Program expansion makes it easier for Georgia student-parents to get childcare subsidies
Parents who are also students could be eligible for help with childcare expenses due to an expansion of a state program. Georgia’s Child And Parent Services (CAPS) program subsidizes childcare for low-income families. It’s run by Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning. DECAL’s deputy commissioner for federal programs Elisabetta Kasfir says the CAPS program had 12 priority groups.
“To give an example … people who meet what we call a very low-income level, people who are participating or receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, children in foster care, children of families who may lack fixed and adequate and regular housing, families who experience domestic violence.”
Now, student-parents are the 13th priority group, Kasfir says. So, parents who are enrolled in any educational program could qualify for CAPS.
“It’s not, ‘Hey, you have to be pursuing a bachelor’s degree,’ for example, to be in this group. You could be. But you also could be pursuing your GED or other adult education,” Kasfir says.
CAPS typically serves 50,000 children a week, but federal funds from the American Rescue Plan helped the program expand so it can serve 60,000 kids a week. The money is expected to last through October 2024.
Usually, families in the program have to pay a fee based on the size and income of the family. But DECAL has used federal stimulus dollars to waive all childcare costs families would normally pay. That expansion is expected to last through October 2022.
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