C3%B3n%20vigentes/1-1995.pdfSources consulted: Oct 18, 2026 · Document revised: Aug 13, 2025
- ACUDEN — servicios y programas ↗https://www.acuden.pr.gov/serviciosSources consulted: Oct 18, 2026
- ADFAN — funciones y organización ↗https://adfan.pr.gov/SobreNosotros/Pages/default.aspxSources consulted: Oct 18, 2026