AUSTIN, Texas — The income threshold to qualify for childcare subsidies is expanding for essential workers in Texas, according to members of the Austin-Travis County COVID-19 Child Care Task Force.
- State launched online Frontline Child Care portal
- Income eligibility threshold from 85 percent to 150 percent of SMI
The news comes after Gov. Greg Abbott announced the launch of an online Frontline Child Care portal during a press conference Friday. The portal will help employees to locate childcare services closest to them during the pandemic.
“Child care is expensive. Nationally or statewide, we don’t traditionally have public funding for people above a very low income level for childcare subsidies. It was essential to support these employees as they go to work. With schools closed especially, but even for the younger children, to have a safe place to go,” Cathy McHorse, vice president of the Success By 6 Coalition at United Way For Greater Austin, told Spectrum News.
A breakdown chart of income and child care subsidies eligibility.
The Frontline Child Care site also lays out how essential workers can see how if they are eligible for childcare financial assistance. Typically to qualify for state-subsidized child care in Texas, a family cannot exceed 85 percent of the state median income. But now, the income eligibility threshold for COVID-19 frontline essential workers is approximately 150 percent of the SMI. That would mean, for example, a household income of about $118,000 annually or $9,800 monthly or less for a family of four.
“Increasing the income eligibility for childcare subsidies from 85 percent to 150 percent of state median income for essential workers greatly improves access to licensed child care for those who most need care as they work to respond to this global emergency,” Nicole Robinson, director of child care contracts for Workforce Solutions Capital Area, said in a news release.
The follow essential workers are given priority:
- Health care and pharmacy workers
- First responders
- Workers in childcare services, in support of workers in other essential functions
- Critical infrastructure workers in grocery, utilities, and trucking
- Other identified infrastructure workers, which include critical state and local government staff; mail/delivery services; nursing homes, home health care and other direct care providers; banks; gas stations; military; and restaurants and other food delivery
Essential workers requiring child care to work can review and complete an eligibility form for childcare subsidies by contacting their local workforce development board.