Details of the Kentucky Child Care Subsidy's Expansion Next Month

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services this week released a few more details on the process for expanding eligibility to the Child Care Assistance Program.CCAP is a subsidy to low-income working families to cover the cost of child care—but last year the state drastically cut and froze the program because of a budget shortfall. Critics said the cuts meant low-income families would quit jobs or find less safe alternatives for child care.Gov. Steve Beshear announced last monththat the program would reopen and be restored to something close to its pre-cut version.Now the state has offered a little more clarity. Starting Aug. 4, new CCAP applications will be taken for the first time since April 2013. They'll be collected in person, by fax or mail at local Child Care Council  (you can find  formshere.) Here are some other eligibility requirements, according to the Child Care Council:

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• Resident of Kentucky; and the child must be a U.S. citizen or qualified alien; and
• Has employment an average twenty (20) hours per week for a single parent and forty (40) hours combined for a couple; or
• Have a child protective or preventive services authorization; or
• Is participating in the Kentucky Works Program; or
• A teen parent attending high school or pursuing a general equivalency degree (GED). Has a child under age of thirteen (13); or Nineteen (19) and is physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself.

As we reported last month, the most a family of four can earn to be eligible starting Aug. 4 is $2,608 per month (that's $31,290 each year). The Child Care Council has providedthis calculator for people to check if they're eligible.Because of the cuts, CCAP enrollment dropped substantially:

The governor estimated that the expansion will cover 6,000 more families.