How to Apply for Child Care Financial Assistance in Your State or Territory

What is child care financial assistance?

Child care financial assistance helps eligible families with low incomes pay for child care. It is often called a child care subsidy, voucher or certificate. The federal Child Care and Development Fund supports state, territory and Tribal programs, but families normally apply through the program responsible for the area where they live.

This is different from Head Start or Early Head Start. Those programs provide comprehensive early childhood services to eligible children and families under a separate program. If that is the assistance you need, see the Helpydo guide to applying for Head Start or Early Head Start.

Where do you apply?

There is no single national application for state and territory child care subsidies. The federal system gives states and territories responsibility for administering their programs within federal CCDF requirements.

ChildCare.gov, operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides state and territory resources that direct families to local child care financial assistance programs. Select the state or territory where you live and use its Financial Assistance Resources for Families information to find the responsible program and current application route.

Do not assume that an application process used in another state applies to you. Program names, administering agencies, income limits, application portals, documents and local procedures can differ.

Who can qualify under the federal CCDF rules?

Federal regulation 45 CFR 98.20 establishes the basic CCDF eligibility framework. At an eligibility determination or redetermination, a child generally must:

• be under age 13; or, if the Lead Agency chooses, be under age 19 and physically or mentally incapable of caring for themselves or under court supervision;
• live in a family whose income does not exceed 85% of State Median Income for a family of the same size;
• live in a family whose assets do not exceed $1,000,000, as certified by the family; and
• live with a parent or parents who are working or attending a job training or educational program, or receive or need to receive protective services under the applicable rules.

These federal limits do not mean every family below 85% of State Median Income automatically qualifies. A state or territory may establish additional eligibility conditions or priority rules and may set its initial income eligibility threshold below the federal maximum. That is why you must check the current rules for the program where you live.

Do parents have to be working or attending school?

Federal CCDF rules generally require the child to reside with a parent or parents who are working or attending a job training or educational program, unless the child qualifies through protective-services provisions. Lead Agencies define important parts of their own program rules, including how qualifying activities are administered.

Federal rules also allow a Lead Agency to choose to initially qualify families when a parent is seeking employment. If a state or territory uses that option, its local rules determine how the job-search pathway operates within the federal framework.

Do not assume that a particular number of work or school hours is required nationwide. Check your own program's eligibility policy.

What is the income limit?

There is no single dollar income limit for every family in the United States. Federal rules provide that family income may not exceed 85% of the State Median Income for a family of the same size, but a Lead Agency can establish a lower threshold for initial eligibility.

Because State Median Income varies and local programs may use different initial thresholds, the dollar amount that applies to a family depends on where the family lives, family size and the current rules of that state or territory program.

Federal rules also require Lead Agencies to account for irregular fluctuations in earnings when establishing eligibility processes. Temporary increases in income are not supposed to disrupt eligibility merely because a monthly amount temporarily rises above the federal threshold when those fluctuations are taken into account under the rule.

What documents will you need?

There is no universal federal document checklist for every family application. The state or territory program determines the verification process and tells applicants what information they must provide.

Depending on the local eligibility rules and your circumstances, the program may need information that establishes family composition, the child's eligibility, income and a parent's work, education, training or other qualifying status. Follow the current checklist issued by your own program rather than relying on a document list from another state.

Federal rules allow Lead Agencies, at their option, to use enrollment in other benefit programs or documents already used for other benefit programs to verify aligned CCDF eligibility requirements. Whether this is available to you depends on your state or territory's process.

Can you apply for child care assistance online?

Online availability varies by state and territory. There is no single federal portal that accepts CCDF subsidy applications from families nationwide.

Federal regulations require Lead Agencies to design eligibility processes that avoid unnecessarily disrupting a parent's employment, education or training and specifically identify online applications and other measures, to the extent practicable. The actual application channel is established locally, so use your state or territory program's current instructions.

Is child care financial assistance free?

Not necessarily. Federal rules require state and territory Lead Agencies to establish and periodically revise a sliding fee scale for families receiving CCDF services. The scale must be based on family income and family size and may consider other appropriate factors.

The rules require family copayments to be affordable and not create a barrier to receiving assistance. Lead Agencies may waive copayments for specified groups, including families at or below 150% of the federal poverty level, families with children in foster or kinship care or needing protective services, families experiencing homelessness, families with a child with a disability, families with children enrolled in Head Start or Early Head Start, and other categories established by the Lead Agency.

Because the sliding fee scale and waiver policies are established by the Lead Agency, your actual copayment depends on the program where you live. A provider may also have charges that must be evaluated under the state's subsidy and provider-payment policies, so review your authorization carefully before enrolling.

How long does eligibility last after approval?

Federal regulation requires a Lead Agency to redetermine a child's eligibility no sooner than 12 months after the initial eligibility determination or most recent redetermination.

During that period, a child who qualified at the most recent determination generally remains eligible at least at the same service level despite specified temporary changes, including temporary changes in a parent's work, training or education, as long as the applicable federal conditions continue to be met. The rule also protects eligibility when a child turns 13 during that minimum eligibility period.

If a parent has a non-temporary loss of work or stops participating in education or training, a Lead Agency may choose to discontinue assistance before the next redetermination. If it uses that option, federal rules require at least 3 months of continued assistance so the parent can search for work or resume a qualifying activity.

Can you use the subsidy with any child care provider?

Do not assume every provider can accept your assistance. State and territory programs administer provider eligibility and participation requirements. Your program can tell you which providers participate and how your subsidy can be used.

Federal rules require Lead Agencies to maintain consumer-friendly websites with information that helps families compare child care. This includes a localized, ZIP-code-searchable list of licensed providers and information about licensing, monitoring and inspection results, available quality information, referrals and financial assistance.

Before committing to care, confirm with both the program and provider that the provider can accept your assistance and understand any family copayment or other amount you may be responsible for.

What if your job or income changes after approval?

A temporary change does not automatically mean immediate loss of assistance. Federal rules protect the minimum 12-month eligibility period against specified temporary changes in employment, training or education and certain income fluctuations.

Families must report if income exceeds 85% of State Median Income, taking irregular income fluctuations into account. A Lead Agency may also require reporting of a non-temporary end to work, training or education. Any additional reporting requirements established locally cannot impose an undue burden, and programs must offer appropriate ways to report changes without requiring an office visit for those additional reporting requirements.

Follow the change-reporting instructions in your approval notice or state or territory program rules. Families may also voluntarily report changes, and the Lead Agency must act on information when it would reduce the family's copayment or increase the subsidy.

How is this different from Head Start?

Child care financial assistance and Head Start can both help families with low incomes, but they are different programs. CCDF subsidies primarily help eligible families pay for child care while parents participate in qualifying activities. Head Start and Early Head Start provide early learning and comprehensive family services under their own eligibility and enrollment rules.

If you are looking specifically for Head Start services, use the separate guide to apply for Head Start or Early Head Start. Eligibility for one program should not be assumed to establish eligibility for the other.

Before you apply

• Use the program for the state or territory where you live.
• Check the current local income threshold rather than using the federal 85% State Median Income ceiling as an automatic eligibility guarantee.
• Read the program's definition of qualifying work, education, training or other circumstances.
• Use the document checklist provided by your local program.
• Ask whether there is a waiting list or priority system if assistance is not immediately available.
• Confirm that your preferred child care provider can participate in the subsidy program.
• Review the family copayment and any other amounts you may have to pay before finalizing care.