Those eligible for child care assistance include those under the age of thirteen and:
- Whose parents are receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
- Whose parents have recently stopped receiving TANF benefits because of earned income
- Whose parents are in job training programs such as Choices or those offered through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
- Whose parents are receiving Food Stamps
- Whose parents qualify as low incomes and need help paying for child care so they can continue to work or attend training
- Teen parents who are from low-income families who need child care to attend school or complete a GED
- Parents qualify as low incomes and have children with disabilities
The goals of Workforce Solutions Child Care Services are:
- To offer families an expanded choice of quality child care arrangements
- To offer families a source for child care information and financial assistance
- To support the physical, social, emotional and intellectual development of children
- To help prevent the abuse and neglect of children
- To assist providers in increasing and maintaining quality child care
- To provide child development resources to local providers, andT
- To provide local resources for child development
Through Workforce Solutions’ parental choice option, parents have the right to choose the type of child care that best suits their needs and to be informed of all child care options available, including:
- Licensed child care centers
- Licensed child care homes,
- Registered family homes, and
- Relative care
A Child Care Services specialist can provide the tools to assist parents in making child care decisions based on the services offered, hours, fees and ages of children accepted by licensed child care providers that offer CCS-funded care. Workforce Solutions Child Care Services also strives to maximize the quality and availability of child care through local initiatives with a number of South Plains based organizations. These initiatives, which match local funds to federal dollars, are used to underwrite the following types of services:
- School aged care for over 1500 children in the South Plains area
- Assistance for ongoing training and education for child care providers
- In-school programs for teen parents and their children
- Quality initiatives for infants and toddlers in low income, high need areas
- Care for children while parents attend school/training.
- Care for children whose parents reside in the city of Lubbock.
For more information about Workforce Solutions Child Care Services, call (806) 744-3572 or visit our offices at 2002 West Loop 289, Suite 117A, Lubbock, TX 79407.