Child care is provided either through state agencies or non-profit organizations. Qualifying mothers and fathers should apply for child care assistance as soon as possible to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.
How To Qualify For Child Care Subsidy
To qualify for child care subsidy, applicants must fulfill the low-income guidelines established by the state and must work, seek work or attend employment training in a job that pays at least the equivalent of $10 an hour. If you’re on temporary assistance and require child care so you can meet any other work-related employment requirements, you’re pretty much guaranteed child care. But there’s more. Even though the government doesn’t actually pay any of this money, they do offer a form of tax credit. That’s how the child care subsidy program works.
Each participating family is assigned a federal EITC (excessive incentive insurance premium) credit that is adjusted monthly. Families that don’t have qualifying child care services need only to pay the difference between what their state requirements require and what their federal EITC amount is. Once you’ve determined your federal EITC amount, you can send in your application along with the completed child care assistance forms required by your state and/or county and your application will be reviewed and either approved or rejected.
Good News For Low-income Families
This is good news for low-income families because it means that these families will not only receive an additional EITC credit but also will have extra funding to help make their needs meet. Not all low-income families qualify for child care assistance. In most cases, children who are eligible for child care assistance must receive this care through a private facility such as a daycare or school. Also eligible for this program are families with disabilities that can’t otherwise afford to provide their children with this essential care. (Note: children who are eligible for Medicaid but who don’t have children enrolled in Medicaid are not eligible for the child care subsidies.)
Look At What The Child Care Rebate
However, many low-income families qualify for child care subsidy benefits. To determine if a family qualifies for child care assistance, you’ll need to look at what the child care rebate will do for the family. You can get this information from your state’s Medicaid website. The amount received through the child care rebate, once added up with state and federal costs, can help a family’s low-income family health plan provide more preventive health care. And the more preventive care a family gets, the better its chances of avoiding serious medical problems later on.
Bottom Line
All states offer some form of child care assistance, so if you would like to have more time with your children while still earning money, you may qualify for this. For single parents, it’s especially helpful to have someone to watch your kids when you aren’t around. For two parents who don’t both work, they may even qualify for two child care assistance benefits. If you are married, you could get your spouse a child care rebate as well as any childcare assistance that he or she is eligible for. For any of these situations, though, it’s important to understand that a child care rebate is just a way to subsidize childcare expenses, and the amount you would have to pay would depend on a variety of factors such as the number of kids, the ages of the kids, the family income and many other factors.
