Get help with child care expenses in Arizona.

Tens of thousands of families across Arizona receive child care assistance from the DES Child Care program. The purpose of this government agency is to assist eligible families with paying for child care costs. By supporting families with these expenses, it will allow parents to participate in employment and specific training activities and education opportunities related to either their current employment, or the child care may help them find a job. In addition, assistance is provided in certain other circumstances when parents are unable to provide the child care themselves. Families who participate may also choose from a variety of child care providers across the state, including private care providers, Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) licensed child care centers, DES-certified small family child care homes, DHS-certified child care group homes across the state, and in some instances and after being pre-approved, non-certified relatives. There are conditions to be eligible, including:

The Arizona DES Child Care Services may be provided to struggling families for the following needs.

• The applicant is working or currently is trying to find employment
• The family participates in the DES Jobs Program.
• Training and eligible education activities that are related to employment when also working a minimum of 20 hours per week.
• GED, High school, remedial education classes for teen parents is occurring.
• If the applicant is unable or unavailable to provide child care for children due to a physical, emotional, or mental conditions, participation in a drug rehabilitation or treatment program, or if they are serving a court order for a community service program.
• The family is currently a resident in a homeless or domestic violence shelter.
• Other needs as determined by the Arizona Child Protective Services or needs determined from a foster care case plan.

Child care expenses are paid for a portion of a 24-hour day when neither parent is available to provide the child care due to participation in those eligible activities or needs that are listed above.

There are additional conditions to be eligible for aid, and those requirements vary with each unique program. Some of the assistance programs will have household income eligibility requirements based both on gross income and family size, and most may also require that family to pay a portion of the child care costs in the expenses exceed a certain level.

 

 

 

The Department of Economic Services will also contract and certify with small family child care homes, they will contract with the Department of Health Services (DHS) licensed child care centers, partner with group homes and also work closely with non-certified relative providers to provide child care services for eligible families.

Last but not least, DES Child Care will also provide direct funding to also increase the availability and improve the quality of child care providers and services. They strive to provides leadership for statewide coordination and collaboration of various child care and they will also put resources into early childhood development initiatives and associated programs.

Other Program Terms

• Since the child care costs are determined by each provider, there may be some situations in which may need to pay part of the total  child care costs.
• The child care bills may vary due to certain factors, including depending on the age of your child and the type of provider you select to use.
• The State of Arizona may pay either a portion or they may pay all of the cost of child care depending on the exact assistance program that you are eligible for and the actual provider charges. In addition, the state DES organization may require you to pay a specific co-payment based on factors including your gross monthly income and family size.
• The applicant will also be responsible for paying any child care bills and charges that exceed the DES payment and they are responsible for paying these directly to the provider.
• Child care charges that will not be reimbursed by Arizona include registration, meals, transportation, and a few other costs.

Contact Arizona DES at 602-542-4248 to learn more about child care assistance.