HHS continues to roll out enhancements to the state’s child care assistance program, benefiting both parents and child care providers

HHS continues to roll out enhancements to the state’s child care assistance program, benefiting both parents and child care providers

BISMARCK, ND - North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced that child care providers and parents will begin to experience additional enhancements to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) this month.

Recent enhancements include:

• A reduced co-pay amount for most parents
• An increase in the maximum amount that CCAP will pay a child care provider for services
• A new bonus for child care providers who care for infants and toddlers enrolled in CCAP

“To address North Dakota’s child care needs, we are continuously exploring ways to utilize existing infrastructure to help address high priority needs,” Economic Assistance Director Michele Gee said. “Since the beginning of the North Dakota Child Care Initiative, HHS has made several high impact improvements to CCAP both to improve affordability for working families and to support the financial health of child care businesses.”

Other enhancements to the state’s CCAP that have been implemented include:

• The Child Care Workforce Benefit
• Extending the 12-month eligibility period to 18 months
• Quality-based bonuses for child care providers

In addition to the program enhancements, HHS has also launched a new tool for parents to easily calculate their co-pay amount. Parent can access the calculator at hhsnd.site/ccap-copay.

Parents can find more information about CCAP including eligibility requirements and how to apply at hhs.nd.gov/ccap. Child care provider information about CCAP can be found at hhs.nd.gov/ccap-providers.

In 2023, Gov. Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1540, which allocated nearly $66 million of state funds to work alongside federal funds for the ND Child Care Initiative. The objective of the initiative is to alleviate one of the state’s major barriers to workforce participation, child care. To address the state’s workforce needs, the initiative focuses on three key elements of the child care workforce barrier: availability, affordability and quality. Addressing these elements will make it easier for parents and guardians to work, provide for their families and strengthen local businesses and their communities. Learn more about the initiative at hhs.nd.gov/nd-child-care-initiative.

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