Description:
Establishing and maintaining eligibility is a necessary precursor for families to be able to access subsidized child care services. State child care subsidy programs, like most social assistance programs, set policies regarding periodic re-review of families' eligibility for benefits. A recent federal policy proposal promotes the use of 12-month eligibility periods for families in the child care subsidy program. In order to provide insight for states that may be implementing longer eligibility periods, this brief examined the characteristics and evolution of eligibility periods over time in Maryland, which has a 12-month eligibility period policy. In Maryland, both six-month and 12-month eligibility periods are common, and longer eligibility periods have become more frequent since 2007. However, only about one-third of child care subsidy vouchers had eligibility periods of at least 48 weeks, and most were considerably shorter than 12 months. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Publisher(s):
Country:
United States
State(s)/Territories/Tribal Nation(s):
Maryland