Who qualifies for CCDF child care assistance?
Federal law sets the outer limits of who can receive CCDF help. States may be stricter within those limits, but they may not go beyond them. Qualifying means passing several tests at once: the child's age, the family's income and assets, the parents' activity, and the child's citizenship or immigration status. Your state agency applies these tests when you first apply and again at each redetermination.
The child's age
Your child must be under 13 when you apply. The age limit extends to under 19 if the child is mentally or physically incapable of self-care or is under court supervision. A child who turns 13 during a 12-month eligibility period does not lose assistance mid-period because of age alone: the eligibility period runs its course, and age is reassessed at redetermination.
Income and assets
Your family's income must not exceed 85% of your state's median income for a family of the same size. That is a federal ceiling, not a national dollar amount: 85% of the median income in Mississippi is a different number from 85% in Massachusetts, because median incomes differ. Most states set their initial eligibility limit below the federal ceiling, sometimes well below it, and use the graduated phase-out at redetermination for families whose income has risen. Your family's assets must not exceed $1,000,000. The asset test is a federal rule, and it is high enough that it rarely decides ordinary cases, but it is part of the application all the same.
Parent activity
The child must live with parents, or people acting as parents, who are working or attending a job training or education program. If the child is receiving or needs to receive protective services, the work and training requirement does not apply, and the lead agency may waive the income requirement case by case for such children. States define work, education, and job training in their plans, and the definitions vary: some states count job search as an eligible activity for a limited period, others do not.
Citizenship and immigration status
The child who receives the benefit must be a U.S. citizen or a qualified non-citizen under federal public benefits rules. This requirement applies only to the child who is the primary beneficiary. Lead agencies are not permitted to ask about the citizenship or immigration status of the parent, applicant, or any other family member, and federal guidance recommends that they do not collect that information. If an application form seems to ask for a parent's status, that is worth querying with the agency, because the federal rule says it should not.
The most common reason for a shock
Families most often lose CCDF help unexpectedly for one of three reasons: their state's income limit is lower than the federal 85% ceiling and they assumed the federal number applied; they missed a redetermination deadline; or they did not report a change their state requires them to report. The first is avoidable: always check your state's own income limit, not the federal ceiling, before you assume you qualify.
What does not matter
There is no federal requirement that you receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to get CCDF help, although many states give TANF families priority. There is no federal requirement that you use a particular type of provider: the voucher model is built on parental choice. And there is no federal minimum work-hours rule: states define what counts as working or training, and a part-time job can qualify if your state counts it.
Sources: Administration for Children and Families, CCDF eligibility guidance; ACF Office of Child Care Technical Assistance, Understanding Federal Eligibility Requirements; 45 CFR Part 98.