The entire workforce is struggling to find the high-quality employees that it needs to stabilize business. In the past, employers could offer a competitive salary and a benefit package with health insurance and that would be enough to draw in the employees they needed.  However, that is no longer the case. Eighty-three percent of working families with children under the age of five are struggling to pay for child care. If the adults in the home can’t find affordable child care, then they do not have the option to stay in the workforce. Someone must be able to provide our youngest and most vulnerable children with a safe and loving environment.

Kentucky has stepped up and decided to implement a program that will encourage businesses  to subsidize child care costs for their employees, regardless the size of the business, and allow the state to contribute as well. In the 2022 legislative session, Representative Samara Heavrin filed House Bill 499 to create a way for the employer and the state government to subsidize the cost of childcare for working families. That bill is now being implemented with the Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership Program. Employers can apply to the state to be a part of the program by contributing a designated amount of funding to each employee with a child utilizing child care. The state may then match the employer’s funding, as funds allow, in order to further discount the cost of child care for the employee. The remaining balance will then be the responsibility of the employee.  

This program offers businesses a unique opportunity to make sure that employees can afford the necessary child care that will allow all adults in the home to enter the workforce. In the past, a child care benefit may have only been possible for large employers that offered on-site child care for those who worked at their business site. That would be virtually impossible for small businesses that only have a handful of employees in need of child care. Some employers may have been able to offer a small child care stipend each month, but this new program will allow that stipend to potentially double (based on the employee’s household size and income) and provide families with additional relief. The program also addresses the misconception that child care is solely the responsibility of the family. If employers want the highest quality workforce, they will have to adjust their benefits packages to address the needs of the modern working family.

To participate in the program, applicants must complete an application with the Division of Child Care. The application for each family must be completed by the employer, the employee, and the child care provider.  The state may provide up to a full match to the employer contribution, but it will depend on the State Median Income (SMI) of the household. Employers can already apply for participation in the program, and the first year of payments for employees will begin in the new state fiscal year starting July 1st, 2023. There is a limited amount of funds for the first year of the program, so it is important for families to encourage their employers to apply now. It is also important for families to know that if they qualify for the state’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) then they will need to utilize that funding stream instead of the Employer Child Care Assistance Partnership (ECCAP) program. Additional questions can be directed to the Division of Child Care or to the Frequently Asked Questions document.

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