Do You Know About Child Care Assistance?

Everyone should know about child care assistance. It is a huge benefit for families who have difficulty affording child care and it offers the provider an opportunity to offer services to those families.

The government, both federal and state, can help families pay for child care. It is critical that providers and parents know about these programs.

Our school, is an child care subsidy provider. Roughly 65% to 75% of our students receive assistance from the state. These hardworking families would find it difficult to send their children to school.

Can you see how important these programs are? For us as the provider, we would lose a lot of kids and would have difficulty running our school. Often, parents would not be able to work or would have to find alternative, less desirable care. What is worst, the kids who attend our school would not be able to receieve the quality early education our school provides.

For Providers
It is in your(the provider)best interest to research how to become a participating provider. No matter what demographic you serve, you may have parents who qualify for assistance. Helping people find money will only make your school more affordable and more accessable.

Here are great questions to ask the State or local agency when inquiring about becoming a "participating provider".

What do I need to do as a provider to participate in the child care assistance program?

How do I get information about my State's licensing requirements?

How do I get information about child care rates and parent co-payments?

What forms do I need to fill out, what records need to be kept, and what personal information will I need to share?

How will parents know I am a partcipating provider

What documentation do parents need to provide in order to receive child care assistance?

For Parents
How do parents apply for assistance? You have to contact your state or local agency. Each state is different. Some call it a child care subsidy and some states offer child care vouchers.

You may be elgible for assistance if:

You need child care to work, go to school, or receieve training;

Your income is not higher than a certain level set by your state; and

Your child is under the age of thirteen.

The amount you may qualify for varies from state to state. Many states, work with a wage scale. They base the amount of the subsidy on how much the parent makes. Often times this results in a "co-pay" where the state and the parent make payments to the provider for care.

Where do I get child care assistance information?

Each state has subsidy contact information. Please see our Child Care Resource page for Child Care Assistance information.