Child Care Assistance Program

Image of child on swingProgram Eligibility

Child Care Assistance Program subsidies are available to families with gross income less than 85% of the  State Median Income (SMI) for their household size. Subsidy payments are available for child care provided during verified need and parents are allowed up to 1 hour of travel time each way. Child Care assistance may be available for families enrolled in vocational and/or higher education. Child Care assistance is also available to teen parents attending high school. Families  contribute to the cost of care based on a sliding scale (parent share/fee). The minimum weekly share is $1.

Household Size

        Monthly 85% SMI          

2

$6,155.80

3

$7,604.22

4

$9,052.64

5

$10,501.06

6

$11,949.49

Want to see if you qualify?  Click on the link below and enter your income and household information.

Click Here - Child Care Screening Eligibility Calculator

 

How to Apply

 

To apply for the child care assistance program, please click on the "Child Care Application" link below or call the DHS Application Line 585-753-6960 to request a Child Care Application packet. Complete the application in it's entirety (you must answer all questions), child care statement, work schedule form and absent parent form (if applicable) and send it to:

Department of Human Services
111 Westfall Rd.
Rochester, NY  14620
Attn:  Team 76 – Child Care

You can also submit an application by email to: [email protected]

NOTE: Families who are currently receiving Temporary Assistance should continue to work with their assigned workgroup for child care assistance

 

NEW  - Apply through the online OCFS Child Care Assistance Application Portal (CCAA)

 Apply Now  for CCAP using the Child Care Assistance Application portal (CCAA). You will need to register with an email address for a NY.Gov account. You do not need to complete the application all at once. You can save your progress and come back to it later. If you apply through the portal, you will NOT need to submit a paper application. 

For assistance locating a child care provider, please visit The Child Care Council at  https://childcarecouncil.com/

For additional information on child care, please visit the State Office of Children and Family Services at https://ocfs.ny.gov/programs/childcare/

 UPDATED     Download MCDHS Child Care Subsidy Manual

Absence Policy

After a child begins care with a provider, that provider may submit attendance for routine absences due to illness on days the child would normally be in care.  Providers should clearly note, in CCTA or on attendance sheets, the days the child was scheduled to be in care but was not, due to illness.  Absences are not intended to be claimed for a time prior to care beginning or after a family has notified a provider that they will no longer be attending.  A provider may submit payment requests for up to 80 absences per year, per child, per provider. Absence tracking resets on April 1st each year. 

Child Care Tips for Providers and Parents

Tips for Parents

  • Monroe County can only pay for actual child care services provided, and only for care during the hours of your employment or your participation in an approved activity (plus a maximum of 60 minutes of travel to and from your job or activity). You will be liable for payment to your provider for any care not billable to the subsidy program.
  • If your provider uses attendance sheets, only sign an attendance sheet after it's filled out completely and accurately. Attendance sheets are used to bill Monroe County for daycare services provided to your child, therefore you and your provider are responsible for the attendance sheet’s accuracy and completeness. Never sign a blank attendance sheet.
  • If you sign a contract with your provider for daycare services, please understand that Monroe County is not a party to that contract and therefore is not responsible for compliance with the terms of that contract. You will be liable for payment to your provider for any care that is not billable to the subsidy program.
  • Monroe County will pay your provider for up to 80 absences each year. Tracking resets in April.
  • You must notify Monroe County within ten (10) days of any changes that may affect your subsidy case (change in income, household composition, address, employment, etc). Overpayments resulting from a failure to notify us of changes will need to be repaid by you to Monroe County. Intentional misrepresentations may lead to program sanctions or prosecution for fraud. Your child care subsidy assistance is guaranteed for a 12 month eligibility period at initial opening and when you complete your annual recertification.   Your parent share will not change during the 12 month eligibility period. Your Child Care subsidy can also continue through the end of the guarantee if your child turns 13 years old during the 12 month period.

Tips for Providers

  • If you use paper attendance sheets, please make sure your attendance sheets are filled out completely and accurately before asking the parent to sign their approval. You should never ask a parent to sign a blank attendance sheet.
  • Attendance sheets should be signed by you and the parent before submitting them to Monroe County. Submitting unsigned attendance sheets could delay payment.
  • Attendance sheets should reflect the actual time of day that care begins and ends. If a child did not attend daycare due to illness, vacation, or any other reason, that child should be marked on the attendance sheet as absent for that day. Monroe County’s approved Child Care Plan allows payment for up to 80 absences per year. Tracking resets each April.
  • If you ask parents to sign a contract for your child care services, please understand that Monroe County is not a party to that contract and therefore is not responsible for compliance with the terms of that contract.
  • If a child in your care attends another program (such as Universal Pre-K) you cannot bill the child care subsidy program for the same hours the child spends in the other program.
  • Overpayments due to billing errors on your part will require repayment back to Monroe County. Intentional misrepresentation of child care services provided could result in disqualification from receiving child care subsidy payments, licensing sanctions, or prosecution for fraud.
  • If a parent is required to pay a weekly parent fee, you must collect the parent fee directly from the parent.

Child Care Vendor Information

Child Care Time and Attendance (CCTA)

If you still use paper attendance sheets, consider becoming a user of the CCTA system.  There are a number of benefits to using the CCTA system, including:

  • On-line submission of attendance – no more paper time sheets;
  • Real-time information on new authorizations, changes, or discontinuances;
  • Accurate calculation of subsidy payments;
  • On-line information of pending and processed payments – no more telephone calls!

Participation in CCTA is not required by providers to receive subsidy payments, but MCDHS strongly encourages the use of CCTA, and whenever possible, will expedite payments for those who submit using this preferred method of submission.

Signing up as a new user is easy.  Simply sign the enclosed User Agreement and tell us who the primary system user will be (you can register others, but for now just tell us the primary user).  With that information, we will give you a verification code for you to log-on and self-register. Please click on the links below for more information. 

Other Vendor Forms:

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