Early care and education is important to the development of children. We understand that quality child care is expensive. Next to housing, child care is the largest expense in most families' budgets. Through federal, state and local funding from the Texas Workforce Commission to Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend Region, Child Care Service is able to provide financial aid for eligible families and provide professional development opportunities for early care and education providers.

Eligibility criteria to receive Child Care Services (CCS) include:

• Each parent and step-parent, living in the household, must be working, attending school, in training/other educational program, or combination of these, at least an average of 25 hours each week over a four-week period. Household members include those that live in the household: parents, step-parents, adult dependents and a child or other minor living in the household who is the responsibility of the parent.
  • If taxes are not taken out of pay or parent is paid cash-we consider parent to be self-employed.
  • Families who identify as homeless are exempt from this requirement to apply for services.
• Meet income guidelines based on gross household income (before taxes) and family size. Types of other household income include, but are not limited to: rental income for a house, homestead, store, or other property; income from boarders/lodgers; income from estate and trust funds, or royalties; pensions, annuities, life insurance, and retirement income, Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), workers’ compensation income, alimony, court settlements, or judgements.
• The person applying for services must have primary custody of the child(ren) needing services. If applicant is not the parent of the child needing services, then applicant must provide the following with the application:
  • Reason the parent is not available, and
  • Paperwork verifying reason parent is not available, and
  • Paperwork verifying that applicant is the person responsible for the child.
• Families must live within these counties: Aranas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio.

• Please read the Document Checklist for Child Care Eligibility