For the first time since April 2024, the Department of Early Education and Care will open access to childcare financial assistance for income-eligible families.
A new funding injection will open about 2,100 seats, chipping away at the waitlist of roughly 32,000 children as of July.
The aid expansion is funded with $31.2 million from the 4% surtax on residents who make over $1 million annually. It will be used to expand vouchers and contracted seats for income-eligible children, as well as dedicate funding for early education care and staff, Deputy Commissioner of Family Access and Engagement Tyreese Nicolas said at an Advisory Council on Early Education and Care meeting Thursday.
“That’s a really important milestone for EEC, and more importantly, for children and families who have been waiting to access childcare financial assistance,” Nicolas said.
There are just under 39,000 children in care who are in the income-eligible program, EEC officials said Thursday. Childcare financial assistance is funded through a combination of federal and state funding, a 49/51 split.
“Unlike many other public benefit safety programs, income-eligible childcare financial assistance is tied to available funding,” Nicolas said. “So when a family is eligible, access isn’t always immediate, and families may have to wait for assistance.”
Since that assistance has been on pause for two and a half years, a waitlist has hovered around 30,000 children, reaching just under 32,000 in July.
“This investment will not allow us to reach every family that is waiting today, but it allows us to reopen the door again,” Nicolas said.
The $31 million will fund about 2,100 seats.
EEC has three primary childcare financial assistance programs: income-eligible, Department of Transitional Assistance. and Department of Children and Families-related care. Income-eligible is the largest subsidy program, and certain priority populations are bumped up on the waitlist, including families experiencing homelessness or domestic violence, parents under 25, children with a disability, families with income at or below 50% of the state median income, and the children of early education and care providers.
Children who are referred to childcare financial assistance through DTA or DCF are guaranteed access under state law, so are not subject to the same waitlist, and they have continued to have access over the last two years while it’s been closed to income-eligible families.
“When we say we’re reopening access, we are specifically talking about creating new opportunities for our income-eligible families from the waitlist,” Nicolas said.
EEC offers this aid in two ways: through vouchers given directly to families to choose a provider, and through the state purchasing contracted seats in a care center, which then must be given to an income-eligible family.
Nicolas said the dual forms of assistance are meant to help families that need more flexibility have the option of using vouchers, while also providing stability for childcare providers who can count on filling a contracted seat.
“It’s about expanding both pathways — giving families more opportunities to access different types of care, increasing capacity within our provider system, and providing additional resources to support the workforce,” she said.
Of the $31.2 million funding expansion, $20.5 million will go to vouchers (including $12.5 million for the general waitlist and $8 million dedicated for the children of staff working in early education and care programs), and $10.7 million to contracted spots.