The Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) program helps families pay for child care and registration fees. Initially, families may qualify if they are working, attending school, receiving cash assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families – TANF), on medical leave from employment or school, or participating in certain programs with Child Welfare.
ERDC is a subsidy program. This means families may still pay part of the child care cost. This is called a copay. The monthly copay is based on family size and income. ERDC also works with partners across the state to help families find and keep child care.
The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) is proposing changes to six rules to clean up language, update language based on new policies and ensure that the language is easy to read and understand. This includes adding a new waitlist bypass, changing the waitlist selection process, updating provider rates, adding policy regarding Every Child Belongs (ECB) for providers and updating the requirement to allow providers to store controlled substances under a child safety device or lock.
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- The Department of Early Learning and Care is seeking applicants for the Employment-Related Day Care Rulemaking Committee (RAC)
- Two self-paced module training series: Managing Behavioral Escalations & Connections
- Give Your Child a Head Start with Embark
- Honoring Orange Shirt Day – Every Child Matters
- Opportunity for families to share their child care experiences with the 2026 Household Survey