Children and Youth PartnershipChild Care Financial Assistance Program

The Child Care Financial Assistance program is administered by Children & Youth Partnership for Dare County (CYP) and operated out of the Dare County Department of Health & Human Services: Social Services Division.

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:

• The family's situational criteria
• The family's income
• The cost of the child care provided

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.

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.

Fore more information or to apply, contact:  Yvette Pollock at Dare County DHHS at 252-475-5536 or pollocky@darenc.gov