For Parents
Child Care
Early care and education are important to the development of children. We understand that quality child care is expensive. Next to housing, child care is the largest expense in most families’ budgets. Through federal, state, and local funding from the Texas Workforce Commission to Workforce Solutions South Plains, Child Care Services is able to provide financial aid for eligible families and provide professional development opportunities for early care and education providers.
Eligibility criteria to receive Child Care Services (CCS) include:
- Each parent and step-parent, living in the household, must be working, attending school, in training/other educational program, or a combination of these, at least an average of 25 hours a week over a review period or actively looking for employment. Household members include those that live in the household: parents, step-parents, adult dependents and a child or other minor living in the household who is the responsibility of the parent.
- Job Search Child Care: If a parent or step-parent meets eligibility criteria except averaging 25 hours per week of work, school, or training hours, early-learning child care tuition scholarships are available for a limited time to support you while searching for employment. For child care to continue, employment must be found within 90 days of child care starting. Parents may self-attest their need for job search child care to actively seek employment and that their family income is below 85 percent of the state median income if it applies. If after 3 months of job search child care, documented employment eligibility hours are not met, child care will end.
- Meet income guidelines based on gross household income (before taxes) and family size. Types of other household include, but are not limited to: rental income for a house, homestead, store, or other property; income from boarders/lodgers; income from estate and trust funds, or royalties; pensions, annuities, life insurance, and retirement income, Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), workers’ compensation income, alimony, court settlements, or judgements.
- The person applying for services must have primary custody of the child(ren) needing services. If applicant is not the parent of the child needing services, then applicant must provide the following with the application:
- Reason the parent is not available, and
- Paperwork verifying reason parent is not available, and
- Paperwork verifying that applicant is the person responsible for the child.
- Families must live within these counties: Bailey, Cochran, Crosby, Dickens, Floyd, Garza, Hale, Hockley, King, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Motley, Terry, and Yoakum.
- Families who owe recoupment, anywhere in Texas, are not eligible to enroll or continue services until the recoupment has been paid in full.
Income Eligible
CCS enrollment is currently CLOSED.
Those eligible for early learning child care scholarships include children under the age of thirteen and:
- Whose parents qualify as income eligible based on gross household income and family size and need help paying for child care so they can continue to work or attend education or training. Parents must meet also meet the minimum required hours of participating in work, education, or training based on the family composition (1 parent family, 25 hours per week; 2-parent family, 50 hours per week).
- Whose parents require child care to look for work. The family must meet all eligibility criteria except the average hours per week of work, school, or training hours. Child care scholarships are available for a limited time (3 months) to support the parent in becoming employed. For child care to continue, the parent must provide verifiable documentation of employment, wages, and must meet the required number of hours per week.
- Teen parents who are income eligible and need child care to attend school or complete a GED.
- Parents who qualify as income eligible and have children with disabilities under age 19.
| Family Size | TWC Threshold of 85% SMI (Monthly) | TWC Threshold of 85% SMI (Annually) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | $4,550 | $54,601 |
| 3 | $5,621 | $67,449 |
| 4 | $6,691 | $80,296 |
| 5 | $7,762 | $93,143 |
| 6 | $8,833 | $105,991 |
| 7 | $9,033 | $108,400 |
| 8 | $9,234 | $110,809 |
| 9 | $9,435 | $113,218 |
| 10 | $9,636 | $115,626 |
Through Workforce Solutions’ parental choice option, parents have the right to choose the type of child care that best suits their needs and to be informed of all child care options available, including:
- Licensed child care centers
- Licensed child care homes,
- Registered family homes, and
- Relative Child Care Provider
To learn more about the types of child care operations click here.
