The need for affordable child care is one of the greatest challenges facing our nation. For South Carolinians, the good news is you may be eligible for financial assistance to help pay for child care over a certain time. The best part is parents can choose from an extensive list of ABC Quality monitored providers, ensuring their children experience a child care facility and environment best suited for them.    

What types of scholarships does South Carolina offer for qualifying families in need of child care?

South Carolina provides scholarships to help pay for quality child care, so parents can work or attend job training for a designated time—usually a year. The goal of the program is to increase the availability, affordability, accessibility, and quality of child care for families across the state of South Carolina and then assist those families in achieving and maintaining economic self-sufficiency and family stability. Partnering child care providers are paid for services by the state of South Carolina based on their quality level, assigned by ABC Quality monitoring staff. Providers who receive higher quality levels receive higher reimbursement rates for their child care services.

This child care scholarship program is accessible to a number of families with varying living and employment situations, meeting different criteria. It also helps to provide child care for families who have children with special needs and children in foster care, among many others. The goal of this program is to promote economic independence and the concept that continued employment results in more secure families. All participants must be working, attending school or training, or have a verified disability in order to qualify for a child care scholarship. 

South Carolina provides financial assistance to help pay for quality child care, so parents can work or attend job training for a designated time—usually a year. The goal of the program is to increase the availability, affordability, accessibility, and quality of child care for families across the state of South Carolina and then assist those families in achieving and maintaining economic self-sufficiency and family stability. Partnering child care providers are paid for services by the state of South Carolina based on their quality level, assigned by ABC Quality monitoring staff. Providers who receive higher quality levels receive higher reimbursement rates for their child care services.

This financial assistance program is accessible to a number of families with varying living and employment situations, meeting different criteria. It also helps to provide child care for families who have children with special needs and children in foster care, among many others. The goal of this program is to promote economic independence and the concept that continued employment results in more secure families. All participants must be working, attending school or training, or have a verified disability in order to qualify for financial assistance with child care services. 

How can a family receive a scholarship for quality child care in South Carolina?

While there is some variance in criteria, most families will need to show employment, education or training, or other program enrollment; need to be at or below a percentage of the state median income level and pay some percentage of a copayment based on their income. For those who do qualify, the state of South Carolina will make payments to child care providers to care for children, so their parents can work. 

Over 1,900 providers are enrolled in this program statewide, and while over 90 percent of children receiving child care scholarships are enrolled in child care centers, some are cared for in group or family child care homes or with family, friend, and neighbor care. Parents are able to choose the provider who will care for their child, be it a child care center, church, synagogue, school, family or group child care home, employer, friend, or neighbor.

The Division of Early Care and Education pays all child care providers within 4 to 6 days of receiving online payment documents, and many parents share in the cost of child care via copayments based on family size and income. These generally range from $6 to $20 per week, per child. All the money paid to ABC Quality child care providers goes back into South Carolina’s economy to benefit all South Carolinians. 

Who is eligible for a child care scholarship?

The primary scholarship program at this time is known as the Strong Start Child Care Scholarship. 

To qualify for a Strong Start Child Care Scholarship, parent(s) or guardian(s) must:

• have a child or children between birth and 12 years of age
• work at least 15 hours per week or attend school or a training program
• have a gross income below 85% of the federal poverty level; for a family of four this would be up to $76,272 annually

Funding to offset the cost of child care is also available through programs such as TANF, homeless, dual language learners and others. The level of assistance will be determined by family size and income.

To qualify for these child care scholarships, parent(s) or guardian(s) must:

• have a child or children between birth and 12 years of age
• work at least 15 hours per week or attend school or a training program
• have a state median income of 55%; for a family of four this would be up to $46,080 annually

SC First Steps has also partnered with this program making it possible for families who have 4K eligible children to receive child care financial assistance for the siblings of the First Steps 4K student. To learn more about this joint initiative, visit www.scfirststeps.org.

All families deserve the opportunity to provide their children with quality care and education. When a child care scholarship is needed, the state of South Carolina wants parents and caregivers to have the ability to choose from over 1,900 high-quality providers while they work towards economic independence and education goals. Keep in mind that all applications for child care scholarships are processed in the order they are received, and applicants are asked to not submit multiple applications or submit the same application more than once.

For more information on this financial assistance program, visit SC Child Care or call the program's client line at 1-800-476-0199.

Apply for a Strong Start Child Care Scholarship