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How Does Child Care Financial Assistance in North Carolina Work?

Military Families: Learn how to get child care fee assistance >>

North Carolina's Division of Child Development uses a combination of state and federal funds to provide subsidized child care services to eligible families through a locally administered state-supervised voucher system. Annually each county receives a combination of state and federal funding from the Division of Child Development for subsidized child care services. The amount of funding allocated to each county is determined by legislation.

If the county department of social services or other local purchasing agency does not have enough funding to serve all families who apply for subsidized child care, the agency may establish priorities for services. For example, an agency may choose to give priority to working parent(s) or families who need child care to support child protective services.

If a family meets the eligibility criteria, the state of North Carolina pays a portion of the cost of child care. Parents are free to choose a child care arrangement that best fits their needs as long as the provider chosen participates in the Subsidized Child Care Program.

The amount the state pays for child care depends on:

NOTICE: Global Site Search function is currently under maintenance and will not provide results. We apologize for the inconvenience. This does not impact the Child Care or Kindergarten searches.

Do I Qualify?

You may be eligible to receive child care assistance if one or more of the following situations apply to your family:

  • You are working or are attempting to find work
  • You are in school or in a job training program
  • Your child is receiving child protective services
  • Your child needs care to support child welfare services or if your family is experiencing a crisis
  • Your child has developmental needs

Most families, including those receiving Work First Family Assistance , are required to pay a percentage of their child care costs based upon their gross monthly income. The percentage is 10%, if applicable.

Application Process

If this is your first time applying for child care subsidy, please be advised that you must be the parent or legal guardian of the child receiving subsidy benefits. The information provided below will help you with the application process.

If you meet the eligibility criteria provided in the "Do I Qualify" section of the website, you are ready to begin the process of applying for child care subsidy

 

 

 

2201 Mail Service Center | Raleigh, NC 27699-2200
919-814-6300 | 1-800-859-0829 (In State Only)
[email protected]

 

 
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