Financing Child Care in the United States - Ewing Marion Kauffman ...

participating parents with vouchers used to purchase
licensed and registered child care.
The trust fund transfers all of its contribution to the
Working Parents Assistance Program.
POPULATION SERVED
The Working Parents Assistance Program is available to
parents who are working 35 or more hours each week.
Parents must have children age 14 or under, work or
attend school and must, if a single parent, pursue child
support through the court system. Family income cannot
exceed $35,000 annually. Each year nearly 1,300
families are served.
STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS
• The Working Parents Assistance Program was
established by county government because the
state–sponsored subsidized child care program did not
meet the needs of working families in Montgomery
County. Montgomery is one of the more affluent
counties in Maryland and has high child care costs.
Working parents often had incomes that surpassed the
limits set by the state, and the state’s payment rates to
the providers were substantially below the cost of child
care. Initially, the county opted to supplement the
state’s subsidized child care program, Purchase of
Care. This did not prove to be a successful approach
because the state’s rigid rules were applied across the
board. The Working Parents Assistance Program was
established as a separate child care subsidy program
at the county level with the goal of helping families
achieve greater self–sufficiency.
• The program has been designed to promote efficiency
by careful definition of eligibility for the Working
Parents Assistance Progam and the state’s subsidy
program. Parents do not have the option of choosing
between them. Parents who have lower earnings or
who work fewer hours must participate in the state’s
Purchase of Care program.
• The county’s eligibility rules grew out of the unique
circumstances in the county and the desire to foster
family self–sufficiency. Parents must show that they
need child care for at least 35 hours a week, due to
either education or employment, and single parents
must pursue child support.
• The trust fund was started in response to a long
county–level waiting list for subsidized child care. Until
recently, the trust fund was promoted by a volunteer,
who is credited with raising most of the private funds,
increasing the visibility of the subsidy program and
drawing attention to the tremendous demand, as
shown by the waiting list. In part due to her efforts, the
county decided to make a major increase in the
allocation of the program, expanding it from $2.4
million to $3.5 million.
• Staff from the county–funded Working Parents
Assistance Program and the state–funded Purchase of
Care program are co–located at county governmental
offices. The co–location allows the two programs to
offer a single phone number for determining which
program is appropriate for the family. The co–location
is not a complete solution. If a parent inadvertently
applies to the incorrect program, that parent will have
to start over again and apply to the other program.
Over time, the Working Parents Assistance Program
would like to apply its broader income eligibility
guidelines to the state’s Purchase of Care program
and operate them as a single program.
OTHER SITES WITH SIMILAR STRATEGIES
Austin, Texas; New York City, and Seattle, Washington, are
among the localities that use local tax revenues to
subsidize child care for families above state-determined
income eligibility levels.
CONTACT
Kathleen Shapiro, Program Manager
Working Parents Assistance Program and
Trust Fund Child Care Services
Montgomery County Department of
Health and Human Services
401 Fleet Street
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone (240) 777 1161
Fax (240) 777 1153
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