What is the Child Care Voucher Program?
An award has been made from Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) CARES Act funding through Business Oregon making available $357,000 to support families impacted by COVID-19 in Coos, Curry and Douglas Counties with the cost of their child care. Eligible families will receive a voucher to pay for their child care for up to six (6) months at eligible providers (see below for criteria). South Coast Business and CCD Business Development are administering the program in partnership with the Coos County.
Who is eligible?
To be eligible for the Child Care Voucher program, families must:
- Live in Coos, Curry or Douglas County;
- Answer “yes” to the following question:
- Has your employment status, work schedule, income or access to child care been negatively impacted by COVID 19?
- Have children needing child care between the ages of 0-11 to gain/retain employment or attend school/training; and
- Fall below 100% Area Median Income for the County in which you live.
How do I apply?
Step One: Download, Call 541-296-2013 or Pick up an application at South Coast Business on 800 N Bayshore, Coos Bay or from a South Coast Business staff person at the Employment Department in Roseburg or Brookings.
Step Two: Complete the application and email application along with the verification documents (pictures are fine) to ccvoucher@scbec.org;
- INCOME
- Please provide two most recent paystubs and/or other proof of income for all adults in the family/household (i.e child support, unemployment insurance, SSI/SSD, etc).
- We determine an applicant’s family/household size as follows:
- For a single parent, including a minor parent living independently, we count the applicant and the applicant’s children;
- For unmarried parents who have at least one mutual child, we count both parents and all of their children living in the household;
- Unmarried parents who have no mutual children are counted as separate “households,” the unmarried parents and their respective children living in the household;
- For married parents, we count both parents and all of their children living in the household;
- We do not usually count other adults living in the household in calculating family size- if you have questions regarding this, please ask program staff.
- Feel free to black-out any personally identifying information (SSN, bank account info etc.) other than full name, employer, employee home address, payment amount and date of statement.
- If you have any concerns about verifying your income, please just let us know.
- RESIDENCY If your home address is listed on the paystub, no additional proof of residency is required; otherwise, families will need to submit the following to demonstrate County residence. If you are experiencing homelessness or otherwise unable to verify your home address, please let us know.
- Submit ONE from this list:
- Utility Bill (Gas, Water/Garbage, Light/Electrical, Cable, Landline phone)
- Home/Renter’s Insurance
- Mortgage Document
- Submit TWO from this list of different sources:
- Insurance document (health, car, etc.)
- Benefits document (DSHS, SSI, paystub, etc.)
- Financial document (Bank Statement, retirement, credit card statement)
- Other bills
- Driver’s License
- Lease or Housing Agency letter
- Submit ONE from this list:
- CHILDCARE AGREEMENT
- A copy of the childcare agreement needs to accompany the application.
Where can I use my child care voucher?
A list of providers can be found at https://findchildcareoregon.org/.
To be eligible to receive the Child Care Voucher, child care providers must meet the following criteria:
- For providers serving children ages 0-6, they must be licensed, in good standing with the State of Oregon
- For providers serving school-age only children, they must be operating legally.
What does the voucher pay?
Any amount due to the provider in excess of the voucher, will be the responsibility of the family. If a family enrolls mid-month the rate will be prorated the first month and the balance will be extended into the seventh month. If the child was already enrolled with the family applies, we will back date the authorization to the first month in which they applied. The provider will be asked to either reimburse or credit tuition already paid by the family. If the family is already participating in the Employment Related Day Care program (ERDC), the voucher program can not supplant existing resources but we can cover the family co-payment in lieu of the voucher amount.
If approved, how does billing for the childcare voucher work?
Once you have been approved for the childcare voucher, a Payment Authorization and W-9 will be sent to your Childcare Provider to fill out, date, and sign. Your chosen and approved childcare provider will also have to fill out their portion on this form. This serves as a contract between South Coast Business, CCD Business Development and your childcare provider. South Coast Business sends childcare providers enrolled in the Voucher program a Payment Request at the end of the month of care, typically the last week of the month. The voucher amount will be paid directly to your childcare provider, within three weeks for the first payment and two weeks there after, once they have returned the Payment Request to the South Coast Business Billing Specialist.
