The Child Care Services (CCS) program, managed by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), provides financial aid (also known as scholarships or subsidies) for parents who meet work and income requirements to access high-quality child care. Through CCS, eligible parents of children under the age of 13 receive financial assistance to cover a portion or, in some cases, all of the costs for child care so they can work, search for work, or participate in job training. About 30,000 Texas employers employ someone benefiting from CCS scholarships.

Through the CCS program, families are empowered to enroll their children in child care that meets their needs and values, such as faith-based programs, programs specializing in serving children with disabilities, or home-based programs with just a few other children. 

Due to insufficient state funding, the child care scholarship program is leaving many eligible families on a waitlist for months or even years. In fiscal year 2024, the average waitlist for the program in Texas was approximately 78,000 children.

Red states across the country are investing state funding for child care.

The Texas Legislature should invest in getting more families off the waitlist and into a job. If Texas invests about $90 million per year, Texas can serve approximately 10,000 more eligible children in the Child Care Services program, enabling their parents to go to work and have the choice of high-quality care for their children.

Read our testimony for the February 12, 2025 budget hearing in the Senate Finance Committee hearing: