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It’s no secret that balancing work with children is already a challenge, let alone from the perspective of a single mother. Daycare can be a blessing but it’s not easy if you don’t know where to start. Choosing the correct daycare assistance for single mothers can be overwhelming and stressful.
The government has great daycare assistance for single mothers and programs differ from state to state. In this context, eligibility depends on income levels. You can check your eligibility via the list of Child Care and Development Fund Contacts by State online.
Government and community daycare assistance for single mothers
Public assistance programs assist very low income families affording the applicant free or low cost daycare. The Head Start Program offering daycare assistance for single mothers is such an example. The New York City Administration for Children’s Services exists to protect New York City’s children from abuse and neglect. Head Start offers educational programs for children age 3 to 5.
Since 1965, the program has joined with millions of low-income parents, from hundreds of different backgrounds, to help children succeed in school, and succeed in life. The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) sponsors more than 250 Head Start centers in NYC neighborhoods and every Head Start program is absolutely free. ACS issues vouchers to eligible families that may be used by parents to purchase daycare assistance for single mothers from any legal childcare provider in the City.
The aim is to subsidize childcare so that parents can maintain employment or be supported if they are homeless or need child care for medical or social reasons. In turn , the children are offered a solid foundation for appropriate development and education. Each ACS program is operated by an affiliated sponsor with an educational component to promote school readiness. Teachers and aides strive to help children develop physically, socially, and emotionally. Quality is assured through a thorough annual assessment process as well as regular visits from educational consultants, making programs such as the one at The Katy News a trustworthy start when looking for daycare assistance for single parents.
If you are in the NY area to find out if you meet specific financial and social eligibility criteria that are determined by federal, state, and local regulations, you can follow up on their service by calling 311. Eligibility is usually determined by a family’s gross income, with consideration of family size, based on a sliding scale.
The ACS website lists the following individual eligibility criteria or “reasons for care” namely, to be working or in an approved training or educational program with the child or family receiving services or daycare assistance for single parents from either ACS or the Human Resources Administration (HRA) or a social services agency.
In communities, most local churches offer school
care or extended daycare hours. Church members will be eligible for free care or very cheap daycare assistance for single mothers. These pre-schools and daycare have much less strict requirements than government daycare assistance programs however. In the event that you don’t have an ACS close by, this could be better option than costing upwards of $150 a week.
The National Child Support Enforcement Agency also assists parents in obtaining payments to acquire childcare. The Administration for Children and Families offers state-based daycare assistance for single mothers, the contacts page can assist with direction.
The Child Care Bulletin is published by the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) under the direction of the Child Care Bureau, Office of Family Assistance, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Government daycare assistance and after school care information can be sourced through these bulletins.
In addition, the NCCIC Child Care: National Data Overview offers samples of resources with data which includes child care arrangements; parental decision-making; child care choices; child care programs and practitioners; socioeconomic factors that impact choices; funding; and other factors that may inform the discussion of quality benchmarking.
Corporate daycare pioneers
For single parents looking to change career or apply for a new job its important to remember that though the money is the reason you are there, compensation can and should encompass much more than just salary or wages. For single parents in particular, benefits packages need to we well analyzed to save time and money. After all, the benefits will mirror the type of environment you are walking into on more levels than just one.
The following companies have taken it upon themselves to go the extra mile when it comes to daycare assistance for single mothers
- TRW:- TRW Space & Electronic Group’s center in Redondo Beach, California known as the Launching Pad provides the kind of high quality, age-appropriate education that has earned it accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Only 3% of all centers in the United States sport this endorsement. TRW’s daycare assistance for single parents package offers is one of the largest on-site child care centers in the country with a low caregiver-to-child ratio. Parents can visit their children at any time, there is a full-time cook and for those who can afford it, ballet lessons, music instruction.
- Motorola: Motorola provides on-site centers at many of its locations with a child-care network using home-based licensed care-givers in development to provide employees with more child-care options. The company’s daycare assistance for single parents benefits include being able to have their children attend Motorola’s summer camps offered in conjunction with their Museum of Electronics.
- Patagonia: For parents whose children are not enrolled at the on-site center, Patagonia maintains a family-care network of trained, in-home care providers with many in close proximity to its offices. Their Kids Club attends preschool needs.
- Fannie Mae: Fannie Mae provides home-mortgage funding to help low- to middle-income families realize the American Dream and become homeowners. Their employees can take up to 10 hours per month paid leave to volunteer in schools or other non-profit organizations, or be part of other daycare assistance for single parents programs.
- Xerox – Xerox also encourages employees to be community-minded and offer assistance where they can via volunteerism Community Involvement Program invites employees to submit proposals for funding of community projects. Ten to twenty projects are selected each year which then receive between $10,000 and $15,000 in Xerox funding.
- SAS INSTITUTE – A software company based in Cary, N.C. has a 4% turnover rate with two on-site Montessori-based child-care centers free with complimentary medical care and Employee Volunteer Fund.
There are numerous ways for single mothers to obtain daycare assistance. Research the different options and it will be one less thing to stress about as a single mother.