What is Subsidized Child Care?
Subsidized child care is financial assistance offered to income-eligible families to cover for part or all of their child care costs, depending on their financial and child care needs. Among the list of income-eligible families, priority for obtaining subsidized care is given to families and children referred for services from Child Protective Services.
How can I qualify for CEL?
Qualifying for CEL is based on gross income (before taxes), family size, and need. In addition, families must work, live or attend school in Santa Clara County to qualify. In order to be considered income-eligible, families must meet State Income Requirements and have at least one of the following needs for child care:
(a) Working,
(b) Looking for work,
(c) Medically incapacitated,
(d) Attending school or in training,
(e) Receiving child protective services
(f) Part-day educational preschool
(g) Seeking permanent housing
I am receiving cash aid from the County CalWorks Program. Can my information be listed on the Santa Clara County CEL (SCC CEL) database?
No. Parents who are receiving cash aid or who have received cash aid within the past two years are automatically eligible for child care services and are not listed on the SCC CEL. Current CalWORKs participants should contact their CWES worker for child care assistance. Families that have been discontinued from cash aid within the past two years must call (408) 928-3502.
How long will I wait?
There is no predetermined length of time that families wait before receiving assistance. Unfortunately, families must simply wait to be contacted by a subsidized child care program for an enrollment opportunity. Whenever one of the state subsidized child care programs in the county has an opening, they will use the CEL to fill their vacancy. Participating programs prioritize family enrollments according to State regulations. It is critical therefore, that you keep your contact information listed on the CEL up-to-date at all times because it may affect your eligibility.
Placing your name and information on CEL does not mean you qualify for immediate assistance. Generally, enrollment into subsidized child care programs is based on family size and income with lower-income families having a higher probability of being called for assistance followed by moderate-income families.
While being listed on the CEL does not guarantee a family assistance with child care costs, CEL creates a better opportunity for families to receive help since all 36 subsidized child development programs in Santa Clara County (and their 175 sites located throughout the County) use it to fill their vacancies when they have an opening.
May I get assistance close to work?
Yes. It is important to provide CEL with a work zip code so that center-based programs can identify families that work near their center. Getting help for child care closer to work also depends on the type of program that contacts you to offer assistance. Please contact CEL at (877) 235-0095 to find out about different program types.
How can I get “bumped up” on the list?
There is no way to get “bumped up” on the list. However, the State grants preference to families that have an active Child Protective Services case in order to remove children from a harmful environment.
The most important thing to do is keep your family’s information current. CEL requires families to update their information every 3 months. If families are unable to keep their information current by contacting CEL every 3 months, they may be inactivated from the list and risk missing an opportunity to receive child care assistance.
If information such as a phone number, address, family size or income changes, then families must contact CEL to update this information promptly.
What does rank mean?
Rank is an indicator of a family’s priority on the CEL to help identify the most eligible families for child care services. Generally, the lower ranks, such as ranks 1-5 have a higher priority of receiving assistance than higher ranks, such as ranks 6-10.
Rank is determined by family size and income. For example, a family of 3 earning $484 per month or less will rank 1, while another same size family earning $919 would rank 10. Many families can have the same rank due to similar family sizes and incomes.
Rank is not to be mistaken as a waiting number. Rank only identifies a family’s eligibility on CEL.
How do I choose a preferred provider?
The 4C Resource and Referral (R&R) Department can help identify child care providers in your area. Ask a 4C R&R Consultant to send you a list of subsidized providers for you to visit. You may request a search for providers near your home, school or work.
After visiting several sites and determining your ideal child care location, you should call CEL to state your preference. CEL will record your preferred provider so that other programs are aware of your preference.
4C Resource & Referral: (408) 487-0749
Santa Clara County CEL: (877) 235-0095
I’ve identified a family child care home that will accept a 4Cs, Choices for Children, or PACE child care payment. Can you help me now?
No. You must wait until one of three Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) contact you (4Cs, Choices for Children, PACE).
These programs have limited funding. Also, they do not often have vacancies, so probability of being called for child care services through an Alternative payment program is low.
If enrolled in an Alternative Payment Program, parents have the option of choosing any licensed or non-licensed provider in the county to care for their children and the program will cover all or part of the payment.
Families can list an Alternative Payment Program as their preference on CEL. An Alternative Payment Program reimburses providers in the county for caring for your child(ren) as long as the provider is willing to accept payment.
Are there any programs that can help me with child care costs besides CEL?
Yes. Head Start is one such program. Head Start receives funding from the federal government to assist eligible families with a part-day and, in some cases, full-day preschool for children. Be sure to contact them if you have a child 3 to 4 years of age and are interested in preschool.
Head Start: (408) 453-6900
Do I pay for anything?
Child care services may be free or low cost to families. When families are enrolled by a subsidized child care program, they may be required to pay a parent fee. Discuss fees with the enrollment worker/case manager when you are called for an enrollment interview. In most cases, fees paid by families are a small percentage of the total cost of child care, thus it becomes low cost (affordable) child care.